The 2011 Yellowtail Cup
from Adam Smith
The Griffith Kart Club hosted the 5th Annual Casella Wines, Yellowtail Cup Kart Race, on Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May 2011. There were 150 karters from across NSW, Victoria and ACT, who descended onto the Griffith Kart Track to compete for a share of the $14,000 Prize Money.
Above: Joshua Buggy (20), Joshua Dean (99), Andrew Kahl (2) and the rest of the Junior National Light Field about to greet the starter for the 15-lap Final
The race format of the Yellowtail Cup challenges drivers to extract the most from themselves and their equipment over the technical 850m circuit. Firstly, drivers were put through a 5 min Qualifying session to determine their starting position for the heat races. Heats 1 and 2 were completed on Saturday afternoon as the sun set over the Griffith Kart Track. After nightfall, the lights were switched on to illuminate the track, and the Pre-Finals were run in the cool, crisp, night conditions. Drivers then returned on Sunday morning for payday, where the “final only counts” format decided the winner of the event, and who would take home the prize money.
Racing on the track was close and competitive all weekend, with passing maneuvers occurring multiple times per lap, full fields being covered by mere fractions of a second, and many races coming down to the wire. This was pure racing at its best. There was a lot of talent on display in each class, as the best drivers worked their way to the front. However, there was also some luck involved to determine who greeted the chequered flag first.
Above: Ashley Woolner (95) gets air in the Clubman Heavy Final
Junior National Light
Junior National Light was definitely the feature class of the event. With many of the top junior drivers from across the country competing, this class was guaranteed to excite. Joshua Buggy drove a dominating race all weekend to take a convincing win. However, behind him it was anyone’s game. It was not uncommon to see a driver gain 2 and 3 positions in one corner, or to see 3 karts wide coming into corners. These drivers were making use of every millimeter of the racing circuit. On the final lap, any driver in the top ten still had a good possibility of making it on the podium. These young racers drove extremely well, and proved they have the talent to progress in their racing careers.
1st - Joshua Buggy
2nd - Andrew Kahl
3rd - Andreas Chronis
4th – James Abela
5th – Joshua Dean
Above: Josh Dean (99) from the Griffith Kart Club put in a good showing at his home track against some quality competition. Having been as high as 2nd, he eventually finnished 5th
Clubman Light
Racing was tight at the front of the Clubman Light field. The final looked set to be an intense battle between Warren White from Canberra Karting, and Ian Beeraz from Combined District Kart Club. White lead the field away from turn one, with Beeraz hot on his tail. However, after a mistake on lap 5, Beeraz dropped to 6 tenths behind White. He worked merticulously over the preceding 10 laps to gradually peg the gap back down to just 2 tenths on the final lap. With 2 corners to go, Beeraz made a pass on White. The two karts were slow exiting the corner, which allowed Steven Gawne through to take a lucky win.
1st - Steven Gawne
2nd - Ian Beeraz
3rd - Warren White
Above: Start of the Rookie Final - Jayden Ojeda (31) and Isaac Vaccarella (95)
Midgets
1st - Thomas Bennett
2nd - Benito Montalbano
3rd - Kyle Bonser
Rookies
1st - Jayden Ojeda
2nd - Isaac Vaccarella
3rd - Shane Kubacki
Junior National Heavy
1st - Nicklaus Lichtenberger
2nd - Michael Potter
3rd - Christopher Anthony
Junior Clubman
1st - Christopher Anthony
2nd - Nicklaus Lichtenberger
Senior Naitional Light
1st - Logan Reiter
2nd - Daniel Cheney
3rd - Robert Amess
Senior National Heavy
1st - Matthew Piper
2nd Terry Selwood
3rd - Tony Anthony
Clubman Heavy
1st - Greg Turner
2nd - Hayden Dodman
3rd - Matt Cappello
Clubman Super Heavy
1st - David Endres
2nd - Adrian Bianchini
3rd - Peter Sloan
TAG Restricted Light
1st - Chris Evans
2nd - Ian Geltch
3rd - Greg Woolner
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st - Michael Osmond
2nd - Stephen Hampson
3rd - Brad Fisher
Above: Danny Wright (22) and Michael Hazelton (12) battle it out in Sportsman 125 Heavy
Sportsman 125 Light
1st - Gordon Wilson
2nd - Scott Willoughby
3rd - Robert Amess
Sportsman 125 Heavy
1st - Danny Wright
2nd - Michael Hazelton
3rd - Matthew Endres
Special thanks must go out to our major sponsor, Casella Wines, as without their fantastic support, this event would not be possible. I would also like to thank all the competitors who made the trek to Griffith to compete in the 2011 Yellowtail Cup.
The Griffith Kart Club is now preparing to host the NSW Closed State Championships on July 8th, 9th & 10th.
