The 2016-17 season has been a satisfying one for Glenn Carstairs, with the veteran racer’s consistency throughout each race meeting awarding him with a number of impressive results.
Recently winding up what was his sixth season with the class with a third-place finish in last Saturday night’s Bunny Burrowes Memorial at his home track, Narrogin Speedway, Carstairs reached new heights in 2016-17 season; a season which was highlighted with steering his Adam’s Performance prepared Yamaha R6 powered WA # 49 D1 machine to victory in the Western Australian Title at Manjimup Speedway, as well as winning the Perth Motorplex Track Championship. At the Perth Motorplex, he also set a new one-lap record for Formula 500s this season that had stood for nearly a decade
Contesting 15 shows in total, Carstairs remarkably managed to visit the podium in 11 of them, while also racking up five feature-race wins, four of which took place at the Perth Motorplex. His other four results include a fourth and sixth-place finish, a disappointing DNF in the Perth Motorplex season opener, due to a clutch failure while leading comfortably, and a disappointing Australian Title run.
“The 2016-17 season has been very positive for the most part, and we couldn’t have been happier to achieve our maiden state title in the class, as well as taking out the overall Perth Motorplex Track Championship,” commented 43-year-old Carstairs, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition of the central nervous system, seven years ago.
“We’ve really seen an improvement on our consistency this season, which is something we hope to continue into the 2017-18 season. I have to say a huge thank you to my family, my team and our sponsors for their continued support and dedication.”
Beginning his competitive racing career in Junior Sedans, as well as undergoing a brief stint in Formula 500s in the late 1980s, Carstairs, from Wandering in Western Australia, ran Limited Sprintcars for well over a decade, with his highlights in the class including winning multiple Far Western Championships and scoring a number of minor podium finishes in Western Australian Titles.
Being diagnosed with MS later prompted Carstairs’s decision to change classes, returning to Formula 500s, where his previous best result was finishing fifth in the 2014 Australian Title at the Perth Motorplex. Switching from a Hyper chassis to a D1 two seasons ago, Carstairs contested his first campaign on the East Coast last season, participating in the Speedweek Series in Victoria.
Carstairs would like to thank the following supporters: Concrete Mix and Supply, Carstairs Signs and Wandering Smash Repairs. He would also like to give special thanks to his brother and car owner Andrew, his cousin Steven, Rod, Dayan, his eldest brother David, his partner Sharron, his mum Marg, and aunty Elaine.
Photos courtesy of Peter Roebuck
