Bloody Good Meeting Concludes Ipswich Season
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IPSWICH KART CLUB DECEMBER RACE REPORT, AND OTHER RAMBLINGS, by John Goddard
"GEEZE THAT WAS A BLOODY GOOD MEETING"
These words from the pit crew of one of the competitors summed up the day perfectly. The racing was top shelf right across all classes, the meeting was run like clockwork, the stewards had very little to do and that is always a good sign.
Above: Bodine Antrobus takes on the way to victory in TaG Light. Luke Baldry (6) follows.
pic - apexphoto.com.au
A great team of officials led by Clerk Of The Course Chris Robinson, did a superb job to keep the meeting zooming along right throughout the day and let’s not forget the IKC committee. They and their support staff have done a great job in turning around the fortunes of the Ipswich Kart Club against the current trend of declining numbers and they deserve to be congratulated.
The competitors should also take a bow, over 150 nominated and raced hard and fair, it was a terrific atmosphere and an excellent family day for everyone to wind up the year at IKC.
PACIFIC KARTSPORT SPONSORSHIP
The club would like to thank Dale Verrall for his generosity and support in organising the fantastic prizes for TAG in conjunction with Remo Racing and Arrow Karts. The winner of TAG Light will receive an Arrow Chassis the winner of TAG Heavy an X30 engine, great work Dale.
DECLINING NUMBERS??
Who said "declining numbers"? While there is a small downturn in numbers nationally, the future of karting appears to be safe in the hands of our youth, 10 Junior National Heavy 14 Midgets, 17 Rookies and 22 Junior National Light. It’s great to see so many young people competing, they are the future of this great family sport and at the other end of the spectrum we had big fields of Senior newcomers in Tag Light and Heavy Restricted.
Above: Some grass cutting for Michael Fritz, TaG R Heavy
pic - apexphoto.com.au
WHAT DOES KARTING MEAN TO YOU?
It is not hard to put into words what karting means to the families that participate.
While it is a financial strain at times it is worth the investment.
We get to spend time with our kids most weekends with practice days and race weekends and that continues into adulthood.
It fosters in them many skills not the least of which is driving skills and better prepares them for when they become licensed. It teaches us all the value of friendship and can lead to lifelong relationships. It ingrains in our kids respect for officialdom which is something that is sadly lacking in today’s society (while we were all karting on Saturday and Saturday night, there were 100 arrests for drunken, violent and anti social behaviour in a police crackdown). It educates them in commitment and self control.
We know where our kids are and who their friends are, we watch them grow into adults and become good citizens. It also teaches kids how to compete fairly and within the rules and gives them a self worth they may not have otherwise had. Many of the Senior drivers, parents and pit crews also learn to break old habits and toe the line within the guidelines.
There are not many sports that offer the benefits that karting does.
If you are thinking of getting out of karting, DON’T, the investment will pay off in the long run.
You don't have to aspire to a future in motorsport to race go karts but if you are good enough and have the ambition, this too can become a reality.
Local karter, Chaz Mostert is a prime example; he won the Australian Formula Ford Championship last year and this year is tearing them up in the Fijitsu Series. He has a quiet determination to succeed, and like most true champions he does not have a massive ego and it shows in his racing. He is one of the few to bring the car home in every race this year. Chaz has a very bright future in V8 racing and they have done it on the back of his karting talent and a wing and a prayer, they are “living the dream”.
Over the weekend we had a number of local racers doing their thing at the Sydney Telstra 500 with Kris Walton very successfully racing V8 Utes, Chaz and Scott McLachlan in the top 3 in the Fijitsu Series and Nick Foster in his Porche Carrera Cup race debut with all of them acquitting themselves extremely well.
Congratulations go to Kris Walton, here is his last four weeks of motorsport...
- Nov IKC meeting won TAG Heavy and Clubman Heavy
- Raced V8 utes at Sandown coming from 16th to 1st
- Raced two classes at SA State Titles winning Rotax Heavy
- Raced V8 utes at Sydney Telstra 500 coming 3rd in race 1
Very very busy boy!
Nations Cup
Congratulations go to the triumphant effort of local karters for the role they played in winning the Nations Cup for Australia at the recent Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Abu Dubai.
I believe it was a “first” for Australia and it demonstrates the depth of talent in this country.
