By Callum Ludwig
A young Woori Yallock speedster tore up the race track in Queensland recently, winning his class and coming away as the overall champion.
7-year-old Clay Paull raced in the first-ever running of the quarter midgets at the Kings Royal in Kingaroy, competing in the novice category (five to seven-year-olds).
Clay’s Dad Jamie said he’s been racing for a couple of years now.
“He started just before he was five, and he’s racing in different series around Victoria since then. This was more about getting up there and experiencing racing against Queensland competition,” he said.
“There were only five cars all up that went from Victoria and Clay was the only Victorian in his division, but it was great for him to have a good run and clean sweep the whole series.”
A quarter midget refers to a car that is one-quarter of the size of a midget car. Designed for children who are learning to race midget cars (which are themselves small two-seater sports cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio) the quarter midget is restricted to a 120cc engine as per the requirements for each class and age of the child.
Mr Paull said it was probably his fault that Clay has an interest in racing.
“My mother and father raced, and myself, my brother and sister race, you [the Star Mail] even did an article on my brother and I when we were both reigning Victorian champions,” he said.
In January 2022, Mr Paull won the $2000 prize for winning the Dirt X Industries VSC Sports Sedan Power Series in his VZ Holden Commodore at the Heytesbury Stockfeeds Simpson Speedway, while his brother Justin won the Compact Speedcars Legends Trophy.
Mr Paull said he is now very proud to have had Clay take an interest.
“I’m definitely proud of everything he is doing and how well is going, it’s great that I get to see him go through the experiences of what I feel in the car, which not many people do,” he said.
“It’s a very family-based sport, it’s all in or no one is in, so we all went up there together, his mum and sister enjoy watching and supporting him, seeing him out there with a smile on his face. The winning is just a bonus.”
Children race on oval tracks that are about 80m long, with rules and safety procedures designed to create a safe but competitive environment.
Safety is paramount, with the car bodies built of aluminium and fibreglass around chrome-moly tubular frames, including anti-intrusion bars and kick-outs to stop wheel interference. All vehicles are fully suspended with coil-over racing shock absorbers to reduce the impact of collisions or crashes.
