Back To Back Titles For Bart Price

AKA press release. Chassis info by KartSportNews

Melbourne’s Bart Price successfully defended his Victorian Karting title at the 2008 Victorian Karting Championships in Geelong today.

Price, the older brother of V8 Supercar driver Shane Price, came through the pack in the championship final of the elite Clubman Light category to pull away in the final stages and claim the victory ahead of fellow Victorians Zeke Edwards and Matthew Hayes.

Local driver Aaron Invermee was the leader in the early stages before embarking on a dice for the lead with Leigh Nicoloau. Meanwhile, Price moved past Australian Champion James Sera and then passed Ivermee shortly after.

Price then hunted down Nicoloau before eventually taking the lead and a clear win. Edwards and Hayes moved past Nicolaou on the final lap to make it an all Victorian podium. Ivermee crossed the line in sixth place.

“A total of 54 drivers started the weekend in the category so it was great to be able to come out on top at the end,” said Price, who is now a five-time state champion.

“The racing was very close in the final and it was really a case of just keeping out of trouble and finding a way to the front, once I was there I was determined not to let my hard work go to waste.”

Queenslander Scott McLaughlin continued to repay the faith shown in him by V8 Supercar team Britek Motorsport, who recently named him as a part of its scholarship program, when he led the final of the elite Junior Clubman category from start to finish.

The victory was McLaughlin’s second state championship in his career. He crossed the line well clear of Melbourne driver Luke Rochford as Damien Ward made it three drivers in Australian-made Arrow chassis on the podium.

Adelaide driver Paul Pittam started on pole position for the final of the Clubman Heavy category and led the opening few laps of the 18-lap championship final. Unfortunately for the rising star he was unable to match the pace of veteran driver Matthew Wall over the closing stages as Wall made his way into the lead to claim the 30th state championship of his 15-year karting career.

A total of 464 competitors were in action over the weekend in the 16 championship categories across all ages with nine-year-old Jake Dixon winning the Midgets class and 47-year-old Remo Luciani taking out the Clubman Over 40’s title.

CLASS BY CLASS FINALS SUMMARY

MIDGETS

Joshua Buggy led the first four laps of the Midgets final until Jake Dixon caught and passed the Maranello driver.

The two pulled a significant gap on the rest of the field, leaving Aaron Seton, polesitter Jake Klein, Tyler Morrison and Chris Corbett to fight over third.

Dixon used defensive tactics to take the win and hold out a final lap charge from Buggy, with Tyler Morrison taking third place with a last lap move.

RESULTS: Midgets
1. Jake Dixon (Arrow/Yamaha)
2. Joshua Buggy (Marranello/Comer S80)
3. Tyler Morrison (Arrow/Yamaha)
4. Chris Corbett (Redspeed/Comer S80)
5. Jake Klein (Phoenix/Comer S80)

ROOKIES
Victorian driver Adrian Lazzaro made his way to the front during the opening laps and by mid race had opened a handy buffer as Jonathan Venter and Liam Morey battled for the minor positions.

After exchanging second place on a number of occasions with Morey in his Arrow kart it was Venter who eventually gained the upper hand to cross the line second in his Top Kart.

Tony Kart driver James Hughes and Jake Coleman had a race long battle for the fourth and fifth spots with Hughes taking the honours.

RESULTS: Rookies
1. Adrian Lazzarro (Arrow)
2. Jonathan Venter (Top Kart)
3. Liam Morey (Arrow)
4. James Hughes (Tony Kart)
5. Jake Coleman (CRG)

JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT

Kosmic drivers James Kovacic and Cameron Waters headed the field in the opening stages, while Chris Hays was shuffled back in the first two corners after starting fourth.

Tyler Greenbury then passed both Kosmics on consecutive laps to take the lead in his Tony Kart and the Queenslander immediately pulled a gap of around five kart lengths.

Waters circulated in second while Kovacic, Steven Mackenzie, Matt Brabham and Chris Hays battled behind.

With four laps remaining Greenbury dropped from first to sixth in almost the space of a lap after running wide on the entry to the front straight, returning the Kosmic duo to the lead.

Waters took the win in the end ahead of Kovacic, with Mackenzie pipping a recovering Greenbury for third.

RESULTS: Junior National Light
1. Cameron Waters (Kosmic)
2. James Kovacic (Kosmic)
3. Steven Mackenzie (Phoenix)
4. Tyler Greenbury (Tony Kart)
5. Matthew Brabham (Arrow)

JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY

A frantic start to Junior National Heavy saw early race leaders Caleb Rayner and Joshua de Maio both crash out at Steeline (formerly K-Rock) Corner, and when Aaron Johnstone ran wide only a few corners later coming onto the front straight, Tyler Kramer and Garry Jacobson to battle for the lead.

Jacobson stretched a small break mid-race and was able to hold the gap all the way to the end, ahead of Andrew Rae, Christopher Halesworth, a recovering Johnstone and Ben Stewart.

