Preview: Rotax Pro Tour 4
press release
This weekend, the Rotax Pro Tour heads to the South East Queensland town of Warwick which is fast gaining a reputation as a motorsport capital.
The Morgan Park Raceway started its life as an 800 metre bush track, decades ago. It has since been sealed, extended to around 3 kilometres in length and now regularly hosts national level race meetings such as the Shannon’s Nationals that even includes GT's and international Formula 3.
On the other side of town is the Warwick Kart Club. What was your typical country circuit hosted the Queensland Championships in 1999 and then hosted the same event 12 years later, just a few weeks ago.
After the controversial decision that Ipswich Kart Club would not host the fourth Rotax Pro Tour event of 2011, the Pro Tour Promoters received offers from three alternative circuits, the Cooloola Coast (Gympie) and Toowoomba Kart Clubs generously offered to host the increasingly prestigious event, however it was the Warwick Kart Club that was awarded the right to host the penultimate Pro Tour 4 event of 2011.
The track at Warwick has been extended to just under 1000 metres. It is a superb, fast and flowing circuit that the nation’s best Rotax racers are looking forward to driving on this weekend.
The first three events held at Melbourne, Dubbo and Port Macquarie have been superb; minimal classes, massive laps and brilliant wheel to wheel racing. Particularly in the senior classes of Rotax Light and the super-fast Rotax DD2 two-speed gearbox category.
Victorian Josh DeMaio was in blistering form at the Port Macqaurie Pro Tour event saving his best until the 22 lap final to come charging through to take a dominant win in a classy field that included stars such as David Whitmore, Tyler Greenbury, Macauley Jones and Formula 3 driver Steel Giuliana.
Pacific Kartsport driver Damien Ward is still kicking himself after dominating Port Macquarie in DD2 and will surely be looking for revenge in his home state. After qualifying fastest, winning all three heats and the prefinal, Ward followed home Victorian Jason Pringle by just millimeters over the line. Pringle, with an eye on qualifying for the Rotax World Finals at the Al Ain Circuit in the United Arab Emirates in November will be out to prove his drive was not just a case of good luck.
A full field of the nation’s best juniors will quite simply be trying to beat Joseph Mawson who has dominated the Pro Tour so far this year. Sydney’s Pierce Lehane who was placed third at the 2010 Rotax Max Challenge World Final in Italy, has come the closest so far, but Mawson has been all class on his way to victory in the Pro Tour, including coming from grid 27 to win at Dubbo.
The 993 metre Warwick circuit is on Sandy Creek Road in Allen (just out of the Warwick township) and is a comfortable two hour drive west of Brisbane. The Rotax Pro Tour finals will start at 12pm this Sunday July 24.
If you can’t be there, you can follow all of the track side action on the RotaxProTour twitter feed or Facebook page.