Phantom Menace The Opposition at Season Finale
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from Ian McMah
Raleigh International Raceway is widely regarded as one of the toughest tests of equipment and competitors in Australian karting, and it proved to be so yet again in the final round(s) of the Queensland and New South Wales Track Safety International ProKart Endurance Championships last Saturday.
Above: Simon Ham put the Phantom Racing entry on pole, and ultimately claimed the Qld Prokart Championship
pic - Ian McMah
A number of teams went into this race with a very real chance of clinching the series titles. In Queensland, Phantom Racing led the #50 kart of Team5150R by a slender margin of 4-points; which equated to less than 1 on-track position. Whoever was in front of the other at the end of the 6-hour race would be the series champion.
Similarly in the New South Wales Championship, KW Racing held a lead over Horsepower Racing and Bell Pipes Racing; with several other teams holding a slender but mathematically possible chance of a series win if circumstances went their way.
With high-temperatures and a lack of recent racing at the venue, the Raleigh circuit offered little grip early in practice, however most were discombobulated to find Phantom Racing almost a second ahead of second placed Team5150R; who themselves were several tenths off the third fastest kart in practice.
Qualifying was held over a ten-minute session at the end of the 2 hour and only practice session and track space was at a premium as all karts endeavoured to outpace the other.
At the end of the 10 minutes it was an all-Queensland front row; Phantom Racing’s Simon Ham taking a commanding pole-position from the #50 Team5150R entry driven by Ian McMah in this session. With 4-points separating these teams in the championship it was clear both were giving everything they had to secure the series win.
The race started at 10am and it was Steve Thompson who took the #152 kart of Phantom Racing to an immediate lead. Pitting at the end of the lap, Steve was an otherwise insignificant 2 kph over the pitlane speed limit and the team ultimately had to serve a drive-through penalty for the infringement; costing them valuable track position.
With a number of front-running teams pitting early, current national series champions KW Racing led the race from the 777 kart of Horsepower Racing. The second KW Racing entry moved into the lead on lap 8 as the front qualifying pair of Phantom Racing and Team5150R fought their way back towards the front after pitting early in the hope of a safety car.
Above: The NSW Prokart Championship went to KW Racing, the team grabbing third in the 6-hour
pic - Ian McMah
On lap 26 the #50 kart of Team5150R had a stub axle shear with Ian McMah at the wheel, the LHF wheel literally flying off the kart and putting him into the tyre barrier on the exit of the ‘flip-flop’.
This brought out the race’s first safety car and effectively negating the time lost by some teams in stopping early, as well as partly overcoming the earlier penalty suffered by Phantom Racing.
As the race continued it became apparent that barring any failure, the event would be contested primarily by Phantom Racing, the 777 entry of Horsepower Racing and both the #86 and #3 karts of KW Racing, with these teams exchanging the lead depending on their strategy and it wasn’t until the final stages of the race that Phantom moved a lap into the lead—a lead they would retain until the finish.
Ultimately though it was Simon Ham and Steve Thompson in the 152 Phantom Racing MS Kart who took a dominant win from HorsePower Racing (777), KW Racing (3), Bell Pipes Racing (23) and the 661 entry from PDS Racing.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Walkos Racing (21), Civic (42), KW Racing (86), Bang Bros Racing (7) and Sam Racing (19).
With their emphatic victory, Phantom Racing won the Queensland Championship in style and in finishing 3rd, the #3 entry of KW Racing clinched the NSW Championship; capping off a remarkable season in which they finished on the podium in all-but-one of the NSW and National rounds.
Full results on mylaps HERE.
The 2012 ProKart championships will commence at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway in February next year.
