Crooke Wins NSW Non-Gearbox Championship

press release

In the closest championship in recent memory, two of Australia's premier superkart drivers, Dean Crooke and Dalton Rowell have fought out the 2009 CAMS NSW State Championship, with Crooke narrowly beating Rowell to the title.

Crooke (pictured, right), with 3 wins, 3 seconds and a third, claimed the title from Rowell with 2 wins, 4 seconds and a third. In every race only fractions of a second separated the leaders across the line. The finishing gap in one heat was only 1/8000th of a second.

Round 1 EASTERN CREEK - 4 races
The Championship started out as a 3 way fight between Dean Crooke, Alan Dodge and Dalton Rowell.

Alan Dodge was sensational in qualifying puting his Rotax on pole, over a second in front of Rowell and Crooke. Crooke got off to a dodgy start with a mysterious engine miss that plagued his first 3 heats. Finally, 250 GB Champion Warren McIlveen pin-pointed the problem in time for the final and it was all systems go, with Dean winning the crucial final race and Round 1.

Round 2 ORAN PARK GP - 3 races
Mechanically things ran smoothly for Crooke all weekend at the Park with pole (.02 under his own lap record) and .7 quicker than Rowell in 2nd. The racing was tricky with with the curse of a mixed field of gearbox and non-gearbox competitors. Unfortunately a slower gearbox driver hampered Crooke's progress in all 3 races. Crooke also had to resist a massive challenge from Rowell in each race. Crooke still managed to lead almost every race lap, to take 2 wins and a second. Rowell took a stunning second heat win with a big move on Crooke on the last turn of the last lap.

Above: Crooke leads Dalton Rowell

The last and deciding heat was a thriller. Crooke lead with Rowell glued to his tail. On the second run over the bridge, a gearbox driver all but stopped in the middle of the track. As Dean rear ended him, Rowell slipped through to a 2 second lead. Dean, recovered and set about driving the lap of laps to take the 2 seconds back in one lap and catch and instantly re-pass Rowell for the lead. This motivated Rowell, who upped his pace by .5 second a lap and glued himself to Crooke's rear. As they approached the last corner, Rowell, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, hurled his kart down the inside. But this time Crooke was having none of it, executing an over and under maneuver to win the final race and the title by .07 of a second.

Above: David McAdam leads Anthony Gattellaro.

BIG THANKYOU TO:
Wayne and Shauna for their hospitallity at the Horswell resort.
Chris Jewell and the Velocity Managment Group.
David McAdam.

More images HERE

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