Ex-Juniors Run Strong On Senior Debut At Rotax Pro Tour
press release (follow Pro Tour Canberra via Rotax Pro Tour Twitter feed HERE)
Saturday’s heat racing from the Rotax Pro Tour Canberra saw some of the most competitive racing seen at the Fairbairn Park complex. A major focus was on the wet weather that hung around for most of Saturday, until it cleared to a sunny afternoon that gave a number of competitors some relief from the inclement conditions.
Above: Joseph Mawson has dominated the heats of an oversubscribed Rotax Light class. Here he leads Daniel Rochford
pic - Gary Cooper Photography
In the invited Rotax Super Heavy class, Tony Kart driver Bruce Otter dominated all of the heat races and will start the Super Heavy Pre-Final from pole position. Most of the attention was focussed on his rivals, Eddie Ruiz and Greg Williams who provided plenty of action in each of the 14 lap heats. Ruiz will start second in the Pre-Final and Williams in third.
Twenty-two karts entered Rotax Heavy for each of the three heat races and were dominated by Alpinestars Arrow Kart driver, Aaron Rintoul. Rintoul was one of a dozen drivers who threw themselves into the battle for pole in the Pre-Final, along with Australian champion Troy Woolston, Tood Davey, Daniel Stein, Paul Rodgers and Brock Green. Rintoul would eventually dominate all three races and take the Pre-Final pole from Woolston and Davey.
DD2 Masters was a mixed bag in each of the three heats. Tony Prendergast, Hamish Leighton and Dale Verrall have been the men to beat so far this weekend, with plenty of fierce on-track battles providing plenty of entertainment. Prendergast would eventually emerge as the dominant figure, taking two wins and the pole for the Pre-Final from Leighton and Verrall.
The second most subscribed category of the weekend was Junior Max and the amount of emerging talent rising to the top is incredible. The main fight was between Top Kart’s Cam Hill and Kerrick’s Thomas Randle. The pair split the wins between them with Randle winning two of the three races, but it was Hill who would claim pole for the Pre-Final as a result of his win and two seconds. Randle will start second with two heat wins and a fifth in race two. Jake Klein will start third in the Pre-Final.
Rotax Over 40s was an intriguing affair with Nick Karmalis failing to make the start of Heat One, allowing rival Greg Moores to dominate the opening heat. Karmalis bounced back to balance the status quo and win the remaining two heats. But it would be Moores that will start the Pre-Final from pole as a result of his heat one win and two seconds. Karmalis will start from second and Hydro Industries driver Barry Laver from third.
Pro Tour Canberra was becoming a busy weekend for Troy Woolston. Not only was he racing in Rotax Heavy, he was throwing his weight in a very hotly contested battle for DD2. Starting from pole position in each of the three races, he took a win and two seconds to take the pole for the Pre-Final. Sharing the heat wins were Exprit’s Thomas MacDonald and Kosmic’s Damian Ward.
The most hotly contested category of the weekend, Rotax Light, saw an over subscribed field of 35 karts take part in the heat races with only 28 places available for Sunday’s Pre-Final. The heat races would be split into four groups to accommodate the oversubscribed field and what came from it was some very exciting racing.
It was also class where most of the top four Junior Max competitors from last season threw down the gauntlet against many of the senior ranks and shone bright, most notably Joseph Mawson. The Fujistu Cool Arrow Kart driver dominated each of the three heat races he competed in and held off the likes of Daniel Rochford, Trent Grubel, Geoff Connell and Jackson Delamont to claim the pole for the pre-final. Grubel will start second with Delamont third, Geoff Connell fourth and fellow Junior Max graduate Pierce Lehane rounding the top five.
Seven drivers missed the cut for the Pre-Final of Rotax Light. Of those seven included a couple of frontrunners including Sam Breen and Fujitsu Cool’s Renee Gracie.
Racing continues on Sunday from 9am with the Pre-Final of all categories before the Finals this afternoon.
www.rotax.com.au/protour
