Round 3, Victorian Country Series - Cobden

press release

203 entries were received for Round 3 of the Victorian Country Series on June 21 with 13 classes on offer. The weather was quite windy on Saturday with several small showers of rain which gave competitors a cool days practice.

Race day Sunday however, saw the wind and rain disappear totally and a pleasant ‘spring’ type day made way for some fantastic racing.

MIDGETS

Heat 1

22 Karts faced the starter for Heat 1. Danny Carroll (Warrnambool) took the lead on lap 3 after passing the pole marker Dylan Hollis (Geelong). Danny retained the lead to win the 1st heat.
Blake Graham (GKCV) took over 2nd place on the next lap with Jarrod Dwyer (Ballarat) following him through, into 3rd. That was the way the placing’s remained until the last lap when after a close battle Dwyer overtook Graham to take 2nd with Blake 3rd and Chase Wooley (Barossa SA) 4th.

Heat 2

From pole position on the grid Jordan Caruso lead from the start and retained his position throughout the race. Danny and Chase again were up the front, however Tom Hugh (Rochester) who had placed 8th in heat 1 came through to take 3rd on lap 6 behind Danny who finished in 2nd and Chase Wooley again in 4th.

Final Heat
The final was no disappointment to the crowd. With Danny Carroll and Chase Wooley off the front row were in 1st & 2nd positions for the entire race. With Danny leading early and Chase in close pursuit, Chase managed to pass Danny mid-race and with passing moves a plenty was able to maintain 1st place. Blake Graham managed to take 2nd place in the last lap from Danny who then placed 3rd with Jordan Caruso coming home in 4th.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Blake Graham with a 51.319

Midgets Overall Placings:
Danny Carroll 1st, Chase Wooley 2nd, Jordan Caruso 3rd and Blake Graham 4th.

ROOKIES

Heat 1
With a great field of 18 Rookies it was Jake Klien (GKCV) who took an early lead and was not challenged throughout the race. Rhys Wooley (Barossa SA) and Jaidyn Jobe (Mildura) battled it out for 2nd and 3rd place.  Mitch Wilson put on a great show starting from grid 10 working his way up to 3rd place before being overtaken by Jobe who took 2nd in the heat with Rhys Wooley 3rd and Wilson 4th.

Heat 2
This heat was evenly contested early in the race with placing’s changing with each lap.  Mitchell Broome (Mt Gambier) led mid-race before Mitch Wilson took the lead to finish 1st and Broome 2nd. Jake Klein drove another good race starting from grid 9 to finish in 3rd place from Andrew Gameau (Southern SA) in 4th.

Final Heat
The final heat win was not in doubt for Jake Klien who led from start to finish. Rhys Wooley and Mitch Wilson battled mid-race with Jaidyn Jobe. A coming together of karts on canteen corner saw Andrew Gameau and Rhys Wooley having DNF’s with the final placing being Jake Klien 1st, Mitch Wilson 2nd and Jaidyn Jobe 3rd.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Mitch Wilson with a 49.928

Rookies Overall Placing’s
Jake Klien 1st, Mitch Wilson 2nd,Jaidyn Jobe 3rd and Mitchell Broome 4th.


JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT

Heat 1
A fantastic field of 22 Juniors rolled up. Jordan Nicolaou (GKCV) got away to a great start from grid 13 to take the lead in lap 3 and was never headed. Mid-race when racing had settled down drivers were battling it out on the track. Bradley Jenner (Oakleigh), Todd Hazelwood (Southern SA) and Daniel Wiles (Oakleigh) were dicing with positions changing a number of times, in the end we saw Bradley Jenner finish in 2nd, Todd Hazelwood 3rd and Wiles 4th.

Heat 2
This time round starting on the second row on the grid, Jordan Nicolaou proved he had the speed and the ability again to never be challenged for the lead and crossed the chequered flag to take the win. Meanwhile Bradley Jenner had worked his way through the field and by mid-race had taken over 2nd place. Andrew Petrou (GKCV) and Luke Walker (South West) showed their driving skills by finishing in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Final Heat
The final was like a re-run of the heats as Nicolau shined in 1st place early, while Jenner and Petrou followed by Hazelwood in that order from the start. Todd Hazelwood applying the pressure to pass Petrou on the second last lap to take 3rd position relegating Petrou to 4th.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Jordan Nicolaou with a 48.356

Junior National Light Overall placing’s
Jordan Nicolaou 1st, Bradley Jenner 2nd, Todd Hazelwood 3rd and Andrew Petrou 4th.

JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY

Heat 1
14 drivers lined the grid. From early in this heat through to the finish the top half of the placing’s change almost every lap. The front pack of karters being Simon Hodge (Barossa SA), Ash Quiddington (Ballarat), Mitchell Wilmott  (GKCV) and Tony Marakis. At the chequered flag it was Hodge who crossed the line in 1st, with Quiddington 2nd and Wilmott 3rd.

Heat 2
Anton DePasquale (GKCV) started from the front row and held his position for the first half of the race until being passed by Tony Marakis. Ash Quiddington had a good race holding 2nd position for the duration of the race whilst Simon Hodge battled with Aaron Johnstone (Portland) over the last couple of laps fighting for 3rd and 4th places. It was eventually Hodge who won the battle to take 3rd from Aaron.

Final Heat
Tony Marakis again took the lead and was not challenged and held 1st position over the line. Aaron Johnstone moved into 2nd early in the race followed closely by Mitchell Wilmott for about 8 laps until Wilmott made the move and passed Johnstone on lap 9, however Johnstone came fighting back to pass Wilmott on the final lap to take 2ndposition with and Simon Hodge following in 4th.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Simon Hodge with a 49.555

Junior National Heavy Overall placing’s
Tony Marakis 1st, Simon Hodge 2nd, Ash Quiddington 3rd and Mitchell Wilmott 4th.

 
JUNIOR CLUBMAN

Heat 1
Junior Clubman had a field of 14. Mitchell Wilmott (GKCV) led the field for the first three laps with Kyle Rethus (South West) in 2nd and Harley Benson (Hamilton) in 3rd. An exciting race with Kyle managing to pass both Harley and Mitchell on the fourth lap, he then went on to take 1st place with Mitchell finishing 2nd and Harley 3rd.

Heat 2
The pole marker Ash Quiddington (Ballarat) led early only to be passed by Jarman Dalitz (GKCSA). Simon Hodge (Barossa SA) then passed Jarman to take the lead in lap 6. Anton DePasquale (GKCV) was moving through the field to then take 2nd place. Todd Hazelwood (Southern SA) put on a challenging move and took over 3rd place.

Final Heat
This proved too easy for Simon Hodge who led from start to finish.  Anton drove magnificently to come from the 4th row of the grid to 2nd place behind Simon with Todd taking 3rd place.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Jordan Nicolaou with a 44.547

Junior Clubman Overall placing’s
Simon Hodge 1st, Todd Hazelwood 2nd, Mitchell Wilmott 3rd and Anton DePasquale 4th.

SENIOR NATIONAL PRO

Heat 1
Senior National Pro saw a field of 12 competing. Richard Muscat (GKCV) the flyer for the first heat led for the entire race. The minor placing’s saw passing moves aplenty. In the mix was John Dankowski (MtGambier SA), Gemma Deakin (Barossa SA), and Andrew Rae (Geelong).
There was lots of dicing between 2nd, 3rd and 4th places before Andrew Rae who drove excellently from the rear of the grid to finish in 2nd position and John Dankowski 3rd.

Heat 2
Andrew Rae started off pole position and like Richard in the first heat he also led from start to finish. In this second heat the positions did not change with such frequency. Clancy Purdie (ELKC) managed 2nd place with Bradley Anderson (Portland) placing 3rd.

Final Heat
Hot in the mix of drivers there was no stopping Andrew off the front row as he managed 1st place for the heat. Early in the heat Richard Muscatt and Bradley Anderson were battling it out for  2nd and 3rd positions until Clancy Purdie coming from the 3rd row on the grid took over 2nd place in lap 5. Clancy held onto 2nd place with Richard 3rd and Brad finishing the race in 4th place.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Drew Masterson with a 49.857

Senior National Pro Overall placing’s
Andrew Rae 1st, Richard Muscatt 2nd, Bradley Anderson 3th and Clancy Purdie 4th.

