SCL Racing

It's been a busy couple of months for SCL Racing, and while we haven't posted much lately, we've certainly been keeping ourselves busy!

Our biggest event was the Queensland State Titles. Connor didn’t quite get the results we were hoping for, with the gripped-up track proving tough. The positive was that he improved every heat and narrowly missed the final. The experience has only fuelled his determination to keep improving, and we also had a great weekend catching up with friends and watching some awesome racing.

The following weekend saw Shaun and Liam racing at Rockhampton Kart Club. Liam brought home 3rd place in Cadet 12, while Shaun finished 2nd in Sportsman Medium after a strong day.

The next day we were back at Gladstone Kart Club. Liam continued his progress with a fantastic 2nd place in Cadet 12, building plenty of confidence. Connor finished 3rd overall, but showed real speed throughout, set the fastest lap in the final, and fought his way to 2nd in the final race.

We then had a weekend off racing, but still stayed busy helping out at Gladstone Kart Club’s Pedal Prix event. It was great to see so many competitors and supporters enjoying the day.

This past weekend was another big one, travelling 6½ hours to Ipswich for Connor to gain experience on a high-grip circuit. While the results weren’t everything, the progress certainly was. Connor improved by over 2.5 seconds from early practice to race pace and kept getting quicker every session.

It was a huge effort all round:
🏁 Left home at 4:00am Friday
🏁 Practised all day Friday into the night
🏁 At the track before 7:00am Saturday for a full day of racing
🏁 Back Sunday morning for more practice, then the 6½-hour drive home, arriving around 7:00pm

Long days and plenty of kilometres, but absolutely worth it. The biggest win was Connor’s attitude—every lap is making him hungrier to learn and improve.

A few special thank yous are in order.

A massive thanks to Doug and Harper May from TMR Racing for their incredible support, from setup advice to data and mentoring.

Thanks also to Barry McKernan for towing our caravan to the Queensland State Titles, making the week much easier.

And finally, thanks to Gaz Walton and OJ for making us feel so welcome in Ipswich.

It’s been a fantastic few weeks of racing, learning, and memories.

Now it’s back to home racing with Gladstone Kart Club this weekend—looking forward to getting back on track

Day one out of the way.

I just had a awesome day at Rockhampton Kart Club on Saturday, strapping myself into Connor's Parlion with an unrestricted KA100 - talk about a baptism by fire! It's been about a year and a half since I last raced, so you can imagine how I felt jumping from the 10hp 4SS Torini Clubmax straight into a KA100 - it was like going from a Vespa to a Ducati. The grip, braking, and speed were like nothing I'd ever experienced before - I felt like a rookie all over again. The day started with a steep learning curve, with me over-driving the kart and trying to force the corners like a boss, but session by session, I got my groove back. We tweaked the setup, I got comfy with the KA100, and the lap times started dropping like a stone. Went from a 42.0 to a 41.2 by the final . Massive thanks to Connor for being my personal driving coach for the day. Apparently I don't listen 😆 his advice on trail braking, rolling speed, and trusting the grip made all the difference. Pretty funny having your son tell you to slow down, isn't it? Oh, and considering I was 7kg overweight and up against some seriously quick X30s, I wasn't too shabby by the end of the day. But honestly, it reminded me why we love this mad sport so much. SCL Racing – Shaun, Connor & Liam

SCL Racing has been keeping busy the last few weeks with plenty of racing across the region.

We actually kicked things off in Bundaberg, where Liam had his first ever Cadet 12 race meeting. Conditions were anything but easy, with rain, sun, then rain again, but he handled it brilliantly. He came away with 3rd place and drove an awesome meeting in tough, changing conditions.

From there, we headed to Gladstone with a smaller field, but plenty of fun and hard racing. Connor had a great weekend in Juniors, finishing 2nd and pushing Harper the whole way with a faultless drive. It was great to see him apply pressure the entire time and really step up.

Liam backed it up in his second Cadet 12 race (first in Gladstone), finishing 3rd again. With limited seat time lately, he showed strong pace and keeps improving every time he hits the track.

The following weekend, Connor and I travelled to Proserpine for Round 1 of the NQ Series. With 20 juniors on track, the racing was intense all weekend. Connor qualified 13th after getting held up on his fast lap, then worked hard through the heats with some solid pace despite a couple of small mistakes.

In the final, he was making great progress, picking off karts every few laps. Around lap 12, after a clean pass, he was hit from behind and pushed onto the grass. He recovered well and caught back up, trying a few different lines we’d been working on, but ran a bit wide and ended up back on the grass, resulting in a DNF. Not the result we wanted, but a really strong drive overall and great to see his confidence building.

On top of that, Liam made his BMX debut and absolutely loved it. He had a great first race and did an awesome job for his first time on track.

Tomorrow we’re off to Rocky with Liam back in the kart, so stay tuned.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support 👊

First practice laps off 2026. It was a good break. The boys are primed and ready for a big year.
Big thanks to Brooks Hire for the new sticker kits. The karts look amazing.

Massive thanks to Brooks Hire for sorting us these awesome stickers for 2026. Will be wrapping the karts as soon as they land.

🎉 SCL RACING – 2025 WRAP‑UP! 🎉

What a year. What. A. Year.
From early‑morning starts to late‑night kart chats, 2025 delivered some absolute magic for SCL Racing.

🏆 Season Highlights
🔥 Connor not only grabbed his first race win AND his first race meeting win, but also made the massive leap from Cadet 12 into KA3 Junior Light. New class, new pace, new challenges — and he rose to it brilliantly.
💥 Liam brought the heat with a P4 at the State Cup and earned Most Improved Junior Cadet 9 champion and Cadet 9 of the year at Gladstone Kart Club. Huge effort and well deserved.

💛 A huge thank you to LB Plant and Diesel Laith Brown for their generous sponsorship this year. Your support keeps the wheels turning and the kids chasing their dreams.

🙌 Massive appreciation to the legends who made this year possible: Barry Mckiernan
Anthony Myers , Douglas May and Harper May , Wade Rowbotham , and everyone else who pitched in, cheered on, tightened a bolt, or helped load a trailer. You’re the heartbeat of this team.

💙 And of course — a special thank you to Mum (Carlie Mann)for everything behind the scenes. The support, the patience, the miles, the meals, the madness… we couldn’t do any of it without you.

2025 was big… but 2026 is shaping up to be even bigger, faster, and louder.
Bring it on. 🚀🏁

— SCL Racing

🏁 JRT Group Reef and Beef Titles – Rockhampton Recap 🏁
Liam, flying solo for SCL in Cadet 9!

With just two Cadet 9s entered, we made the trip up Saturday morning, straight into one practice session before racing kicked off. The sun was blazing, the temps hit 34°C, and Liam was on very old tyres — plus, it was his first time ever racing on Dunlop SL3s. Talk about a challenge!

🔧 Practice went okay, but we knew there was work to do.
🏎️ Race 1: Liam dropped a full second off his lap times and finished just 3.5s behind first.
🏎️ Race 2: More gains — only 3s off the lead.
🏎️ Race 3: Even better! Liam was just 2.5s behind and really starting to gel with the kart and track.
🏁 Final: What a showdown! Liam stayed glued to the leader, had multiple chances to pass, and if there’d been one more lap… he might’ve taken it. He missed the win by just 0.105s in a near photo finish!

We’re so proud of the little rocket — he’s really starting to find his feet and build confidence. Huge thanks to everyone who helped us out and supported Liam on the day. Not sure how he does it, but he always seems to gather a fan club wherever he races!

📸