Rochester's September Report

by Hayden Dodman

September gained momentum  for  Rochester Kart Club members with karters  participation in the Australasian Kart Titles at  Numurkah, Eastern Lions Junior Sprints  at Puckapunyal , NSW Zone Series Albury  and at Rochester for the local  club day race meeting.

The month began with a group of members taking the 45 minute drive over to Numurkah for the annual Australasian Kart Titles.  

In Midgets class the club was represented by Reece Sidebottom and Tom Hughes.  The weekend saw a clean sweep with Sidebottom impressively winning the title and bringing home the red plate with fellow club member Tom following in a close second.

In Junior National Light Tom’s big brother, James continued his successful year by crossing the final line in second. In Junior National Heavy Hayden Dodman and Amy Sloan both proved competitive with Dodman coming home strong in a solid 3rd.

Competing in Clubman Light, Chris Dodman didn’t have as good a weekend as his younger brother after being obstructed by a pile up on the first lap which saw him having to retire earlier after only 10 laps into the final.   Clubman Super Heavy saw two club members compete fiercely, Martin Golledge and Peter Sloan both drove on the edge for all 4 races.  Clubman Over40 competitors endured another great learning experience taking on a new track which saw both Kevin Elliott & Wayne Gilligan finishing in the placings in the heats.

The following week Junior karters headed to Puckapunyal for the Eastern Lions Junior Sprints being held at one of the longest tracks in the country.   Justin Perry and Amy Sloan, competing in both Junior National Heavy open class & the C&P class, had never competed on the track before so spent most of the early heats  having to learn to navigate the track. By the end of the weekend Justin finished just short of the top five in the C& P class.

Hayden Dodman had another turbulent meeting.  Although he displayed impressive speed by setting the fastest lap in Junior National Heavy he was unable to keep his kart on the track during the races that counted. Both Hughes brothers, Tom & James were on the pace with both souveniring trophies at the end of the meeting. Tom proudly stood on the podium for Midget Class, having taken the chequered flag in the final in second place while James, competing in Junior National Light, in his sponsored Tony Kart drive, came in forth.  Rising star Reece Sidebottom started his weekend in fine form only to experience mechanical problems going into the final.

The last weekend of the month saw two race meetings run concurrently.  Club Vice President, Martin Golledge travelled across to Albury to compete in the NSW Zone Series.  Smart racing in the Clubman Super Heavy heats proved beneficial for Golledge, being rewarded with the front row of the grid for the final.  However speckles of rain and wrong choice of tyres left Golledge relegated to fourth on crossing the line.

Sunday was also Rochester Kart Club’s monthly club day meeting. The day brought blue skies with gale force chilling winds which didn’t deter dedicated members to display very competitive racing. The Rookies and Midget classes fought  hard all day rewarding  Michael Flynn with  first over the line followed by Kane Simons in second with the club’s newest member,  Sarah Campbell rounding off the top three. Bendigo member Cory Arnett, showed he can prove himself without his father’s presence, winning two of the four Midget races, giving him first place over the line in the final and top points for the day just ahead of Jarrod Roughly and Jaydon Flynn.

Above: (left to right) proudly showing their trophies from Sunday’s Club day meeting:- Rookies Michael Flynn, Kane Simons & Sarah Campbell, Midgets Jaydon Flynn, Jarrod Roughley & Cory Arnett.

The Junior Heavy class was low in numbers but that did not stop competitors   from spectacular racing. Hayden Dodman took the win followed closely by Mitch McLellan with Justin Perry not too far behind in third.

All Clubman classes raced hard seeing Chris Dodman win Clubman light, Darren Smith 1st for Clubman Heavy and Stephen Trahar led the Super Heavys home. A growing field of TAG Restricted competitors never fail to entertain the crowd.  All three podium finishes were taken by visiting Bendigo Club members.  Kaide Lehmann continued his winning streak by taking out first position, followed by Brad Hall in second.  Following a few months break from the sport, Christopher Bortolotto was rewarded with third position.

It was another podium filled month for the small but tenacious country club.  Good luck to all travelling to the upcoming meetings including, Sydney, Wimmera and Swan Hill.

Rochester Kart Club’s next Club day meeting is on Sunday 25th October.  Spectator entry is free.  Any enquiries welcome, contact Andrea McLellan, Club Secretary on 0419 577 092.

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