Trevor shines in 'Down Under' event

Trevor set off, along with Ian Harrison from Viper Racing UK, as the guest of Sam Zavaglia, the 2009 Australian Superkart Champion.

The Lurgan man raced Zavaglia’s 2009 winning Stockman/Yamaha TZ250.

Trevor and Ian arrived in Australia thinking they would be hiding from the blistering midday sun but it turned out that it was cold and wet, just like home.

A bumper entry of 47 Superkarts, travelling from five Australian states and three international entries, Trevor included, arrived at Phillip Island for the opening round of the Dunlop Australian Superkart Championship. This was the largest field of Superkarts assembled for a national championship round since 2007.

The first day of the meeting was remarkably trouble-free for the Superkarts, with everyone tuning for the beginning of qualifying, everyone that is except for Sam Zavaglia.

The reigning champion spent the day working on tuning the kart of his guest, Trevor Roberts. The team struggled initially to find a set-up that worked for both Trevor and the Stockman chassis, Zavaglia's '09 Championship winning kart.

Zavaglia was itching to be out on the track himself, but for his part Trevor was plainly enjoying himself.

Trevor, who qualified fifth fastest, said: "We made a lot of wrong choices yesterday with the chassis but we seemed to have it dialled in this morning. Qualifying and racing is two different things. As long as you've qualified in the first couple of rows."

In race one Trevor was second and he led for much of race three on a drying track but heading into corner for the final lap a slip up allowed Darren Hossack to pounce and the 2008 Australian Champion led the race for only one corner, the last one.

Trevor is in third place with 64 points after round one of the championship.

He would like to thank his financial supporters, John Dickinson of Euro Concept International, Brian Kennedy of Nilfisk Gerni, Northern Ireland, Adrian Black and John Eastwood of Nutts Corner Circuit.

The flight home was not without drama. Firstly there was a temporarily misplaced passport by Ian and then Trevor's onward flight from Heathrow to Belfast was cancelled due to the reappearance of the dreaded volcanic ash.

The second round of the Australian Superkart Championship will be in Queensland later in the year. Trevor’s appearance again in Australia will be very much subject to available funds.

Trevor will be jetting off today (Thursday) for the next round of the British Superkart Championship at Pembrey, South Wales.