New Stars Shine As Pro Tour Gets Underway


press release 24 January 2015
 

A stunning display of performances on debut have provided a string of highlights for the first day of racing in the opening round of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour which included the initiation of the new category, Mini Max in Australian Karting, all subsequently establishing the foundations for an enthralling finals day under sunny Melbourne skies.

DD2 Masters (23 starters)

Adam Hunter, who currently holds the number one plate in DD2 Masters, showed early pace in qualifying, setting the quickest time towards the end of the session. A blistering final lap from Joshua Willett propelled the Praga driver to pole position, sharing the front row with Hunter with a 40.621. Just 0.03 seconds separated Danny Wright and Klinton Hancey for third and fourth respectively with Hamish Leighton and Mark Gillespie forming the third row.

The dominance of Hunter returned within the heat races as he took a clean sweep of victories to boost the start to his new race season. Hunter was challenged regularly by fellow Tony Kart pilot Klinton Hancey who went on to take second in all three heats, while fastest qualifier Joshua Willett will start from third in the pre-final after securing a third and two fourth place finishes. Danny Wright will join Willett on the second row after claiming two third’s with Gillespie and Christopher Board making up fifth and sixth.


Above: Adam Hunter took pole position and a clean sweep of wins in DD2 Masters
pic - Cooper's Photography

Mini MAX (25 starters)

In a first for Karting in Australia, Mini Max (which provides the opportunity for drivers aged between 9 and 12 to hit the track in a restricted 125cc Rotax Junior Max engine) saw Victorian Nathan Williams setting the early pace, securing pole position with a 43.187. Karting World supported driver Jaiden Pope joined Williams on the front row, being just 0.07 seconds behind Williams’ time with Bayley Douglas securing third ahead of Sean Larkin and Dylan Debono.

Nathan Williams’ perfect start to his Pro Tour campaign continued into the heat races as he took a clean sweep of wins aboard his CRG machine. Bayley Douglas improved from his qualifying position of third to take a trio of second place finishes with Sean Larkin set to start out of third after finishing inside the top three in the opening two heat races. Jaiden Pope will join Larkin on the second row with Gabriel Gasperak and Kai Allen showing measured performances to secure their positions on the third row.


Above: Nathan Williams recorded the first ever race victory for Mini Max in Australian Karting
pic - Cooper's Photography

Rotax Heavy (14 starters)

Rotax Heavy’s heat races saw a lockout of the front row by two Queenslander’s with Regan Payne achieving the quickest time in qualifying with a 41.368, just ahead of Chris Farkas who secured a 41.418 on his seventh lap in the session. The Victorian pair of Dylan Collett and Rick Pringle secured third and fourth respectively ahead of Lane Moore and Aaron Rintoul.

A strong performance from Chris Farkas backing up his second place qualifying position saw the Queenslander take two heat race wins which has propelled him to pole position for the pre-final. In a switch from the positions of the heat races, Regan Payne will start second after sharing the heat race victories with Farkas. Rick Pringle will again start on the second row, being joined by the Gold Coast’s Lane Moore who worked his way into the top five on all three occasions in the heat races. Aaron Rintoul and Dylan Collett will start fifth and sixth respectively.


Above: Regan Payne took pole position in Rotax Heavy qualifying
pic - Cooper's Photography

Junior MAX Trophy (20 starters)

On debut in the Junior Max Trophy Class aboard the new control Intrepid Freedom chassis, New Zealand’s Matthew Payne took pole position with a 41.644. Queensland’s Jace Matthews secured second on the grid narrowly with a 41.663 while NSW pair Zac Crichton and Reece Cohen would share the second row for the three ten lap events. Lucas Lichtenberger and Joshua Smith would comprise the third row on the grid.

In a mirror of the clean sweep performances of Adam Hunter and Nathan Williams, Matthew Payne took the chequered flag on all three occasions in the Junior Max Trophy Class, setting himself up for a front row start in the pre-final alongside Jace Matthews. The Queenslander took two second places from the three races with Victorian Joshua Smith improving his position in the order throughout the heats as he prepares to share the second row with Lucas Lichtenberger. The brother to Lucas, Travis Lichtenberger will start from fifth with Reece Cohen preparing to line up in sixth.


