Karting is in Australia is normally a low profile affair. It is lots of fun and on most weekends across the country you will find plenty of people participating in club level racing, but these mainly interest only other kart racers.

The trend now is to put on an event, with the kart racing as only one of the attractions.

Managing Director of Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway, Garry Holt, said that the event is just not for the karting fraternity: “Unlike many other karting events, we are trying to promote this event not just to the karting

industry. We want people from all sectors of the community to come out to Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway and experience the excitement and exhilarating racing that karting provides” Holt said. “We have several Australian champions competing, and some who have been away from karting for some time coming out to support the event at Eastern Creek this weekend.”

Australia’s top karters will be there, including Troy Hunt, just back from rounds 3 and 4 of the World Championships. Troy will be using the APS Pro Nats to warm up for the Honda Indy Young Guns event to be held on the streets of the Gold Coast one week after the Eastern Creek event.

The APS Pro Nats is a three day celebration of Australian karting, featuring five Australian Titles. This is the first time such an event has been conducted in Australia, and Gary Holt is trying to make sure it becomes an annual event. Australia’s future Formula One stars will be vying for a prize pool worth over $10,000, the biggest ever in the history of Australian karting. Apart from the cash, other prizes include test sessions in V8 Tourers, Open Wheelers, and even a trip to Malaysia for the World Rotax Max Challenge.

For the first time ever, the Pro-125 International Gearbox Karts will be competing, and Australian championship,

racing will be conducted under lights, on Saturday night. Once racing is complete, a live band will play into the night, carrying on the party theme of the weekend.

Aside from the on-track action, there will be a smorgasbord of off-track activities to keep the crowds entertained.

The Eroticars.com girls, of who include several Penthouse Pets, will be in attendance to sign their 2002 calendars, and take photographs with the fans. The inaugural Miss Kart beauty pageant will be Sunday’s feature, with $1,000 first prize up for grabs, along with the chance to pick up a modelling contract with a leading agency.

On Saturday night, once racing is finished, a live band will play into the night.”The program we have devised for the weekend provides a variety of entertainment for the whole family. The on track action is only a small part of the festivities of the weekend. On Sunday, we will have a motorsports exhibition featuring a wide range of vehicles, along with the bikini competition and several trade stands. If you are looking at getting into karting, or are just a motorsports nut, the APS Pro Nats is the place to be this weekend!” Co-promoter, and publisher of KartOz Magazine, Sean Henshelwood enthused.

It only cost me about 5 bucks. By the end, it was downright ugly and possibly a little stinky. But it meant more to me in some ways than nearly all my other worldly possessions combined. It was my trusty ol’ pink running hat, and I recently said a very fond farewell to it, but not to the memories of the runs I took while wearing it.

I bought it about 10 years ago, during a weekend at my family’s beachhouse at the Jersey shore. It was a fluorescent pink nylon baseball cap that read “Ocean City.” I’m not sure what possessed me to start wearing it when I ran- I had been running for 10 years without wearing a hat. But my hair was longer and I was tired of sweat getting in my eyes, so it seemed like a reasonable way to keep both hair and sweat at bay. Once I started running with it on I felt faster, tougher. I liked pulling the bill down over my eyes, giving me a mean little scowl I could use to help keep the wolf whistles and catcalls at bay.

That summer I was living and working in a new city between academic years, and one morning I got a call from my dad telling me that my beloved grandmother had suddenly passed away. It hit me like a rock. I wasn’t able to leave town for the funeral until the next day, so to try to burn up my frustrated anger I went for a run. I pulled my pink hat down over my eyes to shield my tears and bitterness, and I ran with a vengeance. I remember running past Amish farms and homes and envying their inhabitants’ confident and unquestioning faith. Every dead squirrel I ran past brought deeper questions than I’d ever wanted to think about while running. There I was, on a bright sunny day, a girl running in a pink hat, the picture of carefree vigor to those who saw me.

When I went back to school that fall, I took my running more seriously than I had in years. I started running longer road races, and always wore the pink hat as my new-found talisman. Eventually, I came to feel naked without it. For the next several years, I seldom ran or worked out without wearing the hat. I’m sure it drew a few looks at times, but I didn’t care. It just felt comfortable.

