Hamilton’s Country Series Finale

words – Andrew Hayes, AHR Media
pics – Darren’s Sportography / BPM

The Hamilton Karting Club has hosted the sixth and final round of the DPE Kart Superstore Victorian Country Series over the weekend.

Held in glorious conditions across both days at the 700m Buckley Park Circuit, around 150 entries took to the track for the event, which included Qualifying, 4 heats and final.

full results on Speedhive HERE
more photos by Darren’s Sportography HERE
pics by BPM Photography – Friday HERE, Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE
full series points were published on Tuesday HERE

It was a fitting conclusion to another great VCS season, with the top 5 drivers presented with their prizes on Sunday afternoon.

Heath Jelbart and Ari Seidel were both lucky winners of new IAME engines, in the random draws made possible by Remo Racing.

For the final time in 2024, here is the VCS Round 6 rundown:

KA3 SENIOR MEDIUM (9 Entries)

After being a dominant force for the majority of the 2024 season in this class, it was no surprise to see Zach Findlay top the qualifying time sheets (31.300) at Hamilton.

Findlay got sweeping in the heats, as he was the constant at the front, taking four consecutive wins, whilst the positions behind him changed.

Seth Burton got the jump early in the final, but it wasn’t long before Findlay worked his way back into the lead. Just a lap later and Burton and Nicholas Trebilcock were off the road at Siberia and out of contention. Findlay paced the field for the remainder of the race to take a fourth round win for 2024! Ben Mouritz had his struggles throughout the weekend, but peaked at the right time to claim second, ahead of Spiros Anagnostopoulos in third, after running up front all weekend. Remo Luciani and Matthew Nietz finished off their season with fourth and fifth.

The Findlay’s celebrate another win (pic – BPM Photography)

1^st Zach Findlay (GKCV)
2^nd Ben Mouritz (BALL)
3^rd Spiros Anagnostopoulos (ELKC)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Zach Findlay
2 Matthew Nietz
3 Ben Mouritz
4 Spiros Anagnostopoulos
5 Remo Luciani.

KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY (18 Entries)

SA’s Sam Spiteri added his name to the list of pole starters in 2024, as he made a statement with pole position (31.420).

Spiteri wasn’t done with pole position, as he dominated the heat races to claim all four, looking the class of a field that had largely been dominated by two other drivers all year.

Final time rolled in and once again it was Spiteri standing up in the seat. Whilst he was challenged in the final by an impressive Oliver Von Tunk, Spiteri still greeted the chequers first to complete a comprehensive and polished performance. Von Tunk snagged his first VCS podium by taking second place in a fine drive. Josh White crossed the line in third place, but not before he was involved in the incident which sent series combatants Chelsea Humphrey and Levi Jones plummeting down the order. Jonny Sawyer and Coen Poynton put in their best performances of the weekend to finish fourth and fifth.

Junior Heavy form up, round winner Sam Spiteri #31 alongside Lucas Rickard (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Sam Spiteri (BAR)
2^nd Oliver Von Tunk (OAK)
3^rd Josh White (BALL)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Levi Jones
2 Chelsea Humphrey
3 Sam Spiteri
4 Jake Ristell
5 Josh White.

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT (14 Entries)

The current SA Restricted Light Champion, Ben Kilsby continued his dominance of the late rounds of the VCS, claiming a third pole position (30.845) for the 2024 series.

Only a heat two starting infringement would deny Kilsby a perfect run through the heats, with Goulburn Valley’s Ryan Dealy inheriting that heat win.

Kilsby was a class act in the final, as he drove with speed and precision to claim a third consecutive round win in 2024. Dealy proved a good inclusion, as he grabbed second place and made it his own with a good demonstration of his abilities. Jacob Dowlin delivered another solid performance, showing some more of his old pace in third. Bailey Kirk and Jakub Fitzsimmons battled hard all weekend and settled in fourth and fifth.

Ben Kilsby #33 and Ryan Dealy (74) share the front row (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Ben Kilsby (PORT)
2^nd Ryan Dealy (GVKC)
3^rd Jacob Dowlin (WBOOL)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Ben Kilsby
2 Jacob Dowlin
3 Ash Johnston
4 Max Fahey
5 Jakub Fitzsimmons

TAG HEAVY (12 Entries)

Portland’s Scott King continues to rack up the accolades in Tag Heavy, and he added another pole position (30.419) to his list, his fourth pole of 2024.

King was comprehensive in the heat races, as he claimed the chequers in each event.