CLUBMAN LIGHT 

Heat 1
16 karts faced the starter. Ben Beasley (Ballarat) was quickly into 1st place and led for the whole race to take 1st position in heat 1. Robert Suturkovski (ELKC) held down 2nd place for 3 laps before being passed by Maverick Benson (Hamilton) for the next 3 laps until Wayne Bourke (Oakleigh) came through to take 2nd.  Andrew Carey (ELKC) had worked his way quietly through the field from 13th on the grid to take an incredible 3rd position.

Heat 2
Andrew Carey started from pole position and repeated Ben Beasley’s effort of leading from the first till last lap. Likewise Wayne Bourke took over 2nd after the first lap and remained there till the finish.  3rd place was where the action was between Robert Moore (ELKC) and Declan Sherwell (Portland) who exchanged positions a number of times during the race only to see Robert take 3rd away from Declan on the very last lap.

Final heat
Andrew, Wayne and Robert remained untroubled for the whole race to take 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Daniel Sammut (GKCV) who had a 6th in the first heat and a 4th in the second heat came through to take 4th place after an early dice with Declan.
Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Andrew Carey with a 44.786
Clubman Light Overall placing’s
Andrew Carey 1st, Wayne Bourke 2nd, Robert Moore 3rd and Daniel Sammut 4th.

CLUBMAN HEAVY

Heat 1
The first heat saw a large field of 26 Clubman Heavies and 2 Restricted 125’s take to the track. The race got under way with Richard Muscat (GKCV) taking the lead from Michael Geist (South West). However on the second lap the race was ‘Red Flagged’ which eliminated 6 karts from the race, including Richard. From the re-start Michael took the lead and remained there until the chequered flag. 2nd and 3rd places became a battle between Grant Smith (Oakleigh), Scott Purdie (ELKC) and Scott King (Portland). Grant Smith moved into 2nd mid-race when he edged out Scott King on the second last lap who took 3rd place.

Heat 2
Travis Millar (Oakleigh) who had started the first heat at the rear of the grid had worked his way up to 11th was starting off the front row this time. Travis showed his driving skills and was not troubled and lead the whole race. Kimberley Johnstone (Portland) who started beside Travis followed him all the way and she took 2nd, whilst Grant Smith came from 17th on the grid and gave an excellent drive to finish in 3rdposition.

Final heat
Grant Smith could not withstand a challenge by Travis Miller on laps 5 and 6, but Grant regained the lead again and went on to take the chequered flag. Michael Geist was in the mix early, however when things settled down Millar and Scott King fought out 2nd and 3rd placing’s for the majority of the race. Scott managed to take 2nd place with Travis Millar 3rd. On the last lap Mitchell Cuzens (ELKC) came through from 6th to take the 4th spot.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat for Clubman Heavy was Mitchell Cuzens with 45.491
Fastest Lap in the Final Heat for Restricted 125 was David Arnold with a 46.169

Clubman Heavy & Restricted 125 Overall placing’s
Clubman Heavies: Grant Smith 1st, Scott King 2nd, Travis Millar 3rd and Scott Purdie 4th.
Restricted 125’s: David Arnold (Mildura) won Heat 1 and the final, whilst Trevor Attwood (Ballarat) came 2nd in Heat 1, won Heat 2 and was 2nd in the final.

 

CLUBMAN SUPER HEAVY

Heat 1
With a good field of 16, Nathan VanHulst (Geelong) starting 2nd on the grid had very little trouble moving straight to the front and staying there. Rhys Baxter (South West) moved through the field to take 2nd from Barry Pech (Hamilton) who drove superbly to come from grid 15 and take 3rd position over the line.

Heat 2
Barry led for the first 2 laps only to be passed by Rhys and his club mate Andrew Hayes. Rhys went on to take 1st place from Hayes. Nathan worked hard through the field from 12th to pass Pech mid race to take 3rd.

Final Heat
The Final was almost a foregone conclusion for Rhys who took the lead early and held it to take the chequered flag. Nathan VanHulst and Andrew Hayes battled it out swapping places every lap before Andrew passed Nathan mid-race to take 2nd. Barry started from position 4 and finished in 4th place.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Rhys Baxter with a 46.555

Clubman Super Heavy Overall placing’s
Rhys Baxter 1st, Nathan VanHulst 2nd, Andrew Hayes 3rd and Barry Pech 4th.

