Ipswich Championships, Round 3

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from John Goddard

Karting is alive and kicking in South East Queensland, the weather was perfect at 28 degrees and the competitors came out in large numbers for an awesome day of racing. The racing was frantic on the high speed “short” track, if you missed a beat it was all over, with the leaders gone in a flash. 

I wasn’t around in the heyday of the Ipswich Kart Club but I am told history is repeating itself right now; Ipswich is the beneficiary of large numbers of Karters keen to get on the track and compete. The “heyday” for IKC is NOW!
97 competitors signed up for practice on Saturday so it was apparent the meeting would be very well attended.

Above: Senior National (@ 150kg) winner Richard Dimmock leads Oliver Etter
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

One estimate had the Sunday crowd at around 550 which is huge for any club meeting, it was great to see so many family, friends and pit crew out there in support of their drivers, the atmosphere was fantastic with many strong performances but none better than the comeback kid Bodine Antrobus. 

After a spectacular rollover at the February meeting where his chassis and helmet were written off and he suffered rib damage, he came back on Sunday and comprehensively dominated a strong TAG 125 Light field. All the hard work and testing has paid off.

Ipswich is a very user friendly venue without all the usual “get your trailer out of there” or “racing will not start until the owner of car registration Joe Blo has removed the vehicle”. For the most part, the competitors know what they can and cannot do and behave accordingly.

It is obvious that Karters like to race in big fields with strong competition because on Sunday 194 competitors nominated and when you take into account the Queensland State Titles are on next weekend in Gladstone, it is all the more heartening to see. 

From the participation figures, it is apparent that Ipswich club members take their club championship very seriously and racers from other clubs simply love the strong competition and big fields. 

Once again the meeting was supported by the attendance of Pacific Kartsport, Kaos Karting, Champions Way Kart Supplies and Jon Targett from JT Motorsport, all of them great supporters of the Ipswich Club.

THE STEWARDS REPORT
The stewards, led by Jo Yarwood as Clerk of the Course, ran a very tidy meeting. Driver brief was longer than usual because the stewards took the time to carefully explain how they planned to run the meeting and their expectations particularly for the race starts. 

They also outlined the AKA’s Cyber Bullying Policy, which, to most fair minded people, is a step in the right direction in the fight to protect the rights of individuals and the integrity of the sport.

Subsequently the Stewards were very strict on controlling the race starts and the competitors responded accordingly.  

A pink slip was issued to one competitor for a start infringement when he was charged with accelerating before reaching the control line. It was clear to some spectators that the recipient, who was on pole, was pushed from behind but unfortunately the steward who changed him did not see the lead-up, only the aftermath.

COC Jo Yarwood took the time to further investigate the charge after the pink slip was bestowed on the alleged perpetrator.  On the evidence of the assistant starter, who confirmed that the recipient was pushed from behind by three other karts, the pink slip was withdrawn. The response restored the faith of a veteran karting family.

We all know the stewards are not infallible but we should not dwell on that aspect, instead the focus should be on the myriad of positive decisions they make that benefit us.

There was also a cameo appearance from Chris Robinson to help “whip” everyone into shape and get the meeting rolling and also get himself match fit for the upcoming Queensland State Titles after a recent operation.

Above: Peter Nolloth (51) grabs the lead in Clubman Light with eventual winner, Nicholas Dalton, alongside.
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

THE REAL LEGENDS OF KARTING
I wanted to write about something different for a change so here goes. If you want to know who the real hero's of karting are, read on.......

Karting can be a bit of an obsession, we are always striving to improve ourselves, get that elusive tenth. Think about it for a minute...... who provides us with that opportunity to race or even practice? 

A small group of people from all walks of life who care about our sport enough to give up their weekends, businesses and family life to ensure we get our fix of speed and petrol fumes.  Predominately they are unpaid officials and volunteers who unselfishly giving up their valuable time to ensure that others can compete in their chosen sport.

These people may have started out supporting their own kids but some of them are still going long after the kids have grown up and moved on. Others might be ex competitors who still get a buzz when 30 karts with engines rumbling are rolling up to greet the starter.

They rarely get thanked, they don't get paid, more often than not they are either ignored or worse still, abused. They are regularly criticized if things are not to our liking and because we think we are the stars and we are paying for it, we believe we are justified in giving them a mouthful and venting our disappointment at the end of a not so successful result. 

