Junior Sprint Classic Delivers Again

By Luke Dickson and Steve Polak

The 2009 Junior Sprint Classic has been run and won again for another year at the Hume International Raceway, Puckapunyal. Dicko and Donuts were there again to call the action and provide the run down on the finals action.

* Photo gallery at the bottom of the page: Pictured right (Ash Budd pic) is Champion of Champions winner Chris Hays.

 

Midgets
With the mighty midgets kicking off the action our early prediction for the weekend was that Reece Sidebottom would figure predominantly in proceedings given his form this year. However Sidebottom had an off weekend allowing some fresh faces to pop up at the front of the field. During the final Tom Bennet, Tom Hughes and Giulian Dichiera had a terrific battle that lasted the whole race, Drafting down the long main straight at Puckapunyal was pivotal in the midgets class with Bennet craftily leading the trio home.

Junior National Pro
Junior National Pro was a dominant affair for Shayla Golding. Showing the boys how it is done Golding lead from start to finish and was never challenged throughout the race. Beau Hogan was in the mix early but forced to retire on lap three allowing Phillip Munnerly and Callum Zizek to battle out for the minor positions. Zizek was unfortunately disqualified after the race elevating Liam Sager to third place.

JMAX
With the intermittent weather conditions JMAX was one of the classes where some drivers chose to gamble and run on wets. Tyler McDonald was one such driver who took the risk starting at the front however the rain stayed away allowing the majority of the field to slip by on slicks. With 6 laps remaining Brittany Hall took control of the race, dicing with CC Racing stable mate Liam Morey. Come the final lap 6 drivers were dicing for the lead which ultimately led to contact with three corners remaining, allowing Jaymee Frampton who was positioned fourth or fifth at the time to slip into the lead and take a good win ahead of a recovering Brittany Hall and Liam Morey. Josh De Maio and Nicholas Ellen had featured prominently but were severely affected by the last lap incident.

JNL C&P
Junior National Light C & P was another ‘wets vs. dry rubber’ race. The field was split on tyre choice with Luke Walker and Andrew Petrou coming home first and second respectively on slicks whilst Justin Francis came home in third but was the fastest out of all competitors on the wet tyre. Beau Hogan posted a solid fourth place results after starting towards the rear of the field.

Rookies
In the Rookies show Victorian Champion James Golding led early and stretched a slender lead after working with Lachlan McHugh. With 3 laps to go a 5 way battle for the lead had begun with Golding, McHugh Jordan boys, Mitch Wilson and Damon Strongman all pushing hard. McHugh led home Boys and Wilson after a drag race to the line saw the first four crossed the line within one second of each other.

Junior National Light
Junior National Light was one of the fancied events on the program with all the usual suspects popping up at the front of the field come finals time. Liam Morey, Brad Jenner, Jordan Nicolaou and Brock Plumb battled hard for the entire race distance, unfortunately on the final lap entering the bus stop Nicolaou and Jenner made contact, finishing the race in the sand and allowing Morey to lead home Plumb and Phillip Munnerly.

Junior National Heavy C & P
In Junior National Heavy Michael Brennan drove a superb race to take the chequered flag. Early favourite Matthew McLellan made contact on the first corner and was lucky to continue pushing hard to pass virtually the entire field and recover to second place. If there had been another lap to run McLellan might have snatched the win too. Nils Musaues drove to third place aboard his CRG machine.

Junior Clubman
In the Junior Clubman final which doubled as the qualifier for the Champion of Champions race for the top 24 drivers, Australian Champion Chris Hays proved why he is just that after another faultless drive resulted in victory. Hays was pushed hard the entire race by Adam Marjoram with the pair beating home the rest of the field headed by Aidan Wright by over six seconds. Jordan Ford and Jarrod Egan recovered well after heat race DNFs. Adam Lindstrom and Ricky Capo should have finished higher up but contact cost both drivers momentum with a few laps remaining.

Junior Clubman Champion of Champions
After a short break and minor adjustments to karts the Junior Clubman machines returned to the track for what promised to be another epic battle. Hays and Marjoram continued where they left off but once again Hays had the measure of Marjoram but only just, it was clear that the Marjoram crew had managed to bridge the gap but did not quite have enough to overcome Hays. Aidan Wright came home in third place only marginally behind the two leaders. Adam Lindstrom drove to fourth place after staring out of fifteenth position. Jordan Ford rounded out the top five.

It was a great event and an exciting prelude for the Juniors who will return to the Hume International Raceway, Puckapunyal for the Nationals next year. The club did a superb job of running the meeting and the new clubrooms are looking mighty spiffy. See you at Pucka next year!

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

junior sprint classic
pic - photowagon.com.au

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