All-Weather Pucka Power Series

words by Ayrton Creagh

‘The Colosseum of Australian Karting’ was home to round four of the Golden Power Series, as 320+ karters converged at Puckapunyal to continue the championship battle. Tempestuous weather bombarded the circuit for much of the weekend, creating strategy dilemmas as teams grappled with the extremes of a waterlogged circuit to a rapidly drying track.

• full results on Speedhive HERE
• photos by Steve Dansie – Saturday HERE, Pit Pics HERE, Sunday HERE
• photos by Pace Images – Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE
• photos by Tim Francis HERE

One of the larger fields of the weekend, 37 Cadet 9 racers took to the circuit vying for glory, elbow’s out as it was all to play for at the front. Upcoming superstar, Lex Kelly, stormed to pole position by a mighty 0.263s over recently crowned state champion, Beau Chambers; Cooper Djemil, Ari Djemil and Zac Duynhoven rounding out the fast five. Chambers was in sublime form, taking two of the heat wins with Kelly claiming another as Jarvis Hindle entered the podium contention, taking a string of podium places – Niko Hewson and the Djemil siblings joining the top five party.

The heats were indicative of a blockbuster final to come, Kelly and Hindle starting off the front row with Chambers, Hewson and C. Djemil just behind. It took a mere 70 metres before disaster struck the field, an incident on the warm-up lap taking out roughly seven karts, including front row starter Jarvis Hindle! We were a few karts lighter by the time the flag dropped, Chambers with an electric start to swoop into the lead with Kelly on his heels. The laps wound down, Kelly seemingly biding his time glued to the rear bumper of Chambers before making a lunge on lap 8, taking the lead. Chambers acknowledged the sheer speed of Kelly, striking back a mere lap later to reoccupy P1. The front runners hit lapped traffic, Chambers carving his way through the blue flags to build a gap to the speedy Kelly behind, going on to cross the line a handful of kart-lengths ahead of Kelly in 2^nd and C. Djemil in 3^rd! Duynhoven and Hudson Kelly completing the top five.

The largest of classes, Cadet 12 kicked off in incredible fashion as rain flooded the circuit, EKS kart’s Jensen Damaschino taking a sensational pole over class debutante, Oliver Armitt, in P2 by a mere 0.076s – the leading pair head and shoulders above the remainder of the top five with Luca Portaro, Lucas Costanzo and Vasili Baralos completing the order.

Despite his remarkable start in qualifying, Damaschino struggled to convert in the heats, taking two P2’s before being plagued by a DNF in Heat 3 – Portaro expertly seizing the opportunity to take two heat wins with Baralos claiming glory in the other. Costanzo, Armitt, Austin McPherson, Rossi Yau and Ethan Turnbull contesting for the remaining top five places.

All eyes were on the final, would it be Damaschino with his blistering speed ending up on top, or could Portaro continue his dominant warpath? Lights out and we’re racing, Portaro with the holeshot in turn one to take the lead from Armitt in 2^nd, Baralos in 3^rd. The ensuing pack closed to the back of the leaders, Costanzo beginning to make his moves as he went from 4^th to P3 on lap 2, before sensationally doing a double overtake on lap 4 to hit the lead! A target was painted on the back of the #55, who began to stretch his legs and evade the field, Portaro in hot pursuit to reel him in with Armitt and Yau on his tail – Damaschino charging from the depths of the top 10 to the fringes of the top five with the fastest lap. Three to go, you could throw a tea towel over the leading five it was that close. Yau makes a move on Armitt to move into 3^rd, providing a kart’s-length breathing room to Portaro who was ready to joust it out for the win. Final lap, Portaro with an incredible move in turn two to hit the lead! Time running out for Costanzo, who makes a last-gasp effort with only a handful of corners to go – it sticks! The two drag race to the line… Costanzo takes it by just 0.021s! Yau, Armitt and Damaschino complete the top five, covered by less than 1s!

