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Sera, Pringle, Crawshay, Rochford and Smith Winners At Pro Tour

press release - full results on mylaps HERE

The first event of the new Rotax Pro Tour is complete and the big crowd that packed into Newcastle’s Mount Sugarloaf Raceway today saw some supreme performances from some of Australia’s leading kart racers throughout all categories.

David Sera continued his domination of Rotax Light, meantime Jason Pringle took out Rotax Heavy. Nicholas Crawshay taught the Rotax Over-35 competition a lesson, whilst Luke Rochford and Grant Smith completed an outstanding day for Victorian racers in Formula J-MAX and Rotax DD2 respectively.

ROTAX LIGHT
David Sera had to work hard to get to the front of Rotax Light after starting ninth – a tactical error in the Pre-Final saw the current Australian champion go out on a drying track with wet weather tyres on. The track dried and by the end of the 16 laps, he’d been swamped by those who elected for slicks. It didn’t matter to Sera though, who took out the 24 lap Final by 5.5 seconds in his Arrow kart.

Novocastrian, Mark Flood brought his CRG home in second placing narrowly in front of Queenslander, Tyler Greenbury. Local knowledge worked in Flood’s advantage in the Pre-Final when he hit the track with slicks, going on to secure the pole for the final. Try as he might, Greenbury was unable to get past Flood, being glued to his crashbar for the majority of the Final’s latter stages.

There were some big movers in the race, including Bart Price, who charged from 28th after a DNF in the Pre Final to finish sixth and another Victorian in Jordie Lindstrom, who started the final in 18th, finishing fourth.

An opening lap incident took care of a number of favoured competitors, including Daniel Rochford, David Whitmore and Brett Mullavey.

ROTAX HEAVY
The Pringle brothers were hoping to continue their form from yesterday’s qualifying, where they were both on the front row, however only one managed to convert that into a result, with Jason dominating the Rotax Heavy final, winning by over three seconds.

Second was William Yarwood, who finally showed his hand in the Pre-Final – winning that race and securing pole position, whilst Simon Meyer withstood all sorts of pressure from Sydney-sider, Daniel Baker to wind up third.

Todd Davey got home for fifth, but the real interest was the battle of the Craigs – Stauner and Evans. After his ‘hot knife through butter’ efforts yesterday, Stauner was pleased to be starting near the front. He and Evans swapped places at will, particularly through the second part of the 24 lap final, ultimately decided in the favour of Evans in sixth.

Rick Pringle’s afternoon was compromised by a coming together in the Pre-Final with Lake Macquarie local, Andrew Torville. Pringle stood by the track on the back straightaway and expressed his disgust at Torville. It later emerged the Novocastrian would be excluded from the results. He retired from the final after seven laps, whilst Pringle went on to finish ninth – a solid effort from the back of the pack.

The other Newcastle hope, Matt Solman ended alongside the track after throwing a chain. He was right in the mix with the top four early on, consistently being the fastest competitor on the track. Solman would leave relatively happy with his efforts against some of the best in the country.

ROTAX OVER-35s
Sydney Top Gun Racing Academy driver, Nicholas Crawshay showed the field a clean pair of heels to win Rotax Over-35s by 4.3 seconds.

He missed the cleansweep after finishing second in this morning’s final heat, being caught out by the wet conditions. He recovered though to dominate both the Pre-Final and Final.

Second place was Paul Mapperson who drove superbly all weekend in some real cut and thrust racing. Bruce Otter was third – he took advantage of those in front of him getting a bungled start in the Pre-Final to annex a front row start and made the most of it in the final to arrive on the podium.

Paul Bloodworth and Craig Matthews at various times were pushing Otter, but neither could get past the Tony Kart steerer. Troy Brown was sixth, with John Bailey seventh after setting some blistering lap times. Rounding out the top ten were Danny Woodland, Peter Klein and Julian Watts.

FORMULA J-MAX
Luke Rochford stood the biggest Formula J-MAX field Australia has ever seen on its head today taking a huge win, crossing the line 3.7 seconds in front, but everyone was talking about CRG driver, Pierce Lehane, who signalled his arrival on the national scene.

Visibly younger than his competitors, the diminutive Lehane qualified on pole for the J-MAX final and led a large proportion of it before being overtaken by Rochford. The 24 lap distance had taken its toll on the youngster, who described it as the longest race of his life.

