Pucka's Junior Sprint Classic
(a photo gallery from this meeting was posted last month HERE)
by Barry Moore
Everything looked fantastic in the lead-up to the 31st running of this event last month, with the track and setting looking magnificent. Friday’s practice was very much rain-affected while Saturday was bright and sunny. Sunday went from the sublime to ridiculous. Rain squalls were interspersed with periods of bright sunshine which frequently made the choice of tyres a critical factor both for performance and safety. The recovery vehicle was forced to work overtime!. A couple of nasty red flag incidents (including a bad crash under the red) saw ambulances called to the track twice and created delays which meant the meeting finished just before 6:00pm. There was also a long hearing involving the Champion of Champions race and some engine issues which further delayed presentations.
Well over 200 entries (including every Australian State and Territory) provided some great competition spiced with many close finishes and lots of off-track driving.
Credit for the success of this meeting shared by President Shane Wharton and his Committee, the many volunteers that assisted in racing (Over 40’s well represented), canteen (rave reviews) and Caretaker Brad – congratulations!
MIDGETS ‘A’
Twenty-one drivers faced the starter. The heats saw some fine driving with Jordan Caruso coming from P18 in Heat 1 to finish second. In a similar vein, Benito Montalbano came from P17 to sixth and Cody Brewczynski P21 to seventh in Heat 2. Alec Morse, Cooper Murray and Dylan Hollis were others to come to notice. Heat 3 results saw Hollis, Caruso, Murray and Jai Sparey occupy the front positions for the Final. Ultimately, Caruso led all the way and finished with a 3.5 second margin over Montalbano. Morse just pipped Murray for fourth.
MIDGETS ‘B’
In a field of seven, four different drivers were rewarded with the chequered flag. Connor Callanan took out H1 while local driver Brayden Hanson won H2. Zak Lobko came home first in H3. In the Final the backmarkers came to the fore. George Gower (P4) found himself in the lead on Lap 2 and maintained his advantage for a clear win. Sean Larkin came from P6 to finish second. Hanson started from P1 but went out before the halfway mark.
ROOKIES ‘A’
What a dramatic class – thrill a minute racing and dealing with some poor conditions in the Final. The field of twenty-nine contained many well credentialed drivers including Thomas Prascevic, Luke Guillou, Thomas Hughes, Jayden Ojeda, Nick Cardamone, Tom Bennett, Jordan McGregor, Jacob Prestipino, Riley Smith, Brandi Angelo and Reece Sidebottom among them. Some of the great driving in the early rounds included Prascevic P29 to eighth in H2, Luke Guillou (P15) in both heats to second and seventh and Thomas Hughes from P25 to seventh in H1. McGregor followed up his win in H2 by taking out H3 while Prascevic recorded the dreaded DNF! The Final occurred in a dodgy weather period. The track was dry at the start, but rain threatened – even the commentators (Wally Edwards and Brad Hughes) saw fit to visit the grid to report on tyre choices. As it turned out, Prascevic was in the lead for most of the race but the challenge came from Jordan Rae. Rae finished DF/17/14 in the early rounds and started the Final from P22. After 5 laps he was in 15th place but then went to 8th, 5th, 5th and 3rd to have the big crowd roaring for a very good reason – he was the only driver on wets! Although he made up another place in the last lap he failed to catch Prascevic by 2 seconds, but what a ride!! The consistent Gillou took 3rd from Hughes and Ojeda.
ROOKIES ‘B’
These guys looked like they were having fun from start to finish of every race. Elijah D’Cruz took the clean sweep, beating Kyle Cornfoot and Jordan Lewis in the Final. One of the highlights of this group was the quality of the speeches the drivers made at trophy presentation – Benjamin Bargwanna a class act!
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
Arguably the best line-up for this Classic, the 36 strong field included names such as Jordan Boys, Liam McLellan, Chelsea Angelo, Justin Black, Thomas Randle, Joshua Buggy, Luke Marquis, Justin Francis, Jake Klein, Will Hawkes, Jaidyn Job, Damon Strongman and Braydon North, as well as several others. There was some great performances in the heats, the best perhaps, were - Boys P19 to 9 (H1) and P18 to 2 (H2), McLellan P36 to 8 (H2), Angelo P29 to 14 (H1), Randle P34 to 15 (H2), Buggy P20 to 2 (H1) and P17 to 1 (H2), Francis P15 to 7 (H1) and P22 to 12 (H2). Bryce Fullwood produced a great effort in H3 – P13 to 5th. Strongman (P1) exited the Final on Lap 2 and handed the lead to Boys who maintained this advantage until the finish winning by 1.45s from McLellan, Angelo, Wade McLean and Black who started from P17.
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT (C & D)
These 16 drivers took the opportunity to leave a positive impression on the big crowd with some attractive racing. Jay Morrison came from P12 in H1 to finish 2nd while Brayden Flood, in the same heat went from P8 to 1st. Jordan Poxon (P14 to 5th in H1) was very impressive together with Shaun Costello’s P14 to 6th in H2. Gemma Wylie caught the eye in H3 moving from P16 to 8th. The Final saw the consistent Morrison establish a 4.6s margin to take the chocolates with an all the way win. He beat the storming Robert Titherington (fastest lap 54.0) ahead of Flood, Mitchell McKay and Jake Coghill.
