by Russell Innes, Ipswich Kart Club
192 starters fronted for Round 4 of the Ipswich Kart Club Championships on Saturday 4th June. After overnight rain, track conditions were pretty challenging for those doing qualifying first thing Saturday morning and throughout the early heats and the track never really gripped up, so lap times for all classes were a fair way off lap record pace.
- full results HERE
Feature classes were 4SS Junior, 4SS Senior and 4SS Super, with the Juniors providing the biggest field of 15 with six of them P Platers.
Charlie Stratford set the pace in 4SS Junior Qualifying from Cody Scott and Henry Stratford. These 3 and Finn Woodley would be the class of the field all day, Henry Stratford winning Heat 1 from brother Charlie and Woodley, Henry again winning Heat 2 from Woodley and Scott, Charlie Stratford winning Heat 3 from Woodley and Scott, but Henry Stratford was all class in the Final leading all the way except for a short challenge from Scott who led one lap. Stratford edging away to win by almost 4 seconds from Scott with Charlie Stratford 3rd. Georgie Yeadon was best of the rest all day and finished 4th in the Final with Woodley 5th. With 6 P Platers in the class, IKC awarded a 1st P Plater trophy and the winner was Troy Bowden.
Brynn Stewart set the pace in the early morning wet track qualifying, ahead of Xander Jacobi and Jordan Marshall in 4SS Senior Light, but Jordan Briggs dominated the rest of day in the dry track conditions of the Heats and Final. Briggs led home Heat 1 with a convincing win ahead of brother Darcy Briggs and then Jacobi. Heat 2 was a narrow win from Stewart and Darcy Briggs. Heat 3 again saw the two bothers 1st and 2nd, Jordan ahead of Darcy with Julian Cook 3rd. In the Final, the younger brother Jordan won from Jacobi, then Darcy Briggs 3rd. With only 2 entries in 4SS Senior Medium, Tim Baker won all 3 Heats and the Final ahead of Damian Poole.
In the wet track conditions of qualifying, Scott Pearce completely dominated 4SS Super Medium ahead of Harrison Conroy and Tom Tucker. Pearce had a commanding win in Heat 1 from Xander Jacobi and Kevin Davis. In Heat 2 he was challenged a bit more but still led home Tucker and Harrison Conroy. Pearce reasserted his dominance in Heat 3 with a massive 14 second win from Jacobi and Tucker and again dominated the Final winning by 10 seconds from Jacobi and Jason Ramsay 3rd overall and 1st in 4SS Super Heavy, with Tucker 3rd in 4SS Super Medium.
In KA4 Junior Light, a few of the regular frontrunners were away at AKC, which allowed some others to shine and take the spotlight and this class put on a magnificent display throughout the day, with 2 Heat wins to Jett Adamson and Jye Flynn winning the other Heat, but very close racing with Lachlan Costa, Charlie Cronin, Charlotte Page, all amongst the placings throughout the Heats. Annabel Kennedy and Jaxson Fischle were also very close to the front group. Onto the Final and the boys and girls put on a very entertaining race, Adamson led early but then was challenged by Flynn and Cronin. Flynn went to the lead on Lap 6 and held on for a narrow win from Cronin and Adamson.
The Cadet P class has been sensational to watch at Ipswich this year and has been instrumental in the rapid development of a lot of the new drivers. Aiden Hackwood had a great day in Cadet 12P winning all 3 Heats and the Final comfortably. Cooper Field, Mia Yarwood and August Soward were amongst the placings through the Heats. In the Final whilst Hackwood drove away, Field, Soward and Yarwood had a great battle, Field finishing 2nd with Soward 3rd. In Cadet 9P Riccardo Johnston won the 1st 3 Heats but was challenged all day by Monty Jamieson, with Oliver Flack, Jett Mathers and Samual Grande also amongst the placings. In the Final a first lap incident dropped Johnston back and he then had to try and work his way back towards the front, but Jamiseon had bolted and comfortably led all the way for the class win. Johnston recovered to finish 2nd with Grande 3rd in a great little race long battle with Flack and Mathers.
Matt Greenbury made a rare appearance at an IKC club day in TAG Heavy and immediately showed he is still one of the finest drivers around with a strong Heat 1 win from Jumpei Morita and Josh Dagg. Finlay Derry, Gav Whitmore and Riley LeGarde filled the placings in Heat 2. Greenbury was strong again in Heat 3 winning from Morita and Derry and these 3 also filled the podium in the Final. With so many of the normal KA3 Senior runners away at AKC, Justin McCartney was the only entrant and ran with TAG Heavy.
Again with a few of the normal frontrunners away at AKC, the opportunities in Cadet 9 were there for some others to be at the front and Mikko Wuoti, Jack Musico and Michael Quintilliani were the 3 Heat winners. Brock Nolan, Orlando Raso and Leighton Thorley were amongst the placings. In the Final, Quintilliani led from lights out to the chequered flag, from Musico and Nolan. The 4SS Cadets also ran with Cadet 9 and Jensen Clout won the 1st Heat but Caine Caldwell was dominant for the rest of the day winning the other 2 Heats and then the Final from Clout and Maxwell Padilha.
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TAG Light also had quite a few regular frontrunners away at AKC, so it was refreshing to again see some new faces racing right at the front. Jack Munro led home Cameron Hargraves and Jacques Goodman in a messy 1st Heat which had quite a few DNF’s. Josh Miller had his 1st Heat win since stepping into TAG Light in Heat 2 from Stewart Hare and Keiran Stirling. Munro, Hare and Miller had a great battle in Heat 3, Miller moving to the front midway through to win from Hare and Munro. In the Final though Miller was never challenged, winning comfortably from Hare and Munro.
