Junior Top Guns, Round 1

Rnd 1 Wrap Up provided by the commentary team, Luke Dickson and Steve Polak (results on mylaps.com HERE)

Once again the Junior Top Guns kicked off the Victorian karting season at Oakleigh last Friday night.  With approximately 150 entries in all classes the racing was set to be very exciting – the balmy Melbourne evening making conditions superb for a twilight event.

Below are some highlights from the nights racing and don’t forget that Round Two is this Friday!

Midgets
After qualifying on pole Reece Sidebottom has kicked off 2010 in much the same fashion that he finished the '09 season – on top. In the pre final Sidebottom lost the start to Tom Hughes, but had gained the lead by the end of lap one to cruise on to a comfortable victory. Hughes battled late in the race with Dylan Hollis to claim second place.
The start of the final was a carbon copy of the pre final with Hughes once again jumping Sidebottom at the start. Sidebottom again reclaimed the lead and put in another smooth performance to take the chequered flag ahead of Hughes and Hollis. Zane Morse and Blake Graham enjoyed a thrilling battle for the minor positions.

JNH
In Junior Heavy Anton DePasquale made a fine return to racing after breaking his collarbone late last year, taking pole position and victory in the pre final. Matt McClellan battled with Brittany Hall late in the race to claim second position. It was a little further back to Hayden Dodman, Darren Barnes and James Hughes. These drivers put on a good show for the minor positions.
The final was the race of the evening! After the class was initially called in, the restart was a lot more controlled and turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Brittany Hall. Hall appeared to foul on the first roll up attempts, but after the restart was right amongst the action late in the race. Unlike the first race DePasquale was pushed hard for the entire journey, with 6 karts in the mix. Last lap contact between DePasquale and James Hughes saw the pair sidelined entering the carousel. Hall avoided the carnage and lead home McClellan by a mere .048 seconds for victory. Hayden Dodman rounded out the podium in 3rd.

JNL C & P
Junior Light C & P saw class newcomer Blaine Densley take victory in both races from Dale Simpson, the pair battling early in both races but Densley had the late race pace. Nickolas Reisses had a lonely drive for third in the pre final.
In the final the battle for third position went in favour of MKC Monaco driver Matt Lane who had a great scrap with Liam Bellamy for the last half of the race. Matt McLean, also driving an MKC Monaco, took fifth place ahead of Nickolas Reisses.

Formula JMA
Brad Jenner looked to be an early favourite heading into the meeting and after a good qualifying effort ended up having DNFs in both races through no fault of his own. With the three leaders coming together exiting turn one in the pre final, Liam Morey capitalised to then go on and take the win ahead of Scott May and Brittany Hall who had recovered after qualifying 11th.
In the final Morey was able to do it again after fending off pressure from Pierce Lehane all the way to the line. Andrew Petrou took third position ahead of Brittany Hall and Reece Bloomfield.

Rookies
Rookies were the largest field of the evening with a near capacity group taking to the track providing plenty of action. Local ace DP Karts driver Jake Dixon was simply too strong taking wins in both races by over 4 seconds. Liam McClellan and Jordan Boys had a race long battle that allowed Luke Guillo to close late in the race and become involved.
The final was a similar affair early with plenty of passing moves but in the end McClellan won the battle for second ahead of Boys who had to fend off a last minute attack form Jarrod Dwyer.

JNL
The Junior Light pre final was a fierce race between Liam Morey, Blaine Densley and Brad Jenner. The CC Racing trio put on a fantastic spectacle with Jenner taking out the battle from Densley and Morey. Dale Simpson led home Todd Hazelwood and Jake Klein.
In the final the same trio was at it again with race long dicing being executed. Morey was forced to retire on lap 4. Jenner managed to clinch victory again over Densley by a mere .047 seconds. Dale Simpson took third place. This race will no doubt be one of the main spectacles at the Viccy Open.

JNH C & P
Local driver Matt McClellan was unstoppable in the pre final effortlessly driving away from the rest of the field for a comfortable victory. Michael Brennan and Tom Allen battled hard for most of the race with Brennan clinching second place.
In the final many predicted that McClellan would simply romp away with victory. It was not to be as he dropped a chain exiting the dipper early in the race. With McClellan forced to watch from the sidelines attention turned to Beau Hogan who had DNF’d the pre final but was fast carving up the field. Hogan made his way to the lead and then held off a last lap charge from Tom Allen and Michael Brennan.

JUNIOR CLUBMAN
After some good results in Junior Heavy, Anton DePasqulae backed it up in Junior Clubby, taking pole position and then victory in the pre final after fending off a challenge from Daniel Valentini who was forced to retire with two laps remaining. Todd Hazelwood put in a good drive to take second place ahead of Lucas Ward.
In the final DePasquale was simply too strong and drove away from the field to earn three race wins from four starts throughout the course of the evening. Todd Hazelwood applied pressure to DePasquale early but had to be content with second. Lucas Ward rounded out the podium ahead of Daniel Valentini and Teagan Osbourne.

The meeting was fast, incident free and a great omen for next week as well as the upcoming Vic Open. See you there!

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