After remarkably claiming just the one round win in the opening five rounds, King made no mistake of his intention to claim a second in Hamilton. And he delivered perfectly, to claim back to back round wins to finish of the 2024 VCS. Aidan Solomon seems to have shaken off his cursed luck in the back half of 2024, and he was smooth and fast on his way to a second placing, his second podium finish in a row. A last lap rollover for Lachlan Sharpe as he battled for third with Jay Racovalis didn’t halt proceedings. Nik Schmidt returned to VCS competition for the season finale, and landed himself that place on the podium in third. Nathan Rosenzweig and Daniel Malcolm filled the remaining spots in the top five.

TaG Heavy goes green, Scott King #4 would win over Aidan Solomon (33) (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Scott King (PORT)
2^nd Aidan Solomon (WIMM)
3^rd Nik Schmidt (BALL)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Scott King
2 Aidan Solomon
3 Nathan Rosenzweig
4 Zach Morris
5 Jett Rendell

CADET 12 (21 Entries)

One of the bigger fields of the weekend was the Cadet 12 class, and the pole winner was one of the huge improvers of 2024, none other than Rossi Yau (33.182).

After missing pole, the National Champ, Archie Bristow of Ballarat stepped things up a gear in the heats, claiming the victory in each, despite the raging pressure from Yau.

There was more of the same to come in the final, as Bristow and Yau slugged it out for the win. At the completion of the 16 lap final, they were only separated by 0.149, and Bristow was crowned the winner, for the fifth time in 2024. Yau provided a great challenge, and his second place will surely set him up to go on a tear in 2025. Michael Mistriotis was a factor all weekend, and was rewarded with a fine third place. Alana Gurney and Kurtis Polkinghorne are always in the mix, and this weekend they shook out in fourth and fifth.

Cadet 12 winner Archie Bristow leads fastest qualifier Rossi Yau (pic – BPM Photography)

1^st Archie Bristow (BALL)
2^nd Rossi Yau (ELKC)
3^rd Michael Mistriotis (OAK)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Archie Bristow
2 Alana Gurney
3 Kurtis Polkinghorne
4 Rossi Yau
5 Michael Mistriotis

KA3 SENIOR LIGHT (9 Entries)

Brocklan Parker laid down an important start in his quest for top spot in the overall pointscore, by taking a big pole position (30.773) at Hamilton.

Parker and Dallas Greene were matched up perfectly in the heats, and alternated the heat wins to take two apiece, making for an enthralling final.

After splitting the heats, it was no surprise to see the two speedsters split the final too. Parker led the early stages, but you guessed it, Greene assumed the race lead around half distance. Greene found himself leading at the right time, as he won his third round of the season. Parker was content in second knowing the big picture of the series pointscore. Tasmanian Zane Wyatt gave chase all the way, but settled for another podium, this time third place. Flynn Carnie had a breakout weekend, showing excellent pace to run with the leaders on his way to fourth, ahead of Akasha Mceachran, who simply never gives up in fifth.

P1 for Dallas Greene (pic – BPM Photography)

1^st Dallas Greene (GKCV)
2^nd Brocklan Parker (PORT)
3^rd Zane Wyatt (LKC)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Brocklan Parker
2 Dylan Hollis
3 Dallas Greene
4 Andrew Hollis
5 Flynn Carnie

VIC COMBINED MASTERS (11 Entries)

Ash Mitchell made it two poles (31.733) from two starts in a limited 2024 campaign, edging Heath Jelbart by the ridiculous margin of three thousandths of a second!

Jelbart greeted the chequers in the first heat, but was demoted due to a starting infringement, elevating Mitchell to the top spot, which he would repeat in heats three and four. SA’s Mark Heemskerk was too good in heat two.

Mitchell and Jelbart looked set to battle it out from the front row of the final, and the early stages worked out that way with Mitchell pacing the field. However the was a wave of momentum building in the form of the 23 kart of Heemskerk, as he set the timing on fire in the middle of the race. He stormed from third right up to the back of Mitchell, the proceeded to build a handy buffer, which turned out to be a race winning margin. Heemskerk a first time VCS winner! Second and third was filled by adversaries Mitchell and Jelbart. The only local Hamilton drivers in action filled fourth and fifth, with Andrew Stubbs getting the better of Ron Taylor.

Third on the day, Health Jelbart picked up the series win (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Mark Heemskerk (MGKC)
2^nd Ash Mitchell (MILD)
3^rd Heath Jelbart (BEN)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Heath Jelbart
2 Mark Heemskerk
3 Neil McAuley
4 Leon Forrest
5 Andrew Moore

CADET 9 (13 Entries)

Portland’s Beau Chambers certainly got rolling in the second half of 2024, and he claimed back to back pole positions (34.182) by the comfortable margin of 0.276.

