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Big Fields & Tricky Weather For TaG Super Series Opener

press release - Series points after round 1 HERE (Excel file). More images on the TaG Australia website HERE.

The TaG Super Series kicked of with a bang at Wollongong. Steady rain in the morning did not deter many.

TaG/Sportsman Heavy was the first class to qualify with local hot shot Adam Hunter first out the gate, head down bum up & looked fast. However Jason Hryniuk proved that your never too old to fire out a hot lap taking his Fireball to pole position. Benjamin Piper & Kris Bail were outstanding qualifying 2nd and third while Hunter and Brett Cowley came in fourth & fifth.

In race 1 Hryniuk won the start but fell into the clutches of Piper & Hunter in turn 2. Hunter pulled a healthy lead for a convincing win. Hryniuk recovered to 2nd. Kris Bail piped Piper while Veteran karting Mik Hazelton recovered from poor qualifying to get up to 5th. Heat two saw Denham Ballantyne show his true speed moving to the lead in the opening lap and never looking back taking the win. Bail piped Cowley for 2nd & 3rd. Vic Roy had a sensational race moving from 8th to 4th. However the drive of the race went to Mathew Endres moving 15th to 5th.

Heat three was a controversial start which saw Colin Hurford, Alex Taylor & John De Gori all go out at the start. Hunter had another top start and cruised to a 4 sec win. In the Final Hunter got a good start and hit the lead from grid 3. While Hryniuk moved to third from 5th. By lap three Hryniuk passed pole sitter Ballantyne for 2nd and was looking to chase down Hunter. Mathew Endres was moving fast picking drivers off one by one. In the end Hunter was too fast taking a strong win from Hryniuk. Ballantyne was third followed by Endres & Piper.

TaG/Sportsman Light had some of the best racing of the day. The two Wollongong specialists Mathew Erdmann & Dion Fischper were out the gate early trading fastest times however it Erdmann that took the pole with Fischper 2nd. O’Toole was very impressive in third followed by Hewitt & Dowton. Best rally driving went to Josh Attard... Heat one delivered interesting results with Erdmann choosing to go out on slicks on a drying race track and Fischper choosing not to race to conserve his wets. Erdmann dropped straight to 7th off the start. Scott Willoughby jumped straight to the lead followed by O’Toole. O’Tooles race soon ended with mechanical failure paving the way for Ethan Dowton. On the last lap Dowton made a move for the lead to take the race. Willoughby came off while trying to defend. Peter Centofani did well to go from 7th to 2nd. Rannard, Ferraro & Farrell make up the top 5.

Mitchell Hewitt made a great start in Heat 2 to take to early lead but I was not long before Erd-mann struck back. Craig Farrell had a tight tussle with O’Toole while Bleaky got the best of Attard in the end. Heat three was a tight start with Fischper squeezing Erdmann off the start. Erdmann took the lead while Hewitt made the move on Fischper. Hewitt pushed Erdmann hard while Fischper continued to look at Hewitt eventually passing him before the chequered flag. Farrel & Ferraro managed to pass O’Toole on the last lap to take 4th and 5th.

In the Final Craig Farrell had all the moves in the opening laps hitting the lead and looking strong. By mid race Erdmann had closed the gap with Hewitt hot on his tail. They both pass Farrell. With 5 laps to go Hewitt hits the lead and takes the win. Erdmann fin-ishes second While Ferraro piped Farrell & Rannard for third.

TaG Restricted Light was another class with an impressive field. Michael Bartley was just too fast in qualifying taking the pole by 7 tenths ahead of Sieders and Hellyer. P plate driver Aaron Winchester surprised the field taking the fourth fastest time. However P Plate drivers still must start form the back. Michael Bartley got the award for the best wet weather lean in heat 1 taking the win from Sieders. After a disappointing qualifying Kyle Sandona charged to third followed by Johnston and Velasco.

In Heat 2 Sieders got the start and lead right to the last lap where Bartley struck and took the win. Ayrton Sastraprajuta had a great drive moving to third in the opening lap and holding it till the end. Robin and Velasco rounded out the top five. Heat three saw Sieders with an¬other great start to take the lead. Bartley follows closely. Johnston and Hazouri also made good starts. Robin and Cogger soon moved forward to take 3rd and 4th. Sieders takes another good win.

The final race was a cracker for TaG Restricted Light. Bartley took the lead with Sieders on his tail closely followed by Velasco & Cogger and Sandona. By mid race Sandona had made a move on Cogger at the end of the straight and then Sieders in Canteen corner. Sandona they went on to take Velasco. By this stage Bartley had pulled a large lead over the rest of the field. At this stage Cogger, Sieders and Robin were having a huge battle for the last podium spot. With three laps to go Sandona had now caught Velasco. Sandona had a look going into pit corner. Velasco tried to cover the cor¬ner and got caught on the marbles handing the race win to Sandona. Velasco second., Bartley third, Cogger took fourth while Villari finished fifth.

TaG Restricted Heavy was missing a few regulars at the first round. It was rumoured that few did not want to get their skirts wet.... Stuart Robertson was a stand out performer in qualifying taking a superb pole. In heat Adam Casuccio’s gamble to take slicks paid off with an easy win. Robertson took second while Ritchie was third. In the second heat it was Tony Bregonje with all the moves working his way forward for the win. Ben Ritchie also moved forward for a good second place. While Beau Levy took third. Bregonje was also fast in heat three taking the lead from heat 1 winner Casuccio with three laps to go. Ritchie, Levy & Osmond completed the top 5.

In the Final Benjamin Ritchie had it all his own way. From third he hit the lead on the first lap and never looked back. Adam Casuccio held third for a while but fell victim to Bregonje who took a strong second. Levy and Bakota rounded out the top 5.Phil Warder gets a special mention for running over a black cat while driving through a mirror which was under a ladder. Better luck next time.:)

TaG Restricted Super Heavy. The big boys were out in force for the first round of the TaG series. Qualifying brought a smile to these boys faces as they love it wet. Shane Tate was simply outstanding in qualifying do¬ing a time that would have put him 5th outright in the heavy class. While David Jones & Steve Lalas were second and third. In heat 1, 2 & 3 Shane Tate was a clear winner finishing well up in the heavy class as well. Hun-gry Bayliff worked his way through the field to finish 2nd in Heat 1 & 2 after looping it in qualifying. Charnock, Garland, Lalas & Jones all shared the minor places in the heats.

However in the final Shane Tate was too fast clean sweeping the weekend and breaking the lap record for Re¬stricted Super Heavy. Steven Lalas worked his way through to 2nd while Bayliff finished third. David Jones Charnock and Garland completed the top six.

Many Thanks to the Wollongong Kart Club for supporting the series and running a great race meeting.

Round two of the TaG Series with be a Lithgow Saturday 27th August.

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