From what I understand, we are “the poor relation” when it comes to team support in comparison to karting in Europe and the USA so it magnifies this group of young men’s recent endeavours.
It was an enormous effort from all the Australians but we take our hats off to the local champions in Damien Ward, Brendan Nelson, James Macken and Tyler Greenbury and their respective pit crews, well done guys, your terrific achievements give the local kids something to aspire too.
RACE REPORT
In the November race report I asked the question "where are all the Clubby Light drivers?"
Well guess what, the call was answered by QLD State champion Ben Stewart, Sam Lumsden, Troy Morrissey, Pete Noloth, Christopher Jeffery and a number other very fast racers!
Who could disagree with race caller Geoff Salmon who said during the heat of pre final battle, "you would not see better Clubman racing anywhere in the world, this is a display of superb talent." It was exciting racing and a fantastic exhibition of sustained skill over the four races, it was unfortunate that there could only be one official winner.
Above: Sam Lumsden leads Clubman Light
pic - apexphoto.com.au
The Clerk of the Course commented on how crisp and clean the passing and racing was and said it was a good as he had seen.
Sam Lumsden put in a blinder as did Morrissey and Stewart and the rest of the guys were excellent.
Another class that has been under scrutiny on a national level is Senior National Light and once again there was a “class” field including NSW State Champion James Foster, Club Champion Richard Dimmock, Chris Farkas and among others, the eventual winner and current “Southern Stars” Champion Ethan O'Farrell.
At times Foster must feel like the Blue Plate is a target but he keeps bouncing back for more.
It is great to see the State Champions racing at club level, as Neil Whitley said a few weeks ago, “when the title holders race at club meetings everyone else lifts their performance to compete with them” and that was clearly evident at this meeting.
Above: Senior National Light freight train, Jay Schrodter leading Richard Dimmock, Terry Cobb and James Foster
pic - apexphoto.com.au
MIDGETS
With 14 Midgets on the grid for the last round of the Ipswich Club Championship it was always going to be a competitive day of racing.
Congratulations to Jarrod Costello for not only his 1st race win but also his 1st round victory which gave him fourth overall in the championship.
Cruel blow to Harrison Hoey in the first heat not being able to start due to carburetor issues but coming back to win the next 3 races and taking out the 2011 Title.
Monaco pilot Jai Brown and Intrepid pilot Max Adams had very consistent day with the pair finishing 2nd & 3rd respectively in the Club championship. With new horse power to burn Josh Radford showed 2012 will be a good year for him. Jack Doohan had a mixed day but finishing with a positive result in the final.
Brothers Jace and Declan Matthews from Cooloola showed good speed against the locals with Jace finishing 3rd on the day. There was a great battle with our new comers Oscar Comley, Austin Wells, Wilcox Brothers, Aidan James & Jamie Gillan showing that next year they will all be pushing to get to the front of the field.
Thanks to all the Mums & Dads throughout the 2011 season hope you all return faster again in 2012. A Safe & Happy Xmas to all.
Troy Hoey
Above: Midgets winner, Jarrod Costello
pic - apexphoto.com.au
CLUBMAN HEAVY
Matt Goddard had a great start in the first heat for a tearaway win from Paul Baxter and Steven Gioffre. The latter showed good speed in the reverse grid Heat 2 when he led for two laps but the energy and experience of Goddard again proved too strong.
The pre final was another win for Goddard with Gioffre having his best race of the day pushing him all the way to the line.
Gioffre missed the start in the final when Goddard shot out of the blocks and got a big break from Baxter and Craig Amundsen.
Gioffre will no doubt learn from the “missed start” and showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come and boy, you have got to admire his dad’s passion for racing, it is great to see.
Amundsen found pace in the final to claim a strong second behind Goddard with Baxter third.
Congratulations to Matt Goddard on his 6th consecutive Ipswich Club Championship spread over 4 different categories. It demonstrates his level of commitment to the club.
Above: Clubman Heavy winner Matthew Goddard
pic - apexphoto.com.au
ROOKIES
The rookies had a strong field of 17 entries.
Racing through-out the day was of a high level with many groups having their own individual contests.
Zane Goddard once again showed his superior skills in winning the event. Second in the final was Randy Morgan and third was Greg Gallagher. Several drivers upgraded from Midgets to Rookies with Ryan Schule finishing 6th in the final which was a great effort.
