Mt Gambier Enduro Festival

words & pics from Marcus Jones

The Mount Gambier Enduro Festival continued to grow as this year saw the 1st Midget Enduro run, and while there were only 4 teams the 72kms (100 laps) and weather conditions brought about some exciting racing over the ANZAC weekend.

Inconsistent rain patches threw an extra element into the mix as teams tried to stick to a strategy.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Broome Bos Racing, winners of Midget Enduro

Team ‘New Kids on the Block’ were the first to come in for their pit stop. Callum Belmonte and Kirby Hillyer are in their very first season of karting and were keen to give it a go, but a mis-reading of the on board timer saw them pit before the official window opened. This meant an extra pit stop for their team and while they drove on, a top result would rely on the misfortune of the other teams.

‘The Bad Boys’ of Jordan Mansell and Sam Baker were in the mix until the rain come back and held them up by a second or two off the leaders pace, which was a battle between ‘Broome Bros Racing’ and Team Arrownaughts.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Kirby Hillyer and a wet track

mt gambier enduro
Above: Sam Baker

The Broome Brothers of Ryan and Mitchell kept a good pace, and along with Coby Trigg and Josh Munn from Team Arrownuaghts, gave the crowd some great racing in the last 20 laps.

As the rain came and went, and the drivers made all of their pit stops Team Arrownaughts had a nice lead, but the Broome Bros had them in their sights. The Broome Bros were on a mission and realised that it wasn’t over and with a 3rd of the race to go put the foot down. Picking up almost a second a lap the crowd grew as they could see the gap getting closer and then on lap 85, Mitchell Broome was able to make his move and took the lead. Mitchell extended that gap and drove on for the win.

Team Arrownaughts finished 2nd, The Bad Boys 3rd and The New Kids on the Block were 4th.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Midget podium

As the juniors packed themselves away the debate for the senior Drivers was slicks or wets. Threatening rain clouds were hanging around, but the track remained dry for the first part of the race.

11 teams all together hit the track with the TaG Lights being the stronger side. It was on from the first corner, with some good racing and a group starting to pull away after the first 10 laps. A light shower made the track greasy and the odd stop/go penalty started to sort out the field. The safety kart also remained quiet in the early stages of the race.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Senior Enduro gets underway

4 teams retired over the course of the race with the first being team ‘RORO TOSSO’. A crook Rotax saw the end of the day for Edward Hodges and Corey McCallagh at lap 121.

As the safety kart came out the restart had all the action as the PD KART CRAFK RACING team got tangled up trying to pick up their position. Their day ended in the bark on the start/finish line.

As the race hit the half way mark, down came the rain. A few minutes of heavy rain soaked the track and saw most karts inspecting the area’s of grass as they went around the circuit.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Safety Kart gets a work out

A dry line started to form, teams managed pit stops and a couple of teams started to pull away and create a handy lead.

As the race wore on, lap 271 saw the end for team GUMBY INTERNATIONAL and the KISS THE PRICE boys called it a day at 290.

By this stage TEAM STIG had pulled away and formed a lead of 8 laps. Drivers Stefan Millard and Nick Gottlewski had done all the hard work and it was up to Stefan to cross the line.

Behind him was the OLD SKOOL team of Kevin Millard and Derrick Rodgers, and while the gap was 8 laps they continued to press on.

The boys from TEAM STIG got to lap 323 when a chain broke on turn 3. As the safety kart was sent out they had an 8 lap buffer to get it fixed and back on track. As the kart returned, the boys went to work but struggled to find a chain that would fit.

Meanwhile the OLD SKOOL boys quickly closed the gap, but as they hit lap 323 trouble stuck in the form of a muffler coming lose, and they to were sent to the pits. TEAM STIG returned to the track on what was the lead lap but came straight back in. As both teams raced to fix their karts and return to the track, the old story of the tortise and the hare came to life, but this story was about the Turtle. Team BUILDING SPEED, whose kart featured a turtle sticker, was driven by Gary Chick and Scott Judd. A consistant drive and some good luck saw the turtle wear down the laps and take the lead and the race.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Kevin Millard leads the field

Team Stigg returned to the track and retained a 2nd place, while the trouble for team OLD SKOOL set them back to 4th allowing last years winners, Team PC ZONE to take 3rd place.

330 laps, 250km in total and it was all fought out both on and off the track in last 10 laps.

The sun set on the Glenburnie track, trophies were presented, teams thanked their sponsors and the talk became focused on next years Enduro.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Winners!

Once again the Mount Gambier Karting Club hosted a fantastic meeting with praise from all involved, and promises of drivers returning.

If you haven’t been involved in an enduro then, you don’t know what your missing out on and with the Midget Enduro set to return next year, the Mount Gambier Enduro Festival really is for the whole family.

Many thanks to all the volunteers on the day, and those drivers who travelled to be apart of the event.

mt gambier enduro
Above: Senior Podium

mt gambier enduro
Above: The Turtle got the job done!

mt gambier enduro
Above: Terry Devlin hands out a stop-go penalty

Final Results

Pos # Team Drivers laps Time

1

42

Building Speed

G.Chick/S.Judd

330

3:53:16.234

2

99

Team STIG

S.Millard/N.Gottlewski

329

3:53:18.896

3

  3

Team PC Zone

I.Thornley/J.D’Onghia/b.Telford

329

3:53:20.299

4

  4

OLD SKOOL

K.Millard/D.Rodgers

329

3:53:36.073

5

  2

WBR

L.Wall/J.Bailey

324

 

6

43

CCP

B.Callaghan/A.Thompson

320

 

7

  7

The Spanish Fighting Chickens

N.Pavan/J.Tynan

288

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DNF

15

Kiss the Price

S.Kissock/C.Price/D.Price

290

 

DNF

  5

Gumby International

D.Rethus/J.Anderson/B.Anderson

271

 

DNF

31

PD Kart Craft Racing

P.Dankowski/J.Batson/A.Cash

143

 

DNF

24

Roro Tosso

C.McCallagh/E.Hodges

121

 

mt gambier enduro
Above: Team STIGs Stefan Millard

mt gambier enduro
Above: Action in the pits, where races can be won or lost

Home

© kartsportnews.com