Cleansweeps At Tasmanian Statewide Series, Round 2
Tweet| 21 February 2013 |
words - Jonathan Males
pics - Brad Segda,
Seggiesnaps
Six of the twelve classes contested at the Circular Head Kart Club Titles were clean sweeps by drivers in dominant displays. If not for a small mechanical failure in heat 3 it would’ve been seven!
The most impressive of these was Mitchel Evans who took the TAG Light and Clubman Heavy Titles with him back to Hobart. Another family of Evans’, although no relation, also completed the feat in Junior National Light and Rookies. The crowd favourite though was Tim Hinds who won his first race meeting and the Club Title that goes along with it. Hinds is heavily involved in the running of the club and only sat in the kart for qualifying after completing his duties as scrutineer!
Above: Junior National form up
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
This meeting also served as Round 2 of the 2013 Tasmanian Statewide Series and over one hundred entries journeyed to the far North West coast of Tasmania. The club did an excellent job of ordering the weather and apart from it being a little breezy it was ideal conditions for great racing.
Clean sweep number one for Mitchel Evans came in Clubman Heavy where his cause was made far easier with his only real rival Troy Stone suffering an engine drama in the third heat. Stone fought back to take second in the final from his teammate Evan Livingston who made a successful “graduation” to the heavy class.
TAG Light saw the second clean sweep for Mitchel Evans. Evans was the pace setter all weekend and got the job done when it counted. Second on the day was Jake Rice who recovered from DNF’s in the first two heats. A DNF in heat three really hurt Jade Waddington in the series but he recovered to take third in the final.
Above: Mitch Evans displays his Clubman Heavy dominance, gapping the field, lead by Tony Stone (15) and Jack Pickett (16)
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
The drivers in Clubman Light were prepared for the champ to come out firing after being beaten at Hobart and he certainly delivered. Coming into the round Nathan Zuj was fourth in the series points, yet he left thirty eight points clear of his nearest rival. Zuj took maximum points and the win in the Final ahead of Shane Bray and Gemma Wyllie. DNF’s in the final proved costly for Brody Appleby, Nicky Richards and Brad Hobden.
Above: Nathan Zuj fought back to show the youngsters who was boss in Clubman Light
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
TAG Restricted Heavy proved to be a survival of the fittest with all the main protagonists having dramas at some point. Several drivers suffered DNF’s, which means that going into the third round only fifty two points separates the top six drivers. On the day though, the Club Title went to Matthew Clark ahead of Daniel Hinds and Adrian Mitchell.
The Rookies class was once again dominated by Brock Evans who took his 3D Kartsport Omega to pole position and a clean sweep of the races. Mitchell Kerrison showed that he’s getting to grips with his new chassis and took it right up to Evans, but a dropped chain in the final ended his run. In the final Tayla Heath finished second and Samuel Gala third.
Above: Spontanioulsy combusting woodchips! On a hot and windy day, racing was paused until this was under control
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
If not for another spun front sprocket in heat three Johnathan Males would’ve made it clean sweep number seven in Senior National Heavy. He took pole position and wins in all but the one race. Forty Seven Kart Tuning Arrow karts filled the top three positions with Males winning the Final, Murray Dadson finishing second and Alastair Lee in third.
Some of the best racing of the day occurred in Senior National Light with a multitude of drivers dicing and having the pace to win. It’s all about the “young guns” in this class at the moment with the top four all under eighteen. Heat wins were shared amongst the girls with Kelsey Sapwell and Gemma Wyllie aboard their Wyllie Tiles Tony Karts taking the thirty points on offer in each race. Come the final though, Sapwell made it two titles in a row and she took the win ahead of Keenan Slater who bounced back from his rollover at Hobart and Bodie Reading.
Above: Murray Dadson leads the series in Senior National Heavy
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Cadets proved to be a case of a different race track but the same result with Brock Lamont and Lachlan Dalton once again proving to be the pacesetters in the class. Dalton took pole position but things went awry for him in the first heat when he was caught up in an incident with Ethan Wyllie. Wyllie caught Dalton’s rear wheel and the end result was poor Ethan on his lid. Although ok after attention from the first aid officers neither Dalton nor Wyllie were allowed to restart the race when it resumed. Lamont went on to win the first race but had to settle for second in the next two as Dalton took the wins. As usual these two swapped places regularly in the final with Lamont narrowly crossing the line first to take two Club Titles in a row from Dalton and William Reeve in third.
