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Stunning Finals At Pro Tour Newcastle


press release 15 April 2013
 

A stellar display of side by side racing has headlined a sun drenched finals day at the Newcastle Kart track, and with the second half of the Pro Tour season in reach, the Rotax rankings are closing up.

The DD2 Masters pre-final started with action as heat winner Adam Hunter stormed to a lead, contact between Daniel Richert and Danny Wright on the opening corner saw Wright make contact with the tyres, thus forcing him out of the race. A charge from Hamish Leighton in second saw him close in the gap between he and Hunter, yet Adam was able to hold out the New Zealand born driver across the line. John Bailey led home a row of drivers in third from Tony Prendergast in fourth and Michael Robson in fifth. Hunter appeared comfortable throughout the opening stages of the race, with his key challenger from the pre-final of Hamish Leighton looking to improve his position even further. Michael Robson started from fifth, managing to secure some blistering times, to work his way through the field, forcing his way into the lead in the second half of the race. From there, Robson was able to secure times up to half a second faster than Hunter who finished the race in second behind Robson with John Bailey in third, Leighton in fourth and Stephen Hampson in fifth.

Mick Robson drove to the top in the DD2 Masters final
Above: Mick Robson drove to the top in the DD2 Masters final
pic - IKD

On the back of his heat race success on Saturday, Brendan Nelson pulled away early in the Rotax Heavy pre-final, closely challenged by William Yarwood with the two lapping in similar times on a consistent basis. Throughout the race, Nelson was able to extend his lead over the 14 lap race to take a comfortable win ahead of William Yarwood, Kel Treseder and Paul Rodgers with Lane Moore taking fifth.

From the start of the final, it was again Brendan Nelson who leapt to the lead from the beginning, with Kel Treseder working his way to second forcing William Yarwood back to third after starting alongside Nelson. Paul Rodgers carried pace throughout the race to eventually get past Yarwood, however Nelson and Treseder were too strong in the latter stage of the race, with pair taking first and second respectively, with Rodgers holding on for third from Troy Woolston in fourth and Matthew Greenbury in fifth.

Brendan Nelson continued his impressive string of victories in Rotax Heavy taking a clean sweep
Above: Brendan Nelson continued his impressive string of victories in Rotax Heavy taking a clean sweep
pic - IKD

Jack Black started from pole in the pre-final for the Sodi Junior Max Trophy Class, contact between front runners Zane Goddard and Stephanie Stones in the first lap forced the pair back to the rear of the field, allowing Black to break away ahead of William Brown and Melissa Whitmore. On his recovery, Goddard secured the fastest lap of the race with a 52.310 on lap six. The battle between Black and Brown continued throughout the race, as Jack managed to hold out the Queenslander for the remainder of the race to take the win, Goddard worked his way back to third on the back of his blistering times with Whitmore in fourth and Chris Bregonje in fifth.

Starting from pole, Jack Black looked to take a lead from the outset, yet a hard charging Zane Goddard worked his way to the lead early in the race which is where he would remain, William Brown also managed to work his way past Black into second holding down that position for the entire race, Black held on to secure third from Bryce Fullwood who drove a solid race from his unfortunate qualifying session to finish fourth and Jonathon Bradshaw in fifth.

Sodi Junior Max Trophy podium (L-R) Bryce Fullwood (5th), Jack Black (3rd), Zane Goddard (1st), William Brown (2nd), Stephanie Stones (4th)
Above: Sodi Junior Max Trophy podium (L-R) Bryce Fullwood (5th), Jack Black (3rd), Zane Goddard (1st), William Brown (2nd), Stephanie Stones (4th)
pic - IKD

Tyler Greenbury led the capacity Rotax Light field into turn one at the start of the pre-final, as the pole sitter Pierce Lehane was forced back to fifth. Brad Jenner worked his way to second from the beginning, however contact between Lehane and Jaxon Evans in turn two forced the pair back in the field, allowing Jenner to slot into second ahead of Daniel Rochford. The top three positions remain unchanged for the second half of the race to the chequered flag as Greenbury took the win from Jenner and Rochford with Mitchell Hewitt and Reece Davidson completing the top five.

Greenbury stormed to the lead from the beginning of the close final, fighting through the thick traffic, Rochford was able to storm to second behind Greenbury, with Reece Davidson following Rochford through to third in the early stage of the race. Both Daniel Connor and Daniel Kinsman from New Zealand showed true pace to take home sixth and seventh respectively. Brad Jenner and Mitchell Hewitt managed to hold to round out the top five by the end of the final behind Greenbury, Rochford and Davidson.

Tyler Greenbury showed commitment to deliver a win in Rotax Light
Above: Tyler Greenbury showed commitment to deliver a win in Rotax Light
pic - IKD

James Abela’s speed from qualifying and all three heat races was transferred through to the pre-final as he took the lead from the outset. Nicholas Andrews fought his way to second past Callum Walker who started from the front row alongside Abela early in the race. The pair remained at the front of the field for the entire race to the chequered flag with Walker finishing third from Joseph Burton-Harris and Jordan Boys in fifth.

Abela continued his stunning display of driving in the final, taking to the lead from the first lap and not looking back. Nicholas Andrews drove his way to second early in the race as the pair broke away from the rest of the field. A continued dice between Joseph Burton-Harris and Isaac Vaccarella proved the challenge for the final podium placing; it was Burton-Harris that would hold out for third behind Abela and Andrews with Vaccarella and Stankovic rounding out the top five.

James Abela completed his clean sweep of Junior Max with victory in the final
Above: James Abela completed his clean sweep of Junior Max with victory in the final
pic - IKD

Jason Pringle was able to capitalise on his pole position in the pre-final to lead the way in the early stages for DD2, forming a three-way dice between Troy Bretherton and Thomas MacDonald. The trio remained untouched for the majority of the race. With the fall of the chequered flag, Pringle lead home Bretherton and MacDonald from Brendan Nelson and Kel Treseder.

The challenge between the first six karts in the first half of the DD2 final was one to be admired; pressure from Thomas MacDonald on Jason Pringle was the highlight for the race lead, with the intensity rising in the latter stages of the race. Kel Treseder appeared comfortable for the final place on the podium, but it took until the closing laps for Pringle to secure the victory from MacDonald. Troy Bretherton and Brendan Nelson completed the top five.

Jason Pringle fought off numerous challenges to take the win in DD2
Above: Jason Pringle fought off numerous challenges to take the win in DD2
pic - IKD

Round 5 of the 2013 Rotax Pro Tour takes place at the Geelong Kart Club on May 24-26.

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