Tasmanian Statewide Series - Round 1
| by Johnathan Males | 11 February 2015 |
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The 2015 Tasmanian Statewide Series kicked off round one in fine style at the Circular Head Kart Club’s Briant Park Raceway on February 8th.
This part of Tasmania is renowned for having some beautifully clear and warm summer days and this weekend proved to be no exception.
This was also the CHKC Club Titles meeting which was once again sponsored by long time supporter W.T. House Betta Home Living. All the drivers were keen to get their series off to a good start, which some did, whilst others left with lots of work to do at the ensuing rounds. Throw into the mix the introduction of the new KA and Mini ROK engines and rule and class changes and things were sure to get interesting.
Above: Masters Pro saw some close and exciting racing. Here Scott Hildyard (45), Johnathan Males (92) and Michael Vaughan (79) battle it out in the opening heat
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TB Photography
The Cadets 9 class put on a great show as per usual with seven of the state’s best pocket rockets taking to the track, all in pursuit of their first red plate. The series should prove to be an interesting one with some new drivers showing the pace required to take it to their slightly more experienced rivals. On the day though LKC pilot Jake Delphin aboard his Wrigley’s Karts and Parts Praga kart took the win in the Mini ROK division. He was followed home by Elliot Bellars who took the win in the Comer category ahead of Kayla Sheals and Kaiden Ford.
Two of Tasmania’s stars of the future battled it out in the Cadets 12 class. Both Ethan Wyllie and Callum Bishop raced nose to tail for all four races across the weekend with very close finishing margins in every race. The pair really had their Wyllie Tiles Tony Karts circulating around the Briant Park circuit and pulled away easily from the rest of the field. Their other team mate Jesse Keeling rounded out the podium taking third after Fletcher Bellars recorded a DNF in the final, Wyllie taking the win and Bishop second place.
Junior National Light witnessed the largest uptake of the new engines with eight of the ten competitors in the class choosing to run with the new engines. There were also three debutants in the class having made the progression from competing in the Rookies class last year. Nobody was able to stop Jackson Callow aboard his Crossroads Civil Constructions Monaco though as he took comfortable wins in three of the races which included a two second win in the final over the hard charging Kurtis Love. Tayla Heath came home in third position in the final. Also competing within the same race were Connor Griffin and Leah Beechey aboard their Yamaha J propelled machines, Griffin snaring the win on the day ahead of Beechey.
Above: Junior National Light battle, Jackson Callow (46) leads the pack of pursuers, Mitchell Kerrison (2), Tayla Heath (25), Lachlan Dalton (45), and Harry Ward (38)
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TB Photography
There were two battles waging in Junior National Heavy, with equal numbers of drivers using both the new KA engines and the Yamaha J. In the KA division Declan Sherburd got the better of his battle with Caitlin Fitch and he took the win on the day ahead of Fitch and Kiana Toon came home third. Lachlan Newman took the win in the Yamaha J division aboard his Ken Vance Motors Arrow, finishing close behind though was Andrew Lee and Jesse Sheals rounded out the podium in third.
On paper Senior National Light is one of the hardest classes to win in this series and the racing certainly lived up to that promise. Jade Waddington and Bodie Reading just seemed to have a slight pace advantage over their rivals though that allowed them to find their way to the front of the pack and then battle between themselves for the win. Reading had to do it the hard way after a loose rear wheel in heat two saw him record a DNF. However the STKC driver managed to get the better of his battle with Waddington in the final and crossed the line in first place with Waddington second ahead of Johnah Slater in third.
There will be a new champion crowned in Senior National Heavy this year with Joshua Hardy, Daniel Hinds, James Pinfold and Alastair Lee all vying for the coveted red plate in the class. Hinds and Lee had tremendous pace and found themselves well and truly in the mix with the front running pack in the light division. The only blemish was a Heat 1 DNF for Hinds that has left him in third place in the series points but still well within striking distance with three rounds to go. In the final though Lee was just able to hang on and take the win from Hinds who was followed home by Hardy. Former title holder in this class Murray Dadson has elected to run the new KA motor for the series and he took an emphatic win and along with it a commanding points advantage.
As always, the racing was close and entertaining in the Masters Pro category. Scott Hildyard got his series off to a great start with a win in Heat 1. From that point on though Johnathan Males was able to find his way to the front and took the next three race wins. Hildyard and Fred Cocca though weren’t far behind and Michael Vaughan shadowed Males for the entire fifteen laps of the final. The pair were able to slowly edge away from the pack and crossed the finish line a mere 0.095 sec apart with current state champion Vaughan narrowly behind Males.
Above: Johnathan Males ended up taking the win in the Final of Masters Pro aboard his AWC motorsport/47 Kart Tuning/Signpoint Arrow
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TB Photography
Masters Super Heavy saw a very close tussle with three drivers taking wins during the heat races. The final race promised to be a cracker with the top six drivers all a legitimate chance at taking home the silverware. Gregory Wood emerged in his Upper Burnie Mowers Omega to take the win though and he now takes a twenty point lead to the next round ahead of John Lee who also finished second in the final. Rick Davies recovered from a third heat DNF to take home third place on the day.
