Inter City Group 2009 ROTAX ICC - Round 2

press release

Last weekend, the Cooloola Coast Kart Club played host to an impressive field in the 2nd round of The Inter City Group 2009 ROTAX ICC, proudly presented by French Connection and Playboy Time.

The 2009 Rotax Inter Club Challenge is running in place of last years Queensland Rotax Series and is run under the same qualifying format as last year.   This year the event has expanded to include an Over 35’s division running at 170kg and Jnr Max category that is now an official championship class.

For 2009 the Rotax ICC will visit 5 tracks and will run alongside the Clubman Gladiators ICC. Each of the Senior classes has prize money up for grabs at each round and some seriously cool prizes for Jnr Max.

Round 2 was a stand alone event for the Rotax and Clubman drivers and despite the fact that the Victorian Open was on and it was Mothers Day, the entries for the day were solid.

In Rotax Light, Shae Davies was the only driver to break into the 36’s posting a blistering qualifying time of 36.895, Kyle Ensbey took P2 with a 37.014 and Andrew Gatland secured P3 with a 37.056. In a case of de ja vu a pre final incident saw Kyle Ensbey relegated to the back of the grid for the start of the final which was the same situation he found himself in at Cooloola in 2008.  

Above: Rotax Light podium

Shae Davies and Tyler Greenbury were very strong early and opened up a small gap, Andrew Gatland was chasing hard and was very much in the game until on lap 4 he had a sprocket work loose on his clutch drum taking him out of the race.  On about lap 8 Tyler went for a pass at the top of the straight and Shae Davies closed the door causing both drivers to leave the circuit.  Chad Oldfield who had been consistent all day long must have thought that all his Christmases had come at once, took the lead.  However Kyle Ensbey was having the drive of his life after starting at the rear of the pack worked hard to sit in 4th.  When Tyler and Shae came together this then moved him into 2nd and with only 2 laps to race Kyle managed to get past Chad and drive on to take the chequered flag. Final result was Kyle Ensbey 1st, Chad Oldfield 2nd and Abbey Kellie 3rd.

In the Heavy field Trent Moore had a point to prove after going 200 grams underweight in Round 1 at Warwick.  Trent convincingly secured pole for heat 1 with a 37.824, over a tenth quicker than the next quickest qualifier Jonathan Dwyer in P2 with a 37.934 and in third Joel Allingham with a 37.973. The finals was set to be a showdown between the Moore brothers and Jonathan Dwyer as the three had posted very similar times all day and had raced nose to tail in every heat and the pre-final.  Trent Moore got the lead early and opened up a small gap but Jonathan soon found his rhythm and was knocking on the door, prompting some jostling between Trent and Jono.  Preoccupied with battling it out allowed Lane Moore to get within striking distance of the two and put some passes in.   Jono and Lane then swapped places a couple of times and in the end Lane had the pace to hold Jono out posting the fastest lap time in the final of a 38.031.   However this was not enough for him to be able to catch his brother. Making the Final result Trent Moore 1st, Lane Moore 2nd and Jonathan Dwyer 3rd.

Above: Rotax Heavy podium

Rotax Over 35’s had one of the biggest fields of the day saw Shane Karandrews put his stamp on Qualifying posting a 38.15, Graham Acreman only one 100th behind with a 38.16 and Paul Morandini in P3 with a 38.42.

Graham took the lead early and wanted that $250 cash prize and delivered a super consistent drive he managed to open up a gap on Shane and drive on to take the Chequered flag. Graham Acreman 1st, Shane Karandrews 2nd and David Rotstein 3rd.

Above: Rotax Over 35s podium

In Junior Max we had a taste of what a class this is going to be.   These young drivers were amazing to watch in action.  Jack Howard showing the crowd he is an up-and-coming star posting a time of 37.313 in qualifying a full 3 tenths quicker than P2 James Macken with a 37.644, Hayden Jackson took P3 with a 37.714.

The finals were that close with well over half the field posting times within half a tenth of one another. James Macken was strong early and looked determined to hold the other competitors at bay, however Jack Howard had the pace and made a break and once out in front was unstoppable.  The final result was Jack Howard 1st, Hayden Cooper 2nd and James Macken 3rd.

Above: Junior MAX podium

Points for the interclub challenge will be published shortly. The delay on the points is due to certain competitors not finalising their ICC registration.  If you are one of these competitors please contact Ken Bensley at Kaos Karting and sort out your registration.

Co-ordinator Ken Bensley said “It was great to see such a fantastic turn out and the support for the Rotax Class.  The racing was edge-of-your-seat and it was really great to see the drivers enjoying themselves on and off the track, and in turn delivering awesome racing action for the supporters and spectators. I would personally like to thank Robbie Daniels for all of his work on sponsorship for this years event and without him there would have been no Over 35’s”.

Next round will be at Lismore, the revised date for this round is now the 21st of June

Round 4            Toowoomba Kart Club               19th July
Round 5            Ipswich Kart Club                      2nd August

A big thanks to all our series sponsors Inter City Group, French Connection and Playboy Time, Kaos Karting, Work Force International, Custom Decals, Rotax, Totalkarting.com.au, Concrete Pumps Online, Sensational Surfers, Innode Joinery, Aurora Racing, BPM Construction, the drivers and the members of the Cooloola Coast Club for a great weekend.

For more information on the series contact Kaos Karting on 07 5571 0916.

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