Chambers carried that form into the heats, where he claimed victory in all four events, but not before the competition, notably a pair of Zac’s, closed the gap as each heat went on.

The final rolled out with some anticipation about whether Chambers could be toppled, and who could do it. Zac Duynhoven proved to be the challenger, as he kept Chambers honest throughout the 16 lap journey. In the end the experience and composure of Chambers prevailed, and he claimed a hat trick of wins. Duynhoven was excellent across the weekend, as he surged to his best VCS result of second. Zac Ismaili also drove very well, being in touch with the leaders all weekend on his way to third. Jett Gobourne and Ben Henman rounded the top five.

Cadet 9, Beau Chambers (95) and Zac Duynhoven (63) off the front row (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Beau Chambers (PORT)
2^nd Zac Duynhoven (SWEST)
3^rd Zac Ismaili (OAK)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Beau Chambers
2 Zac Ismaili
3 Jonathon Testa
4 Jett Gobourne
5 Tyler Ursua

KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT (20 Entries)

Another big and hotly contested field was KA3 Junior Light, and it was Warrnambool’s Riley Gee who stopped the clock with the fastest time (31.018) in qualifying.

The heats were action packed, and the leaders were never far apart, Gee doing a superb job to bank wins in the first three, before Jai George snatched a tiny opportunity to claim the fourth.

Gee and Dominic Mercuri led the field to the start, but it was very quickly Hudson Hughes who stormed to the lead, Hughes building strongly after being a bit off his usual standard in qualifying. Gee was firmly in tow with Hughes, closely followed by Xavier Cain and Cristiano Crisa. Hughes proved to be too good, another win after opening his account in Horsham. Gee was a gallant second after setting the pace all weekend, ahead of first time VCS podium finisher, SA’s Cain in third. Crisa was home in fourth, ahead of Christian Bua Giancarro who set the fastest lap of the race in fifth.

Junior Light push out, Hudson Hughes (24) would take the win, Xavier Cain (83) would finish third (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Hudson Hughes (OAK)
2^nd Riley Gee (WBOOL)
3^rd Xavier Cain (PORT)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Jai George
2 Hudson Hughes
3 Aiden Schweikert
4 Riley Gee
5 Christian Bua Giancarro

TAG LIGHT (10 Entries)

Zach Findlay was on double duty again at Hamilton, and made sure he made it pole in both classes, taking the top spot in Tag Light (29.656) qualifying.

Findlay was also speedy in the heats, taking all but the third encounter, where Dallas Greene got the better of the pole man.

Findlay and Greene lined up ready to fight it out over 16 laps for the final, and they delivered in spades. Findlay grabbed the lead, and was shadowed for the full distance by Greene, and Ryan Morgan who was also in contention. Findlay eventually prevailed to win by less than a tenth, from an energised Greene and SA’s Morgan. Jordan Malcolm ran the majority of the race by himself in fourth, and got very close to the back of the top three in the closing stages. Andy Rae had an eventful weekend, but got it right for fifth in the final.

Ryan Morgan (12) won the series in TaG Light (pic – Darren’s Sportography)

1^st Zach Findlay (GKCV)
2^nd Dallas Greene (GKCV)
3^rd Ryan Morgan (SGKC)

SERIES RESULT:
1 Ryan Morgan
2 Dallas Greene
3 Jordan Malcolm
4 Jacob Dowson
5 Andy Rae

TAG RESTRICTED MEDIUM (12 Entries)

Andrew Sotiropoulos claimed a rare feat in VCS competition, as he became the only driver to take all six poles in 2024, by adding the top spot (31.702) in Hamilton.

Jack Ryan emerged as the form driver in the heats, claiming all but heat two, after a final turn incident with Jackson Hodgetts. Grady Hutchesson inherited that heat win to push him up the starting order.

Ryan jumped straight to the lead over Hutchesson when the race went green, and it turned out to be a lead that he would not relinquish, turning on a first class performance to win comfortably. Hutchesson ran second until his engine expired on lap 12, the chaos as the following drivers caught Hutchesson saw Sotiropoulos sneak by Jono McKean for second. Sotiropoulos would finish second, ending his perfect run of wins in 2024. McKean farewelled karting with a third place trophy under his wing. Hodgetts and Jeremy Kiensrod rounded out the top five finishers in the last race of the 2024 VCS.