Gold Coaster, Jack Howard drove superbly to come home third, whilst Darcey Kondipirakis was registered fourth. Finishing fifth was Joshua Hunter, who came from deep in the pack after yesterday’s disaster, however he was embroiled in a huge battle that had the crowd on its feet involving fellow Sydney-siders Jonathan Venter and Trent Grubel, along with Jordan Lloyd, Matthew Hart, Tobias Bellbowen and Jaie Robson, the latter two joining the party late in the race.

Grubel nabbed sixth from Lloyd, Venter, Hart, Robson and Bellbowen in 11th. Another to impress was Ben Jurczak – who came from dead last on the grid to finish 14th. Chris Farkas started toward the back as well and came home 17th.

Earlier in the day, yesterday’s pace-setter, Christopher Hays was bundled out of contention after a crash in the Pre-Final. Under the qualification system being used, Hays was unable to line up in the final, costing him any chance of scoring points towards his National Rotax Rankings.

ROTAX DD2
Grant Smith took out the Rotax DD2 class today, taking advantage of a lapped traffic situation that saw race leader, Brinley Gread unluckily get caught out, leaving the Victorian to take the lead.

Gread had led for the majority of the final before closing up on a gaggle of karts that were fighting for position. He was caught at turn three with no room to pass, whilst Smith took advantage. That proved decisive, as just a few hundred metres later through the speedbowl, third placed driver – Kyle Ensbey – spun whilst also trying to pass the lapped drivers!

Smith, in the end, won comfortably, however Gread was left with mixed feelings. After setting the fastest lap of the race, he was ruing what might have been, but was happy with his efforts to race wheel to wheel with one of the most accomplished racers in Australia all the way. Ensbey’s thoughts were along the same vein – he was happy to salvage third.

A similar situation prevailed in the Pre-Final, where Smith spun on mud and water left by Kylie Otter after she spun going through the notorious speedbowl.

Travis Miller and Paul Hamilton had a personal battle that went all weekend. The final charge between Gordon Wells, David Hitchcock, Peter Beeten and Robert Harwas provided excitement plus in more ways than one!

The Rotax Pro Tour All Stars Cup was considered a success by all on hand, with exciting racing throughout the weekend. The next Rotax Pro Tour event will be held at Melbourne’s VACC Park, Todd Road June 26 and 27.

A 60 minute highlight package of today’s action can be seen on Fox Sports 2 at 10am Friday June 19, with replays at 6:30pm Sunday June 21 and 4:30am Wednesday June 24.