Above: New Zealand’s Matthew Payne remained at the front of Junior Max Trophy Class for the entire day
pic - Cooper's Photography

Rotax Light (63 starters)

Rotax Light was one of two oversubscribed fields as part of the opening round of the Pro Tour, with qualifying being split into two separate groups based upon the lower and upper 50% of lap times derived from Friday practice.

Reigning Australian Champion Brad Jenner achieved the quickest time to kick start his National title defence with a 40.224 ahead of the returning Pierce Lehane with a 40.337. On debut in Rotax Light at the Pro Tour, Sydney’s Cody Gillis managed third ahead of Daniel Rochford with Mitchell Hewitt and Nicholas Andrews rounding out the top six.


Above: Reigning Australian Champion Brad Jenner will start his BirelART from pole position in the Rotax Light pre-final
pic - Cooper's Photography

The heat races for Rotax Light saw the class separated into the oversubscribed format which subsequently witnessed Brad Jenner take three wins from three starts. Jenner’s performance was all but matched by Daniel Rochford who crossed the line at the front on two of three occasions, setting himself up for a front row start with Jenner.

Pierce Lehane showed a smooth and consistent performance which saw him take two second place finishes and subsequently third for the start of the pre-final alongside Cody Gillis with Nicholas Andrews and Mitchell Maddren making it an all Queensland third row.


Above: Cody Gillis impressed on his Rotax Light debut in the Pro Tour
pic - Cooper's Photography

Junior MAX (58 starters)

As with Rotax Light, the qualifying sessions for Junior Max were to be separated based on the lap times from official practice, with RK Kart driver Joshua Car securing the fastest time in the eight minute session with a 40.444. On debut in the Pro Tour, Praga’s Dylan Hollis took second ahead of Cooper Murray and reigning National Title holder Zane Morse. New Zealand’s Dylan Drysdale returned to Australia and secured the fifth quickest time with Aaron Cameron debuting a Kosmic chassis which took him to sixth.

Two wins from the final two heat races for Joshua Car helped to secure him pole position for Sunday morning’s pre-final. Victorian Aaron Cameron had his share of heat race glory taking one victory, backed up by a second and third place result, handing him a front row start alongside Car. Dylan Hollis and Dylan Drysdale both showed an impressive array of consistency to help themselves to a second row start ahead of Zane Morse and Jordan Love who will share the third row.


Above: Joshua Car stood out amongst an oversubscribed Junior Max field taking pole position
pic - Cooper's Photography

DD2 (29 starters)

In just his first appearance in the DD2 category, Toowoomba’s William Brown stunned the experienced field by taking pole position with a 39.602. The 16 year-old started alongside fellow former Junior Max competitor Chris Bregonje. Jason Pringle and current World Number Three Jordan Boys would share the second row with current Australian V8 Ute Series Champion Kris Walton starting fifth ahead of Victorian Travis Millar.

A return to his regular front running form will see CRG’s Jason Pringle start from pole position in the DD2 pre-final. Pringle’s race victories were shared with Jordan Boys who took the spoils in heat two, propelling him to the front row, backing his win up with a second and third place finish. Heat race polesitter William Brown worked tirelessly to maintain his top three position throughout the heat races, finishing as high as second in heat three, taking him to third on the grid alongside Kris Walton who finished inside the top five in all three races. 2014 Team Australia member Ryan Kennedy made a strong switch across to DD2, placing himself in fifth for the start of the pre-final with Lucas Ward set to line up in sixth.


Above: Toowoomba’s Will Brown took pole position on debut in DD2
pic - Cooper's Photography

Round 1 of 2015 Rotax Pro Tour concludes tomorrow at Todd Road, Melbourne from 9am AEDST.

To follow the event online throughout the weekend, Like Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook, Follow Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter and tune into the live audio commentary via Ustream at www.ustream.tv/channel/internationalkarting

Full results are on CMS HERE

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