John Finch finished 5th in the final and Damon Ash had a DNF. Liam Thompson in his Intrepid also enjoyed his day and finished his 4 heats. Marc Tulloch in his first meeting off his P's drove very well with a great 8th in the final. All the rookies really drove with great respect for each other.
We thank Alf Capri for sealing exhaust restrictors and we hope next year he will continue his inspection of engines to ensure fair play for all competitors.
All Rookies don't forget the Christmas party Sunday, 11th of December, 10:30 am to 3:30 pm at Lions soccer club, Pine Avenue Richlands.
Martin Sinclair
Above: Rookie winner Zane Goddard
pic - apexphoto.com.au
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
22 competitors, it is great for the club to have that level of participation in a Junior category. As you can imagine, It was very competitive with three different winners from the first two heats and pre final. Heat 1 saw Brock Lannoy take the win and set the fastest lap time with Blake Brooks second and Michael Fabri 3rd.
In some classes there are standouts and in JNL that person was Michael Dwyer who won the day but it was competitive across the board with 7 different placegetters and 3 individual winners over the 4 races.
Above: 1st place in JNL, Michael Dwyer
pic - apexphoto.com.au
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
A good field of 10 lined up for the final round. The first heat saw Nicholas Andrews lead them out with a convincing 7 second win. There was a race long battle for second place between Matthew and Ryan Kennedy which ended in a final corner collision that saw Ryan come home second, Jack AhQuay sneaking through for third and Matthew Andrews fourth.
The second heat and reverse grid saw Thomas Pomroy lead them out till about mid race when Nicholas Andrews took the lead and was never headed. Pomroy and Ryan O’Sullivan battled for second place, with Pomroy taking the position and O’Sullivan third in front of a fast finishing Matt Kennedy in fourth.
The Pre-final was a repeat of earlier races with Nicholas Andrews leading from the start to finish with Matt and Ryan Kennedy in a three way battle with Tom Pomroy for minor places finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.
The Final was a repeat of the Pre-final with Nicholas Andrews a runaway first, Matthew Kennedy second and Ryan Kennedy a solid third on the podium.
Andrew Pomroy
JMAX NEWS
Next year should see good size fields in JMAX as there have been a number of JNL & JNH drivers who have progressed up to the faster JMAX class for 2012.
Some of these drivers include: Michael Fabri, Nicholas Andrews, Aaron Seton, Ryan Kennedy, Thomas Pomroy and Lachlan McHugh.
Ipswich Kart club would like thank the following JMAX drivers for supporting the class throughout 2011 and providing us with some really good racing. We hope to see you all back in 2012: Kyle McGlinn, Jordan Conder, Stephen Appleton, Ashlon Gardner, Carl Kerswell, Michael Fabri, Ryan Sponseller, Jamie Grohman, Kel Farrell, Thomas Pomroy.
Rick Fabri
CLUBMAN LIGHT
Wow what a contest, two heats and pre final, three different winners.
Heat 1 looked like it was going to be a runaway win to Troy Morrissey when he took off to a big lead but his race ended early when he dropped a chain in the aptly named “Chain Break”.
Ben Stewart got the win from Pete Nolloth and after a titanic battle with Sam Lumsden, Christopher Jeffrey came in third.
Heat 2 saw Lumsden and Stewart get a break from the rest of the field with Lumsden taking a narrow win from the Qld Champ with Troy Morrissey rattling home for third.
The pre final saw an exciting duel between Morrissey, Lumsden and Christopher Jeffrey and after numerous lead changes, a very determined Morrissey came out on top of Lumsden with Jeffrey a great third.
The overall winner would be determined by who won the final out of Lumsden, Stewart or Morrisey and with the three making a break from the rest of the field, they settled down to battle it out.
There were numerous lead changes but Lumsden prevailed by 9/ 100ths of a second from Morrissey with Stewart only 7 tenths away in third place, great racing and a excellent example of skill for any juniors watching.
Mike Lumsden
Above: Ben Stewart leads Sam Lumsden, Clubman Light.
pic - apexphoto.com.au
SENIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
This class was hotly contested with the new kid in town, Ethan O’Farrell winning his first meeting as a Senior after a great year in Junior National Heavy.