$60 or $65 is not a lot of money to pay for a great day’s entertainment such as an Ipswich club-meeting that provides big classes and fantastic racing. I personally watch at least 4 classes at each meeting as we have mates competing, it's very entertaining, it's a way of life, many of us live and breathe karting.

Split the entry fee between the three of us, driver (son), support staff (wife) and fantastic pit crew (yours truly) and you can see it is an extremely small price to pay for 10 hours of nonstop action, entertainment, friendship, family time and camaraderie. 

We have "ringside seats" near the hub of all the activity, we see the hustle and bustle of the out grid and especially the in grid when 33 competitors come in after a torrid race all puffing and sweating, some laughing, some swearing, the odd one nursing his nose cone, even the odd blue, a handshake, a back slap, a well done Peter or bad luck mate. 

As they walk past our pit we might hear "you bloody idiot, your son took my boy out, what are you going to do about it?" Then the reply… "Calm down mate, I wasn't the driver out there, I was standing next to you on the fence, I am sure my lad didn't mean it, he's only 7". Dad walks away with tail firmly planted between his legs. It’s not sheep stations but hell, it’s certainly entertaining.

It's a month's worth of fun all compacted into one day and in our case, only around $20 per head.  You cannot even go to the movies for that and who would want to when there is karting to be had.

There is always a small minority of hotheads in our sport and now is the time that they should step back and take a long hard look at themselves. 

Imagine dealing with all that at every meeting and doing it for FREE, I mean to say, their pay is a Hamburger and Coke for lunch. That is real dedication to the sport and how often do we stop and thank them or even say g'day?

None of this first class entertainment would be possible without this small group of unpaid committee members, officials and volunteers who keep turning up for us despite their own personal difficulties and responsibilities. 
The scale of our meetings with nearly 200 entries is somewhere between the average club meeting and a state title, the latter is run over three days plus practice. 

Club meetings are all over in a day and must be utterly exhausting for the officials and volunteers but it’s still almost always service with a smile. Man, what a great job they do and that leads to another question.

Above: The TaG Restricted Heavy boys get hitched - Paul Allston takes a ride on Warren Neinert
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

WHY DO THEY DO IT?
That's a question I could not have answered six months ago but after putting a bit of time into writing a few race reports and in the process, getting to know some of the committee and officials, I now have some insight into what makes these special people tick. 

In most sports and karting is no exception, there are some very genuine and decent people who don’t get a trophy at the end of the day and they certainly don’t get the accolades that the competitors do. 

It's the laconic Aussie way to just toil away in the background year after year with virtually no recognition or thanks but for today, that is going to change.

I believe the majority of the volunteers and officials give their time because they love the sport like we do, they get a feeling of self satisfaction out of seeing the family bond strengthened through the sport, they enjoy watching kids grow up into skillful and useful citizens, this sport produces some very good people. It's a bit like a big family for some of them, it’s the karting community. 

They get a sense of fulfillment even in tough times, they want to see Karters get the same enjoyment out of the sport that they did, so next time you are about to blow up at an official or volunteer, STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MOMENT…. Then turn around and walk away.

A few of the kids will make the grade in motor racing, they achieve the impossible dream and despite all their own and their families hard work, it simply would not have been possible without the hard work of the following people;

• Maureen and Alf Capri (god bless them) 
• Chris Robinson and his stewards
• The canteen ladies 
• The lap scorers
• The scales Marshalls
• The starters
• The grid Marshalls
• The Flaggies
• The club secretary
• President Ashley Waardenberg and his very small committee
• The office ladies
• All the other unassuming people that make a meeting happen 

They are so few, they keep turning up and their efforts should be greatly appreciated by all of us, now it’s time to show our appreciation. 

They need urgent help, on Sunday we had; 

• AKA QLD Treasurer Dennis Neagle who is backfilling as AKA QLD Secretary & Toowoomba Manager, filling in as a starter (thank you Dennis, huge effort).
• Nick Rudzinski, CMS Timing Official popped up to the tower to say hullo to Dennis and didn’t come back down till the racing finished, he assisted Dennis all day, very commendable. 
• Dennis’s brother operating the TrackSA lights.
• Maureen Capri – Membership and Licensing Officer doubling up as timekeeping.
• Ashley Waardenberg – IKC President doing Scrutineering while trying to prepare his kart for racing.
• Andrea McKay – IKC Secretary who brings all these people together by begging borrowing or stealing them, doubling as Race Secretary.
• Alf Capri – IKC Committee - doing TECH.
• Norm Davey – IKC Committee – doing Scrutineering.
• Jo Yarwood – Gold Coast Club Race Secretary – doubling as Clerk of The Course.
• Geoff Salmon there at practice on Saturday taking pre nominations, there on Sunday announcing and race calling as only he can, good on you Geoff.
• Stewards Phil Talbot, Gary Webb and Greg Lloyd, I like your work.

