2015 Rotax Grand Final Winners
| 15 November 2015 |
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Results not official
Junior MAX
Pre-Final: Unfortunately for front running Kiwi Dylan Drysdale, a crash in the opening lap put him out of the event and caused a red-flag stoppage. Once re-started, Aaron Cameron was putting in a great drive, staying out of trouble but in the fight for a podium placing and at one point running third. But then, with two laps to go, the leader started blocking, backing up the field. Unfortunately Aaron was caught in a 3-wide sandwich as drivers started running over each other and was spun out. He eventually finishing 28th. Reece Sidebottom, after starting at the back, had put in a strong run to about 17th place but an incident dropped him to 22nd at the end, directly behind Zane Morse.
Final: This was a good entertaining race to watch, but no Aussies at the front. Having said that, Reece Sidebottom put in a fantastic drive to make the top ten by the end. Aaron Cameron and Zane Morse both DNFd due to contact. It was fitting that a French kid won - Florian Venturi, along with the entire French team, wore a black armband to respect what had happened back home overnight.
1st - Florian Venturi (FRA)
2nd - Mathias Ramierez-Barrero (USA)
3rd - Caio Collet (BRA)
10th - Reece Sidebottom (AUS)
31st - Aaron Cameron DNF (AUS)
32nd - Zane Morse DNF (AUS)
Senior MAX
Pre-Final: This race was generally much cleaner than Junior version until 3 laps to go! Brad Jenner, starting 20th, was 12th after 1 lap, then kept his nose clean to finish a solid 7th. Pierce Lehane didn’t complete the opening lap, DNF (exhaust knocked off??)
Final: Jenner made a clean start, moving up to 5th in the opening laps before an incident dropped him to 7th as the leaders got away. Further drama dropped the Aussie into the pack as the top eight or so stretched out. Having shown lots of promise, Brad eventually crossed the line 17th. After the pre-final DNF, Pierce Lehane started last and was an early retirement with accident damage. The Italian Alex “Alex” took a comfortable win, earning the first ever RMCGF for his country.
1st - Alex Alex (ITA)
2nd - Lucas Selliken (USA)
3rd - Jordan Sherratt (RSA)
17th - Brad Jenner (AUS)
31st - Pierce Lehane DNF (AUS)
DD2 Masters
Pre-Final: New Zealand’s Ryan Urban was 3rd, sitting behind the leaders pretty much all race. Adam Hunter was 8th while Jason Hryniuk had a strong run and moved up to 10th.
Final: The end of the opening lap saw Hunter 8th and Hryniuk 14th but neither were able to make much of an impact for the podium, Hunter fading to 13th at the end, directly behind Hryniuk in 12th. While it wasn’t the day for Australia, it was a great one for New Zealand! Ryan Urban had a pretty stressful run for much of the race, stuck behind the leader (South Africa’s Michael Stephen) but also under fire from behind. Urban appeared faster but was shuffled to 5th as the pack tripped over itself behind Stephen. Urban got back to third and inherited a lead he probably deserved anyway when Finland’s Antti Ollikainen and Stephen wiped themselves out. Urban crossed the line 0.276s ahead of USA’s Luis Schiavo.
1st - Ryan Urban (NZL)
2nd - Luis Schiavo (USA)
3rd - Jim Ringelberg (NED)
12th - Jason Hryniuk (AUS)
13th - Adam Hunter (AUS)
DD2
Pre-Final: The pre-final was red-flagged after 3 laps when Natalia Balbo and Eduardo Leitao fired into the barriers at turn one. Luckily, they both walked away but the barrier needed some realigning. For the two Australians, Jason Pringle and Troy Woolston, they were basically caught up with all the shenanigans that happen back in the pack, Woolston taking 23rd and Pringle DNFing (31st). Rubens Barrichello, having come through the Second Chance race, finished 21st.
Final: Chaotic opening lap with lots of wheels in the dirt giving Hungary’s Ferenc Kancsar a gap right from the beginning. Troy Woolston put in an opportunistic opening lap moving to 15th right behind Barrichello. But that was it, Troy eventually 19th and Pringle 24th. Barrichello, meanwhile, kept charging forward and got himself into 4th place!
1st- Ferenc Kancsar (HUN)
2nd- Andreas Backman (BEL)
3rd- Mads Thomsen (DEN)
19th - Troy Woolston (AUS)
24th - Jason Pringle (AUS)
Nations Cup
Winner: USA
