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Australian Sprint Kart Endurance Titles

from Paul Hewitt

Yet again the 2011 Australian Sprint kart Endurance Titles threw up something new and unexpected to further challenge the competing teams when rain was the major influence on the event.

Previous events had seen periods of wet throughout the race however this event saw in excess of 230 continuous laps of wet weather, not heavy rain but constant enough to keep the track wet. This was to impact every team during the race.

A dry morning qualifying saw a rare feat when the 2 kart v8 Max team scored a front row shut-out, very much like the current Vodafone domination in the V8 Supercars Championship, both qualifying within 0.096 of each other. Things looked good so far but endurance racing is much more than about a fast lap time and with overcast skies this was soon proven to be the case.

When the green light was given the pace was pretty hot as teams fought for position.Defending Light Champs BWR got off to a slow start and had to fight back from near the rear, and were making good progress in the first hour. V8 Max stayed on the lead pack and were settling in to a rhythm as the race settled down. The GWR team had a early set back when a wheel parted company and caused an early safety kart.

The heavens started to leak at about lap 70 right on the refuelling window, but it wasn't heavy just light and teams were faced with what to do. Many stayed out as long as they could and this paid dividends as the rain stayed and the track was definite wet tyre time. The weather looked like it was to set in and wets were to be truly tested as well as the drivers. The resultant wet weather saw a drastic change in tactics from teams and drivers as the pace was varied and positions began to widen out.

The wet weather got a hold of the BWR team and they had to withdraw with wet induced mechanical failure. Arch rivals Wild Bunch Racing faired no better after getting out to a big lead they fell foul of the officials and had to serve a number of drive through penalties that were then compounded by a mechanical failure that set them back many laps. Meanwhile V8max team both kept to their fluid plan and tried to stay out of trouble. Perhaps the shock of the event was the rise of the Heavy team Morekart getting to the lead and building a solid gap with some exceptional wet weather driving.

The Safety kart driver was kept busy retrieving weather impacted karts and bunching the field up regularly. The weather showed no sign of improving to go back onto wets and the real test would be how well they would hold up to such a long time on the track. Many teams had only the one set and they were on the kart since around lap 70. The pace was quick but the race time was very slow with a very long race to be had testing driver concentration levels to the max.

With 50 laps to go the strategies began to show. V8 Max team began to reappear on the leader board as others struggled with mechanicals. The Aurora 2 kart team also began to figure after early good showing then dropping back with the ebb and flow of endurance racing.

As the laps dwindled it looked like the Morekart team were on their way to a rare feat of being only the second Heavy div team to win the event outright with a big lead, however endurance racing can be a cruel event, with just 25 to go a battery problem had them pit unexpectedly and after rejoining in second they had a chance but yet again water in the carby forced a second pit stop ending any chance of an outright win, but they were still on track for their class win.

After 5 hours and 2 minutes, the longest race ever in the history of the event, the spray settled and the v8max team had scored the double, front row and a 1-2 in the Light div with the Aurora 1 team in third, Morkart team were rewarded with tier efforts with a first place with the Aurora 2 team filling second place, and after a horrible start the GWR team recovered really well with third place, proving a never give up attitude can be beneficial.

With the weather being the major factor in the race only 3 teams DNFed, which is really remarkable, and the Mojo wet tyre whilst worn to the max performed better than expected. John Daly our safety kart driver did more laps than ever before [15] and was very impressive being on slicks(!) the whole time. BWR set the fastest time during the race, the winning gap was 5 laps and everyone is much more experienced in driving in the wet.

Plans for 2012 are well under way and all fingers are crossed a wet track is not part of those plans.

Overall placings below. Full results on mylaps.com HERE.

