Vic All Star Series - Round 2, VACC Park

By Luke Dickson and Steve Polak

After a frantic weekend’s racing, commentators Steve Polak and Luke Dickson reflect on the racing from the second round of  the Victorian All Star Series. Full results from the meeting are on mylaps.com HERE.

VACC park turned on a stunning day and after some busy racing on the Saturday the stage was set for more than a few memorable final on Sunday.

Clubman Heavy:
The pre final and final played out like an episode of the Matthew Wall and Troy Woolston show. Both drivers were in a class of their own at the VACC Park circuit. Jeremy Anderson was in the mix very early on along with Franky Costanzo and Jason Pringle too. Wall was fortunate enough to win both the pre final and final by small margins, but the Arrow pilot pulled a superior pass around the outside of turn one on the final lap of the final as Woolston went defensive. It was one of the passes of the weekend.
1st Mathew Wall
2nd Troy Woolston
3rd Jeremy Anderson

Above: Matt Wall leads Troy Woolston.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Clubman Light:
Clubman light delivered some of the best racing of the weekend, and James Sera did well to fight his way to the front after fending off challenges from the rest of the talented field. Sera came from further down the grid in the pre-final, eventually making his way to the front. Zeke Edwards, Leigh Nicolaou, Steven Scoble and David Sera all had a shot at leading the way, but James was simply too good at VACC park. In the final Sera got a great jump at the start. Edwards found himself in the grass on the outside of turn one after an altercation with Steven Scoble and from there didn’t feature in the placings finishing the weekend in 6th position. The race for second was well and truly on with David Sera, Ryan Sanderson, Leigh Nicolaou and Franky Costanzo in the mix, there was no shortage of passing and the racing allowed James Sera to drive off into the distance eventually winning by 3.5 seconds.
1st James Sera
2nd Ryan Sanderson
3rd Franky Costanzo

Above: James Sera leads cousin David, Clubman Light.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Steven Scoble ahead of Gabriel Sciarra, CL.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

 Clubman Over 40’s:
The over 40’s was all about four men, Remo Luciani, Phil Straughen, Bevan Garioch and Neil Silke. These ‘elder statesmen’ shared great racing in both finals with Silke ending up the victor on both occasions. Straughen came from a long way back in the pre-final to catch the leading trio which placed the regular super heavy pilot with a real chance for the final. Silke passed Luciani with a very forceful move going into MKC corner late in the pre-final and Remo did well to recover, having almost stopped. The racing was extremely intense as you’d expect from the class. Come the final these four were at it again. There was plenty of passing and good hard clean racing. Silke came out the victor by the smallest of margins over Straughen with Remo coming home in third. Garioch was in contention but binned it on the last lap, coming off and into the kitty litter on Concept corner.
1st  Neil Silke
2nd Phil Straughan
3rd Remo Luciani

Above: Neil Silke, out in front of Clubman Over 40. Remo follows ahead of Bevan Garioch (32) who again travelled all the way down from Mackay!
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Clubman Over 40, Nigel Ward (34) and Steve Pettaras
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Formula 100:
20,000 RPM and 25 entrants spelt a winning formula for the second round of the Titan Series. It also saw the return of Dean Foster to competition aboard a new One Kart after a short break from racing. In the pre final Daniel Richert in his Kosmic showed the field a clean pair of heels. After an early battle with Foster and McBride, Richert simply skipped away from the rest of the field to draw first blood for the day. In the final Richert was on pole and made a great start only to cop a short back and sides exiting turn one and drop back a few places. Hayden McBride took advantage of the mayhem to open a handy lead and was never challenged. Richert put in a great chase, but couldn’t catch McBride after a fair duel with Trent James and Dean Foster, Foster later retiring when the airbox came off.
1st  Hayden McBride
2nd Daniel Richert
3rd Trent James

