Morse, Pink & Jenner Lead the Way at Dubbo
| press release | 21 March 2015 |
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Zane Morse, Luke Pink and Brad Jenner have taken pole position and a clean sweep in the first two heat races for Junior Max, Mini Max and Rotax Light as round two of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour has got underway in warm conditions at the Lincoln County Raceway in Dubbo with Sunday to be the setting for heat three and the finals to determine the round winners.
A close qualifying session saw Adam Hunter take pole position in DD2 Masters by just one tenth of a second ahead of Queensland’s Scott Howard, with Hamish Leighton showing strong pace, taking third, just 0.01 seconds behind Howard. Ryan Rannard took fourth while Danny Wright continued his consistent form, qualifying fifth. Starting from the front row, Scott Howard led from start to finish in his Pacific Kartsport prepared BirelART Kart, taking the heat race victory ahead of the consistent Adam Hunter in second. Daniel Richert made up considerable ground after starting ninth to finish third, with Ryan Rannard consolidating his position in fourth ahead of Danny Wright and a hard charging Klinton Hancey.
Above: Scott Howard and Adam Hunter shared victories in the heat races for DD2 Masters
pic - Coopers Photography
In a mirror of his performance from heat one, Scott Howard got the jump at the start of heat two for DD2 Masters, taking the lead from the outset. Howard battled for position throughout the race with Adam Hunter, before eventually pulling a lead of over a second to take the win. Hamish Leighton showed strong outright lap times to work his way to second ahead of Adam Hunter who finished third, with Danny Wright taking fourth and Tony Bregonje fifth. A strong start by Adam Hunter in the third and final heat saw him secure a comfortable early lead before Queensland driver Scott Howard made up considerable ground on Hunter before settling for second. Daniel Richert further improved his standings, claiming third ahead of Ryan Rannard with Danny Wright in fifth and Klinton Hancey in sixth.
After setting the fastest time in practice, Luke Pink managed to secure pole position in qualifying for Mini Max with a 51.802, with a buffer of 0.3 seconds over Jaiden Pope. Kai Allen secured third, just 0.03 seconds behind Pope while Bayley Douglas was just a further 0.02 seconds from Pope, reflecting the closeness of the field. Gabriel Gasperak and Dylan Debono qualified fifth and sixth, handing them a third row start for the heat races. The pace
of Luke Pink continued into heat one, with a red flag on the opening lap, a full restart saw Pink move in to take the category’s first victory of the weekend. Jaiden Pope remained in close company with the Queenslander, finishing second ahead of Kai Allen with Bayley Douglas and Gabriel Gasperak rounding out the top five.
Above: Luke Pink took his first pole position and heat race wins in Mini Max
pic - Coopers Photography
Luke Pink remained unstoppable into heat two for Mini Max, gradually increasing his lead throughout the ten lap race. Pink went on to take the victory by 1.9 seconds over fellow Queenslander Bayley Douglas who took second after a strong beginning to the race. Kai Allen maintained his consistent performances to finish third ahead of Austin Wells who improved to take fourth from Gabriel Gasperak and Jaiden Pope.
Queensland’s Clem O’Mara managed a narrow pole position in Rotax Heavy, securing the quickest time of 50.318, fractionally ahead of Todd Road pole sitter Regan Payne with a 50.331. Queensland pairing Chris Farkas and Lane Moore took third and fourth respectively to start on the second row with Christopher Board and Craig Stauner qualifying fifth and sixth. Regan Payne showed strong pace in heat one, securing the quickest time on lap seven of twelve, to take the win by 1.5 seconds ahead of polesitter Clem O’Mara. Chris Farkas and Lane Moore remained consistent to take third and fourth, maintaining their position from where they started, while Craig Stauner and Christopher Board traded places from their starting positions to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
Above: Regan Payne couldn’t be beaten in Rotax Heavy in qualifying or the heat races
pic - Coopers Photography
Another strong start for Regan Payne saw the Queenslander open up a comfortable lead in the early stages of heat two in Rotax Heavy. Payne extended his gap to the second placed driver of Lane Moore by over a second, though a battle for second and third between Moore and Chris Farkas remained constant in the second half of the race. With Farkas setting the fastest lap of the race, he narrowly finished third, with Clem O’Mara claiming fourth and Craig Stauner fifth. Regan Payne continued his impressive trend of form into the final heat race for Rotax Heavy, again taking the lead from the outset and extending his buffer to one second by the completion of the race. Lane Moore showed promising signs of overall speed to secure second ahead of Chris Farkas and Clem O’Mara, with the battle of the top four sure to continue into Sunday’s finals. Craig Stauner secured fifth with Christopher Board in sixth.
