Flynn Wins David Hamnett Memorial

Are you wondering why this event gained coverage on KartSportNews, but the race meeting you attended did not? Simple Answer; We received a report, results and some photos from a valued contributor soon after the meeting. If you want your race meets published on KartSportNews, get your club's Publicity Officer to contact us. We want to publish more race reports, but that can only happen if we find more contributors. Read how HERE.

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by Sam Taylor

On Saturday the 26th of November, Manning Valley Kart Club hosted the 5th running of the David Hamnett Memorial.

With flash flooding and torrential rain for the week leading up to the event, the running of the meeting looked in doubt. Although the rain continued to pour, the meeting went ahead with close to 60 competitors showing up to put their treaded tyres to good use.

Above: Jordan Pike trying to generate some grip on the slippery surface

This was an incredible turnout for such terrible weather conditions, and Manning Valley Kart Club would like to thank the racers for supporting this special event.

Although numbers were down, the racing was fierce as the track dried throughout the day and into the night. For those of you of you who haven’t been to the Valley yet, you must come and race here and experience the atmosphere the club has to offer.

Throughout the day the track dried out with only qualifying and the first heat being held in rainy conditions. The flowing water continued to run across the circuit throughout the day and night, creating some tricky spots for all competitors.

Above: Gus Flynn took out Junior National Light and the Dave Hamnett Memorial Trophy

After the 1st heat it seemed slicks were the tyres of choice, and the ‘drifting’ onto the straight by many of the younger drivers was a sensational site. Earlier in the day Timothy Gresham did some demonstration laps in his gearbox KZ2 kart on slicks tyres in the pouring rains which thrilled the crowd. Unfortunately, some people succumbed to the slippery conditions and there were some very second hand looking karts at the conclusion of the day.

Above: The rain had its victims, such as Grant English, Junior National Light

Midgets- Sponsored by Cubby’s Karts
In the Midgets class, Zac Crichton continued his incredible form of late and won three out of the four races on offer. Zac didn’t have it all his own way though, being challenged by Jayden Baldwin and Zac Stocks on many occasions. The entire field did an incredible job to provide clean and competitive racing in such trying conditions. Jake Horsey kept a clean set of heals and was well rewarded in the end.

1. Zac Crichton
2. Zac Stocks
3. Jake Horsey

Rookies- Sponsored by Cubby’s Karts
Jordan Pike and Connor Baldwin were the pacesetters in wet conditions and it wasn’t until the prefinal that Kody Garland snatched his first victory. The young Arrow X1 pilot is a debutant in the Rookies category after taking out the MTA tri-series at Manning Valley in the Midgets division. Charlotte Poynting gave the boys a rude shock with consistently strong performance regardless of the track conditions.

Above: Kody Garland receiving some helpful advice from Thomas Hungerford and Todd Stocks.

Junior National Light- Sponsored by Ranbuild Taree
The largest class on the day was set to race for the Dave Hamnett Memorial Trophy. However, with the two largest classes being Junior National Light and TAG100 , both had equal entries. The decision was made to offer the opportunity to junior competitors as that’s a decision in which Dave Hamnett would have supported.

Ryan Pike set the pace in qualifying and was closely followed by the Topkart pilot of Gus Flynn. Todd Stocks had a tough weekend as he continues to recover from a serious injury but was on the pace come final time. Joel ‘Robbo’ Robertson was another driver who produced some impressive results and managed to bring his Tonykart home 2nd on two occasions. But as it’s been a case around many country tracks in 2011, Gus Flynn dominated the event and took home the Dave Hamnett Memorial Trophy.

Above: Junior National Light grids up for a start with Todd Stocks on pole.

Junior National Heavy- Sponsored by Advanced Automotive
Macksville’s Brady Buchanan was dominant in the Junior National Heavy class and managed to mix it with many of the Junior National Light front runners. Thomas Hungerford was also very much on the pace, never too far behind Buchanan just waiting for a slight mistake. Damon Schofield and Hayden Jackson had mixed results, both falling predator to the conditions on occasion. Unfortunately, Michael Sutherland could not repeat his recent strong performances and was relegated down the order in his Birel AR4.