RESULTS: Junior National Heavy
1. Garry Jacobson (Arrow)
2. Andrew Rae (Monaco)
3. Christopher Halesworth (Arrow)
4. Aaron Johnstone (Monaco)
5. Ben Stewart (Arrow)

JUNIOR CLUBMAN

Two of the favourites in Junior Clubman were removed in an incident at the first corner in Kayne Hughes and James Kovacic, leaving polesitter Scott McLaughlin without two of his fiercest rivals.

McLaughlin, Luke Rochford and Damien Ward were in a group of three for the majority of the race and Garry Jacobson was also in that group until running wide at the Pit Corner and losing ground.

McLaughlin pulled away in the end to take a clear win after dicing early, another big win for the Gold Coaster after winning the same class in the Oakleigh Junior Top Gun Series.

RESULTS: Junior Clubman
1. Scott McLaughlin (Arrow)
2. Luke Rochford (Arrow)
3. Damien Ward (Arrow)
4. Garry Jacobson (Arrow)
5. Lewis Sutherland (Arrow)

SENIOR NATIONAL LIGHT

A four-kart freight train fought hard for the lead in the final of Senior National Light, with Cian Fothergill and Matt Panella working hard all race long to try and stay with the lead group of Ashley Sinclair, Dale Beaton, Thomas Phillips and James May

With two laps remaining Fothergill joined the lead pack, which constantly shared the lead around between them. May held the lead the entire final lap to take a win by only a few centimetres over Beaton and Phillips.

RESULTS: Senior National Light
1. James May (Arrow)
2. Dale Beaton (Arrow)
3. Thomas Phillips (Arrow)
4. Ashley Sinclair (Arrow)
5. Cian Fothergill (Phoenix)

SENIOR NATIONAL HEAVY

Senior National Heavy was one of the smaller fields at Geelong but the field saved its best entertainment until last, turning on an entertaining final with an abundance of slipstreaming and passing.

Brendan Nelson and James May both led many laps in the dice for the lead, but it was Matthew Waters who led the lap that counts, taking the victory in front of a line of karts.

RESULTS: Senior National Heavy
1. Matthew Waters (Arrow)
2. Brendan Nelson (Phoenix)
3. James May (Arrow)
4. Marshall Watson (Monaco)
5. Seb Geritz (Arrow)

CLUBMAN LIGHT

Bart Price successfully defended his Victorian Clubman Light title at Geelong, coming through the pack from seventh on the grid to pull away in the final stages to claim victory ahead of the Phoenix pair of Zeke Edwards and Matthew Hayes.

Local driver Aaron Invermee was the leader in the early stages before embarking on a dice for the lead with Leigh Nicoloau. Meanwhile, Price moved past Australian Champ James Sera and then passed Ivermee at Steeline Corner.

Price then hunted down fellow Arrow driver Nicoloau and eventually took the lead and a clear win. The Phoenix pair of Edwards and Hayes moved past Nicolaou on the final lap to fill the podium.

RESULTS: Clubman Light
1. Bart Price (Arrow)
2. Zeke Edwards (Phoenix)
3. Matthew Hayes (Phoenix)
4. Leigh Nicoloau (Arrow)
5. James Sera (Monaco)

CLUBMAN HEAVY

Matthew Wall won the start from second on the grid in Clubman Heavy, with polesitter Paul Pittam relegated to third in the first corner. The Adelaide driver soon had his Omega kart into second and eventually Pittam passed Wall for the lead.

The two then pulled away from the field with Wall right on the rear bar of Pittam’s kart for lap after lap until regaining the lead with five laps remaining. Pittam tried everything he could to take back the lead but in the end Wall was too strong, taking the win by one kart length.

Peter Lawler broke away from the pack to tae a lonely third place, ahead of Daniel Baker, Jeremy Anderson and Aaron Rintoul.

RESULTS: Clubman Heavy
1. Matthew Wall (Arrow)
2. Paul Pittam (Omega)
3. Peter Lawler (Monaco)
4. Daniel Baker (Monaco)
5. Jeremy Anderson (Monaco)

CLUBMAN SUPER HEAVY

Jason Stania pulled off a popular upset victory in Clubman Super Heavy, beating Scott Simpson home in the final, a man rarely defeated in the class.

Stania started from third and stalked Simpson’s Redspeed around the circuit before making his move down the inside into Independent Group corner mid-race. From there the gap between the two fluctuated between one and five kart lengths as Simpson pushed to get close enough to Stania only for the Victorian to counter with extra pace from his Phoenix kart.

The battle for third was equally intense, with Phil Straughen pipping Nathan Van Hulst by a matter of millimetres across the line.

