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City of Melbourne Titles

James Sera had done all the hard work in Clubman Light at the City of Melbourne Titles on the weekend. On a brilliant Winter's day, and after winning both heats and the pre-final, Sera was holding a comfortable margin over Macauley Jones in the final with just 4 laps to go.

But then he lost pace, his kart slowing off the corners, allowing Jones, who had himself driven well all weekend, to catch and pass the stricken FA Kart prior to the last corner. "It felt like fuel serge" Sera explained, "but there was still plenty of fuel left" (it was subsequently found to be a loose axle due to grub screws falling out).

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: James Sera (FA Kart) leads Jordan Ford (Arrow), Clubman Light
pic - AF Images/Budd

Fastest qualifier Jordan Ford had led the opening laps after a good shove from Ryan Sanderson at the start. However it wasn't too long before Sera got by and slowly stretched a margin. Ford held on for third ahead of veteran Shayne Piper (now running Light weight) and Jordan Nicolaou.

While he lost out in Clubman, James enjoyed an almost unflustered win in Leopard Light. Adam Willison had been fastest on Saturday, winning both heats after qualifying fastest. But come Sunday, Sera had the edge and, despite getting shuffled from pole back to 4th in the opening lap of the final, soon worked his way to the front for a comfortable win. Unfortunately the final was marred by a huge crash on the last lap when former motor-crosser Joshua King (coincidentally, a James Sera customer) was flipped into the barriers and carted off to hospital for a couple of hours.

Rotax Heavy and Rotax Over 40s shared the track at the same time. Zeke Edwards was undefeated in Heavy. Troy Woolston was 2nd after recovering from a pre-final DNF. Darren Day was the class of the Over 40s. Running as high as 7th outright, he strangely backed off to run closer with some of the other Over 40s.

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Peter Gooch flips out of the Clubman Over 40s pre-final. Glen Chadwick (3) has returned to earth while John Schena (6), Rodney Capuano (31) and Sparky Marquis (76) slip by. What had happened prior to this photo is far more spectacular - but you'll have to wait until the next issue of KartX for the full sequence!
pic - AF Images/Budd

Chris Sanderson led the entire 16-lap final of Clubman Over 40s, but Ian Branson was fastest on track, finishing 0.6s behind after starting 5th. Gavin Harvey was third ahead of fastest qualifier John Pringle. Peter Gooch and Glen Chadwick brushed themselves off after a spectacular pre-final crash to finish 6th and 7th.

Matt Wall picked up two wins; Clubman Heavy and Leopard Heavy. In both categories, Wall engaged in a brilliant scrap with Lee Mitchener, the two regularly passing and re-passing in a display of hard but very fair racing that many other karters could learn by...

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: A class act. Matt Wall (15) and National Champion Lee Mitchener tricycle in Leopard Heavy
pic - AF Images/Budd

The Junior Rotax final was red-flag affected when Joshua Angus hit a flag point. Fortunately he was able to walk to the ambulance on his own two feet. The interuption had little effect on the result, Pierce Lehane simply continuing on his merry way, undefeated all weekend.

The Junior Clubman final was a cracker and it was Justin Francis who got to the end of the 16th lap ahead of the rest. Francis, Anton De Pasquale (who had won everything up to the final), Luke Marquis and Jason LeCocq were embroiled in a thrilling battle late in the race. WA's LeCocq had a small gap over SA's Marquis entering the final lap and the two interstaters appeared to have shown the locals how to do it. But then disaster struck as Marquis made a move for the win that didnt work. Jake Klein ended up second ahead of De Pasquale, Kyle Rethus and a recovering Marquis.

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Junior Clubman winner Justin Francis
pic - AF Images/Budd

DePasquale dominated Junior National Heavy, beating home Damon Strongman and Nicholas Rowe. Strongman made amends in Junior National Light, forcing a last lap pass on Jake Klein. Chelsea Angelo had a strong run to third.

Thomas Prascevic and Zane Morse jumped out to a big lead in the opening lap of the Rookies final which had a lot of congestion in the mid-pack of the 20-kart field. Prescevic went on to win as Rhys Wooley recovered for second.

Deadly Dave Sera was the winner in Rotax Light. Despite being shuffled to 4th in the opening lap, Sera and Josh DeMaio were soon into first and second and held position to the end. Early leader Luke Rochford grabbed third off Macauley Jones with a surprising infield move.

