Hyper Racer's Phillip Island Team Report

press release

Round 3 of the Victorian Superkart Club Series at Phillip Island last month was a mixed bag of results for the Hyper drivers.

The race meeting finished controversially, with the club not counting the 4th heat results due to the race being red flagged after 3 laps. Subsequent reading of the rules confirmed that in fact the 4th heat should have been counted, but at the time of writing, this error has not been corrected by the club. More on this, plus photos from the event and other info, on the Hyper site HERE.

• The light division Hyper drivers were: Dean Crooke, Mark Wicks, Russ Occhipinti, and Shaun Trounson.
• The heavy division Hyper drivers were; Chris Jewell, Patrick Atherton and John Bartlett from South Australia.
• The junior division Hyper driver was; Sean Whitfield from the ACT.

Above: Hyper Racer Heavy driver Patrick Atherton leads the pack
pic - Gary Trounson

With carnage aplenty, Bartlett and Trounson suffered panel damage, Crooke and Jewell got caught up in other people's mistakes, Occhipinti had persistent clutch dramas. Mark Wicks, Patrick Atherton and Sean Whitfield were the only ones to escape relatively unscathed.

At the end of the day, Dean Crooke took the Light Division with 2 wins a second and a 5th, only to have his 4th heat win declared invalid. This then gave the lights win to Peter Gazzolla.

Above: Dean Crooke gaps the field in the new generation MkII Hyper #88
pic - Gary Trounson

Qualifying
Lights- Occhipinti on pole, Crooke 2nd.
Heavy - Jewell on pole. Clarke 2nd.

Race 1.
Lights - Crooke a victim of the carnage at Honda on the first lap. Missed every one. No damage. Rejoins in last place. Wicks, Occhipinti and Colin Moore get through the carnage unscathed and fight it out at the front. Crooke works his way into 5th, passing 22 drivers in 2 laps. Later he is heard to say that it was like playing Super Mario on the Nintendo. Wicks threw it down the inside of Moore under brakes into MG on the last lap. “I knew if he led, there was no way I could stay with him, even in the tow, in a straight line, such was his engine pace, so the only possibility of a win was to lead onto the straight and hope he didn’t catch me before the line – and he didn’t!” Wicks wins from Moore and Aaron Gazzola.
Heavy - McIntyre in front of Cavallin and Jewell

Race 2.
Lights - Crooke drives off into the distance for a runaway win. Peter Gazzola second. Moore third. Trounson was having his best day so far and had a great battle with Stebbing and Wicks, just nabbing Steebing for 6th on the line. Wicks 4th.
Heavy - McIntyre again in front Luneman. Atherton and Clarke crossed the line together, with Atherton a bee's dick in front for 3rd

Race 3.
Lights - Wicks on pole but finishes 5th. Crooke has a great dice with Peter Gazzolla, with Gazzolla taking a fine win by half a kart length. Moore third
Heavy - Atherton and Clarke battle for first. On the last lap, Atherton spins his kart to avoid another at MG. Clarke wins, Michael Smith second, John Bartlett 3rd.

Race 4.
Lights - Close race for the first lap. Then it rains and hails. Crooke drives away. Wicks a strong second. Stebbing third.
Heavy - Atherton hangs onto McIntyre until the rain comes down. McIntyre disappears into the mist for the win. Atherton 2nd.

Junior
Sean Whitfield finished the day with some very satisfactory testing results under his belt.

Home