East Coast Title For Gee; Runner Up For Nelson

press release

The PPG Automotive Refinish supported Harrington Doyle Karters, Mitchell Gee and Brendan Nelson brought plenty of crystal ware home from Melbourne for their Yatala based Kartsport team this weekend.

13yo Mitchell Gee celebrating his birthday whilst in Melbourne for the fourth and final round of the Yamaha East Coast Titles, as part of the 2010 CIK Stars of Karting, drove a smart race meeting to collect sufficient points to earn him the 2010 Junior National East Coast Title.

mitchell gee
Above: Mitchell Gee, East Coast Titles winner
pic - Ash Budd, photowagon.com.au

As the current Series Leader going into the round, Gee drove well all weekend.  He qualified 4th and quickly backed that up with two 2nd’s and a 3rd in Saturday afternoon’s heat racing.  An early win in Sunday morning’s PreFinal sent a warning shot to his competitors that he was serious about taking that Title home to the Sunshine Coast. 

Although Mitchell had earned Pole Position for the Final, the DRK Team tactically elected to start him from Rear of Field to avoid opening lap damage to his kart.  He needed to finish the final to earn sufficient points to win the Title.  He made his way through the field to finish 3rd, but most importantly he was crowned 2010 Yamaha East Coast Title Champion for Junior National in the CIK Stars of Karting Series.

Senior Team mate Brendan Nelson was engaged in his own Clubman class battle over the weekend, trying to make up a 13 point deficit from 3rd place in the Series going into the Port Melbourne round.  It’s was shaping up to be a real State of Origin battle between the New South Wales pair of Jason Hryniuk and Daniel Baker taking on Queenslander Nelson to win the Yamaha sponsored drive in Japan later this year.

brendan nelson
Above: Brendan Nelson
pic - Ash Budd, photowagon.com.au

Nelson set a blistering time to qualify 2nd in Saturday morning’s opening gambit.  He quickly made amen’s of his first Heat race 4th place, by backing it up with a win and 2nd place in Saturday afternoon’s Heat racing.
In the rough and tumble of Clubman class racing on Sunday morning, Nelson was relegated to 4th in the 17 lap PreFinal.  He however set the quickest lap of the race on Lap 15 with a 43.897second. 

Starting from P3 on the second row of the grid for the Final, Nelson diced with James Sera, Jason Hryniuk and Sarron Caddy for most of the 21 lap race.  Getting as high as 2nd at one stage mid race, Nelson was unfortunate to find himself 4th and at the wrong end of the freight train when the chequered flag fell.

Nelson’s results on the weekend had allowed him to make sufficient point’s gains to equally tie for 2nd in the Yamaha East Coast Clubman Title with Daniel Baker, behind the Series Champion Jason Hryniuk.

“We’re very happy and excited for the boys and their devoted parents,” said Team Manager, Craig Doyle.  “To have Mitchell win and Brendan as runner-up in the Yamaha East Coast Titles is an awesome result for our Team.  It’s a terrific dividend to all of our Team Partners and Team members for their loyalty and faith in us.  Without the support of Orrcon Steel, Inox Lubricants, PPG Automotive Refinishes, Motul Oils and all of our other wonderful Team Partners, following the 2010 CIK Series Stars of Karting nationally may not have been a reality for us.  They’re ongoing support is invaluable.”

Already back home in Queensland Monday afternoon, the Team is already unpacking, cleaning and re-packing for this weekend’s upcoming Round of the 2010 Supercheap Auto Kart Series at Toowoomba, where Doyle’s Racing Kartsport drivers Brendan Nelson and James Greenwood have been very strong this year in the Clubman Pro class.  Brendan is also competing in the Leopard Heavy class, Mitchell Gee in Junior Clubman and Callum Walker in Junior National Pro.

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