RESULTS: Clubman Super Heavy
1. Jason Stania (Phoenix)
2. Scott Simpson (Redspeed)
3. Phil Straughen (Arrow)
4. Nathan Van Hulst (Arrow)
5. Samm Harrington (Tony Kart)

CLUBMAN OVER 40s

Remo Luciani took the lead on the opening lap but swapped the top position on the first few laps with Bevan Garioch. The duo was joined by Neil Silke in a battle for the lead that lasted right until the very last lap, Luciani driving a smart and defensive line on the final lap to keep the lead to the chequered flag.

Greg Dicker was forced to start the final from the rear after failing to finish the Pre-Final, the West Aussie showing that he still had the pace of the leaders by driving through the pack to take fourth, one spot ahead of South Australian Simon Layne.

RESULTS: Clubman Over 40s
1. Remo Luciani (Monaco)
2. Bevan Garioch
3. Neil Silke
4. Greg Dicker
5. Simon Layne

LEOPARD LIGHT

James Sera and Hayden McBride shared time in the lead in the opening stages of the Leopard Light final, with David Sera stalking the pair in third.

David Sera made a move on McBride to climb into second on lap 6, but was unable to stop his cousin’s Kosmic from pulling away to take a dominant victory.

Adam Hughes executed a pass on David Sera to take second, the latter turning in a tremendous performance to grab a podium in one of the toughest fields assembled at Geelong, giving the MKC-Kosmic team a 1-2 finish.

Grant Smith was fast in his Tony Kart to grab fourth, unlucky not to figure in the battle for the lead after being shuffled onto the grass at the first corner but putting in a determined recovery to narrowly beat Jason Hryniuk.

RESULTS: Leopard Light
1. James Sera (Kosmic)
2. Adam Hughes (Kosmic)
3. David Sera (Arrow)
4. Grant Smith (Tony Kart)
5. Jason Hryniuk (CRG)

LEOPARD HEAVY

Michael Griffiths and Daniel Stein shared the lead in the opening laps, but it was Nathan Mills that grabbed a race-winning lead with eight laps remaining when Griffiths lost the lead due to what appeared to be a broken throttle cable (later found to be ignition wires arcing out, Griffiths holding the offending items apart and driving one-handed for the last 9 laps - MW).

Griffiths persevered and was rewarded with fourth, while Stephenson’s Phoenix won the battle for the runner-up spot. Local Daniel Richert came from the back of the grid to take third while Rick Pringle was another to come from the back, finishing fifth.

Domenic Albanese made a move down the inside of Daniel Stein for third place into Independent Group Corner on the final lap, only for the two karts to touch, putting both out of the top five with only four corners remaining.

RESULTS: Leopard Heavy
1. Nathan Mills (Top Kart)
2. Hayden Stephenson (Phoenix)
3. Daniel Richert (Arrow)
4. Michael Griffiths (Monaco)
5. Rick Pringle (Arrow)

ROTAX LIGHT

Victorian Troy Woolston won the first state title of the 2008 season by leading home a Intrepid 1-2 in Rotax Light, the first final of the day.

Daniel Rochford and Tom Williamson led the field away from the front row, but Woolston soon moved past the pair to take the lead in the final.

The trio were closely matched over the first half of the race until the CC Racing team-mates Woolston and Rochford pulled away. In the end Woolston was too strong, ecstatic with his win as he crossed the line ahead of Rochford, Williamson, Chris Pratt and Geoff Uhrhane, the latter two close at the end of the race after spending much of the race circulating by themselves.

RESULTS: Rotax Light
1. Troy Woolston (Intrepid)
2. Daniel Rochford (Intrepid)
3. Tom Williamson (Azzurro)
4. Chris Pratt (Arrow)
5. Geoffrey Uhrhane (Arrow)
Results are under Appeal

ROTAX HEAVY

Fastest qualifier Rick Pringle led away in his new CRG chassis and pulled a solid gap back to the battle for second between Brett Davidson, Andrew Torville, Luc Price and Simon Meyer.

It was a CRG quinella in the end as Meyer secured second behind a dominant performance from Pringle on his CRG debut, with Torville claiming third in the final.

RESULTS: Rotax Heavy
1. Rick Pringle (CRG)
2. Simon Meyer (CRG)
3. Andrew Torville (PCR)
4. Brett Davison (Arrow)
5. Luc Price (Arrow)

FORMULA 100

Daniel Richert beat polesitter David Sera into the first corner in Formula 100, before Sera re-established his dominance to take the lead and immediately pulled a gap on Richert’s Tony Kart.

As Sera drove away Richert and Hayden McBride fought over second place, ahead of Matthew Hayes, Domenic Albanese and Aaron Ivermee, who was charging through the field after two engine failures in earlier races.

McBride eventually pulled away from Richert to take second, with Hayes promoted to third when Richert retired with mechanical problems.

RESULTS: Formula 100
1 David Sera (Arrow/Parilla)
2 Hayden McBride (Gillard/Parilla)
3 Matthew Hayes (Phoenix/TM)
4 Aaron Ivermee (Arrow/Parilla)
5 Dominic Albanese (BRM/Vortex)

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