Pro Tour Saturated - Qualifying & Heat 1 Wrap


press release 22 June 2013
 

With the first day of a new day/night format underway for the Rotax Pro Tour, competitors were faced with saturating conditions as they became acclimatised to the unseasonal Queensland weather in qualifying and the opening heat on Friday.

It was a dream start to the event for Gold Coast driver Steven Ellery who was able to eclipse the field in DD2 Masters in qualifying, managing to outdo Geelong round winner Adam Hunter by just half a tenth of a second. Daniel Richert showed a clean set of heels in the eight minute session to finish third ahead of Scott Karandrews and 2012 Team Australia member Jose Ruiz. Ellery transferred this form into heat one by taking the lead half way through the race from a hard starting Adam Hunter, who would settle for second behind Ellery under lights in Ipswich. Hamish Leighton improved from his starting position of sixth to finish third ahead of Richert and Tony Bregonje.

DD2 Masters’ Steve Ellery took his first pole position and race win in the category
Above: DD2 Masters’ Steve Ellery took his first pole position and race win in the category
pic - Bill Bryant/Fletcher Photography

Brendan Nelson was another who had made a superb start to his home event by taking pole position in Rotax Heavy by just two tenths over Troy Woolston. Sydney driver Michael Saller held on for third, though he challenged for the front row numerous times. Paul Rodgers and Rick Pringle made it a Victorian duo to complete the top five. Nelson blasted out of the blocks in heat one, using his local track knowledge to his advantage, thus leading the entire race to the chequered flag. A fight for second broke out, with Saller moving past Woolston to grab the spot late in the race with Woolston settling for third ahead of Rodgers and Shay Mayes.

Chris Bregonje managed to secure his maiden pole position in the Sodi Junior Max Trophy Class in the sole qualifying session, setting the pace by just two tenths of a second over Queensland duo Matthew Byrne and Toowoomba’s William Brown. In just his second meeting in the class, Glen Ormerod qualified fourth with Stephanie Stones in fifth. Byrne jumped to a blistering start which is where he would remain for the ten lap race, dicing regularly with William Brown who improved from his starting position to finish second behind Byrne, with Ormerod finishing third ahead of pole sitter Bregonje and Zane Goddard in fifth after starting eleventh.

Brendan Nelson secured pole position in both Rotax Heavy and DD2
Above: Brendan Nelson secured pole position in both Rotax Heavy and DD2
pic - Bill Bryant/Fletcher Photography

After being absent from Pro Tour Geelong, Pierce Lehane returned to the seat in fine style in his new Redspeed chassis. Lehane managed to secure a comfortable pole position by four tenths over New Zealand’s Daniel Kinsman, with Daniel Rochford in his new Monaco chassis in third from Brad Jenner and local gun Tyler Greenbury. Lehane was unstoppable from the outset of the first heat, continually lapping below the one minute time barrier, with his fastest time finishing at 59.879sec. Tyler Greenbury took advantage of the close racing from the beginning to sit in for second behind Lehane, holding out Kinsman who finished third from former National Karting Champion Cian Fothergill and Brad Jenner in fourth and fifth respectively.

It proved to be the perfect birthday present for Joseph Burton-Harris as the English-born driver took pole position with a time of 1:00.838 in the damp Ipswich conditions. Burton-Harris was able to hold out local driver Aaron Seton who took second from Drew Ridge and Mitchell Griffin with Callum Walker completing the top five. As with Pierce Lehane in Rotax Light, Joseph Burton-Harris sprinted away to an early lead, and held it for the remainder of the ten lap race. Seton closed up in the second half of the race and appeared as the only challenger to Burton-Harris, though he settled for second by the fall of the chequered flag. Lachlan McHugh finished third in the race ahead of Bryce Fullwood and Drew Ridge. A post-race penalty saw McHugh placed back to 11th, with William Hawkes stepping into the top five.

Joseph Burton-Harris scored pole position and a heat win in Junior Max on his birthday
Above: Joseph Burton-Harris scored pole position and a heat win in Junior Max on his birthday
pic - Bill Bryant/Fletcher Photography

In a mirror of his effort in Rotax Heavy, Brendan Nelson eclipsed the DD2 field to take pole position and be the only driver in all six qualifying sessions to set a time below one minute with a 59.552. Troy Bretherton was the closest to challenge Nelson’s time placing second with a 1:00.001 ahead of Geelong round winner Jason Pringle, Lucas Ward and Travis Millar. Another flying start from Nelson saw him lead the first DD2 race from start to finish. Travis Millar worked hard to close up on the Queensland driver in the latter stages, though it wasn’t enough as Nelson took the chequered flag from Millar, with Ward finishing third, Bretherton in fourth and Pringle in fifth. A post-race penalty for a starting infringement on Brendan Nelson saw him relegated to seventh, hence Travis Millar being declared the opening heat winner from Ward, Bretherton, Pringle and Michael Stewart snaring the final top five position.

The start of the Saturday program will be slightly later than normal, with driver’s briefing from 10am and the carburettor sessions to follow with heat two and three and the pre-final in the afternoon, with finals under lights tomorrow night.

To follow the event throughout the weekend, like Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook, follow Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter and tune into the audio commentary via Ustream at www.ustream.tv/user/internationalkarting.

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