by Johnathan Males | 19 March 2015 |
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Round two of the 2015 Tasmanian Statewide Series headed to the Southern Tasmanian Kart Club’s Andrew Walter Constructions Kartway on March 8th.
The action was thick and fast, possibly a little too fast for some with several red flag stoppages throughout the day. This however didn’t detract from what was a great days racing with the STKC complex looking a picture and all the drivers enjoying racing on the challenging circuit.
Congratulations must go out to prominent Tasmanian Karter Jade Waddington who missed this round of the series to get married to his partner Chrissie. From all the Tasmanian karting fraternity, well done mate.
Once again Jake Delphin took a clean sweep in the Cadets 9 Mini ROK class. The superior performance of the Mini ROK engine saw the Praga pilot simply drive away from the rest of the Cadets 9 field to record a perfect winning ratio thus far in the series.
Back in the pack though the battle was intense, Kaiden Ford, Elliot Bellars, Kayla Sheals, Stevie Smith, and Toby Callow were having a battle royale in Cadets 9. Throw into the mix an impressive series debutant in Darcy Whelan and the last half of the final race had everyone on fence cheering the youngsters on. Unfortunately for Bellars a slightly mistimed passing move saw him dislodge his nose cone. Whilst attempting to enter the pits on the following lap there was contact and this unfortunately led to DNF’s for Bellars and Whelan. Young Kaiden Ford emerged to take his first big win ahead of Toby “Chopper” Callow and Stevie Smith.
Cadets 12 Mini ROK saw the young LID Design sponsored driver Jesse Keeling make the switch to the new motor. He went on to take all four wins on the day.
Once again it was a battle between Ethan Wyllie and Callum Bishop in the Cadets 12 Yamaha class. Both Tony Kart drivers went toe to toe and each recorded two wins and two second placings. It was Bishop though that got the job done when it counted and he recorded a narrow victory ahead of Wyllie. Fletcher Bellars took third on the day. Although the front two have a sizeable points lead on the rest of the field the battle for third is amazingly close. At the halfway point we have no less than three drivers all sitting in third place on the same points. Logan Dixon, Fletcher Bellars and Tyson Phegan will no doubt be planning for a strong second half of the series to try and wrestle third place from each other.
Above: Ethan Wyllie, Cadet 12
pic - TB Photography
Kurtis Love really made his opposition take notice in Junior National Light KA at Hobart. Two wins and two second placings propelled the Deadly Kart driver from fifth in the series standings to second by the end of the weekend. Class yardstick Jackson Callow once again raced at the front and he took the win in the final ahead of Love, however a close encounter with one of the infamous bus stop kerbs resulted in a dropped chain in the third heat and the LKC Monaco pilot saw his series lead diminish from seventeen points to fourteen as a result. Third in the final went to Lachlan Dalton aboard his Glass Supplies Arrow. The recent graduate from what used to be the Rookies class is rapidly coming up to speed with the increased performance that these new machines provide.
Above: Mitchell Kerrison ahead of Jackson Callow, Junior National Light
pic - TB Photography
Brock Lamont made his first appearance for the series in fine style in Junior National Light Yamaha, and after a first race DNF went on to win the next three races including the final. Connor Griffin holds an almost unassailable lead in the series though and is a whopping one hundred points clear of second place.
Things didn’t go totally to plan for series leader Declan Sherburd in Junior National Heavy KA. Wins in all three heats were tempered by a DNF in the final. Nonetheless though the local driver managed to increase his series lead by eight points. First over the line in the final was young Kiana Toon, who was able to cap off some much improved performances of late to take her first open meeting win aboard her Wrigley’s Karts and Parts OK1. Second was another lady racer in Caitlin Fitch. All three competitors in this class are now only separated by twenty five points.
Another local, Zevie Eisentraut came out to play for the first time in the series in Junior National Heavy Yamaha and he was simply too good for his opposition. He and father Walter have a good grasp of what it takes to get the maximum from a kart at Hobart and this weekend was no exception. With Lachlan Newman moving to seniors and Andrew Lee suffering a nasty DNF in the final, Eisentraut now finds himself only fifty two points behind series leader Lee. Second on the day went to another STKC member in Nicholas Walpole with Jamie Woolley third.
After leaving Smithton third in the points courtesy of a DNF young Bodie Reading needed a strong showing to get back into contention in Senior National Light. He was in no small part aided by series leader Jade Waddington’s absence for his wedding but nonetheless took a clean sweep of all four races to take a handy forty two point advantage into round three. After winning Junior National Heavy at Smithton Lachlan Newman has made the jump to seniors and he looked right at home taking an impressive second on debut. Another recent ex Junior in Sam Jackson took third.
Above: Current Red Plate holder and series leader Bodie Reading leads Senior National Light
pic - TB Photography
Daniel Hinds’ title aspirations received a massive boost in Senior National Heavy as the CHKC driver came into the weekend with a thirty five point deficit to series leader Alastair Lee but left seventeen points in front. His cause was aided by two DNF’s to Lee but there was no arguing that he had the pace all weekend and was able to keep Lee at bay to take the win in the final. Third on the day was James Pinfold who narrowly held out Joshua Hardy who now finds himself in second place on the series points tally. Bad luck story of the day though would have to go Mark Crocker, after winning the second heat he was caught up in a nasty rollover with a Light class competitor. Even though not Crocker’s fault his day was over and saw the STKC driver nursing a sore arm.
Johnathan Males’ pursuers in the Masters Pro class needed to hit the ground running and score some decent points to try and reign in the eighteen point lead he had after the first round. Things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for them though as both Michael Vaughan and Scott Hildyard recorded DNF’s in the first heat. Worse was still to come as a dropped chain also caused Hildyard to not finish the second race of the day. All this drama allowed Males to record four wins and stretch the series lead to seventy seven points at the series half way mark. In the final Males took the win ahead of the fast recovering Hildyard who was followed home by Brent Marley who narrowly got the better of his battle with Andrew Walter.
