A1 Engines Report from NSW State Titles
press release
After fine and sunny conditions throughout the practice days, the rain came on race day making it an interesting weekend for all drivers and pit crew.
Seven A1 drivers made the trip up to Tamworth, including Reece Sidebottom, Daniel Valentine, Nick Ellen, Zachary Phillips, Jimmy Golding, Tom Allen and Todd Hazelwood. As the fields were full of strong competition throughout each class, any placing was always going to be a fantastic achievement.
On Friday, qualifying went very well for the team as we saw first Reece Sidebottom qualify in a hard earnt 4th position. We next saw the boys in Junior National Heavy hit the track with Todd Hazelwood just missing out on pole position taking 2nd, Daniel Valentine earning 10th, with Tom Allen in 11th and Zachary Phillips moving into 15th in his first meeting in JNH! Next out was Jimmy Golding. After being quickest in some practice sessions, Jimmy qualified in an impressive 3rd position.
Nick Ellen was the only A1 driver in seniors on the weekend but was entered in three classes! Through Senior National Light Nick made a great effort to qualify in 6th position in some tight competition. After struggling for set-up in Clubman Light, Nick made it up in Senior National Heavy qualifying in 9th position.
Junior Clubman was the last class to hit the track and with Todd Hazelwood topping the time sheets in both sessions putting him on pole. Daniel Valentine qualified a strong 14th position in the top class field.
Come race day and the conditions had a kept everyone on their toes as setup was going to be curtail.
Reece Sidebottom stayed consistent through the heats and in the prefinal. For the final, Reece started in 6th and after a shunt at the start, Reece went back in the pack! After many laps carving his way up through the field, he managed an incredible 4th position! It was a fantastic drive. Well done Slidey!
Junior National Heavy was out to hit the track next and with daunting conditions, anything could happen. Todd Hazelwood was starting 2nd to kart 1 and Daniel Valentine drove magnificent through the heats to eventually score him 5th on the grid for the final! Tom Allen had a bad start to his weekend after two DNF’s but saw him still start near the front after an impressive prefinal. Zachary Phillips also looked in great shape after finishing 14th in the prefinal!
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But it was Todd Hazelwood’s day as he stormed to victory in the 25 lap Final! After the spit hit the track, Todd simply took off! Todd went across the line over 4.8 seconds clear of his closest rival! Todd and the team were over the moon with the result and its Todd second blue plate for 2010!
A1 showed great speed in JNH with Zachary driving a solid final finishing in 8th, Daniel finished 9th and Tommy finished 10th. Great job lads!
Jimmy Golding was next to hit the track starting in a promising 2nd for the final after some awesome driving from the youngster through the heats! Unfortunately Jimmy got a hit from behind at the start of the race bending his axle. As Jimmy started to move back up through the field, horror struck for Jimmy as he come together with another kart ending his race as his dropped a chain in turn 3! Such a shame as it was looking very promising for Jimmy!
Nick Ellen was to have a very up and down weekend in all three classes! In Senior National Light, after two DNF’s, Nick drove the wheels of the karts to finish in a magnificent 7th position from last on the grid in the final! He also had mix of results in Clubman Light after starting 21st for the final; he moved up to a handy 17th in a very strong field of drivers.
But it was Senior National Heavy that Nick showed true skill and speed. After finishing a hard fought 8th in the prefinal, it was time for Nick to shine as he was all over ex national champion for the lead in the final. Nick pushed all the way for 25 laps and finished in 2nd just behind the winner! It was quite a drive. Well done Nick!
With Junior Clubman last to hit the track Sunday afternoon, it was Todd Hazelwood starting on the front row next to kart 1. With difficult weather and with Todd electing to go out on slicks, as the karts formed up, it rained! This was going to be a cracker of a race and with only a handful of karts on wets near the back of the pack, anything could happen!
With Daniel Valentine driving brilliant through the heats, an altercation at the start of the race saw him with a DNF! It was up to Todd to fly the A1 flag as he sat in 2nd for most of the race right behind kart 1. It was only with two laps to go, Todd made his move and looking promising for a win, with only a handful of corners to go, Kart 1 went past Todd leaving Todd only to get past down the main straight! Todd got a fantastic run onto the main straight and went across the line just behind kart 1 finishing only .016 of a second off! Well done to Todd and the team!
Well done to the Tamworth kart Club for hosting a great meeting and well done to all the boys at A1 Engines for the great results!
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