A1 Engines Supercheap Report
press release
Declan does it again!!!!
The A1 Engines Fraser Train continues to build momentum leading up to the Queensland state titles to be held at Warwick in July. Declan Fraser made the whirlwind trip to Willowbank raceway Ipswich on the weekend to compete in the second round of the Supercheap Series.
Declan was beaten early in the year by in-form Ipswich local driver Harrison Hoey at the first round of the supercheap series held in Rockhampton. Harrison remains Declan’s strongest competitor after Declan only just held out Harrison at the young guns in Lismore 2 weeks prior and was always going to be hard to beat on his home track at Ipswich.
Above: Declan (#2) sets up for a pass
Qualifying highlighted exactly where Declan needed to be as Harrison thrashed Fraser by .7 of a sec. Although Fraser had never raced at Ipswich he was able to still qualify in front of the other 12 drivers to qualify 2nd behind the local.
After a few tweaks to the chassis, Declan lined up on outside pole for the first heat and it took just 4 laps into the 14 lap race before Fraser hit the lead, still learning the track Declan let his defences down and the local slotted up the inside of Fraser to regain the race lead. Over the course of the race the lead changed more than 10 times, all the time distancing themselves from the rest of the field and on the last lap the local knowledge came out the victor, as Declan had to settle for 2nd a standing ovation greeted both drivers as neither driver made contact throughout the race.
In the Prefinal Declan decided to play the smart game and sit in behind Harrison, learn the track some more, push away from the rest of the field, then attack late in the race. This strategy proved costly to Fraser as the Local began to cover his lines on the last lap, with three corners remaining the smallest of gaps presented itself and Declan pounced to drive away and take the win. Tied on points and starting off pole Declan again had to concede the lead as Harrison found his way pass, then 3 laps in Declan’s kart setup started to look stronger, monstering the back of Hoey, Fraser was looking racey consistently putting down faster lap times until the local had a big moment and had to retire with 3 laps remaining and Fraser drove away to beat the entire field by more than 12 seconds. Declan would like to thank his sponsors Brett from A1 Engines and Nan & Pop for their continual support.
The Downs McHugh show was in town again
A1 Engine Driver Jake Downs was getting stronger throughout Qualifying while most drivers had done their quickest times in the earlier laps Jake was fast running out of laps as his kart was getting quicker and had to settle for 4th as the chequered flag dropped for the end of qualifying.
Jake Downs from row 2 had a blistering start and slotted his A1 engine machine up into 3rd , following Lachlan McHugh for just a lap before an opportunity presented itself to McHugh, who slipped up into 1st, Downs waited patiently until the 2 last lap when the same opportunity presented itself to Jake and found himself back on McHugh’s rear bar to finish 2nd.
The Prefinal became the main show for the two young hotshots as they exchanged the lead nearly lap for lap, Downs shadowed McHugh’s every move as if both karts were linked together, until Downs forced the issue with two laps remaining taking the lead and driving away to win nearly half a second in front. The Final saw crowd’s flock to the sidelines to see the young juniors go at it again, with Downs off 1 and McHugh off 3, Jake knew he had a race on his hands.
With the green light came the start of the race and an impatient field created a moment at turn 1, which gave Jake the break, but with grip going down and a tight Kart Downs found himself with a handful of kart and on the 4th lap McHugh made a late lunge to move from 3rd to 1st, Jake drove the wheels off his A1 Engine powered Arrow to stay in touch, but grip was hampering his race lines, but to Jake’s credit he was able to muscle his kart home in front of a hungry pack of quality drivers for a well-deserved 3rd and 2nd for the weekend.
