THE battle for the 2015 Australian Street Luge Championship is heating up after Round 2 of the series was held on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
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Southern NSW Street Luge Racers member Nic McKirdy of Batemans Bay travelled to compete in the event again after winning the 2014 title.
The Noosa ProAm is hosted by the Brisbane Street Luge club and held on a 1.83km hill-climb track in Tewantin.
Street Luge is a gravity powered sport that involves laying down on a custom made sled with wheels. Similar to its counterpart seen in the Winter Olympics, these sleds are used on asphalt roads instead of specially designed ice tracks.
With speeds in excess of 60km/h, competitors lay feet first on a luge board and race down the hill. McKirdy qualified second in the field of 27 riders in the street luge category with a time of 2min20.34 and seventh in classic luge on a wet track.
In the grand final, McKirdy placed overall 3rd in classic luge and 2nd in the street luge field. He is now tied equal first for the street luge series with Queensland’s Graham Brittain. The series decider will be held in Cooma in November.
“While I had a huge amount of success at this track previously, I am happy to place second and still have a chance to defend the championship at the final race next month,” McKirdy said.
“The level of competition is growing with so many new riders taking up the sport which is a great thing to see.”
While other members of the Southern NSW Street Luge Racers group were not able to make up it to Noosa this year due to work and financial constraints, several are looking forward to the “Cherry Bomb” event at Cooma coming up in December.
Southern luge racers will also all be attending the Port Kembla Billy Cart Derby on November 28.
11-year-old Nick Jacobs of Bermagui will be riding his first event at Port Kembla and is very excited according to his dad and fellow luger Ken.
Anyone interested can simply get in touch with Southern NSW Street Luge Racers on Facebook.