Above: Brock Lamont wins Cadets ahead of Lachlan Dalton
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Wade McLean was the pacesetter in Junior National Heavy and he took pole position and three race wins. However he was narrowly beaten in the final by Morgan Jakobovski who had chipped away all weekend on the set up of his kart to find the pace to catch Mclean. It also served as a good birthday present for his father Carl. Third on the day was Jacob Morris who took it right up to the leading duo.
Junior National Light saw a complete change in the make up of the series with run away leader Zevie Eisentraut having a weekend to forget and Brodie Evans having the complete opposite after faring poorly at the first round. 125 points were put in the bag by Evans who won everything. At times though, he was challenged by Xavier Todman and Johnah Slater. Todman showed great pace all weekend and he took three second places in the heats but Slater found just that little bit more to grab second in the final from Todman. Five drivers are now separated by only ten points in the series with two rounds to go.
Troy Sheehan had all the other Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy’s measure on this occasion and he took maximum points in his Tassie Karts And Parts backed CRG. Second on the day was Scott Wrigley. Third place in the final went to John Lee who got the better of Greg “The Hammer” Wood who was on debut in his new Omega Wasp kart.
Above: Over 40s start, Tim Hinds (64) leads Andrew Kuc (61), Ian Stewart (81) and Anthony Butler (71)
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Tim Hinds took out Senior National Over 40’s Pro in fine style by claiming pole and then going on to dominate every race. The chasing pack nearly caught him with one lap to go in the final but Hinds held on. It was a fitting achievement for a man that has put so much effort into the club that he now holds the Club Title for. Second went to Anthony Butler who late in the race snuck past Andrew Kuc who ended up third. Hard luck story of the day goes to Peter Jessup who was on track for his best finish for quite a while only to record a DNF late in the final race.
The series now moves on to round three to be held at the Launceston Kart Club’s Titles to be held at the Archerville Kartway on the 2nd and 3rd of March. This meeting will see the introduction of the club’s recently acquired safety flag lights. Some drivers will be looking to cement their places in the series whilst others are playing catch up. With over one hundred entries at this point this meeting could prove to be the best of the series so far.
- Series points after round 2 (Excel format) HERE
Above: Eight year old Ethan Wyllie on his lid - but was back up for the next heat
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Cadets
1st Brock Lamont
2nd Lachlan Dalton
3rd William Reeve
Rookies
1st Brock Evans
2nd Tayla Heath
3rd Samuel Gala
Junior National Light
1st Brodie Evans
2nd Jonah Slater
3rd Xavier Todman
Junior National Heavy
1st Morgan Jakobovski
2nd Wade McLean
3rd Jacob Morris
Above: Faces in the pits
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Senior National Light
1st Kelsey Sapwell
2nd Keenan Slater
3rd Bodie Reading
Senior National Heavy
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Murray Dadson
3rd Alastair Lee
Senior National Over 40’s Pro
1st Tim Hinds
2nd Anthony Butler
3rd Andrew Kuc
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy
1st Troy Sheehan
2nd Scott Wrigley
3rd John Lee
Clubman Light
1st Nathan Zuj
2nd Shane Bray
3rd Gemma Wyllie
Clubman Heavy
1st Mitchel Evans
2nd Troy Stone
3rd Evan Livingston
Above: Evan Livingston made his debut in Clubman Heavy
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Matthew Clark
2nd Daniel Hinds
3rd Adrian Mitchell
TAG Light
1st Mitchel Evans
2nd Jake Rice
3rd Jade Waddington
Above: Troy Sheahan (60) was the winner of Over 40s Super Heavy. Michael Jack (28) and Michael Sheean follow
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: TaG Light was a small but exciting field. Steven Wrigley (93) leads (47), Jade Waddington (99) and Jake Rice
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: Tim Hinds takes his first ever victory and the home-track Club Title
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: Jackson Callow, Rookies
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: Kelsey Sapwell showed the boys up once again, winning Senior National Light
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: TaG Restricted Heavy winner Matt Clark
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: Round 1 winner Brad Hobden sat out the Clubman Light final with a stuck throttle
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
Above: Morgan Jakobovski take the JNH win ahead of Wade McLean
pic - Brad Segda, Seggiesnaps.com