Above: Hayden McBride (Gillard/Parilla) leads Mark Domaschenz (SQ/Parilla) and Zeke Edwards (Kosmos/Sonik). Edwards and 'Heavy' driver Bobby Bourke debuted the Italian (but new to Australia) Kosmos kart in Formula 100.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Daniel Richert was fast, two wheeling his Kosmic.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Dean 'Fozzy' Foster debuted the Italian One Kart in Formula 100. After qualifying 3rd fastest, he ran up front all weekend, claimed 2nd in the pre-final and was running in the top 4 in the final when his airbox fell off, forcing retirement. Dominic Albanese qualified the other One Kart fastest of the Heavies but came in underweight in the final.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: F100 Heavy winner, Scott Web (Arrow/Parilla)
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Aaron Ivermee and Trent James, always front runners in F100. Ivermee DNF'd the pre-final when the driver sprocket came off his engine. James worked his way back to third in the final.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Junior Clubman:
Kayne Hughes really appeared to be the man to beat in Junior Clubman after a hard fought win in the pre-final. Hughes beat the in form Garry Jacobson and looked every bit the winner. Between Hughes, Jacobson, McLaughlin, Lincoln and Rochford the Junior Clubman races produced some of the most exciting racing of the weekend. Come final time there were that many lead changes - the commentators couldn’t keep up! Jacobson scored a well earned victory beating a fast finishing Ben Lincoln who pulled off an awesome move on the last corner to take second from an unlucky Scott McLaughlin.
1st Garry Jacobson
2nd Ben Lincoln
3rd Scott McLaughlin

Above: Garry Jacobson (left) chats with Scott McLaughlin, JC.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Junior National Heavy:
Junior National Heavy has been about one driver all year – Garry Jacobson. Today was no exception with the newly crowned National Champion taking both finals in fine style. The pre-final was a hotly contested affair with Andrew Rae and Caleb Rayner really pushing Jacobson all the way to the line. The final saw a roll around incident claim Rae and Rayner and with those two out of contention many thought Jacobson would skip away from the field. However Jaymee Frampton had other ideas and looked to challenge Jacobson mid race, but was forced to settle for second. Travis Kodric had a race long battle Chris Halesworth to claim the final spot on the podium.
1st Garry Jacobson
2nd Jaymee Frampton
3rd Travis Kodric

Above: Having been awarded the Junior National Heavy national title just days prior, Garry Jacobson had the green & gold plate affixed to the front of his kart - and won the category once again.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Junior National Light:
Junior National Light was a five way affair with Brad Jenner, Mathew Hart, Jordan Nicolaou, Matthew Brabham and Liam Sager providing all the action up front. That was the finishing order in the pre-final which set up a great battle for the final. Jenner got the jump to turn one, but was forced wide on the exit and dropped back to fifth. All five drivers had a shot at leading the race, but it was crafty driving by Nicolaou, who came from nowhere on the last lap, to claim a great victory ahead of Brad Jenner and Mathew Hart.
1st Jordan Nicolaou
2nd Bradley Jenner
3rd Mathew Hart

Above: Following in his brothers footsteps, Jordan Nicolaou wins in Junior National Light. Here he leads interstaters Mathew Hart and Matthew Brabham.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Benjamin Capuano suffered a serious leg breakage in Saturday's opening heat of Junior National Light. His extraction from the kart took some time, delaying racing for about 2 hours. Capuano had pins inserted in his leg that night and is expected to make a full recovery. Considering the delay, organisers and karters did a great job to catch most of the time back up. We wish Ben all the best and hope to see him at the track soon.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Two packs x three wide - Darren Barnes (25), Nicholas Ellen (42), Bradley Jenner (94) head into turn 1.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Leopard Heavy:
The numbers were a bit low in Leopard Heavy, but that did not stop a great battle up front between National Champion Justin Schnieder and Monaco pilot Michael Griffiths. Schnieder was simply too good over the course of the weekend taking the win in both finals. Griffiths  did mange to pinch the lead at the start of the final, but couldn’t quite stay on the top of the podium. Tony Kart driver Mark Cowley had plenty of pace late in both the Sunday races with just enough speed to leapfrog Griffiths in the closing stages of the final. Kosmic driver Josh Brooker finished the weekend in fourth position.
1st Justin Schnieder
2nd Mark Cowley
3rd Michael Griffiths