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
Another strong class with 28 drivers fighting for the title. Local heroes Jayden Wallis and Dale Cornfoot were ready to do battle with a group of challengers led by National Champion Anton De Pasquale as well as Damon Strongman, Matthew McLellan, Reece Bloomfield, Adrian Stratford and others. Good drives came in H1 from De Pasquale (P14 to 1st), and in H2 from De Pasquale (P15 to 3rd), Wallis (P26 to 13th) and Nicholas Rowe (P22 to 10th). H3 saw some incredible performances – out in front Strongman and De Pasquale had a personal match race with Strongman recording an all the way win. Behind them we had the likes of Cornfoot P18 to 3rd, Bloomfield P23 to 8th, Jaymi Mackay P27 to 17th and Leonardo Lo Biance 25th to 15th. The Final had De Pasquale all the way over the consistent Wallis. Then followed Cornfoot, Strongman and McLellan.
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY (C & D)
A group of 16 faced the starter. Bendigo karter Adrian Stratford had good recent form with locals Jakson Brown and Ryan Blakis heading the challengers. After a good start, 2nd in H1, Brown was out of the event after a nasty crash. Heats were won by Blakis, Jaymi Mackay (another accident victim) and Stratford. Kayla Caruso showcased her skills in H3 finishing 6th after starting from P15. The Final went to Zac Soutar who led for the last 6 laps ahead of Stratford who found trouble from P1 at the start, slipping to 9th before recovering. Leonardo Lo Bianco, Luke Capozza and Blakis followed.
JUNIOR NATIONAL PRO
Justin Ford, Braydon North, Nicholas Rowe, Will Hawkes and Dylan Slits led the chances of the 20 entrants. At the end of the day it was victory to Ford after a thrilling duel and several lead changes with North. In the lead up it was pretty well all Ford with wins in H1 and H3. Even in H2 he finished 5th from P18. Rowe won H2 while other good drives came from North finishing 6th in H2 from P16, Jayden Sharrad 3rd in H1 from P19, Zac Soutar 8th in H2 from P17 and James Allen 9th in H1 from P18.
JUNIOR MAX
A very strong field of 22 rolled out for H1, with more than half of them a big chance for success. The action started early with H1 going to Blaine Densley. Jordan Boys came from P20 to 7th, together with Liam McLellan (P13 to 5th) and Mitchell Griffin (P21 to 8th). While Joseph Burton-Harris was winning H2, eye catching drives came from Thomas Randle (P19 to 10th), Densley (P18 to 5th), Matthew McLellan (P16 to 3rd), Reece Bloomfield (P20 to 12th) and Chelsea Angelo (P22 to 7th). The temperature rose right at the start of H3. Leading contenders Densley (P1), McLellan (P2) and Thomas Randle (P3) found themselves placed 20th, 14th and 16th at the end of lap 1!!. Lap 2 continued the drama with Burton-Harris (P4) also out. Meanwhile the lead was a two-way contest between Boys and Mitch Wilson who finished in that order. McLellan came home well for 3rd. The Final saw Boys record an all the way victory from Randle and Wilson.
JUNIOR CLLUBMAN
A very strong group were here to contest the Feature Class and Champion of Championships and vie for the prize money on offer. H1 saw local star Jayden Wallis (P1) greet the flag 1st from Justin Francis (P10) and Anton De Pasquale (P11). James Hughes and Luke Marquis also caught the eye with strong performances from the back of the grid. H2 was taken out by Hughes ahead of Marquis and Francis. Kyle Rethus made up a lot of ground as did Jake Coleman. H3 generally favoured the front-markers with placings going to Hughes (P3), De Pasquale (P5), Francis (P1), Marquis (P2) while Jake Klein (P9) moved to 5th. The Final was a ripper! For the first 8 laps Francis and Marquis shared 1 and 2 placings. Hughes, Rethus and De Pasquale close behind. Francis made a great pass to lead into the last lap. Hughes got past Marquis and set out after Francis who appeared to have the title sown up with 2 turns remaining when an inside passing move saw Francis exit. Marquis dashed through to take the title from Hughes, Rethus, De Pasquale and Nicholas Rowe.
CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS (JUNIOR CLUBMAN)
Twelve karts took to the track in the gathering gloom for the 15 lap final. Justin Francis and Jayden Wallis were absent (DNF in the JC final) and when Damon Strongman withdrew some interest was lost. Anton De Pasquale and Gus Robbins were out soon after the start which left us with an absorbing battle between Kyle Rethus, Luke Marquis, Jake Klein and James Hughes. Marquis went to the front on Lap 5 and stayed there, despite strong challenges from Rethus and Klein. It was Klein who led the chase when he moved ahead of Rethus in Lap 8 and went hard after Marquis. The gap was gradually reduced but Marquis hung on for victory over Klein, Rethus, Hughes and Jake Coleman.