KA3 Junior Light was the opening category for the round, kicking off the weekend in style as ProKarting’s leading junior, Ayce Buckley, waltzed his way to yet another pole, snatching it by an impressing 0.155s over Jai George, Jack Jenkins a further 0.001s in 3^rd with Max Mangano and Christian Sasso completing the fast five! Despite his incredible speed in qualifying, Buckley couldn’t catch a break as a spin in Heat 1 saw him tumble from the lead to 9^th, before coming back to 5^th – Aiden Schweikert masterfully controlled his kart to win by a nose cone over Sasso in wet conditions. It went from bad to worse for Buckley, who seemingly had a mechanical failure on the warmup lap ruling him out for Heat 2 – Eastern Lions Kart Club (ELKC) member Jenkins taking a glorious victory by a monumental 9.9s over Cohen Nauman and Jai George, before backing it up with a P2 finish behind Sasso in the final heat – Schweikert on the podium again.

Three different winners in three very different heats, Jenkins rewarded with his mighty consistency to be starting off pole alongside George the giant slayer: Sasso, Naumann and Schweikert behind. The flag dropped and it was pedal to the metal, Jenkins leading the field at the end of lap 1 before relinquishing the lead as Sasso cruised on by. Alpha Motorsport’s prodigy put his head down and tail up, building a margin to the ensuing pack lap by lap. Jenkins, Schweikert and George were the next gaggle of karts in pursuit, before heartbreak for Schweikert resulted in a mechanical ‘meatball’ flag being waved – an airbox appearing to have dislodged. With a front runner out of the race, the pressure ramped up with Buckley charging from down in 10^th to the top five. A handful of laps to go, Jenkins and George doing battle for P2, George getting the overtake to move behind Sasso, Jenkins into 3^rd for a lap before the Buckley blizzard swept through. Three to go, Buckley now had cruised right up to the tail of George and made the move for 2^nd, the objective clear as Sasso was still another 1.3s down the road. Buckley put together his best qualifying-style laps to bring the deficit down to a couple of tenths, but the scintillating Sasso reigned supreme, crossing the line 1^st ahead of Buckley with the fastest lap – George, Jenkins and Aaron Bottomley completing the top five!

Continuing the form of nail-biting races, KA3 Junior Heavy certainly didn’t buck the trend. It was Rya Roberts who was rewarded with the best possible birthday present Saturday morning, pole position by a handy 0.078s over Max Johnston in 2^nd – Jackson Pinczuk, Aydan Warren and George Proudford-Nalder completing the fast five. Despite having qualified down in 8^th, it was Cooper Fysh who rose to the top claiming the opening heat in treacherous conditions, before Aydan Warren took a stellar victory in Heat 2, Proudford-Nalder rewarded in Heat 3 with his consistency to take the win narrowly over Fysh (0.053s).

Similarly to Junior Light, KA3 Junior Heavy had three different winners – who would emerge on top come the final? Proudford-Nalder and Fysh were set to start from the front row. Lights out and we’re racing – Proudford-Nalder taking the holeshot and the lead ahead of Fysh just behind. Proudford-Nalder’s lead wouldn’t last long, ‘The Flying Fysh’ taking the lead a lap later with Humphrey following through, Proudford-Nalder relegated to third. Fysh attempted to evade the field, Humphrey turning on the afterburners to close to the back of Fysh and make a pass on lap 5, jostling for a few laps before Fysh struck back on lap 8. Humphrey had company, Proudford-Nalder mounting a challenge for his tilt at the crown and moving to 2^nd, before Humphrey claimed this back moments later to give precious breathing room to Fysh out in front. Humphrey worked tirelessly at the wheel to catch Fysh, snaring fastest lap on the final lap of the race. It wouldn’t be enough, Fysh in cruise control and taking victory by 0.326s over Humphrey; Proudford-Nalder, Chris Lowe and Rya Roberts completing the top five.