Above: Thomas Hungerford was more than happy with his 2nd in JNH

Senior National Light and Heavy- Sponsored by Deep Sea Delights
The Monaco drivers of Brock Greedy and Royce Sutherland were involved in intense battles all weekend at the head of the Senior National Light field. So fast was there pace that they found themselves at the front of the TAG100 field on more than one occasion. Hayden Buchanan could not emulate his younger brother’s performance and struggled with grip all weekend. A fantastic effort for the single Senior National Heavy entry of Joshua Wilkinson, managing to cope with the conditions despite being on P plates.

Above: Royce Sutherland was unable to stop hard charger Brock Greedy on his way to victory in SNL.

TAG100- Sponsored by Deep Sea Delights
This class continues to show some of the closest racing on offer at an affordable price. Adrian Willis was dominant in the wet and managed to claim pole with four drivers within 3 tenths of his time in the pouring rain. Adrian was consistently fast all weekend as was the Arrow AX8 of Robert Taylor. Recent winners Dave Neville, Scott Symonds and Stephen Barnett could not find a solution to the slippery conditions and traded positions for the minor placings.

Above: Darren Chick (left) and Adrian Willis prepare for battle in TAG100

Clubman Light and Heavy- Sponsored by Double X Trophies
In Clubman Light it was Senior Light winner Brock Greedy out in front. Brock was involved in some serious battles with the fast Clubman Heavy competitors. Chris Varcoe did well to finish all races on his P plates and was rewarded with a trophy and a set of new MG reds tyres.

Clubman Heavy was dominated by the Newcastle trio of Sam Tooth, Scott Karuso and Benjamin Hancock. Scott Karuso was using a borrowed chassis from Hancock and managed to challenge him on many occasions. Sam Tooth showed incredible speed, despite carrying extra weight he still managed to come in before his father Brad.

Tag Restricted Light, Heavy & Super Heavy- Sponsored by Precision Motorsport
  The Energy kart of Phil Richards was once again a rocket in the wet conditions. He managed to easily pole the very competitive TAGR light field. Racing was a different story, with Justin Anderson and Scott Johnston sharing wins. The pair having not driven at the Valley in over two years! Peter Styles switched from Heavies to Lights for the event, but was struck with issues throughout the day.

Above: TAGR looks for the green light. Mr Wasley kept them guessing on many occasions as to when it would go green.

In the heavy class, Adam Vickers continued his fine form at Manning Valley by claiming pole position. But it was Andrew Glasson and Michael Lawrence who would consistently challenged him throughout the day. It was impossible to predict who would win each race and the trio were mixing it with the lighter drivers.

With two Super Heavy competitors in Robert Garland and Andrew Poynting the other racers knew that it would be on for young and old. Each meeting the boys trade places and it was Garlands turn to dominate just like his son did in Rookies.

Above: Robert Garland was mixing it with much lighter competitors in his X1/X30 package.

Sportsman Light and Heavy- Sponsored by Buzzard Racing
With the local light guys scared to get their feet wet, there was only two entries in Sportsman Heavy. The duo of Trevor ‘Gumma’ Mutton and Barry ‘Cubby’ House raced hard all day. So hard in fact both of them failed to finish two races! Barry has got used of being the runner-up in 2011 and on this occasion he was the bridesmaid yet again.

Sunday the 27th of November
The following day Manning Valley Kart Club hosted their 2011 club presentation in conjunction with a come and try day. The day was successful with over 20 individuals having a go in race prepared karts. Darren Stocks, Darren Chick, Donna Stocks, Jane Chick and many volunteers ensured that no one was left hungry or thirsty. Many of us are still craving the baked goods provided to members and guests from 6 Weber cookers.

Above: Jane Chick and Brock Hamnett working hard in the canteen.

Above: There is certainly now less grass and more mud thanks to the heavy traffic in the pits.

Above: Ellen Page and Larry Wasley doing an excellent job up in Race Control

Above: Thumbs up from a recovering Todd Stocks.

Above: Grid girl Donna Stocks was sporting the gum boots on Saturday before trading them for race boots on Sunday!

Above: Marco Simocelli may be gone, but we know who got his hair. Jayden ‘Super Sic’ Baldwin finished 7th in Midgets.

Above: Barry ‘Cubby’ House was kept busy in the Wicked Camper. Here collecting Laura Neville and Michael Sutherland.

Above: Darren Chick is not a fan of the wet and that showed on Saturday. But Mr Consistently was awarded the TAG100 Club Championship on Sunday which he thoroughly deserved. Well done Chicky!

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