Leigh & Fergie Win Charity Enduro
Fergus Symes joined Leigh Nicolaou to win the end-of-year Charity Enduro at Todd Road on Saturday. The pair covered 283 laps in the 4.5hr race.
Numbers were down on previous years (25 starters, whereas in the past it's pretty much been a full grid) but the quality up front was as strong as ever. The top 5 karts all finished on the lead lap with just 42 seconds separating them. There were also less laps under safety car meaning a tougher race for the drivers and three more laps covered than last year.
Matt Wall/Reif Corbett qualified fastest ahead of Jace Lindstrom/Ryan Sanderson, but a long pitstop to fix a broken exhaust mount early in the race tumbled the #15 kart well down the order.
The Lindstrom/Sanderson Armour All kart had also been running up front but dropped a chain after changing gearing during one of the pitstops.
The Frampton family kart of Jaymee and Lachie was very fast, setting quickest lap and having a run in the lead at quarter distance before striking trouble.
The David Sera/Aaron Ivermee machine was never really in contention. A motor drama (later traced to a loose reed valve in their Rotax) saw the team change engines during a pitstop. After losing many laps, and Ivermee (the 2008 winner) very sore after his stint, the kart was eventually parked. The DNF means Deadly's disastrous run at this event continues. He is yet to make it to the end of the race...
Engine wise, the field was made of a mixture of Rotax MAX, Leopard RL and IAME X30s - plus a lone Biland. The engine note of the 250cc 4-stroke stood out above the 125s, but a number of technical dramas saw the Ian Branson/David Catchpole driven Azzurro in pit lane far too often before retiring.
Above: Enduro podium (l to r) Adam Lindstrom/Travis Kodric 2nd, Fergus Symes/Leigh Nicolaou 1st, Brock Green/Adam Willison 3rd. It was the second time in two attempts that Willison has been 3rd. Co-driver Green was 4th last year while Symes/Nicolaou were 10th.
The Frank Fella/Kevin Taylor pairing were deserving winners of the Masters (Over 40) division. The duo overcame problems early in the race with a broken drive sprocket to beat home the consistent Ron Gaw/Rob Cubbin. Previous winnners Mark Wicks/Steve Smythe were on target for the win and a top ten outright until their kart failed to start at their final pitstop.
(full results on mylaps HERE)
Outright
1 Leigh Nicolaou/Fergus Symes (Arrow/X30)
2
Adam Lindstrom/Travis Kodric (Arrow/Rotax)
3 Brock Green/Adam Willison (Kosmic/X30)
4 Jordie Lindstrom/Lee Mitchener (DR Kart/X30)
5 James Sera/Mitchell Cuzzens (Azzurro/X30)
Masters
1 Frank Fella/Kevin Taylor (Monaco/X30)
2 Ron Gaw/Rob Cubbin (Arrow/Rotax)
3 Steve Smythe/Mark Wicks (Arrow/Rotax)
Above: Masters podium with CC Racing vouchers
pic taken by Reif Corbett (oh, and Reif won the tyre changing comp, a full set of MG Reds on and back off the rims in just 1 minute and 6 seconds!)
Damon Strongman won the Junior Pro (National class) enduro, covering 66 laps in the one hour race. Starting from pole, Strongman held P1 for almost the entire distance, only losing the lead for a few laps at the end when Jake Klein threw down a challenge for the win. Strongman pipped Klein at the line ahead of Will Hawkes and Justin Francis. The top 9 drivers all completed the full distance of the winner. Klien also won the Yamaha sponsored random draw for a new engine.
Above: Junior podium with their new Dunlop SL1s.
The Pro Clubman race saw Jordan Nicolaou grab the family's first win of the day beating home Pro Karting drivers Andy Simpson and Phillip Cubbin. A number of the more fancied runners didn't go the full distance, Matt Wall, Sarron Caddy, Leigh Nicolaou and fastest qualifier Jordan Ford all registering a DNF. Stuart Bruckner took home the new Yamaha engine prize.
Above: Pro Clubman podium with their new MG Reds.