Class benchmark Scott Wrigley returned to the Masters Super Heavy class for round two of the series and once again the OK1 driver found himself at the front and despite a first race DNF he then went on to win the next three races. Second on the day was Darren Williams who maintained his second place in the series despite beating home series leader Gregory Wood in the final.
STKC Veteran Robert Miller returned to the race seat in Master Super Heavy KA and took all four wins on offer.
Shane Bray went into the weekend with a twenty point advantage, but left with a ten point deficit in the Clubman Light Yamaha class. This came about by a strong showing from STKC youngster Sam Jackson and an unfortunate DNF in Heat 3 for the NWKC Arrow driver. Bray bounced back in the final though to take the win ahead of Jackson in second with James Pinfold taking his second third placing of the day.
Tabatha Badger had some new competition in Clubman Light KA 100 in the form of Jason Conroy. However she proved she can drive just as well as she takes photos and recorded all four wins on the day. Conroy finished second in all four races and proved he should be a force to be reckoned with at his home track at the next round.
Young Adam Garwood was finally able to convert his raw speed into a strong result in TAG Restricted Light. The second generation racer took three wins and a second on the day and most importantly won the final. Lewis Robinson had another strong outing and if not for a mechanical DNF in the second heat would’ve extended his series lead. Third on the day went to Kayd Donnelly who now sits in second place in the series points. In fact only twenty one points separates the top three of Robinson, Donnelly and Garwood.
Above: TAG Restricted Light line up for a start
pic - TB Photography
Brodey Lovett put in another commanding performance and showed why he is the favourite to retain the red plate in TAG Restricted Heavy. The Energy pilot took all four wins on offer to open his points advantage to fifty six points over Renee Chettle who finished third on the day. Shane Toon had a good weekend and he took home second in the final.
The race for the title in TAG Light has been blown wide open with series leader Brody Appleby electing to miss the second round to concentrate on his upcoming tilt at the national series. Also missing from the grid was Jade Waddington who was absent to attend his own wedding. Both Nathan Zuj and Alastair Lee then became favourites but both suffered from DNF’s over the weekend. Taking full advantage though was Bradley Hobden who only bolted an X30 to his trusty Haase Clubman Light kart mid-week, but was fast from the outset. After strong results throughout the heats, including a win in the second Hobden took out the final ahead of the recovering Nathan Zuj. Evan Livingston brought his new Birel/Galaxy package home in third.
After attending Jade Waddington’s wedding on the Saturday, Jake Rice made the early morning trip to Hobart on the Sunday to compete in the TAG Heavy class. The usual front runner however had no answer to local veteran Jeffrey Dickson who has returned to the driver’s seat after a year off to race Hyundai Excels. Pit crew Jimmy Dickson and Trent Palmer had their drivers Kosmic/X30 package right on the pace and he took all four race wins. Second on the day went to Troy Stone with Rice in third. A mere ten points now separates these three in the title chase.
Above: Jake Rice, TAG Heavy
pic - TB Photography
The series now moves onto the third round to be held at the Launceston Kart Club’s Archerville Kartway on the 19th of April. No doubt the action will be no less intense with what should be the biggest round of the series. I know Stuart Lee and the whole LKC committee will be aiming to put on a great show for everybody to enjoy great racing and don’t forget to grab yourself one of the now famous Landfall steak sandwiches.
Above: Alastair Lee (39) and Daniel Hinds (64) try to find a way past Light drivers Ben Marley (37) and Keenan Slater (68)
pic - TB Photography
Above: The Two Fast Ladies of Senior National Light - Bree Hobden (3) leads Gemma Wyllie
pic - TB Photography
Cadets 9 Mini ROK
1st Jake Delphin
Cadets 9
1st Kaiden Ford
2nd Toby Callow
3rd Stevie Smith
Cadets 12 Mini ROK
1st Jesse Keeling
Cadets 12
1st Callum Bishop
2nd Ethan Wyllie
3rd Fletcher Bellars
Junior National Light KA
1st Jackson Callow
2nd Kurtis Love
3rd Lachlan Dalton
Above: Tayla Heath negotiates the Bus Stop in JNL
pic - TB Photography
Junior National Light Yamaha J
1st Brock Lamont
Junior National Heavy KA
1st Kiana Toon
2nd Caitlin Fitch
Junior National Heavy Yamaha J
1st Zevie Eisentraut
2nd Nicholas Walpole
3rd Jamie Woolley
Senior National Light
1st Bodie Reading
2nd Lachlan Newman
3rd Samuel Jackson
Senior National Heavy Yamaha J
1st Daniel Hinds
2nd Alastair Lee
3rd James Pinfold
Masters Pro
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Scott Hildyard
3rd Brent Marley
Masters Super Heavy KA
1st Robert Miller
Masters Super Heavy Yamaha J
1st Scott Wrigley
2nd Darren Williams
3rd Gregory Wood
Clubman Light KA
1st Tabatha Badger
2nd Jason Conroy
Clubman Light Yamaha S
1st Shane Bray
2nd Samuel Jackson
3rd James Pinfold
TAG Restricted Light
1st Adam Garwood
2nd Lewis Robinson
3rd Kayd Donnelly
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Brodey Lovett
2nd Shane Toon
3rd Renee Chettle
TAG Light
1st Bradley Hobden
2nd Nathan Zuj
3rd Evan Livingston
TAG Heavy
1st Jeffrey Dickson
2nd Troy Stone
3rd Jake Rice
Above: Harry Ward eading Connor Griffin in Junior National Light
pic - TB Photography