BEAU Chambers has further established himself as a rising star on the Australian karting scene, as he secured the Northern Territory state title in a dramatic final last weekend.

Chambers, 9, faced off against some of the best young drivers the country in an event which came down to the very last corner.

After leading for much of the event, Chambers was overtaken with just over a lap remaining, with the new leader opening up a small gap between himself and Chambers in second.

But Chambers was able to keep pace with the new leader, before he saw an opportunity open up on the second to last corner of the final lap.

“He got into a bit of a slide, and that was when I new I had to go in (for the overtake),” Chambers said.

“And he pretty much just gave up the spot to me, once I tried to go through, he didn’t try to hang onto it or anything and I was able to get past.”

This led to a dramatic final sprint down the straight toward the finish line, with Chambers finishing just 0.07 seconds ahead.

“There was a great photo going around that someone got of the finish line, and basically Beau’s back wheels were on the line as the other kid was crossing, that’s how close it was,” Beau’s dad Todd said.

Beau said the finish a blur but still very exciting at the same time, and that he was glad to finally be on the right side of a close finish.

“It was great because normally I’m the one losing it at the end,” he said.

“I’ve had a couple of races where I’ve led for most of it but got overtaken at the last lap.”

Todd said the performance was especially impressive given the challenging conditions Beau faced on the track.

“You’re talking about 20 laps of a just over one-kilometre circuit, so more than 20 kilometres of racing in 30-plus degree heat, it was tough going out there,” he said.

This success, which sees Beau take home his first ever blue plate as a state title winner, didn’t come without hardship, as not a week before Chambers dealt with the adversity of a challenging weekend at the Queensland state titles under less-than-ideal circumstances.

“The car wasn’t right… it was a bit slippery,” Beau said.

“I did ok but not as well as what I was hoping.”

He also took some learning experiences from previous events, saying he’d learned to think ahead during the race more and more.

“I remembered last year I was leading for an entire race before getting passed on the last corner… so I thought this time around I’ll drive normally and even if he passes me earlier, I can get him again.”

Chambers, a proud Gunditjmara boy, was rocking a new livery to recognise NAIDOC week during the competition, a design which was created by another local in Saige Bell.

“Since I’m Aboriginal and we were racing up in Darwin where the V8 (Supercars) do their Aboriginal liveries, we decided to have these stickers on it, and Saige Bell from Windi-Mara made them,” he said.

Todd explained that the design, which features a yellow-tailed black cockatoo which is a very symbolic animal for the Gunditjmara people.

“I had a lot of people come up and say they liked my cool stickers,” Beau said.