In post-race proceedings, Fysh was slapped with a 5s timing infringement, relegating him to 6^th and handing victory to Humphrey – Angus Fletcher promoted to P5.

TaG 125 Restricted Light yet again featured as one of the classes of the weekend, a shock upset in a drying qualifying session saw Adam Campbell stun the field with pole position by 0.412s over Brock Burton; Owen Calder, James Barnes and Jesse Cannell completing the top five. It was drama from the get-go, as championship favourites Ryan Dealy, Ethan Warren and Jarrod Bottomley qualified out of position in 6^th, 22^nd and 10^th respectively. The rain returned for the opening heat, Campbell and Burton with a good old-fashioned ding-dong that saw Burton victorious over Campbell, Warren with a drive befitting of a champion crushing the opposition to go from 22^nd to 3^rd with the fastest lap of the race! Burton went back-to-back, taking Heat 2 over Campbell by a solid 3.5s with Dealy striking back in the championship to finish 3^rd. With collated points determining the grid for Heat 3, Warren’s 3^rd and 7^th place finishes saw him starting 3^rd. Warren maximised this, falling into 2^nd at the start of the race behind Burton. Burton led for much of the heat before being struck with a DNF, a shootout between Warren and Dealy saw the two championship titans go toe-to-toe – Warren on top by 0.5s over Dealy, Bottomley returning to the podium for 3^rd.

The final was upon us, Campbell rewarded for his consistency by starting out of pole position alongside Warren out of P2. Burton, Bottomley and Dealy dealt the other starting five positions. The flag dropped and throttles were pinned, Warren rewarded from his audacious starting attempt by claiming the lead around the outside of the first corner. Disaster for the #74 of Dealy, taken out amidst the action and plummeted back to last. Warren seized the opportunity, breaking the spirits of the field early on to amass a gap just under 1.5s by lap 5. Warren never looked back, the battle for the podium well and truly alive as Bottomley, Meadows, Burton and Mackenzie Rowley shaped up for the final of the podium places. Warren’s sheer speed saw him practically glide across the line 1.3s clear of Burton in 2nd, Rowley claiming P3!

It was TaG 125 Restricted Medium up next, with Pulse Tuning’s very own, Glenn Riddell, storming to pole position by 0.187s over Trent Meadows in P2 – Nathan Gagliardone, Brodie Doidge and Jesse Watkins completing the top five. It was looking like no matter what the field did, nothing would stick to Riddell, the #64 proving too fast as he claimed the opening heat over Doidge and Rhys Hunt. Watkins wasn’t intending on letting that happen however, the ProKarting ace returning serve in Heat 2 to crush the field by just under 7s! Watkins was masterful in the drying conditions, Riddell salvaging a valuable 2^nd ahead of Hunt again in 3^rd. Riddell returned to his winning ways in Heat 3, beating Meadows and Doidge to the flag by 4.3s.

The final was set to be dry, could anyone at all keep up with the speed of Riddell out front? The engines were revving, and we were racing, Riddell with a cracker of a start saw him maintain the lead ahead of Meadows in 2^nd, Doidge in P3. A lap later and near catastrophe, Doidge and Meadows have a coming together when fighting for 2^nd, the latter shovelled back down to 5^th as both Watkins and Michael Flynn slipped through. The damage had already been done though, by lap 3 the gap to Riddell was near 1.5s, with the #64 belting out fastest lap after fastest lap to sail cross the line 5s clear and fastest lap to boot! Doidge crossed the line a lonely 2^nd with Meadows putting together a fine recovery drive to claim 3^rd on the line, narrowly pipping Flynn.

It was Groundhog Day in TaG 125 Restricted Heavy, Mason Baldi asserting his dominance yet again to claim pole position by a startling 0.443s over Shannon Hogg – virtually nothing separating 3^rd to 5^th with Zach Marshall, Brett Jenkin and Brent Opie claiming these positions. In class debut, former Tag 125 Heavy driver, Aaron Jackson, turned the clock back for a classic Jackson wet weather display, annihilating the opposition to go from 6^th to 1^st by the end of the first lap, winning by an impressive 2.2s over Hogg, Opie in 3^rd. Baldi bounced back in the remaining heats, taking 2/2 over Jenkin, Opie and Hogg, sharing the final podium places between the heats.

