Emerging New Zealand karting star, Matthew Payne has upstaged some of the world’s finest exponents of kart racing on the opening days of the 2019 Gold Coast 600 Race of Stars on Queensland’s Gold Coast - the first official off track event of the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Supercars event next weekend.

The Race of Stars karting event has been locked in to be held on Queensland’s Gold Coast for a seventh consecutive year. The prestigious event will once again be contested at the Xtreme Karting Facility on Queensland’s glitter strip.

Reigning Race of Stars Champion Anthony Abbasse has arrived in Australia ahead of next weekend’s event on the Gold Coast. The Frenchman, who made his Australian debut at the corresponding event last year, arrived in Brisbane earlier this week before spending the past couple of days with Sodi Kart Australia Team Principal John Grother at his Gladstone base.

Frenchman Anthony Abbasse has confirmed he will return to the Gold Coast next month to defend the Race of Stars crown that he secured in 2018. Abbasse, a 12-time French Champion, was victorious on his Australian debut in the corresponding event last year and has got his eyes firmly focused on securing a second Race of Stars Winner’s Surfboard in 2019.