Greenbury's Double Attack On CIK
Tweetpress release
Reigning Pro Gearbox champion Tyler Greenbury took on 44 of Australia’s best kart racers across the weekend and was gunning for an astonishing double podium for round 1 of CIK Stars of Karting presented by Castol Edge.
Taking on the massive challenge of competing in two classes simultaneously the Bolt Pro Racing Intrepid pilot’s weekend results have confirmed he is capable to race and win in two elite classes of racing, the KZ2 (Pro Gearbox) and KF1 (Pro Light).
Above: Greenbury in his new Bolt Pro Racing livery aboard his Intrepid/Maxter KZ2 Pro Gearbox machine chased by Jason Pringle and Christopher Hays
pic - Jaimie Baker
Greenbury has put his competitors on notice with a weekend of fastest lap times and consistent race pace that saw all at the event face extreme 40 degree heat at South Australia’s Bolivar raceway.
A double podium was within his reach as he led the KF1 final race until a brake issue caused him to drop back in the pack and then losing his transponder ended the race for him.
Scheduling of the race classes saw him have less than 5 minutes between race events and complete up to 130 race laps each day, undertaking a total of 254 laps in full race mode during Saturday and Sunday.
In the KZ2 final Greenbury started P3 but was unable to get the start he hoped for from the 2nd row of the grid. On Lap 3 Greenbury passed Jason Pringle and went after Kyle Ensbey in 1st, the two matched in speed but Greenbury was unable to pull off another pass, finishing the race in 2nd place.
Greenbury sits in the top 5 places of Championship Points in both race categories, 5th in KF1 and 3rd in KZ2, with a difference of 6 points separating him from 1st place in the Pro Gearbox category behind Ensbey and Pringle.
Greenbury is supported by a small crew at the events, Bolt Pro’s Brian Hicks, his father Pete Greenbury and assisted at this event by former teammate Hayden Jackson. The team understood preparation as well as Tyler’s personal fitness were going to be key to this ambitious two-class campaign.
“We have been working on this race event and our plans for the season for several months and I have been focused and training pretty hard as well,” said Greenbury.
“I have relocated from Toowoomba to the Gold Coast to be closer to the KAOS Karting / Intrepid base to take advantage of opportunities to advance my race career.”
“Overall I think we proved it possible to take both classes on, I can’t fault our prep and approach in the extreme heat and the KF1 races were my first chance to compete in the fantastic new 2012 Intrepid Cruiser M2 chassis. After testing the kart in Queensland I knew it was the best kart I have ever driven.”
“We were very unfortunate not come away with a double podium, but that’s racing, and it definitely gives us unfinished business for the next round in Newcastle in April.”
Greenbury will also shift to the geared DD2 class at Australia’s Rotax Pro Tour series, after taking out the Rotax Light category last year. Rotax Pro Tour next comes to Queensland’s Cooloola Kart Track for round 3 in March, a track Tyler has raced many times before.
In KF3 (Pro Junior) Lachlan McHugh in his 2012 Intrepid Cruiser M2 was also impressive in his first CIK outing.
Qualifying on provisional pole and consistently running with the frontrunners all weekend including fellow-KAOS supported Arrow driver Brock Plumb.
An unfortunate turn 1 incident in the pre-final saw him start the final from P15, making a great start in the final McHugh was able to drive through the pack to take out 6th place and the series Smart Device Powerful Award.
A 2012 shift to Intrepid certainly looks to have paid off for the Gold-Coast teen who has also been training hard in preparation for his race campaigns at CIK, Pro Tour, State and National titles.