Just 0.04 seconds would separate the top three in a narrow qualifying session for the Junior Trophy Class with Zac Crichton securing pole position with a 50.536. After spending time at the top of the order, Tyler Howard settled for second ahead of Todd Road round winner Matthew Payne. West Australian Aaron Love secured fourth ahead of Mitchell Kerrison, with Reece Cohen to join Kerrison on the third row starting sixth. From pole position, Zac Crichton led the way to victory in the first heat race. New Zealand’s Matthew Payne worked his way to second by the fall of the chequered flag behind Crichton with Tyler Howard finishing a further 0.4 seconds behind in third. Jace Matthews and Aaron Love finished a comfortable fourth and fifth with Taylor Hazard in sixth.
Above: Zac Crichton took pole position and victory in heat one in the Junior Max Trophy Class
pic - Coopers Photography
Following his fourth place finish in heat one, Aaron Love showed signs of further speed in heat two for the Junior Max Trophy Class, taking the win by 0.5 seconds. The victory for Love came ahead of Tyler Howard in second with Reece Cohen securing third. Matthew Payne finished just 0.3 seconds behind in fourth while pole sitter and heat one winner Zac Crichton rounded out the top five.
Another oversubscribed field for Rotax Light would ensure the ultimate in competitiveness and a heightened level of importance in qualifying. Nicholas Andrews was the pacesetter in his BirelART Kart, being the only driver in a 48 second time bracket, taking pole with a 48.962. Former Australian Champion Pierce Lehane showed strong consistent pace with a 49.034, handing him second with Nathan Tigani and reigning Australian Rotax Light title holder Brad Jenner securing third and fourth. Thomas MacDonald and Daniel Rochford both managed late session quick times to move themselves into fifth and sixth, with the heat races to be separated according to the oversubscribed regulations.
BirelART pairing Brad Jenner and Nicholas Andrews would lock out the front row in the first heat for group A & D with Jenner managing to take the win in front of the overall pole sitter by just 0.3 seconds. Andrews finished second, while Thomas MacDonald and Jack Richardson rounded out a tough top four battle pack. James Wilkins and Wayne Bourke took advantage of the heat race format to score valuable points and finish fifth and sixth respectively. A battle of a wealth of experience was presented in the first heat for group B & C with Victorian Daniel Rochford taking the win over Pierce Lehane by 0.4 seconds. Lehane finished a further half of a second ahead of Nathan Tigani while Albury’s Jordan Boys took fourth ahead of Jack Black and Mitchell Hewitt.
Above: Brad Jenner continued his strong form in Rotax Light, taking the win in both of his heat races
pic - Coopers Photography
A strong start by Nicholas Andrews from pole position saw him move into the lead in heat two for Group A & C in the early laps and that would be where the Queenslander would remain. Andrews gradually increased his lead to two seconds by the completion of the race. Nathan Tigani fought hard to hold down second from a charging Jordan Boys who closed to within 0.3 seconds by the end of the race to take third behind Tigani. A battle between Jack Black, Thomas MacDonald, Cody Gillis and Luke Baldry eventuated throughout the race, with Black taking fourth over MacDonald while Gillis’ quickest lap of the race helped him to rise to sixth after starting at the tail end of the field, while Baldry settled for seventh.