1st V8max.com #72
2nd Morekart
3rd Aurora Racing 1
4th V8max.com #43,
5th Aurora Racing 2
6th Wild Kart
7th Machadcob
8th WGR
9th Good Time Racing
10th Burey Earthmoving
11th Moree Mongrels
12th PJ's
13th BWR
14th Lochinvar Loons
15th Sponsor required
16th Franinzine Racing
17th CCP
18th Team FMBC
19th 3H
20th Affordable Palletts

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	Australian Sprint Kart Endurance Titles Tweet from Paul Hewitt Yet again the 2011 Australian Sprint kart Endurance Titles threw up something new and unexpected to further challenge the competing teams when rain was the major influence on the event. Previous events had seen periods of wet throughout the race however this event saw in excess of 230 continuous laps of wet weather, not heavy rain but constant enough to keep the track wet. This was to impact every team during the race. A dry morning qualifying saw a rare feat when the 2 kart v8 Max team scored a front row shut-out, very much like the current Vodafone domination in the V8 Supercars Championship, both qualifying within 0.096 of each other. Things looked good so far but endurance racing is much more than about a fast lap time and with overcast skies this was soon proven to be the case. When the green light was given the pace was pretty hot as teams fought for position.Defending Light Champs BWR got off to a slow start and had to fight back from near the rear, and were making good progress in the first hour. V8 Max stayed on the lead pack and were settling in to a rhythm as the race settled down. The GWR team had a early set back when a wheel parted company and caused an early safety kart. The heavens started to leak at about lap 70 right on the refuelling window, but it wasn't heavy just light and teams were faced with what to do. Many stayed out as long as they could and this paid dividends as the rain stayed and the track was definite wet tyre time. The weather looked like it was to set in and wets were to be truly tested as well as the drivers. The resultant wet weather saw a drastic change in tactics from teams and drivers as the pace was varied and positions began to widen out. The wet weather got a hold of the BWR team and they had to withdraw with wet induced mechanical failure. Arch rivals Wild Bunch Racing faired no better after getting out to a big lead they fell foul of the officials and had to serve a number of drive through penalties that were then compounded by a mechanical failure that set them back many laps. Meanwhile V8max team both kept to their fluid plan and tried to stay out of trouble. Perhaps the shock of the event was the rise of the Heavy team Morekart getting to the lead and building a solid gap with some exceptional wet weather driving. The Safety kart driver was kept busy retrieving weather impacted karts and bunching the field up regularly. The weather showed no sign of improving to go back onto wets and the real test would be how well they would hold up to such a long time on the track. Many teams had only the one set and they were on the kart since around lap 70. The pace was quick but the race time was very slow with a very long race to be had testing driver concentration levels to the max. With 50 laps to go the strategies began to show. V8 Max team began to reappear on the leader board as others struggled with mechanicals. The Aurora 2 kart team also began to figure after early good showing then dropping back with the ebb and flow of endurance racing. As the laps dwindled it looked like the Morekart team were on their way to a rare feat of being only the second Heavy div team to win the event outright with a big lead, however endurance racing can be a cruel event, with just 25 to go a battery problem had them pit unexpectedly and after rejoining in second they had a chance but yet again water in the carby forced a second pit stop ending any chance of an outright win, but they were still on track for their class win. After 5 hours and 2 minutes, the longest race ever in the history of the event, the spray settled and the v8max team had scored the double, front row and a 1-2 in the Light div with the Aurora 1 team in third, Morkart team were rewarded with tier efforts with a first place with the Aurora 2 team filling second place, and after a horrible start the GWR team recovered really well with third place, proving a never give up attitude can be beneficial. With the weather being the major factor in the race only 3 teams DNFed, which is really remarkable, and the Mojo wet tyre whilst worn to the max performed better than expected. John Daly our safety kart driver did more laps than ever before [15] and was very impressive being on slicks(!) the whole time. BWR set the fastest time during the race, the winning gap was 5 laps and everyone is much more experienced in driving in the wet. Plans for 2012 are well under way and all fingers are crossed a wet track is not part of those plans. Overall placings below. Full results on mylaps.com HERE. 1st V8max.com #72 2nd Morekart 3rd Aurora Racing 1 4th V8max.com #43, 5th Aurora Racing 2 6th Wild Kart 7th Machadcob 8th WGR 9th Good Time Racing 10th Burey Earthmoving 11th Moree Mongrels 12th PJ's 13th BWR 14th Lochinvar Loons 15th Sponsor required 16th Franinzine Racing 17th CCP 18th Team FMBC 19th 3H 20th Affordable Palletts Home
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