Scorcher Torture: NSKC Round 1
by Simon Kendrick |
16 February 2017 |
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Sydneysiders were greeted with the prospect of a 43 degree C day on Sunday 5th February, and Mother Nature delivered with an absolute scorcher.
Attendance was still strong at around 100 entrants who had been waiting in anticipation over the Christmas break for the new season to begin. The track at Eastern Creek had recently undergone an upgrade with a few bumps being ironed out and new sections of bitumen laid in its place.
Above: Grant Wastle won TAG 125 Light (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
Racers were keen to get on the track… at least in the morning, before it warmed up. The extreme hot weather left a few chasing their setup and as the day wore on and the temp peaked at 43 degrees, many were left with the decision of whether to race or not.
TaG 125 Light Grant Wastle fought it out with Joshua Sieffert for the early laps before taking the victory at the flag over Christopher Sandrone with 3rd place going to Luke Walsh.
Cadet 9 – After a tough start to the day for Jake Rutkowski, with a DNF and 5th in the heats, Jake pulled out the fastest lap of the day to win the Prefinal and carried it through in the final with 2nd going to Kamal Mrad and Robert McTighe in 3rd place. 4th place went to George Frilingos and 5th place Luke Powell.
Above: The Cadet 9 drivers (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
KA3 Junior:- a DNF in heat 2 didn’t deter Jackson Souslin-Harlow who pulled off a convincing win in the Final after leading every lap. His Redspeed kart finished ahead of Jordan Giannopoulis with 3rd going to Brock Stinson.
Above: Jackson Souslin-Harlow, KA3 Junior winner, fist pumps at the chequered flag (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
Cadet 12 is one of the best classes to watch again this year, the depth of the field is impressive. A tough field fought it out with Jack Childs taking victory over Alex Ninovic and Marcel Gardonyi. These boys will have plenty of great battles over the years to come.
Above: Cadet 12, Jack Childs (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
Junior Max saw Lucas Lichtenberger in his HRE sponsored Tony Kart showed a clean pair of heels to the field winning every heat, prefinal and Final. Russell Mayo pushed hard all day finishing 2nd with Angus Wallace taking 3rd over Casey Cleaver.
Above: Lucas Lichtenberger, Junior Max winner, celebrates the win (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
TaG Restricted Light was strongly contested with 21 entrants. State Champion Cameron Kendall took victory in the Final over DKS Race engines powered Salvatore Scarpignato, with 3rd going to TLE Electrical sponsored Greg Holden.
Above: Cameron Kendall, TAG R Light winner in the Intrepid Kart greets the chequered flag (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
TaG Restricted Heavy had plenty of drama in the final when Rytis Groudis touched wheels with Mat Long at the fastest corner of the track that unfortunately turned Mat Long over and brought out the red flag. In the restart, Simon Kendrick in the Rotax powered Exprit returned to the top step of the podium for 2017 with a convincing performance in one of the hardest fought classes of the day. Beau Levy finished fast to pass Jake Heyneman in the last corner relegating Heyneman to 3rd for the day.
Above: Simon Kendrick, TaG Restricted Heavy winner in the Rotax powered Exprit Kart (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
KA4 Junior Light saw two very talented drivers take the top 2 places. Dimitri Garagounis and Thomas McTighe battled it out all day with Garagounis taking the win at the line. 3rd went to Deklan Webb. Thomas Macleod from Canberra was competitive all day but unfortunately DNFed in the final.
Above: KA4 Junior Light winner Dimitri Garagounis (80) and KA4 Junior Heavy’s Dylan Debono (13) (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
KA4 Junior Heavy was run combined with Light due to the low numbers and although Compkart’s Dylan Debono was fast all day he failed to finish the final, handing the win to Hunter Sydenham.
Above: Hunter Sydenham, KA4 Junior Heavy winner in the Ricciardo Kart (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
TaG 125 Heavy saw 7 drivers battle it out in the scorching heat. In the end, Kerry Avramidis (63) managed to come away with the win in his Rotax powered Exprit kart. Peter Price (68) in his first race in Open class kept him honest in second place with Zachary Phelan (49) filling the final podium spot posting the fastest lap of the final in his first race back for 12 months since breaking a rib last year at States.
Above: Kerry Avramidis (63) settles the TaG 125 Heavy field for the start in Heat 2 alongside Wagner Cardoso (37) (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
TaG 125 Restricted Masters Light was led all the way with a convincing performance by Ronald Arnold. Joc Dos Santos and Michael Micallef fought out a close battle for the minor placings with Joc taking 2nd with Micallef in 3rd.
Above: Ronald Arnold, 1st TaG 125 Restricted Masters Light (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
TaG 125 Restricted Masters Heavy - Niven Riches coped with the heat best to post the win over Matthew Donnelly and Patrick Honer.
Above: Niven Riches on his way to the win in TaG Restricted Masters Heavy (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
KA3 Senior Light - Christopher Polis overcame a DNF in heat 1 to clean sweep the rest of the day. Oliver Ray finished 2nd with Michael Harber rounding out the field in 3rd.
Considering the excessive temperature of the day peaking at 43 degrees, it was a great day of racing at the first round of the North Shore Kart Club Championships. Many thanks to all the officials and volunteers who helped make the meeting happen in the scorching heat, you all did a fantastic job.
Next round of the NSKC Club championships are on 5th March, and in April 8/9 the Brian Farley Memorial will be included as round 3 of the NSKC championships. I hope to see you all there.
Above: Christopher Polis in his Kartschool sponsored FA kart on his way to the win in KA3 Senior Light (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
Results
Cadet 9
1. Jake RUTKOWSKI, 2. Kamal MRAD 3. Robert MCTIGHE
Cadet 12
1. Jack CHILDS, 2. Alex NINOVIC, 3. Marcel GARDONYI
Above: Victory in Cadet 9 went to Jake Rutkowski (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
Jnr KA4 Light
1. Dimitri GARAGOUNIS, 2. Thomas MCTIGHE 3. Deklan WEBB
Jnr KA4 Heavy
1. Hunter SYDENHAM 2. Dylan DEBONO, 3. Lachlan BLACKETT
Jnr KA3
1. Jackson SOUSLIN-HARLOW, 2. Jordan GIANNOPOULOS, 3. Brock STINSON
KA3 Light
1. Christopher POLIS, 2. Oliver RAY, 3. Michael HARBER
Jnr Max
1. Lucas LICHTENBERGER, 2. Russell MAYO, 3. Angus WALLACE
TaG 125 Restricted Light
1. Cameron KENDALL, 2. Salvatore SCARPIGNATO, 3. Greg HOLDEN
TaG 125 Restricted Heavy
1. Simon KENDRICK, 2. Beau LEVY, 3. Jake HEYNEMAN
TaG 125 Light
1. Grant WASTLE, 2. Christopher SANDRONE, 3. Luke WALSH
TaG 125 Heavy
1. Kerry AVRAMIDIS, 2. PETER PRICE, 3. Zachary PHELAN
TaG 125 Restricted Masters Light
1. Ronald ARNOLD 2. Joaquim DOS SANTOS, 3. Michael MICALLEF
TaG 125 Restricted Masters Heavy
1. Niven RICHES 2. Matthew DONNELLY, 3. Patrick HONER
Above: Cadet 12s show off their trophies - Jack Childs, Alex Ninovic and Marcel Gardonyi (pic - quickpixels.com.au)