Baldi appeared to be the one to beat in the dry, but as the rain began to drizzle, greasy conditions plagued the track. Baldi was set to start out of pole alongside DJM Race Engineering’s Jenkin, Baldi with a wonderful start to get the holeshot into turn 1, Jenkin following behind. The laps counted down, Baldi looking infallible out in front as Hogg was on the move through the pack, sliding past Jenkin on lap 4 to claim P2. It was only 5 laps in before tragedy struck, Baldi received the mechanical black ‘meatball’ flag and being waved into the pits from the lead, Hogg sensationally taking control of the race! A cruel blow for Baldi after his dominant start to the final, but Hogg never looked back, strutting his way to a massive victory of 3.9s and faster lap over Jenkin in 2^nd, Alex Powell completing the podium!

It was the finest of margins in qualifying for TaG 125 Masters, Clayton Groves going on to claim pole position by a mere 0.037s over Steve Riddell in P2, Mark Seddon a further 0.013 further back in P3 as the podium was covered by just 0.050s! Ringwood Kart Centre drivers Ian Branson and Shane Box occupied 4^th and 5^th. Groves showed his quality in the opening heat, taking victory by a few kart-lengths over Riddell in P2 – Seddon a distant 3^rd. The order was turned on its head in Heat 2, Leigh Holmes and Heath Jelbart doing a proper demolition job to the top of the field to cross the line 1-2, Chris Brooks a further 6.6s back and 4^th another 17s back. Riddell turned the tide for Heat 3, getting the best of Groves early on to lead him across the line by practically nothing, Seddon maintaining another consistent P3.

Groves and Riddell were rewarded for their incredible flashes of speed in the dry, translating this into a front row lockout over Leigh Holmes and Mark Seddon on the second row, Jelbart out of P5. The flag dropped and we were ready to go, Groves controlling the start to snatch the lead with Riddell in 2^nd – Holmes in 3^rd. One lap later and disaster for the last podium placing, Holmes and Jelbart collide! Both would go on to DNF as a result of the collision, tumbling down the order and out for the count. It appeared clear it was a two-horse race at the top, Riddell with the top end advantage but Groves proving that track position is king. Riddell continued to try the same overtake four laps in a row, opting for the wider line into the first corner but Groves would shut the door, forcing the #24 to the white line. Fifth time round and Riddell pulls the old switcharoo – crisscrossing his way down the inside and taking the lead! Groves had the speed but was unable to respond as Riddell cemented his victory with purple sectors on the final lap! It was Riddell from Groves in the end, with Mark Seddon claiming a well-deserved P3.

KA3 Senior Light was an intense battle of driver supremacy at the front of the field, Amos Orr establishing his dominance in style as he claimed yet another pole position ahead of Hugo Garraway by a slender 0.082s, ELKC member Jaylen Paragreen a further 0.014s back with Jett Adamson and Will Thompson completing the top five. Amos proved it didn’t matter what the weather conditions were, he could do it all, beginning to flex his muscles as he sent Garraway packing with a 6.6s victory over the Mildura driver – Thompson 12s off the lead in 3^rd. Icy conditions in Heat 2 saw the track progress slowly whilst drivers turned laps. Finan Kerley seemingly had a sixth sense for where the grip was as he piloted his way to a heat win over Paragreen and Garraway with exuberance and style, before Garraway was rewarded for his consistency with the win in Heat 3, narrowly beating Orr and Thompson.