Naturally, the hat got pretty grungy and sweaty with wear. Each wash took more of its fluorescent pink coloring away. Not long ago, I took a look at it and just cringed. It was really time to say goodbye. Without another thought, I dropped it into the garbage can. A few hours later, my husband, throwing something away, glanced up from the can with a start. “You’re throwing your pink hat away?”, he asked. I confirmed that this was the case, and in that moment, I questioned my decision. But the moment passed and the next week my garbageman took the hat away for good.

I don’t really miss Pinky all that much. After all, unlike the pink dye, my memories will never fade.

If you’re pinching pennies, here are some gift ideas that won’t set you back too much:

Thermastat Liner/Gloves

These unisex lightweight gloves  can be used either as alone or as a liner under thicker gloves for those really cold days. They’re only $10.99 and come in 4 colors.

If your runner lives in a warm climate and has no need for gloves, you can’t go wrong with this coffee mug, with a pretty running design for only $14.99.

And of course, no runner should be without a subscription to Runner’s World. A year costs just $21.

If you’re able to spare more than a little change, here are some ideas the runner on your list will love:

A runner can never have too many pairs of tights. And you can’t go wrong with these Dryline Intensity Trackster Tights. Loose-fitting for the timid, they feature moisture wicking fabric and zippered pockets. Available in black for $65.

Any old scale can tell you your weight, but body-fat is a more accurate measurement of your fitness. Now, with the Personal Body Fat Monitor, your favorite runner will know when it’s time to put away the Doritos and hit the track. This item stores data for 2 people and costs $89.99.

Gifts Over $100

If you’re willing to max out your credit cards for the runner you know and love, here are some great “The sky’s the limit” ideas.

Every runner who goes outdoors during the winter wants a Gore-Tex jacket. This model includes the new Gore-Tex XCR technology, which improves the fabric’s weatherproofing qualities even more. Available for $189.99.

If your runner still doesn’t want to go outside, there’s always a treadmill. The high-quality ones can be astronomically expensive, but one of the best values for the money. Costs around $2,000.

Will Mark Webber fulfil his destiny and join the ranks of Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones and become the next Australian star in Formula One? Over the last few years it with every step in his career it seems as though everybody is assuming that he will make it to F1, it is only a matter of when.

My first recollection of Mark is of a Formula Ford in the bright yellow of his long time sponsor Yellow Pages, starting from the back of the grid in a race at Philip Island. He made spectacular progress through the field in very difficult conditions, marking him as a driver to watch.

He has had what is now the conventional path in motor sport. He started off in karting before moving to Formula Ford in Australia then in England. This led to a drive for 1997 in the prestigious British Formula Three series where he was an instant front runner. His efforts caught the eye of the Mercedes sports car team and his signing as junior driver joining Scuhmacher, Frentzen, and Franchitti, who have also driven for this team.

Mercedes suffered more serious problems at Le Mans, although without the tragic consequences of the previous occasion, when their cars were actually flying off the track on the high speed Mulsanne straight. This lead to them cancelling their sports car program, leaving Mark without a drive.

He teamed up with another fellow Australian, Paul Stoddart, to contest the F3000 series. This has lead to Mark becoming the official Benneton Formula One test driver as well as being a F3000 front runner.

Curiously Mark has won very little in the way of series and races. The pattern seems to be that he has shown so much promise as soon as he as entered a class that he has moved on straight away to the next one.

As important as driving skills are; Mark has the knack, or luck, to be able to attract sponsors and patrons to fund his motor racing career. There are many drivers in Australia who simply didn’t have the backing to match their talent, Marcus Ambrose for example.

It is important for all aspiring Australian F1 drivers that Mark succeeds. The credibility Wayne Gardner gave to Australian motorcycle racing paved the way for World Champions Mick Doohan and Troy Corser.

The North Pole of the electromagnet attracts the post of the south of the permanent magnet, and the post of the south of the electromagnet attracts the North Pole of the permanent magnet, and the movable pieces of the motor give return. When the North Pole of the electromagnet is closest to the post of the south of the permanent magnet and the post of the south of the electromagnet is closest to the North Pole of the permanent magnet, the commutator invests the current within the electromagnet. When the electrical present misfortunes, the posts of the north and the south of the electromagnet invest. The North Pole of the electromagnet is facing the North Pole of the permanent magnet, and the post of the south of the electromagnet does in front of the post of the south of the permanent magnet. In this state the magnets are rejected and the sides of the electromagnet are attracted the opposed sides of the permanent magnet, so the motor continues giving returned.