CLOSE to 190 drivers took to the track for this year’s Victorian State Cup, but it was Portland karter Scott King who drew the attention of most as he claimed the TaG 125 Heavy Black Plate on his home course.

With all other classes wrapped up as he competed in the last race of the day on Sunday afternoon, King pipped second-placed Jackson Souslin-Harlow by a margin of 1.255 seconds to be crowned State Cup winner.

This State Cup wasn’t King’s first Black Plate, the 36-year-old having previously claimed honours in both 2012 and 2017, but King said the opportunity to win the plate on his home track was a great thrill.

“It was an unreal feeling,” he said.

“It was a competitive field with some really strong drivers, (Souslin-Harlow) is a front-runner in the national rounds, he won the Tasmanian State Title the week before this event and won the City of Melbourne titles as well.

“(The win) was made even better to do it in Portland with all the local guys watching on, everyone had finished racing so there was a good number of drivers watching.

“I’ll definitely be going to Cobden for next year’s State Cup, back-to-back wins would be nice.”

King said the win ranked quite high on his list of achievements as part of his more than 20-year karting career.

“I started karting when I was nine,” he said.

“I got into it because my dad used to race speedway cars, and my uncle was involved in karting.

“I do a fair bit of work on my kart - I build my own motors and help out a few others around the club with their motors as well.

“I won at the City of Melbourne titles a while back, but this ranks right up alongside that in my karting.”

King wasn’t the only Portland District Karting Club member to walk way from the weekend with a Black Plate, Mount Gambier based driver Ben Kilsby taking home the prestigious prize in the TaG Restricted Light class.

Portland District Karting Club’s Paul Parker said both Scott and Ben had handled the varying conditions to perfection over the weekend.

“Scott and Ben both raced fantastically, while it just wasn’t their weekend for a handful of our other members,” he said.

“We had drivers from Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and all across Victoria come down for the event.

“There were also a lot of first-time racers down for the weekend, who said how much they loved our facilities and our track and said they would absolutely be returning.

“The conditions weren’t what we expected over the two days, our timed practice on Friday was run on wet tyres but both Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s finals were run on slicks.”

Parker said the club would now spend the festive period off the track, having got through another successful season.

“That’s our final date for the season, before we return in this first weekend of February for Golden Power Series

“But there will be some club days and junior top gun events between now and then.

“The Christmas period does allow us to have a nice break, give the carts a bit of TLC and prepare for next season.”

Parker expressed his gratitude for the tireless team of volunteers at the club, who he said ensured the club continued to thrive.

“I have to give such a big thank you to all of our volunteers for their hard work throughout the season,” he said.

“Without all of these people we wouldn’t be in the position we are, without people like stewards and the rest of the volunteers, these races wouldn’t be able to go ahead.”