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	Sera, Pringle, Crawshay, Rochford and Smith Winners At Pro Tour press release - full results on mylaps HERE The first event of the new Rotax Pro Tour is complete and the big crowd that packed into Newcastle’s Mount Sugarloaf Raceway today saw some supreme performances from some of Australia’s leading kart racers throughout all categories. David Sera continued his domination of Rotax Light, meantime Jason Pringle took out Rotax Heavy. Nicholas Crawshay taught the Rotax Over-35 competition a lesson, whilst Luke Rochford and Grant Smith completed an outstanding day for Victorian racers in Formula J-MAX and Rotax DD2 respectively. ROTAX LIGHT David Sera had to work hard to get to the front of Rotax Light after starting ninth – a tactical error in the Pre-Final saw the current Australian champion go out on a drying track with wet weather tyres on. The track dried and by the end of the 16 laps, he’d been swamped by those who elected for slicks. It didn’t matter to Sera though, who took out the 24 lap Final by 5.5 seconds in his Arrow kart. Novocastrian, Mark Flood brought his CRG home in second placing narrowly in front of Queenslander, Tyler Greenbury. Local knowledge worked in Flood’s advantage in the Pre-Final when he hit the track with slicks, going on to secure the pole for the final. Try as he might, Greenbury was unable to get past Flood, being glued to his crashbar for the majority of the Final’s latter stages. There were some big movers in the race, including Bart Price, who charged from 28th after a DNF in the Pre Final to finish sixth and another Victorian in Jordie Lindstrom, who started the final in 18th, finishing fourth. An opening lap incident took care of a number of favoured competitors, including Daniel Rochford, David Whitmore and Brett Mullavey. ROTAX HEAVY The Pringle brothers were hoping to continue their form from yesterday’s qualifying, where they were both on the front row, however only one managed to convert that into a result, with Jason dominating the Rotax Heavy final, winning by over three seconds. Second was William Yarwood, who finally showed his hand in the Pre-Final – winning that race and securing pole position, whilst Simon Meyer withstood all sorts of pressure from Sydney-sider, Daniel Baker to wind up third. Todd Davey got home for fifth, but the real interest was the battle of the Craigs – Stauner and Evans. After his ‘hot knife through butter’ efforts yesterday, Stauner was pleased to be starting near the front. He and Evans swapped places at will, particularly through the second part of the 24 lap final, ultimately decided in the favour of Evans in sixth. Rick Pringle’s afternoon was compromised by a coming together in the Pre-Final with Lake Macquarie local, Andrew Torville. Pringle stood by the track on the back straightaway and expressed his disgust at Torville. It later emerged the Novocastrian would be excluded from the results. He retired from the final after seven laps, whilst Pringle went on to finish ninth – a solid effort from the back of the pack. The other Newcastle hope, Matt Solman ended alongside the track after throwing a chain. He was right in the mix with the top four early on, consistently being the fastest competitor on the track. Solman would leave relatively happy with his efforts against some of the best in the country. ROTAX OVER-35s Sydney Top Gun Racing Academy driver, Nicholas Crawshay showed the field a clean pair of heels to win Rotax Over-35s by 4.3 seconds. He missed the cleansweep after finishing second in this morning’s final heat, being caught out by the wet conditions. He recovered though to dominate both the Pre-Final and Final. Second place was Paul Mapperson who drove superbly all weekend in some real cut and thrust racing. Bruce Otter was third – he took advantage of those in front of him getting a bungled start in the Pre-Final to annex a front row start and made the most of it in the final to arrive on the podium. Paul Bloodworth and Craig Matthews at various times were pushing Otter, but neither could get past the Tony Kart steerer. Troy Brown was sixth, with John Bailey seventh after setting some blistering lap times. Rounding out the top ten were Danny Woodland, Peter Klein and Julian Watts. FORMULA J-MAX Luke Rochford stood the biggest Formula J-MAX field Australia has ever seen on its head today taking a huge win, crossing the line 3.7 seconds in front, but everyone was talking about CRG driver, Pierce Lehane, who signalled his arrival on the national scene. Visibly younger than his competitors, the diminutive Lehane qualified on pole for the J-MAX final and led a large proportion of it before being overtaken by Rochford. The 24 lap distance had taken its toll on the youngster, who described it as the longest race of his life. Gold Coaster, Jack Howard drove superbly to come home third, whilst Darcey Kondipirakis was registered fourth. Finishing fifth was Joshua Hunter, who came from deep in the pack after yesterday’s disaster, however he was embroiled in a huge battle that had the crowd on its feet involving fellow Sydney-siders Jonathan Venter and Trent Grubel, along with Jordan Lloyd, Matthew Hart, Tobias Bellbowen and Jaie Robson, the latter two joining the party late in the race. Grubel nabbed sixth from Lloyd, Venter, Hart, Robson and Bellbowen in 11th. Another to impress was Ben Jurczak – who came from dead last on the grid to finish 14th. Chris Farkas started toward the back as well and came home 17th. Earlier in the day, yesterday’s pace-setter, Christopher Hays was bundled out of contention after a crash in the Pre-Final. Under the qualification system being used, Hays was unable to line up in the final, costing him any chance of scoring points towards his National Rotax Rankings. ROTAX DD2 Grant Smith took out the Rotax DD2 class today, taking advantage of a lapped traffic situation that saw race leader, Brinley Gread unluckily get caught out, leaving the Victorian to take the lead. Gread had led for the majority of the final before closing up on a gaggle of karts that were fighting for position. He was caught at turn three with no room to pass, whilst Smith took advantage. That proved decisive, as just a few hundred metres later through the speedbowl, third placed driver – Kyle Ensbey – spun whilst also trying to pass the lapped drivers! Smith, in the end, won comfortably, however Gread was left with mixed feelings. After setting the fastest lap of the race, he was ruing what might have been, but was happy with his efforts to race wheel to wheel with one of the most accomplished racers in Australia all the way. Ensbey’s thoughts were along the same vein – he was happy to salvage third. A similar situation prevailed in the Pre-Final, where Smith spun on mud and water left by Kylie Otter after she spun going through the notorious speedbowl. Travis Miller and Paul Hamilton had a personal battle that went all weekend. The final charge between Gordon Wells, David Hitchcock, Peter Beeten and Robert Harwas provided excitement plus in more ways than one! The Rotax Pro Tour All Stars Cup was considered a success by all on hand, with exciting racing throughout the weekend. The next Rotax Pro Tour event will be held at Melbourne’s VACC Park, Todd Road June 26 and 27. A 60 minute highlight package of today’s action can be seen on Fox Sports 2 at 10am Friday June 19, with replays at 6:30pm Sunday June 21 and 4:30am Wednesday June 24. Home
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