Harrington Doyle Duo are Clubman Heavy Southern Stars
press release
The Inox Lubricants supported Harrington Doyle Racers, Brendan Nelson and James Greenwood currently lead the Points Table of the Southern Star Clubman Heavy Series after a successful Round 3 at Lismore last weekend.
Greenwood put his new Pro Karting powered Monaco on Pole after setting a qualifying lap of 31.988 seconds, just mere hundredths of a second ahead of Kris Walton (32.049) and Team mate Brendan Nelson (32.066).
Above: Nelson (left) and Greenwood
pic by DRK Team Photographer, Roxanne Beetham
The Harrington Doyle duo was keen to put their stamp on the Southern Star Series Clubman Heavy category, as they have been in recent rounds. Nelson and Greenwood took little time to get to the front of the field in the opening corner of Heat 1 and then began to build a gap on the field. They swapped the lead a couple of times to remind each other not to be complacent, but Greenwood ultimately crossed the line 2 tenths ahead of Nelson.
Walton and Whitely squared up in Heat 2 splitting the blue/green team and relegating Greenwood to second and Nelson to fourth in the 10 lap sprint around the partially resurface Lismore Showgrounds circuit.
Having dropped a chain in qualifying and having a DNF result in Heat 1, the Harrington Doyle aligned Jamie Newnham made his way back through the field from 13th during the Heat 2 to claim a solid 5th place. His new Monaco was handling well and he was determined to be back at the front challenging Greenwood and Nelson again, as he’d done at the previous Gympie Round of the Series.
pic by DRK Team Photographer, Roxanne Beetham
The 15 Kart Clubman Heavy field was lead into the first corner of the 12 lap Pre Final by Greenwood and Walton. They were closely shadowed by Nelson and Mayes, whilst Newnham was trying to make a charge from P12 at the back of the grid. Nelson soon made his way to the front of the field and Greenwood slotted in behind him. Working together, they began to build a 5 tenths buffer over Mayes. Walton was left 4.368 seconds adrift and Newnham was making ground. The blue/green Inox supported duo greeted the chequered flag in 1, 2 formation ensuring that they would own the Front Row for the Final. Mayes was right on their heels. Walton and Newnham filled the other Top 5 positions.
“It’s very rewarding to see Brendan and James racing as a Team in the Clubman Heavy class. To see them racing each other hard and being together at the front of the field is what I like. Whilst a lot of people in the sport are focussed on the new CIK classes and the Rotax classes, I just like our good old Clubman racing,” said Doyle’s Racing Team Manager, Craig Doyle. “The competitiveness and the local support of the Clubman classes is a good fit for our business and Team Partners. We still race nationally with Brendan and Mitchell, but I most enjoy the regional racing we have here at home within a 250klm radius. We have 5 terrific tracks and we can virtually race Clubmans against really good local fields every weekend. I also like seeing A Grade drivers like Brendan and James, interacting with the young kids coming through locally. It’s good for them to be seen supporting the tracks that they grew up on and giving something back to the sport.”
Starting the 12 lap Final from the front, Nelson quickly grabbed the lead and Greenwood was right behind him on the first full 720m circuit. Continuing to march away, the pair stamped their authority on the meeting, gapping Walton by 3.147 seconds, with Mayes another 1.515 seconds adrift of Walton. Newnham was busy consolidating what had started as a bad weekend, by keeping the pressure on Walton from his 5th place.
Cementing their recent blue/green 1,2,3 Round 2 Podium at Gympie, Nelson (87 points), Greenwood (79 points) and Newnham (74 points) remain atop the Southern Star Series Clubman Heavy Points Table after the conclusion of Lismore’s Round 3, ahead of Peter Bossons (67), Shay Mayes (52), Kris Walton (51) and Klinton Hancey (46).
The Southern Star Series heads next to Warwick on September 12th, with the 5th and final 2010 Series Round to be held at Toowoomba on November 21st.
