At just 17 years of age, Kobi Wright has added being one of the youngest Sprintcar feature winners in Australian history to his racing resume.
The Muswellbrook teenager got a heat win as well as the feature at Sydney International Speedway on Saturday night.
“It started off a bit stressful actually, we went out for engine starts and there was a fuel line loose, so we had to tighten that back up before hot laps and that was right after that,” Kobi recalled.
“Started first in the heat, led the first five laps then there was a red and we had a restart, and I got passed. And then there was another red on the same lap so I put back to the lead on a single file and then led the last five and ended up getting the heat win, so that was good.”
Kobi finished in front of Michael Steward, one of the top drivers in the competition, which is always a good confidence boost.
Kobi started tenth and finished fifth in the second heat, which put him fourth on points going into the dash and after all that was run and done he started the feature out of fifth.
“We were rolling around the top five for most of it, got up to third about halfway in, and then about four laps to go, Stuart blew a motor,” Kobi said, explaining that after a fuel stop he was in third for the restart.
“We got to second on the first corner first lap back, then got passed, then coming off of four to the white flag Ian Madsen blew his left rear, and then we got under Lochie (who was in second), and Ian and I scooted through to the lead.
“He was up the top of the track, so I figured I was close enough, I probably would have got past him before he got down anyway so I was going regardless.”
Catching up a few days after the win, Kobi was still at a loss for words as to what it means to have gained this win, but there was a lot of emotion on the night when he spoke of his pop, Ray Wright, who passed away last year but no doubt would have been looking down on him with immense pride this weekend.
The next round of the Sydney International Speedway Series is on Thursday night in conjunction with the Supercars opening round, then at the end of the month Kobi will jump into a senior Formula 500 for the National Titles in Gunnedah.
– Jem Anshaw
