Nelson Solid Amidst Talented Pro Field

press release

Brendan Nelson netted a solid set of results amongst one of the most talented Karting fields assembled in Australia for some time.  The annual Brian Farley Memorial event held at Eastern Creek last weekend featured the Clubman Pro class and attracted 58 entries from around Australia, including more than one multi Australian Title holder.

Above: Brendan Nelson leads Matt Wall in a heat race at Eatern Creek
pic - DRK Team Archive

The Clubman Pro class brought together some of the brightest young Kart stars with some of the sport’s more seasoned and accomplished drivers.  18 year old, Doyle’s Racing Kartsport driver, Brendan Nelson was one of the many that headed south from Queensland for a tilt at this prestigious event.

Qualifying 4th fastest for the weekend on Saturday, Nelson quickly established himself as one of the early front runners.  “We’ve brought two very different chassis for this event and backed-to-backed them in practice on Thursday and Friday to see which was best suited for the Eastern Creek layout,” said Nelson.  “Both were very quick and ultimately it was a toss of the coin on Saturday as to which we were going to run.  In the end we chose the Australian made Monaco.”

pic - DRK Team Archive

Nelson quickly followed up his Top 4 qualifying result on Saturday with a 3rd place from the other 39 event qualifiers in the first 10 lap heat race of the 1.024 Klm Western Sydney circuit.  On lap 3 of the race he set the 2nd quickest lap time of the race with a 43.344 second lap, only 1 / 100th slower than the CRG factory supported driver, Jason Hryniuk.

With the added twist on Sunday morning of an inverted Top 15 grid in the next heat race, Nelson would have to battle his way through what was to be a very tough field.  Starting from position 13, Nelson was bumped back in the opening first 2 laps of rubbing to 19th.  He determinedly fought his way back through over the next 8 laps to finish 11th, effectively picking up a place a lap.

Starting the 12 lap Pre Final from position 8, Nelson knew that he had some work to do to improve his lot for a good start position in the Final.  Clocking the second quickest lap of the Pre Final on lap 9 (only 1 / 1,000th slower than Matthew Waters), went a long way to helping Brendan move toward the front of the grid.  Working with the ever clean and quick NSW driver, Daniel Baker also helped Nelson bank a solid 6th place finish behind Whitmore, Hryniuk, Greenbury, Burns and Waters.

Good results in the Heat races and Pre Final had accumulated Nelson sufficient points to see him start off position 5 in the Final event.  The first attempts by race officials to get the massive 40 Kart field gridded up and away to a clean start were flouted by some competitors.  After 3 attempts, the drivers were returned to the in-grid for a briefing by officials, whilst the juniors took to the track for their final event. 

Back on track for a second time, the Pro Clubman drivers showed just how professional they could be when all 40 of them simultaneously gave a wave as they came down the Pit Straight and rounded the grandstand corner on to the Main Straight to the large crowd assembled.  The Sprintcar like salute, Karting style, was warmly received by the crowd and added yet another level of professionalism to the event and the sport.

The next time around to the Starter, the lights were green and one of the most exciting finals ensued.  Greenbury and Whitmore made a break and got on with it, whilst Hryniuk, Waters, Burns, Nelson, Agland and Baker battled immediately behind, with menacing field following.  Although Brendan had shot to 3rd on the opening lap, he was quickly bumped back to 7th when Agland made a passing move on lap 2 into the 2nd corner.  Once Brendan was pushed wide, a freight train of 4 Karts filled the inside line to the next corner.  Nelson had fought his way back to 6th by lap 9, but began to plateau when his engine started running hot.  Burns picked him off on lap 12 and then a couple of laps later, Agland slipped underneath on the entry to the main straight.  Brendan held on for the following 6 laps to take a well deserved and very credible 8th place in a stellar quality field and hard fought race.

“This is a good result for our Team.  Obviously we always prefer to be on the podium, but we’re happy with a Top 8 finish in our first meeting of the season.  It’s especially rewarding, knowing the depth of national talent here this weekend and to be ahead of the likes of national champion Matt Wall, multi champion Kel Treseder and others like Tim Monte and Ben Stewart,” said Nelson. “Our Team’s sponsors, Harrington Doyle, flew down to watch me race and they were thrilled with the close racing throughout the field.  I’m really looking forward to the coming months of racing.”

Brendan and the DRK Nelson Team were back in Queensland early Monday morning preparing for the upcoming Victorian State Open Championships to be held at Clayton, on 12 / 14 February, 2010.

Above: DRK driver Brendan Nelson # 70 in action last year
pic - Ash Budd, www.photowagon.com.au

Home