It was going to be utter fireworks in the final, Garraway off pole position alongside Thompson, Amos Orr and Jaylen Paragreen from the second row with Kerley the final top 5 place. Throttles pinned and we’re underway, Garraway doing what he needed to and claiming the holeshot, leading the field ahead of Orr and Thompson. Orr sat patiently in 2^nd for his turn to lead the race, electing lap 3 to pull the trigger and make a move down the inside of Garraway, Thompson and Garraway just behind looking to pick up the crumbs. We got to the halfway mark of the race, Thompson practically pushing Garraway around the laps at this point before passing one lap later. Five to go, it was still anyone’s with Orr being a mere 0.250s down the road, all to play for as each member of the leading quartet insisted on taking the chocolates for victory. Thompson closed right up to the back of Orr, throwing down remarkable lap times to challenge for victory. One to go, gloves were off and Thompson looked like he’d have a dive into Turn 2, he opted for otherwise and pursued Orr through the lap, through the final corner of Siberia they go, a drag race to the finish line and Orr seals the deal! 0.174s at the line over Thompson, Garraway a further 0.043s behind in 3^rd with Paragreen also narrowly missing out in 4^th – a tissue covering the top 4 it was that close! Incredible racing from KA3 Senior Light.

Wet conditions were no exception for KA3 Senior Medium, Thomas Patching going on to claim a sensational pole position ahead of Taine Venables in treacherous conditions – 0.579s the gap between the two with Matt Chambers, Zach Findlay and George Lee roughly 1s behind. Patching undeniably had the speed to win the heats, but experience proved invaluable as Venables went back-to-back in Heats 1 and 2 in a display of class. Findlay got going in Heat 3, bruising the opposition with fastest lap and the race win by 1.8s across the line over Patching in P2.

Venables loomed as the biggest threat to the round win early in the weekend with his two heat victories, but Findlay’s earth-shattering speed in Heat 3 sent ripples through the field – could anyone challenge the two great rivals? Lights out and we’re off, Patching with the start needed to take the lead ahead of Venables, Findlay in third. It was single file as the laps wound down, before Findlay decided to pull the pin and move into 2^nd on lap 3, passing Venables. One lap later and Findlay was on the move again, cruising past Patching for the lead. Patching was no pushover, clawing back to retake the lead a lap later, before Findlay responded the next lap to take the lead again. Seemingly out of nowhere, Jarrod Bottomley rocked up to the scene to pick up the pieces, going from 4^th to 2^nd on lap 7 as he caught both Patching and Venables napping, the #43 visibly frustrated as he gained a position on Patching just to lose one to Bottomley. Bottomley set after Findlay, lingering within the 1s margin before Findlay put his foot to the floor, taking a stellar victory over Bottomley in 2^nd, Venables completing the top 3!

Anyone tuning into KA3 Senior Light qualifying would’ve thought the commentary was on repeat, as Amos Orr’s name was called again this time for pole position in TaG 125 Light, dazzling the field to take victory by 0.729s over Curt Sera in P2, Cooper Johnstone a further 0.005s further back! Will Thompson and Jordi Belton completed the fast five. Orr continued his crushing performances, taking two further heat wins and a 2^nd, where Cooper Johnstone was able to break his run of two 2^nd places with a win.

We were set to go into the finals, where it very much appeared to be a two-way contest as Johnstone and Orr seemingly had the rest of the field in the palms of hands. Would we see an upset in the final of Tag Light? The final race of the weekend and we were underway, Orr commanding his way into P1 as Johnstone slid from 2^nd to 4^th at the end of lap 1, Thompon taking P2 ahead of Josh Denton, Johnstone and Josh D’Ambrosio. The former Australian champion of Denton wasn’t interested in hanging around, making a move on Thompson on lap 3 for P2 as he attempted to reel in Orr who was almost 0.5s down the road. Denton set chase, looking to be the only real challenger as Johnstone was scrapping it out for P5. Lap 7 came and Thompson fell off the podium, A1 Engines pilot, Josh D’Ambrosio, vying for a podium place. Orr seemed unphased by the action occurring around him, pumping in the laps to open up a massive lead over Denton with a handful of laps to go. As they crossed the line, it was nothing short of dominant from Orr who took the flag ahead Denton in 2^nd! D’Ambrosio closed in, but it wasn’t enough, having to settle for 3^rd. Fastest lap of the race went to class debutante, Hugo Garraway with an excellent recovery drive from 13^th to 6^th!

