Mawson, Sera & Pringle To Start 3rd At Al Ain

AKA press release

Australians Joseph Mawson, Dave Sera and Jason Pringle have continued their great runs in the 2011 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at the Al Ain Raceway in the UAE overnight.

Joseph mawsonMawson (right) showed superior speed in his final 11-lap heat race to cross the line first, which would have secured the Fujitsu Cool-backed driver pole position for tomorrow’s pre-final. However, unfortunately, he was handed a three second penalty for a starting infringement which saw him relegated to sixth place in the results. As a result of the penalty, he will now start from third position tomorrow.

Pierce Lehane was also running near the front of the field in his final Junior Max heat, only to be pushed off the track by another competitor that saw him drop to 33rd at the finish.

After yesterday’s disappointment, Michael Stewart showed some great speed and ability to carve his way through the field to finish eighth. He then put in the ‘drive of his life’ during the last chance qualifier to charge from 23rd to third and secure a transfer spot to the main event in the process.

Sera also ran strongly during the final Senior Max heat race to lead for the majority of the distance, only to be passed by Ben Cooper on the final lap. The Monster Energy-backed driver crossed the line third and as a result will line up behind polesitter Cooper in tomorrow’s pre-final. Tyler Greenbury’s consistent run has continued and as a result he will line up seventh in tomorrow’s pre-final.

Two Australians were forced to start in the Senior Max last chance qualifier this afternoon, Josh de Maio from pole position (he was equal 28th on points but the countback on qualifying left him outside of a direct transfer) and James Macken from 21st position. De Maio drove a smart race to cross the line second while Macken was left to wonder what could have been after crashing out on lap one.

Brent Coghlan was impressive during his final heat race in DD2 Masters to secure a sixth place finish, as a result he will start 19th in tomorrow’s pre-final.

A last lap pass on Canadian Nicholas Latifi earned Victorian Jason Pringle the final DD2 heat race win with Brendan Nelson crossing the line third. Pringle will start from position three in the pre-final tomorrow. Damian Ward crossed the line fourth in his race to ensure he will starts from 16th the pre-final.

Pre-Final Starting Positions – Australian drivers

Junior Max
3rd Joseph Mawson
20th Pierce Lehane
31st Michael Stewart

Senior Max
3rd Dave Sera
7th Tyler Greenbury
31st Josh De Maio
DNQ James Macken

DD2
3rd Jason Pringle
15th Brendan Nelson
16th Damian Ward

DD2 Masters
19th Brent Coghlan

 

Full results from throughout the event can be found by clicking here. There will be regular updates on the AKA’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/AustralianKartingAssociation) and Twitter Feed (twitter.com/karting_net_au) throughout the week.

Information throughout the week will be posted on the Australian Karting Association’s website – www.karting.net.au with an image gallery found here. The official event website that includes links to results, image galleries from each day of competition along with videos can be found here . The Facebook page for the event is being updated throughout the week here.

Tomorrow’s action can be viewed live on the www.kartracingnetwork.com.

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