Team Kart Ends Team's Winning Streak
press release
In Motorsport, if you are ever going to be beaten it’s better off being your team-mate than anyone else. At last Sunday’s (May 23) ‘Nanango 8 Hour’, which was the third round of the Powered by Honda ProKart Australia Queensland Endurance Kart Championship, at the South Burnett Kart Track, near Nanango, it resulted in # 50 Team 5150R having their undefeated streak in 2010 broken by their team-mates # 51 Team 5150R.
The ‘Nanango 8 Hour’ had a little bit of everything and the victory honours for the # 51 Team 5150R was never truly in the bag until they greeted the chequered flag at the completion of the 8 hour journey. For the # 51 Team 5150R, which consisted of drivers Steve Prokop, Glenn Firth and ex Formula Ford racer Kyle Wood (pictured, right), this was their maiden victory of the year.
One of the form teams throughout the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’ was the # 661 PDS Grand Prix and they ended up in second place behind the victorious # 51 Team 5150R. After qualifying second, the # 661 PDS Grand Prix team were right up there amongst the front running contenders during the race and they were unable to break through for the winning honours and ended up in a solid second place. For the PDS Grand Prix team this was their second runner up finish from as many rounds in this year’s Queensland Championship.
Heading into the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’ the # 50 Team 5150R were shooting for their third round Queensland Championship victory from as many rounds. Despite qualifying on pole position and dominating the majority of the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’ lady luck wasn’t on their side and they ended up finishing in third place on the podium. The # 50 Team 5150R, which were represented by Ian McMah and Josh Townsend, had built up a lead of nine laps over their nearest rival at the five hour mark and that was when things turned pear shaped for them. Immediately after making their third fuel stop, team driver Ian McMah slowed and it was discovered that they had suffered brake failure. After overshooting the pit entrance at his first attempt to get back to the pit enclosure, McMah had to do another complete lap before the team could go about repairing the problem. The team managed to rectify the initial drama, but then another came around moments later when they encountered another brake issue which consequently saw them spend more time in pit lane and it lost them a total of 13 laps. Determined to fight their way back once they made it back into the race, the # 50 Team 5150R drove strongly and fought their way back to fight their way onto the final spot on the podium in third. In the process of fighting their way back onto the podium they also set record lap times that bettered their qualifying laps.
The # 27 Resisales Racing team narrowly missed out on scoring the final spot on the podium at the completion of the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’. They were unlucky not to have finished third after they were passed by the # 50 Team 5150R in the closing stages and finished back in fourth place, while the # 22 Atlas Racing backed up their good form from the previous round to finish in fifth place.
# 42 KnK Scuderia were awarded the best presented team at the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’.
Both the # 5 Climatrol Racing and # 2 BF Racing are regarded as two of the strongest outfits that currently compete in the Queensland Championship. They unfortunately encountered dramas before the start of the ‘Nanango 8 Hour’ and that robbed them both of a chance to challenge for the winning spoils.
The fourth round of the Queensland Championship is going to be held in conjunction with the second round of the National Championship at the Ipswich Kart Track (Ipswich, QLD) on Sunday, June 13 for the annual ‘Ipswich 24 Hour’.