Leopard Light:
The pre final was a busy affair with Bart Price proving his versatility and raw pace. Not only was he one of the few drivers to do a lap in the 40 second bracket, but the Arrow driver drove with real skill to keep a fast finishing Dave Sera at bay.   However in the final it was all Sera, but James instead of ‘Deadly Dave’. National Champion James Sera made his way to the front early on passing Bart Price and cousin David. Price appeared to have a problem mid race and waved David Sera through to see if he could unsettle James Sera, but it didn’t eventuate. Dave had a solid go at catching his cousin, but there was nothing he could do to peg back the gap. Price later on in the race passed David Sera for second position. It was a great finish with the top three drivers separated by less than a second as they crossed the line. Adam Hughes was fourth with Jotdie Lindstrom aboard his Tony Kart rounding out the top five.
1st James Sera
2nd Bart Price
3rd David Sera

Above: National Champ James Sera (94) recovered from this squeeze in the heats to win Leopard Light.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Midgets:
The Midget racing served as a showcase for the skills of  Liam McLellan. The Arrow driver was never challenged all weekend in one of the smallest Midget fields we have seen in some time. Many of the local regulars seemed to have oddly decided to take a break from VACC Park for the weekend. McLellan started off pole for the final and put in smooth and consistent laps to continually gap the field.  Thomas Prascevic made his way up to second place with Damon Strongman rounding out the top three and climbing the podium in third.
1st Liam McLellan
2nd  James Prascevic
3rd  Damon Strongman

Above: Liam McLellan - too strong in Midgets
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Rookies:
The Rookie racing saw Adrian Lazzaro make his way to the lead and stay there in both the final and pre final with fellow Arrow pilot Liam Morey following him home in second place. The real race was for third place with Ricky Capo coming out ahead of Phillip Munnerly and Blaine Densley. The racing was hard, if lacking in position changes.
1st Adrian Lazzaro
2nd Liam Morey
3rd Ricky Capo

Above: Lazzaro leads the Rookies
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Ricky Capo DNF'd the first heat of Rookies
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Rotax Heavy:
The pre final saw Ashley Pollard dominate. The Intrepid steerer got to the front and put in some smooth laps to take a comfortable victory ahead of a fast finishing Rick Pringle, who was recovering after a poor heat race on Saturday. Brett Davidson made his way up to third position.  In the final Ashley Pollard made a great start but contact with another competitor through the double right hander saw an early finish to Pollard’s day. Pringle made his way to the front and cruised off into the distance for an easy victory. Brad Wyatt made his way to second position ahead of Luc Price after Brett Davidson spun his kart at the end of the straight when trying to make a move on Price which didn’t come off.
1st Rick Pringle
2nd Brad Wyatt
3rd Luke Price

Above: Rick Pringle
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Rotax Light:
Luigi Catanese drew first blood in the pre-final after contact with Troy Woolston.  Troy ended up at the rear of the field and was lucky to recover to fourth. Catanese was never challenged from here and drove off into the distance. In the final Catanese took the early lead and pulled a small gap, but Woolston was determined to get back to the front and showed terrific pace. Woolston was up to second by the end of the first lap and was soon challenging Catanese for the lead. The move for the lead was made at turn one on the final lap, Catanese went defensive, driving so narrowly he was almost on the grass on the inside of Concept corner. Woolston simply cris-crossed Luigi on the exit and hung on for a well fought win.
1st  Troy Woolston
2nd  Luigi Catanese
3rd Kyle Bell

Above: Rotax Light winner Troy Wolston flicks off a strip of radiator tape
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Above: Luigi Catanese was very fast in Rotax Light, but couldnt hold off Woolston in the final.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

Senior National Pro:
Senior National came down to a fight between the two Arrow pilots Franky Costanzo and Dominic Lostitch. In a very quiet race Lostitch followed Costanzo home in the pre-final to set up the showdown for the final. Lostitch made a great start in the final grabbing the early lead while Costanzo had battles with Ash Sinclair and Seb Geritz. These allowed Lostitch to put down smooth consistent laps and gap the rest of the field for what we are pretty sure was his first major meeting win. Dominic’s race pace was unbeatable and he may well be a driver we’ll see at the front more in the future as he is fast becoming a National specialist. Costanzo and Geritz drove well to hang on for second and third respectively.
1st Dominic Lostitch
2nd Franky Costanzo
3rd Ashley Sinclair

Above: Cool and calculating, Dominic Lostitch played his cards well for victory in Senior National.
pic - Cooper's Photosgraphy, 0439 607 072

The second round saw some great racing and certainly the stage is set for a corker at the third round at Geelong on the 31st May! Look out for us in the commentary box as we’ll be calling the race on Sunday.

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