 

CLUBMAN OVER 40’s

Heat 1
A field of 17 seniors lined up. Glen Henley (Mt Gambier) off pole led for the majority of the race only to be overtaken by a charging Greg Matschoss (Mildura) and Ken Lampard (Hamilton) on the second last lap.

Heat 2
The next heat saw some new faces. Craig Widgery (Ballarat) Bevan Walker (South West) and Leon Forrest (Wimmera) were all showing their skills. Craig led for the first half of the race before Bevan took over the lead to win. Craig was then challenged by Leon several laps later and could not regain 2nd spot.  Greg Matschoss who won the first heat got caught in a collision of other karts early in the race and unfortunately had a DNF for heat 2.

Final Heat
The last heat got away to a good start with Walker and Forrest setting the pace. Greg Matschoss who was determined to finish this heat after a DNF had passed Craig Widgery to take over 2nd position. Then in lap 3 two of the backmarkers came together which saw the race ‘Red Flagged’.  At this point Greg Matschoss found that his luck had run out completely. As he was rolling into the In-grid after the red flag his motor seized. When the race resumed Bevan Walker took to the lead again followed by Leon Forrest. Craig Widgery moved up to take Greg’s vacated spot in 3rd. The places remained in that order to the chequered flag.  Peter Dunyhoven (South West) finished in 4th place, however he came in underweight and 4th place was taken by Trevor Handley (Geelong).

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Leon Forrest with a 45.940

Clubman Over 40’s Overall placing’s
Bevan Walker 1st, Leon Forrest 2nd, Craig Widgery 3rd and Ron Taylor 4th.

 

ROTAX LIGHT & HEAVY

Heat 1

The Rotax Heavy field of 7 ran at the rear of the Rotax Light field of 3 giving a combined field of 10.
Matthew Graham (Oakleigh) started in pole position led the first 6 laps before Wayne Bourke (Oakleigh) moved in to take over 1st position. Wayne won from Matthew with Broe Shiells (Warrnambool) 3rd. In the Heavy class Scott King (Portland) placed 1st followed by Corey McCullagh (Warrnambool) 2nd and Nathan Van Es (Warrnambool) 3rd.

Heat 2
Wayne Bourke led the field for 5 laps until Broe Shiells moved in take the lead with Matthew Graham 3rd. The Heavy class placing’s were the same as Heat 1. King 1st, McCullagh 2nd and Nathan Van Es 3rd.

Final Heat
In the Rotax Light class, Wayne Bourke again winning from Broe Shiells with Matthew Graham taking 3rd place. The Heavy class saw Corey McCullagh take the win from Scott King and Nathan Van Es 3rd.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat for Rotax Light was Broe Shiells with a 43.713
Fastest Lap in the Final Heat for Rotax Heavy was Corey McCullagh with a 44.142

Rotax Light & Heavy Overall placing’s
Rotax LIght: Wayne Bourke 1st, Broe Shiells 2nd and Matthew Graham 3rd.
Rotax Heavy: Scott King 1st, Corey McCullagh 2nd, Nathan Van Es 3rd and Mitchell Van Es 4th.


 
LEOPARD LIGHT

Heat 1
12 Karters faced the starter for the first heat of Leopard Light. The race settled down quite early in the heat with Reece Kawitzki (Geelong) taking the lead followed by Ben Kilsby (Portland) in 2nd and Mitchell Cuzens (ELKC) finishing in 3rd position.

Heat 2
Dean Foster (GKCV) moved through the field from the second row on the grid to take the lead from Scott Purdie (Geelong) by lap 2. Ben Kilsby made his way through the field from grid 9 to take 3rd place on the last lap.

Final Heat
Ben Kilsby led the race and held his position until lap 8 where Reece Kawitzki overtook for the lead, however on the last lap Kilsby came back to take the win back from Kawitzki and Dean Foster 3rd.

Fastest Lap in the Final Heat was Scott Purdie with a 42.860

Leopard Light Overall placing’s
Ben Kilsby 1st, Reece Kawitzki 2nd Scott Purdie 3rd and Dean Foster 4th.


ROUND 4 of the Victorian Country Series will be held at Ballarat on the 2nd August.

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