I don’t know how many meetings in a row that I have seen Terry Sheedy doing Tech, I didn’t see him there on Sunday, Terry was probably having a well earned rest before the QLD States.

AND THEY DO IT ALL FOR FREE!

There are probably numerous people I have not mentioned but our thanks go to them as well.

Most of these people do enough work between meetings to make them happen without the extra load of a 15 hour day at a meeting. We need to get behind them and offer some support so anyone who is not participating should get off their backside and offer their assistance, even if it is only once a year. It will benefit all of us in the end. 

If you can help out please email Andrea at secretary@ipswichkartclub.org.au. Ipswich has the CIK meeting coming up on the 15 to 17th June and they need your help.

They won’t like me saying this but Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, these good people are the REAL UNSUNG “STARS OF KARTING”. 

RACE REPORT

CADETS
With 20 Cadets entered for the Sunday meeting including 9 P Platers, there was always going to be some great action throughout the field.

New kart racers Tristyn Martin, Jacinta Hoey and Michael Philp have joined our ranks and raced very well in their 1st meeting. There was plenty of great racing between them and other Ipswich 1st timer Zayd Tones with Rusty Ross and Jett Hopkins. There was a continual battle at the front of the field between Harrison Hoey, Jack Doohan, Jai Brown and Jace Matthews all showing why they are some of the fastest Cadets in the country. 

Just behind the front 4 came the ever improving Oliver Bayliss, Josh Radford and the fastest P Plater of the weekend, Lachlan Hughes. With a couple of incidents in the first 2 heats they all settled down in the pre-final and final with Benjamin Deissler, Austin Wells and Bayley Douglas competing at every corner, also in the mix with them was Jayden & Ethan Wilcox.  After a couple of DNF’s Energy pilot Declan Matthews was continually battling away, getting to the midfield with some good speed. 

Congratulations to Jack Doohan with his 3rd Place at Victorian Open Champions. All points counted and you could drop you worst for the day with final Placing 1st Harrison Hoey 2nd Jack Doohan 3rd Jai Brown. See you all at round 4.
Troy Hoey

Above: A healthy field of Cadets, Jack Doohan (12), Jai Brown (9), Oliver Bayliss (21), Josh Radford (84) etc
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

ROOKIES
18 Rookies lined up at the start of racing with Jasper Winnett taking out the first heat from pole, Randy Morgan was second with Ryan Suhle rattling though the field from grid 16 for third, a great effort considering the short track.

Suhle went on to win the second heat and pre-final but the tables were turned in the final with Randy Morgan grabbing first place from Suhle with Damon Ash a good third. P Plater Jye Hopkins performed solidly all day to finish 14th. The final results were 1st Ryan Suhle, 2nd Randy Morgan with Cameron Shields 3rd. 

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT
It was almost never ending looking down the grid in this class, 33 karts all in a row. Jack Wood came from 23rd to 6th in the first heat and then went on to win the next 3 races from in second place, Nigel Ward. Blake Worboys performed very all day to record a solid third place. It was a huge field, very popular class for newcomers.

JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
Nicholas Andrews completely dominated this class driving away in the first three heats to record strong victories. He was pushed somewhat by Dean Wiegman in the final who came in a strong second. Results for the day were 1st Nicholas Andrews, 2nd a consistent Nicholas Ebzery and 3rd Dean Wiegman.

Above: Junior National Heavy winner, Nicholas Andrews
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

TAG 125 LIGHT
It was clear from the results the positive effect the newly introduced pre -race qualifying had on the racing. There was only one DNF throughout the whole meet for this class and that was due to a mechanical failure. 

With the Rotax Pro Tour on last week-end at Gympie and the QLD State Titles on next week-end at Gladstone; it was surprising to see the class field of 19 Karters line up for the April Fool’s day meet.  It was great to see Luke Baldry back again especially after doing the pro-tour last weekend, also well done to Brett Sinkins on his way to the state titles, Brett put in a very positive performance.  

