Lap Records Tumble At Wollongong
from Mark Horsley (full results on AKA CM:s - choose NSW, then Wollongong)
Wollongong Kart Racing Club hosted the first round of the 2011 Tag Series on Sunday 14th October. The club was excited by the prospect of large fields and despite the rain the karters turned out in force, with over 140 entries.
The day started out to be what was looking like another wet and cold winter race meeting with the tyre changers working frantically. Tacticians grouped together to exchange wet setups over a hot coffee in the canteen of Wollongong City Raceway.
Following an eventful qualifying in the rain, Jason Hryniuk polled in Sportsman Heavy, the day started to turn around and the skies were looking better. Karting World’s Adam Hunter posted a new lap record of 26.502 in Sportsman 125 Heavy and won the final ahead of Jason.
Wollongong Rookie Glen Ormerod stamped his dominance on the day with a clean sweep closely followed by Cody Gillis. A disappointing Senior National turnout saw Michael Cassar return to form in Lights and James Taylor takes out Heavies.
Northshore driver Bryce Davidson took out Clubman Light ahead of Mitch Scullion & Mathew Collins, with the young guns giving Leigh Wright a run for his money.
Tag Restricted Light honours were shuffled around all day with Ben Ritchie becoming the eventual winner.
The old rivalry between Shane Tate & Steve Lalas was reignited in Tag Restricted Superheavy with Shane becoming the winner for the day in the final. Shane also smashed the lap record for Tag Restricted Heavy with a 27.769 lap.
Anthony Wiskich battled tirelessly with Lewis Hodgson & Kyle Bonser for the win in Midgets. Newcomer Shelby Winchester picked up the Clerk of Course encouragement award for putting in a strong effort for the day.
Adam Hunter showed a clean set of heels in Clubman Heavy ahead of Gian Rossi & Michael Hazelton and Darren Gillis’s return to Wollongong Club racing saw him come home with a win in Clubman Superheavy.
A sterling drive by Chris Sandrone in the final wasn’t quiet enough to beat a determined James Duckworth in Junior National Light, but with a few of these drivers now stepping up to Junior Clubman who knows what will happen with the extra horsepower.
Mitchell Hewitt and Mathew Erdmann exchanged places for the lead with Mitchell the victor in the end in Sportsman Light. With a disappointing finish to heat 3, Kyle Sandona had his work cut out for him in the final but he proved his place in the series with a win to Manuel Velasco & Michael Bartley.
Anthony Gamauf won Junior National Heavy coming from the middle of pack in front of Nicholas Lichtenberger & Sarah Collins.
The club would like to thank all those that attended and braved the weather and hope to see you all back. Don’t forget Wollongong is only 40 minutes south of Sydney, most people drive further to work.
Wollongong is again hosting the Tag Super Series with the third round on the 11th September, with a date like that more lap records are certainly set to tumble.
