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South East Queensland J-Max Series Round 1

  14 February 2013

by Geoff Salmon, Sportsvoice

Warwick was the venue for the first round of the Series and sixteen drivers (including one young lady – Sheridan Vroegop in the #8 kart) the other fifteen including Michael Fabri (#14) (Dad Rick working overtime, along with Mum, Brenda and assistance from Troy Bretherton) Nicholas Andrews (#7) Mitch Griffin (#83) (with Wil Yarwood helping out) and Lachlan McHugh (being spannered by Ken Bensley ex owner Kaos Karting, whilst Lachlan’s Dad is in WA racing Super Sedans on the speedway) both taking the opportunity to compete, with a break in the Rotax Pro Tour, William Brown (#31) with Russell Whittaker (#87) Thomas Steele turning fifteen on the day to have his first run in the class, (#88) also there was Blake Brooks (#18) with Daniel Plant (#12), Brock Lannoy (#5), Jack Smith (#43), Raymond Jenkinson (#19), and making up the sixteen, Jack AH Quay (#81), James Litzow (#58) and finally Matthew Byrne (#77) all keen to get maximum points on the board before the second round at Ipswich on the 11th May.

The format was Qualifying, one heat of twelve laps, a pre-final of fifteen laps and the final only counts of twenty laps.


Above: J-MAX drivers at Warwick. Is that a coloured Stig on the left?
pic - courtesy of Rhonda Randell

After qualifying, the grid for heat one of the Series saw the first three rows of the grid with Nicholas Andrews (#7) the only driver into the 43 second barrier with a 43.868 lap on his seventh and last lap, off the front row beside him was Russell Whittaker (#87) with an identical time of 44.248, same as Daniel Plant (#12), the position decided by the second quickest time from Whittaker, a 44.325 over Plants 44.382, the second row comprising Daniel Plant and Mitch Griffin (#83) with a time of 44.252. Row three and William Brown (#31) 44.258 from Blake Brooks (#18) with a 44.302, all drivers completing eight laps of qualifying except for Nicholas Andrews with seven. With Lachlan McHugh (#23) with a time of 44.399, the only other driver to record a lap time less than 44.4. Top ten separated by less than a second.

Heat – 12 laps

Russell Whittaker got the jump on Nicholas Andrews at the start and lead for three laps before being swallowed up by Andrews on lap four, Mitch Griffin and Daniel Plant, running in close company throughout, filling third and fourth spots respectively. Lachlan McHugh in fifth after lap one was passed by William Brown on lap two, relegating McHugh back to sixth.


Above: William Brown ahead of Lachlan McHugh, Blake Brooks and Daniel Plant
pic - courtesy of Rhonda Randell

Michael Fabri running in seventh for the first three laps before making a pass on lap four into sixth, McHugh dropping two places in four laps, Brock Lannoy passed by Blake Brooks in lap three now up to eighth Lannoy back to ninth, Lachlan McHugh holding seventh for six laps before being dropped back to eighth by Blake Brooks, on lap ten Brooks recovered the position to finish in seventh finally passing Lachlan McHugh in lap ten. A major reshuffle for the remainder of the field saw Jack AH Quay passed by Raymond Jenkinson on lap two to remain in tenth till the finish of the heat. Followed by Jack Smith eleventh, Matthew Byrne twelfth, Thomas Steele on his first outing in thirteenth then James Litzow, Jack AH Quay and Sheridan Vroegop sixteenth.

Pre-final – 15 laps

Nicholas Andrews was certainly the driver to beat in this first round of the Series; he jumped to the lead right from the start and was not headed. Mitch Griffin got a good start and was shadowed by Russell Whittaker for thirteen laps then Whittaker moved past into second place and went on to hold the position till the end of the pre-final with Griffin finishing third, Michael Fabri ran a calculated race tagged onto the back of the first three runners throughout to finished fourth. Lachlan McHugh who was suffering from a weigh handicap in the qualifying and heat stripped back from ten kilos over to just three and a half kilos over and performed considerable better in the pre-final running fifth for the first five laps before slipping back after a pass by William Brown into sixth, a further six laps saw a pass again this time by Blake Brooks on lap twelve up into sixth the pass was to be duplicated twice more before the finish with Brooks finally securing sixth on the final lap, with McHugh finishing in seventh after a great battle.

Daniel Plant in ninth for the first two laps then moved past Raymond Jenkinson on lap three into eighth to hold that position til the end. Brock Lannoy running tenth for the first three laps moved past Jenkinson on lap four, to see the rest of the pre-final out in ninth position. James Litzow running thirteenth on the first lap, moved up to twelfth past Matthew Byrne on lap two, another move forward past Jenkinson on lap five to tenth, and was to hold that position through until the end, Raymond Jenkinson Eleventh, Jack Smith twelfth, Jack AH Quay thirteenth, followed by Matt Byrne then Thomas Steele and Sheridan Vroegop.


Above: Mitchell Griffin (83), Russell Whittaker (87) and Michael Fabri (14)
pic - courtesy of Rhonda Randell

Final

Nicholas Andrews started brilliantly and streaked away from the field right from lap one, he was to increase his lead as the final went on, putting in a fastest lap of 44.254 no0 lap eighteen of twenty. Mitch Griffin followed closely by William Brown for the first four laps with McHugh travelling fast, up past into third on lap five followed by Russell Whittaker from five to four, then third past McHugh on lap thirteen, meanwhile Michael Fabri moving from sixth through to fourth past McHugh and finished strongly in that position til the end.

A number of the competitors starting to feel the effects of the hot blustery conditions, with Lachlan McHugh finishing in fifth, William Brown starting in third and dropping back to fifth in lap five and sixth in lap fifteen, next home we saw Blake Brooks seventh until lap eighteen when retrieving the spot back on lap nineteen to finish seventh with Daniel Plant running ninth til lap ten then up to eighth for seven laps before the tussle with Brooks, Plant finishing eighth, next was Jack Smith running tenth through until lap ten then trading places with James Litzow for two laps before going on to finish ninth with Litzow tenth. Jack AH Quay with a good finish, again considering the number of starts that young Jack has had in this class finishing in eleventh, next Raymond Jenkinson and Thomas Steele, three D.N.F.’S Matthew Byrne in lap thirteen, Brock Lannoy in lap nine, and Sheridan Vroegop retiring from the final, giving the boys the run of the race.

1 Nicholas Andrews, 2 Mitchell Griffin, 3 Russell Whittaker, 4 Michael Fabri, 5 Lachlan McHugh


Above: Round 1 winner, Nicholas Andrews
pic - courtesy of Rhonda Randell

I would like to thank the sponsors who without their support this great Series would not have got off the ground, thank you to Dale Verrell from Pacific Kart Sports, Ian Black from IKD, Geoff Salmon from Sportsvoice, special mention to Rick Fabri for the insight and the support as the co-ordinator he has shown since the start.
Well, so ends the first round, I believe everyone was reasonable happy with their performances and will be even better prepared for the second round on the 11th of May at Ipswich.

I will say goodbye until the 11th May.

Geoff Salmon

points sth east Qld JMax series after round 1

 

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