A blistering start by Brad Jenner from second saw him take the lead for heat two with Group B & D and it would be where he would remain for the ten lap event. Jenner gradually extended his lead to two seconds by the completion of the race, while the battle for second and third remained constant. Pierce Lehane sat behind Jenner for much of the race before a pass by Daniel Rochford on the penultimate corner saw him claim second with Lehane settling for third. Jack Richardson drove a measured race to finish fourth ahead of Jaie Robson in fifth and Mitchell Hewitt in sixth.
Reigning Australian Champion Zane Morse set the field alight in the Junior Max qualifying session, taking pole position overall in the oversubscribed field. A late session quick time by Liam Ford helped him to secure second, just 0.004 seconds ahead Reece Sidebottom in third. Canberra’s Joshua Fife took fourth, a further 0.006 seconds behind Sidebottom while Toowoomba’s Cameron Shields and Alec Morse will make up the third row overall.
Following his success in qualifying, Zane Morse secured victory in heat one for Group A & D, though the battle at the front of the field remained constant across the ten lap race. Morse finished just one tenth of a second ahead of Victorian Aaron Cameron while Cameron Shields claimed third from Thomas Hughes and West Australian Jordan Love with Queensland’s Jai Buckley in sixth. A dominant performance from Reece Sidebottom saw the Victorian take the win in heat one for Group B & C, securing the victory by 2.3 seconds over Hunter McElrea. Joshua Car was again setting quick times to secure third from Alec Morse in fourth while Tim Colombrita and Joshua Denton rounded out the top six.
Above: Reigning Australian Junior Max Champion Zane Morse came out on top in qualifying and both heat races
pic - Coopers Photography
Another dominant performance from Zane Morse saw him take victory in heat two for Group A & C in Junior Max, helping to set up an enthralling battle in Sunday’s third heat and finals. The gap to Reece Sidebottom in second narrowed to 0.3 seconds by the completion of the race, with the top three battle pack being round out by Cameron Shields. A further dice for position ensued between Aaron Cameron who would claim fourth, with Hunter McElrea in fifth and Joshua Car in sixth. An early race lead from pole position for Liam Ford was eclipsed by Victorian Thomas Hughes who rose to the top of the order in heat two for Group B & D. Hughes would go on to take the win, setting his quickest time late in the race, finishing ahead of Jordan Love who moved forward in the second half of the ten lap event. Alec Morse continued his strong heat race form to take third ahead of Dylan Drysdale in fourth, Joshua Fife in fifth and Timothy Colombrita in sixth.
An enticing qualifying session for DD2 saw the current World Number Three, Jordan Boys take pole position with a 47.813, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Jason Pringle. The pair would start from the front row while fellow Victorian Troy Woolston would start third after his time was just 0.07 seconds behind that of Pringle’s. Lee Mitchener ensured it would be a Victorian lockout of the front two rows, while Queenslander Kris Walton secured fifth and Kyle Ensbey sixth. Jordan Boys continued his strong start to the weekend, though the margins remained close with the Albury driver finished less than 0.2 seconds ahead of Jason Pringle in second. Troy Woolston and Lee Mitchener maintained their qualifying positions, taking third and fourth while Chris Bregonje and Joshua Crossingham improved from their qualifying efforts to finish fifth and sixth.
Above: World Number Three Jordan Boys took pole position and victory in heat one in DD2
pic - Coopers Photography
Victorian Jason Pringle scored an ideal start in the second heat of the weekend for DD2, also managing to set the fastest time of the race on lap nine of twelve. Pringle eventually opened up a lead of 0.9 seconds over polesitter Jordan Boys who managed to defend a hard charge from Lee Mitchener who settled for third. Kyle Ensbey set the second fastest time of the race and worked his way towards the top three, before finishing fourth while Joshua Crossingham made up strong ground to finish fifth after starting ninth.
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