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Wright driver Jordan Caruso on his way to another win in Midgets
pic - AF Images/Budd

Jordan Caruso replicated his state title result to win Midgets, while James Cornfoot took out TaG Restricted.

Final results below; full results on AKA CM:s (choose VIC, then Go-Kart Club of Vic).

Clubman Light: 1 Macauley Jones, 2 James Sera, 3 Jordan Ford, 4 Shayne Piper, 5 Jordan Nicolaou
Jnr National Light: 1 Damon Strongman, 2 Jake Klein, 3 Chelsea Angelo, 4 Thomas Randle, 5 James Golding
Leopard Heavy: 1 Matt Wall, 2 Lee Mitchener, 3 Michael Griffiths, 4 Daniel Stein, 5 Lucas Price
Rotax Light: 1 David Sera, 2 Josh DeMaio, 3 Luke Rochford, 4 Bradley Jenner, 5 Macauley Jones
TaG Restricted: 1 James Cornfoot, 2 Bradley Galgey, 3 Daniel Taormina, 4 Jake Meyland, 5 Bradley Winter
Leopard Light: 1 James Sera, 2 Adam Willison, 3 Jordan Nicholaou, 4 Dean Foster, 5 Tim Holowell
Jnr Rotax: 1 Pierce Lehane, 2 Joseph Burton-Harris, 3 Mitchell Griffin, 4 Luke Marquis, 5 James Golding
Rookies: 1 Thomas Prascevic, 2 Rhys Wooley, 3 Zane Morse, 4 Troy Alger, 5 Luke Guillou
Clubman Heavy: 1 Matt Wall, 2 Lee Mitchener, 3 Leigh Cocker, 4 Richard Muscat, 5 Steven Gawn
Junior Clubman: 1 Justin Francis, Jake Klein, 3 Anton DePasquale, 4 Kyle Rethus, 5 Luke Marquis
Rotax Over 40s: 1 Darren Day, 2 Mark Newman, 3 Andrew Ford, 4 Lucas Burt, 5 Glen Chadwick
Rotax Heavy: 1 Zeke Edwards, 2 Troy Woolston, 3 Brock Green, 4 Christopher Board, 5 Reece Broady
Jnr National Heavy: 1 Anton DePasquale, 2 Damon Strongman, 3 Nicholas Rowe, 4 Dale Cornfoot, 5 Zac Soutar
Clubman Over 40s: 1 Chris Sanderson, 2 Ian Branson, 3 Gavin Harvey, 4 John Pringle, 5 Peter O'Neil
Midgets: 1 Jordan Caruso, 2 Chase Wooley, 3 Cody Brewwczynski, 4 Harrison Hoey, 5 Alec Morse

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Adam Willison put up a tough fight in Leopard Light, but couldn't hold James Sera's pace in the final.
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Junior Clubman podium (L to R) Jake Klein, Justin Francis, Anton De Pasquale
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Rookies form up for the final - Thomas Prascevic (91), Rhys Wooley (96), Dylan Adams (33), Troy Alger (13) and Zane Morse (99)
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: James Cornfoot ahead of Jake Meyland, Bradley Winter, Daniel Taormina, Sean Skinner and Barry Galgey, TaG Restricted
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Rotax Heavy/Rotax Over 40s combined, head into turn 1. Brock Green leads ahead of Zeke Edwards (8), Reece Broady (17) and Troy Woolston (9).
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Luke Rochford cranks in the opposite lock ahead of Macauley Jones, Rotax Light
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Midgets form up on a greasy track for their pre-final, Jordan Caruso (12) and Chase Wooley share the front row with Cody Brewczynski (10) and Harrison Hoey on row two.
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Chelsea Angelo (34) had a strong City of Melbourne Titles in Junior National Light
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: NSW's Pierce Lehane takes victory in Junior MAX
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Rookies podium (L to R) Rhys Wooley, Thomas Prascevic, Zane Morse
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Fujitsu 'Cool' driver Damon Strongman won the JNL final from grid 5. Jake Klein folllows.
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: David Sera leads Luke Rochford and Macauley Jones in Rotax Light
pic - AF Images/Budd

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: The Prizes Lady - Margaret Ulhorn had a bag of karting goodies for every top-3 placegetter
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews

city of melbourne titles 2011
Above: Rhys Harrod, Rotax Light
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews

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