Albany Soapbox Club sweeps Ross Burton Perth Championships as brothers Jacob and Christopher Oborne dominate

A group of 10 talented Albany Soapbox Club drivers made the trip to Perth to compete in the annual Ross Burton Perth Championships held on Sunday.

The soapbox competition started with five groups of juniors and two groups of seniors hitting the track.

The day consisted of four handicap group races for all competitors, with the top 12 drivers from each division moving into the three elimination races to determine the final four.

The four drivers in the junior and senior classes then have another four races to decide the champion on the day.

In their first year of competition, junior drivers Aaleyah and Lara Curtis drove well in group five and placed second and third respectively.

Arkadia Day raced well in group four to come in fourth while Austin Tysoe was fourth in group three.

While having lots of fun, unfortunately, none of them qualified to move on to the elimination round.

Jack North won his first heat and carried on to come fourth in group two junior.

He moved to the elimination round but was knocked out by two strong Perth drivers in the second round.

Christopher Oborne came in hoping to match his win at the national championships at Easter in Albany.

He competed in group one juniors and raced well winning all elimination rounds to come home in first place.

There was strong competition in the finals with previous winners Colt Burrows, Jaxon Durer-Sparks and nine-year-old Brock Guiver all from the Perth club.

But Christopher Oborne won every final race and took home the championship trophy in the junior division.

He also brought home the association trophy for best-placed driver for all the interclub championships.

Albany had four strong drivers in the senior division with all of them moving into the top 12 elimination rounds.

Tom North raced in group one seniors against Perth driver Aidan Hoffman, who has won the previous three years, Corey Jones and Jacob Oborne.

North drove fearlessly to beat Hoffman and the rest of the group to bring home the first-place handicap trophy.

He progressed through to the eliminations but was knocked out in the last round.

Riley Curtis on his first year of racing made his grandad and club president Larry Puls proud, placing second in group two to finish fourth overall.

Saleem McNaught with a win at this year’s nationals in Albany put in a strong performance in group two seniors to win first place before finishing third overall.

Jacob Oborne started the day in group one and raced well to gain third place in the handicap rounds.

From there he gained a place in the finals along with McNaught and Curtis.

Two strong wins in race one and two of the finals gave Jacob Oborne enough points to tie with Hoffman at the end of racing.

After a nervous wait, Jacob Oborne was named the championship trophy winner over his rival on countback.

This was the first time in 26 years the Albany Soapbox Club has brought home the junior and senior trophy’s and one of the few times it has been won by siblings in both junior and senior divisions.

The Albany club will be racing again on October 20 at Apex Drive, Mt Clarence.