Kobi Leaps into Sprintcars
Kobi Wright has made the massive jump from an 80 horsepower junior formular 500 into an unrestricted sprintcar with a whopping 600 horsepower, and he has owned it.
At the end of last month he contested his first race meeting, night one of the Menz Trading Thunder on the Downs series in Toowoomba, and he won the development series feature and finished ninth in the B main.
“It was pretty hectic, the first couple of laps, everyone was kind of crazy just running around everywhere,” he shared of the opening race.
“B Main was probably the biggest highlight, started 15 and got to finish in ninth so we were passing cars, we were throwing it around the bottom, around the top, just moving around trying to get around all the cars and it was pretty fun to race in.
“Got the wall at one stage and nearly turned it over, but that was alright, we got pretty good.”
Kobi’s dad Andrew interjected that the Muswellbrook teen is selling himself short with his recount of the night, given the B main was stacked with some top drivers at the top of their game.
“To do the 15 lap B main and not get lapped when those blokes are off the front and you are off the back, Luke came around and went to put a slide job on him on the last corner and Kobi drove back around him on the outside and unlapped himself as they were crossing the line,” Andrew shared.
“It took probably four or five laps around just to get his confidence to get up around the top where the fastest guys were running, because the track had been bottom dominant all night, so he never really had ventured up there. But the longer the race went on, he looked more and more comfortable.”
Jumping in the sprintcar will see the Wright family racing team have to spend more time on the road, especially with it announced weeks out from what should have been the season opener that Eastern Creek Speedway in Sydney will not be operating until further notice, but they are grateful for the returning and new support of their sponsors who help make it possible.
-JEM ANSHAW