The Victorian Superkart Club along with PIARC ran the Vic Superkart Gearbox Championship last weekend (May 17-18) at the fast and flowing Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.  It was wet on Saturday, windy on Sunday and very tough going all weekend for the 22 gearbox drivers who slugged it out for the Championship trophies all weekend.

The Melbourne Superkart Centre team arrived along with many other competitors on the Friday, with James Sera having his first race aboard the Anderson Maverick / KTM machine that has been raced by Roger Polak earlier this year, but had also clocked up many race wins for Jason McIntyre, who has moved on to the 250 Twin class.  Roger jumped into a MR2 Stockman / Kawasaki 250 National kart provided by Troy Grewcock.

Friday's practice saw James leaping right onto the pace and lapping in the 1:43 second bracket. All was going well until the engine seized due to a burst fuel line.  Roger's Stockman had a few problems too, but the team was confident that all would be ok for Saturday's qualifying session.  Also going well on Friday in the National class was VSKC president Rick Setterfield and some fast times were also being set in the Twin class.

Saturday morning was wet as it can get, but despite the soaked track there were some very fast times being set in qualifying. Zip driver Yianni Harpas blitzed the field in the wet to qualify on pole in the 250 International field, nearly two seconds ahead of Stephen Castles in the Stockman and Gary 'Wizzer' Pegoraro in the Anderson machine. 

In the 250 National class pole went to Crispy Racing's David Yuill aboard the Anderson Maverick, with birthday boy Rick Setterfield in second and Marty Latta third on the grid.  Darren Dunn (Topkart) grabbed pole in the 125s ahead of Rodd Conn in his Stockman and Colin Moore also aboard a Stockman 125.

Heat one saw Stephen Castles, Wizzer and Jason McIntyre mixing it up at the front, but they were beaten to first place by a fast charging Yianni Harpas driving the Zip.  In the 250 Nationals James Sera had his first race win aboard the Anderson, with fellow Anderson driver David Yuill grabbing second place ahead of Marty Latta's Stockman Yamaha machine. The top paced 125 was NSW driver John Pellicano (Speedbug) from Darren Dunn and Colin Moore.

That wrapped Saturday's racing up but the club also had a social event that was well supported that evening.  Good food and the odd drink or two was downed as drivers reflected on day one of the Vic Championships. Congrats to Craig Taylor and the club for putting the evening on.  One or two club members made their way to the Isle of Wight later on to continue celebrating a good day's results, or to drown their sorrows after a bad day.  I was in the later category after a few mechanical woes that stopped the Kawasaki kart.

Sunday's weather was a huge improvement and the slick tyres were fitted up ready for a dry race.  Then it rained, five minutes before the race start.  However the drivers still went with the slick tyres as the greasy track dried out a little.  All hell broke loose a few laps later after Anderson driver and all-round good bloke Jason McIntyre left the track at high speed at Lukey Heights and hit the wall.  He got out of his kart on his own but was injured and had to be flown off to hospital.  At time of writing Jason is still in hospital but it sounds like he will be fine after a bit of R&R and bed time.  I'm sure every karter wishes Jason the best as he is truly one of the best blokes in the sport!

After the red flag incident that stopped heat two the race was declared a non-event, having not covered enough laps.  This would make for a frantic final as drivers needed to get maximum points to have a chance at winning the State Championship.  The track was dry for the final and up the front of the 250 Internationals the battle began with Yianni Harpas and Anton Stevens both sharing the lead.  Wizzer was a bit further back, with Steve Castles and Rod Pricket also in the hunt.  Anton and Yianni both had problems that ended their races and this gave Stockman's Stephen Castles a well deserved race win ahead of Rod Prickett's Andreson. Combining the two events saw Stephen Castles as the 2008 250 International Victorian Champion.  Rod Prickett in second place and Yianni Harpas third.

James Sera was out front in the MKC 250 National kart, with Marty's Stockman not far behind.  Dave Yuill and Rick Setterfield touched on the first lap and dropped back.  Dave recovered to grab third spot and that's how they fininshed. James Sera won the 2008 Victorian Championship in the 250 National class from Marty Latta and David Yuill in third. Proving that reliability is as important as speed James Sera also picked up third place overall in the final heat.

In the 125s Darren Dunn came home in fourth spot, which was good enough to hand him the Victorian Championship crown for 2008, with JW Bakker winning the race ahead of Jarred Lethborg and Rodd Conn.

It was great to see some of the tough racing that gearbox karts at Phillip Island produce and if you haven't seen these karts running around you should check them out at the next opportunity.  Well done to Stephen Castles, James Sera and Darren Dunn for brining home the wins!