By Grace Jones | posted on January 5, 2018
FIRST appearances are often misleading when meeting someone such as mild-mannered Chris Pavlovich who wears a few different hats in the Mount Barker community.
By day, Mr Pavlovich gives back to his community as the Plantagenet Shire President, but in his own time he’s known in the local speedway community as a fiercely competitive Super Sedan driver.
Mr Pavlovich has muscled his way into contention for the Super Sedan state title this weekend following his hot run of form, including four wins for the series so far.
With an impressive record under his belt for this season alone, it’s surprising to find that Mr Pavlovich has only been in the speedway game for the past seven years.
“I took it up later in life. I’ve not always been interested in cars,” he said.
“One day I just got sick of playing golf and decided to do something different, so I started doing speedway.”
Mr Pavlovich said around the time he was getting bored of the putting green, Mt Barker Speedway was gaining popularity with their resurgence in the Super Sedan division.
“Super Sedans grew exponentially within a few years after a few former state title champions were coming to the club,” he said.
“After that I just got swept up in the excitement.”
Mr Pavlovich admitted to being a competitive person after drawing the comparison between the drastic changes in pace from the boardroom to the racetrack.
“I love the competition first and foremost,” he said.
“But it’s also the way in which the sport brings together friends and family to help push the driver over the finish line that is great too.
“Motorsport is this huge fraternity filled with like- minded people.
“Speedway is definitely more aggressive than being the shire president, which is a more passive occupation.
“But it’s no different to everyone else’s everyday lives with wearing different hats.”
Being a speedway driver is usually associated with a love of cars, but, continuing with the surprising nature of Mr Pavlovich, it’s not the case here.
“I’ve never really been interested in cars. I like my Sweet Motorsport car that I drive, but that’s different,” he said.
“I’ve always been into my off-road motorbikes though, I’ve even travelled to Cambodia and South America doing it.
“I feel like I’m 50 going on 20 when I’m on my motorbike or in my car.”