There was also plenty of action in the mid field with Shawn McNamara, Jack Ross and Ashley Lester dicing throughout the day, great to see guys.  Adam Mercer pumped out some fast laps to push Bodine Antrobus all the way to the very last lap of the day. Bodine ended up taking out the day, Adam Mercer second, Luke Baldry and Holly Patrizi tied for third on points with Matt Goddard ready to pounce in fifth position.
Les Antrobus

SENIOR NATIONAL PRO
Once again there was a very competitive field of Senior National drivers who as always, gave it everything. 
Richard Dimmock showed his true class and a wealth of experience to win the day despite being outgunned in the horse power department. He quite simply out drove the competition.  Oliver Etter showed plenty of pace all day and won the pre-final with James Foster emphatically taking out the final after Dimmock and Jay Schroder got tangled up with one of the mid fielders who looked like he wood be well served to have his brakes checked as they didn’t appear to be working at the end of the straight. It was great nose to tail racing for the most part and as usual, one of the most entertaining classes to watch. 

J MAX
Michael Fabri turned his disappointing results at the Rotax Pro Tour from the previous weekend at Cooloola into four consecutive wins at the 3rd round of Ipswich Club Championships.

Although it was a small field of J MAX made up of Michael Fabri, Mitchell Maddren, Dalton Ellery, Tristan Ellery, Matthew Byrne and Matthew Swile, the battle between the first three competitors kept everyone at the edge of their seats. Mitch Maddren and Dalton Ellery pressured Michael Fabri race after race for first position but Fabri proved to have the advantage on the day.

The track layout also added to the thrill watching these aspiring young drivers soar through those fast corners. 
Rick Fabri

CLUBMAN HEAVY
Once again the old boy Gary Scott won all 4 races, he may be old but he is very very fast and quite cagey. Who knows what secret set up gave him the speed he had but it wasn’t all clean sailing for him. He had a DNF but his luck was in, the chain fell off after the finish line so it did not affect his excellent result for the day. 

Scott Black had a strong meeting with 3 seconds and a DNF followed by a much improved Paul McNeil who came in third for the day. 

Above: Gary Scott leads Clubman Heavy/Over 40s 'combined' ahead of Scott Black
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
Welcome to the new JNL Karters, I would also like to welcome the kids who have moved up from rookies, in particular Thomas Steele, John Finch who had a great day, Zane Goddard who finished second overall and great work to Bryce Fullwood for his close third, well done boys.

What a great field with a total of 27 karts nominating for a club day, well done to all. There were only a few non finishers in each race which demonstrates that the quality of driving was excellent to say the least. The thing that impressed me the most as I walked up the in-grid after each race was the excitement and the sense of achievement that was so apparent among the drivers as they got out of their karts. It didn't matter if you finished first or last, they had fun and that is what karting is all about.

I would like to offer special congratulations to a great son for winning the day, well done Blake Brooks and congratulations to all the other competitors.
 Ron Brooks (Blondie Haulage)

Above: William Brown (31) and Daniel Plant (12) lead this group in Junior National Light as James Wilkins faces the wrong way. John Finch (53) and Cohen Ogilvie (67) take avoiding action.
pic - www.apexphoto.com.au

RESULTS SUMMARY (full results HERE)

CLASS	FIRST	SECOND	THIRD
CADETS	Harrison Hoey	Jack Doohan	Jai Brown
TAG RESTRICTED HEAVY	Michael Gaggie	Craig Holmwood	Kerry Allston
ROOKIES	Ryan Suhle	Randy Morgan	Cameron Shields
TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT	Jack Wood	Nigel Ward	Blake Worboys
TAG 125 HEAVY	Daniel Creed	Scott Howard	Bobby Ervin
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY	Nicholas Andrews	Nicholas Ebzery	Dean Weigman
TAG 125 LIGHT	Bodine Antrobus	Adam Mercer	Luke Baldry
SENIOR NATIONAL @ 150KG	Richard Dimmock	Oliver Etter	James Foster
J MAX	Michael Fabri	Mitchell Maddren	Dalton Ellery
CLUBMAN LIGHT	Nicholas Dalton	Pete Nolloth	Kyle McGlinn
CLUBMAN HEAVY/O 40’S	Gary Scott	Scott Black	Paul McNeil
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT	Blake Brooks	Zane Goddard	Bryce Fullwood

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