TaG 125 Heavy looked like it was going to be a cakewalk for multiple state champion, Tom Hughes, after a dominating timed practice, but it’d be the returning Max Lumsden who snared pole position after his horrific accident at the Victorian State Championships earlier in the year, the gap 0.023s between himself and Tom McCulloch in 2^nd. Tom Hughes, Sebastian Perrone and Liam Ford completing the fast five. The heats were filled with chaos, a stray wheel decided to check out from the Hughes kart on lap 1 in Heat 1 that scrubbed him out of the race, Zack Thompson going on to take victory in wet conditions ahead of Alger in 2^nd, McCulloch in 3^rd. The poor conditions continued with a frosty reception for the class to Heat 2, McCulloch commanding his way to victory in the icy conditions with Thompson and Alger behind – Nik Schmidt carving his way with ease through the field from 8^th to 4^th as the front runners were seemingly saved by the bell. Thompson returned to his winning ways in Heat 3 ahead of the usual suspects of Alger and McCulloch; Schmidt and Braden Clark with two excellent drives that ensured them top five placings.

After a relatively dry Saturday once the morning frost had dissipated, was there possibly anything else that could’ve poured more fuel onto the fire that was going to be the Tag 25 Heavy final? Of course there was, literally as the field exits the out-grid, the heavens open, the commentator acknowledged with joy as the crowd were set to be treated to a display of wet weather mastery on the slippery slick tyres. Typically, renowned as ‘the king of the wet’, Alger got to work at the start of the final, jumping into the lead early on ahead of Thompson and Schmidt, McCulloch falling to 5^th. It didn’t take long for Schmidt to claim another scalp, this time moving into P2 for what was looking like a DR kart 1-2! Back in 4^th place, Liam Ford had been subject to a relatively troublesome weekend, suffering from a DNF to be starting out of position for the final, but had well and truly turned on the afterburners as he recognised this as an opportunity to pounce, passing Thompson a lap later. Schmidt had cut the deficit to Alger by nearly a second, before Ford passed him moments later. Ford was well and truly the danger man on track, cutting the gap down from over 2s to a measly 0.4s at one stage! The saying goes though that “cool heads prevail”, Alger being the cool customer he is composed himself to put together incredible speed in the dying laps to edge the margin back out to 1.3s as he crossed the line. Alger went on to be the victor of Tag 125 Heavy, Ford just behind in a remarkable drive that kept the championship fight alive, whilst Nik Schmidt rounded out the podium to breath life back into his championship run! What a race!

Commentator’s Driver of the Weekend:

After yet another incredible weekend’s worth of racing that featured everything from flash downpours to clear blue skies, gusts of wind to everything covered in frost; Puckapunyal Golden Power Series Round 4 had it all! In such challenging conditions, the variable that is the driver has the most profound impact on performance, and this round’s ‘Commentator’s Driver of the Weekend’ certainly epitomised that.

After a mechanical issue dampened the result in qualifying, Ethan Warren kicked it up a gear for the remaining heats and final of the weekend. Having qualified down in the trenches of 22^nd, on the last row of the grid, Warren struck together several awe-inspiring drives with the best undoubtedly being 22^nd to 3^rd in Heat 1. Not only Warren’s speed but his consistency and ability managing this adversity in his comeback put the whole championship on notice, warranting a front row start for the final where the whole crowd knew he wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip. Ethan had one of the best singular drives in the Golden Power Series of 2024 to date; one that will standout come the series conclusion irrespective of where he finishes the championship and saw him cross the line in the final 1^st.

Congratulations Ethan Warren – you’re round four’s driver of the weekend!