Shane Bray took a dominant win in the Clubman Light Yamaha class with an impressive performance. On the day he was too good for recent senior debutant Samuel Jackson and James Pinfold having his first outing in the clubman class.
Tabatha Badger scored her first club title and collected a healthy haul of points towards the red plate in the Clubman Light KA 100 class aboard her TB Photography/LID Design sponsored Haase kart.
Young Lewis Robinson has taken a real liking to the TAG Restricted Light category after only recently graduating from junior to senior competition. He was simply too good on the day taking all four wins on offer. Kayd Donnelly though wasn’t too far behind and kept the pressure on Robinson all weekend. He came home in second place in the final ahead of Joel Toon who salvaged a third place finish after suffering from mechanical failures in the first two heats.
TAG Restricted Heavy saw current champion in this class Brodey Lovett have a solid day collecting points towards another title. Strong finishes in the first two heats were followed up by wins in the third heat as well as the final for the Kerbrider Energy Karts sponsored pilot. Renee Chettle posed Lovett’s biggest threat and the recent Lithgow Pink Plate winner took home second on the day ahead of Andrew Wagner.
Above: Keenan Slater retrieving team mate Rick Davies kart after he recorded a DNF in the third heat of Masters Superheavy. Davies recovered to take third place in the final.
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TB Photography
The biggest class of the weekend went to TAG Light. Along with numbers also came quality with all drivers having legitimate claims to the top step of the podium. Waylon Sims and Dillon Van Galen have come out of semi-retirement, Gemma Wyllie and Nathan Zuj have made the jump to the class. There was even former KZ2 pilot Daimon Shelton and Europe bound Alexander Peroni keeping their eyes in. All of these drivers figured prominently although Zuj showed why he has been one of Tasmania’s best drivers in recent years by taking second in his first race meeting in the class. Nobody though could stop Brody Appleby, the NWKC 47 Kart Tuning Monaco driver bounced back from a nasty rollover at Launceston to record the win. Alastair Lee had an excellent day and he kept the front two well within his sights to take third on the day.
A quality field of eight drivers fronted the starter in the TAG Heavy class with current blue plate holder Jake Rice looking to be the favourite heading into the racing. There was no doubt though he would come under fire from the likes of Troy Stone, Jeffrey Dickson, Jonathan McDonald, Jacob Morris, James Fitch and the Sheahen brothers, Allan and Troy. Rice however proved to be too strong and he recorded a comfortable win in the final ahead of Stone who in turn beat home young NWKC driver Jacob Morris.
After a successful launch to the series it now moves on to the Southern Tasmanian Kart Club’s AWC Kartway on March the 8th. With the club reverting the track to the more traditional anti-clockwise direction it should be fascinating to see if the current point’s leaders extend their leads or whether other divers are able to turn the tables.
Above: Brent Butler (78) hangs the tail out in front of Darren Williams (46) and Greg Wood (66).
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TB Photography
- Series points are further down the page...
Cadets 9 Mini ROK
1st Jake Delphin
Cadets 9
1st Elliot Bellars
2nd Kayla Sheals
3rd Kaiden Ford
Cadets 12
1st Ethan Wyllie
2nd Callum Bishop
3rd Jesse Keeling
Junior National Light KA
1st Jackson Callow
2nd Kurtis Love
3rd Tayla Heath
Junior National Light Yamaha J
1st Connor Griffin
2nd Leah Beechey
Junior National Heavy KA
1st Declan Sherburd
2nd Caitlin Fitch
3rd Kiana Toon
Junior National Heavy Yamaha J
1st Lachlan Newman
2nd Andrew Lee
3rd Jesse Sheals
Senior National Light
1st Bodie Reading
2nd Jade Waddington
3rd Johnah Slater
Senior National Heavy KA
1st Murray Dadson
Senior National Heavy Yamaha J
1st Alastair Lee
2nd Daniel Hinds
3rd Joshua Hardy
Masters Pro
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Michael Vaughan
3rd Scott Hildyard
Masters Super Heavy
1st Gregory Wood
2nd John Lee
3rd Rick Davies
Clubman Light KA
1st Tabatha Badger
Clubman Light Yamaha S
1st Shane Bray
2nd Samuel Jackson
3rd James Pinfold
TAG Restricted Light
1st Lewis Robinson
2nd Kayd Donnelly
3rd Joel Toon
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Brodey Lovett
2nd Renee Chettle
3rd Andrew Wagner
TAG Light
1st Brody Appleby
2nd Nathan Zuj
3rd Alastair Lee
TAG Heavy
1st Jake Rice
2nd Troy Stone
3rd Jacob Morris