Alex Gardner had a strong start in KA3 Junior winning Heat 1 from William Gallagher and Connor Peacock. Ari Wedlock had a strong Heat 2 win from Peacock and Jett Kubelka. Gallagher led home Gardner in Heat 3 and Wedlock filling 3rd. Gallagher and Gardner had a great battle in the Final, Gallagher winning narrowly from Gardner and Kayden Thompson 3rd. Louis Brown and Thomas Hunter ran Junior Performance grouped with KA3 Junior and Brown had a clean sweep winning all 3 Heats and the Final.
Cadet 12 is such a massively competitive class at Ipswich Kart Club, but with a lot of the normal frontrunners away at AKC, it was great to see some new names towards the front. Alester Flack won 2 Heats with Luke Wilson taking the other. In the placings across the Heats were Gabriel Elkayam, Xavier Raso, Ashton Smith and Nash Peirano. In the Final Flack had a comfortable win from Wilson and Declan Hicks 3rd.
Jacinta Hoey got off to a good start winning Heat 1 in TAG Restricted Light from Robert Mortensen and Lilly Stevens. Dean Silcock won Heat 2 from Ryan Uhlmann and Ryan Silcock. Mortensen had a narrow win in Heat 3 from Hoey and Nathaniel Harrison. Ryan Silcock worked his way forward from a lower than normal starting spot in the Final to take the lead from Hoey late in the race. Harrison also moving through to take 2nd, Hoey falling back to 3rd.
Nick Newman, Noel Smyth and Allan Mayes each won a Heat in TAG Restricted Masters. Mayes went on to win the Final from Newman, with Evan Broughton 3rd.
David Vogel has been hard to beat lately in TAG Restricted Medium and started off with the Heat 1 win from Adam Woods and Pete Sattler. He cleaned up again in Heat 2 ahead of James Hogan and Sattler and comfortably won Heat 3 from Woods and Sattler. In the Final Sattler really challenged Vogel, at one stage taking the lead but Vogel recovered to win narrowly from Sattler and Craig Balke 3rd.
Lachlan Murphy and Marcello Surace shared the Heat wins in Queensland Open Performance Light across the Heats, but Surace was a DNS for the Final, leaving Murphy to win narrowly from Stephanie Duffy. Scott Cleveland won Heat 1 of Queensland Open Performance Heavy, but Dan Hutchinson was the fast man in Heats 2 and 3, Keyan Appleby and Brett Wells also amongst the placings. Hutchinson suffered an early brake issue in the Final and Wells had lots of pace to move to the front, winning by over 5 seconds from Cleveland and Appleby.
This Round again included the IKC Clubday Challenge Program, which saw Group winners acknowledged in Cadet 9 (Group 2 Winner = Orlando Raso, Group 3 Winner = Leighton Thorley), Cadet 12 (Group 2 Winner = Ashton Smith, Group 3 Winner = Jack Sydenham), KA4 Junior Light (Group 2 Winner = Jaxson Fischle, Group 3 Winner = Sam Simpson), TAG Restricted Medium (Group 2 Winner = Dylan Menz), TAG Restricted Light (Group 2 Winner = Nicholas Crofton) and TAG Restricted Masters (Group 2 Winner = Michael Mitrovic)
After 4 Rounds of the Club Championship, there are some real close and interesting battles for the Class Championships. In Cadet 9 Mikko Wuoti leads narrowly from Jack Musico, with Blake Haigh, Kenichi Morita and Brock Nolan filling out the top 5. In Cadet 12 Luke Wilson leads from Alester Flack and Gabriel Elkayam, Xavier Raso, Basilo Micale and Zack Hilder. 4SS Junior is being led by Finn Woodley, from Georgie Yeadon and Cody Scott. KA4 Junior Light is very close at the top with Jaxson Fischle, Loclan Hennock and Dominic Penman the top 3. Alex Gardner leads KA3 Junior from Sebastian Tupackovski and Jordi Slater. Keegan Fraser, Jai Brown and Ryan Uhlmann are the top 3 in KA3 Senior.
In 4SS Senior Light Darcy Briggs has a commanding lead ahead of Andy Mann and Jordan Marshall, whilst in 4SS Super Medium, Scott Pearce is comfortably ahead of Tom Tucker and Harrison Arendt. Ryan Silcock and Dean Silcock are very close at the front of TAG Restricted Light, well clear of Robert Mortensen. David Vogel has stretched out to a bit of a lead in TAG Restricted Medium from Pete Sattler and Justin McCartney. In TAG Restricted Masters, Noel Smyth now has a sizable lead from Evan Broughton and Nick Newman. Stewart Hare has a big lead in TAG Light ahead of Jack Stimson and Jacques Goodman. TAG Heavy is very close with little separating Jared Neinert, Brendan Nelson, Jumpei Morita, Shane Castle and Josh Dagg. Queensland Open Performance is led narrowly by Dan Hutchinson from Scott Cleveland and Keyan Appleby.
IKC will have a bit of a winter break now until the 5th Round of the club championship on 6th August which will also be the TAG Titles and the Graham Acreman Memorial. In the meantime though, many IKC members will be gearing up for the Queensland State Championships at Warwick the first weekend of July.
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