Heat wins by NSW State champion James Foster, O’Farrell and Chris Farkas set up a great contest for the final. For most of the races you could have thrown a blanket over most of the field with Richard Dimmock, Jay Schrodter and young Terry Cobb all competing for the lead with the eventual winners at different stages.
Dimmock had mechanical issues all day culminating in a DNF in the final but it did not diminish his efforts in winning the 2011 Club Championship once again. O’Farrell and Farkas fought out the final with O’Farrell the hungrier for a win on this occasion but the quality of the field was exceptional and would not be out of place in any company.
TAG 125 LIGHT
Once again it was another good sized and quality field for the final meeting of the year. It was great to see Luke Baldry finish the year at Ipswich after a big year with the Pro Tour series.
There were strong drives from Daniel Sirvent, the Dalby boy Terry Leerentveld, Ross Miller and the new to the senior ranks, Ryan Sponseller, kept everybody on their toes with some good racing.
Holly Patrizi drove very well for third place overall and hard charger Ben Stewart took out second for the day with a win in the final but it was the always fast and ultra consistent Bodine Antrobus who took the honors with three great wins and a second to take the first place trophy and the overall club championship for 2011.
Les Antrobus
TAG 125 HEAVY
Another good field for the TAG classes with the quality of racing and camaraderie amongst the TAG Heavy field increasing to another level! With qualifying on the board, it was set to be a great way to finish the year and Steve Lintott showed some early speed, finding some form again with repair of a broken seat stay to top the qualifying chart. But Steve Lintott had to settle for overall 2nd, not able to hold off IKC Club President Ashley Waardenberg who finally broke through a string of seconds to take this club round win with three 1sts and a 2nd, setting the fastest lap time in the final and crossing the line in convincing form.
Peter Virgulti reflects on a year of racing with the big boys after moving up from TAG Restricted last year: “Every place earned is a victory and is hard work”. Well done Pete, finishing the year with a 3rd in the final round and being named the 2011 TAG Heavy Overall Champion, you're now one of the big boys!
Patrick Mather gets a special mention for his “dozer” driving and gracious apology to the unfortunate Scott Howard.
Next year’s looking to be a great year to race TAG at Ipswich!
Pete Virgulti and Melissa Henderson
Above: Ashley Waardenberg on the way to 1st place, TaG 125 Heavy
pic - apexphoto.com.au
TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT
TaG Restricted Light had a good size field of 19 entrants with Evan Brannock taking the win for the day after a consistent drive with three 2nd places and one first.
Jack Woods showed his talent with two 3rd places, a first and setting the fastest lap time for the day to take out the second placed trophy. With two 1st places and a 7th John Tatnell secured third overall. Ashley Lester although struggling with setup showed his consistency with finishing in the top 5 all day.
Donnelle Waldon
CHRISTMAS PARTY
IKC Christmas Party is on next Sunday, 11th of December, 10:30 am to 3:30 pm at Lions soccer club, Pine Avenue Richlands. Contact the Andrea (club secretary) to book your FREE tickets.
We would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe new year and look forward to seeing you all come back and race next year.
RESULTS
| CLASS | FIRST |
SECOND |
THIRD |
MIDGETS |
Jarrod Costello |
Jace Matthews |
Jai Brown |
CLUBMAN HEAVY |
Matthew Goddard |
Steven Gioffre |
Paul Baxter |
CLUBMAN OVER 40’S |
Paul Allston |
|
|
ROOKIES |
Zane Goddard |
Randy Morgan |
Gregory Gallagher |
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT |
Michael Dwyer |
Ben Wilcox |
Brock Lannoy |
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY |
Nicholas Andrews |
Matthew Kennedy |
Ryan Kennedy |
CLUBMAN LIGHT |
Sam Lumsden |
Ben Stewart |
Troy Morrissey |
SENIOR NATIONAL LIGHT |
Ethan O’Farrell |
Chris Farkas |
James Foster |
TAG 125 LIGHT |
Bodine Antrobus |
Ben Stewart |
Holly Patrizi |
TAG 125 HEAVY |
Ashley Waardenberg |
Steven Lintott |
Peter Virgulti |
TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT |
Evan Brannock |
Jack Wood |
John Tatnell |
TAG RESTRICTED HEAVY |
Nathan Waldon |
Daniel Creed |
Luke Kersnovske |
