New Competitors Spice Up Tassie Statewide Series
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from Johnathan Males
On February 11th and 12th the Southern Tasmanian Kart Club held the second round of the 2012 Tasmanian Statewide Series. 117 competitors flocked to the Orielton circuit with many turning up on the Friday to get in some extra testing.
The weather forecast predicted rain throughout the weekend and competitors were prepared for a drenching. Fortunately it failed to eventuate allowing for some of the best racing of the series so far.
Above: Nathan Zuj on his way to winning Clubman Light
pic - Tabatha Badger, TB Photography
Come finals, the track had substantially improved and competitors smashed their qualifying times. Steve Crocker even managed to set the lap record in his class. This round also saw several new competitors joining the series to throw a cat amongst the pigeons.
Local drivers Jeff Dickson and Trent Palmer made their first appearances in the 2012 Statewide Series and dominated Clubman Heavy. Unlike his kart trolley, Palmer did not fold under the pressure and he took the win over Dickson in the final. Steven Wrigley matched it with the leaders at times but in the end had to settle for third.
Junior National Light also had another competitor making their first appearance in the 2012 Statewide Series in Nicky Richards. This kid is fast. He simply drove away from the high quality field in every race. Jacob Morris was the surprise packet of the weekend, constantly running at the front and snaring second in the final. Wade McLean was always in the mix and took third. Bodie Reading and Cameron Kuc were unfortunate DNF’s in the final after achieving strong results all day.
Nathan Zuj continued to demonstrate why he has been Tassie’s number one driver for the past few years by again showing the Clubman Light field a clean pair of heels and taking all four wins on offer. Evan Livingston showed terrific pace to shadow Zuj and was rewarded with four second placings, Brody Appleby coming out on top in the battle for third place.
Morgan Jakobovski made the jump up to the Junior National Heavy ranks for this round and proved to be too good on the day for Keenan Slater. STKC Junior Club Person of the Year Thomas Clark came in a popular third. Special mention goes to Brodey Lovett who was involved in a nasty accident in the final, walking away from the carnage relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his kart.
Above: Morgan Jakobovski hard on the brakes in Junior National Heavy
pic - Tabatha Badger, TB Photography
Mitchell Kerrison bounced back from a DNF in the final at the first round by winning every race in the Cadets class. The rest of the field were very close and great pace was shown by Lachlan Dalton, Brock Lamont, Callum Bishop, Declan Sherburd, Justin Murphy and young Ethan Wyllie. In the final it was Lamont and Bishop who crossed the line behind the winner Kerrison. The win was a great reward for all the hard work both Mitchell and his father Steve have put in recently.
Jade Waddington turned up with his race face on and simply decimated the TAG Light field in the final. The Shayne Waddington Bodyworks sponsored Azzurro was out of sight by the time Jake Rice and Dion Wyllie crossed the line in second and third place respectively.
Above: Jade Waddington pushes hard through the Bus Stop corner in TAG Light
pic - Tabatha Badger, TB Photography
The girls are taking over in Senior National Light with Kelsey Sapwell and Naomi Wrigley in her Wrigley’s Karts & Parts Arrow fighting it out at the front. Kelsey had superior pace all weekend. Her job was made much easier as local gun Jackson Evans fell foul of the kerbs, dropping chains on several occasions aboard his Swiss Hutless Australia backed kart. It was good to see young Toby Archer come in third after a great race and long battle with the ever improving Mitchell Lovell.
Danton Evans recovered from an unfortunate DNF in the first heat to record the next three wins in Senior National Heavy. Johnathan Males was always in sight and came close to bagging another win in the final but had to settle for second. Murray Dadson rounded out the podium and should be a contender at the next round. Mark Crocker joined the rollover club in the third heat after being a victim of somebody else’s accident and also will be looking forward to a good run at the next round.
Above: Kelsey Sapwell out in front in Senior National Light
pic - Tabatha Badger, TB Photography
Tayla Heath made it two from two by taking out the final in the Rookie class. There was some great racing in this field between Heath, Brock Evans, Samuel Gala and Zevie Eisentraut who took the first three wins of the meeting. In the end though it was Heath followed by Eisentraut and Evans.
TAG Restricted Heavy was once again dominated by Michael Warren. His Neil Buckby Motors backed Kosmic is flying at the moment and he won easily over Matthew Clark and Andrew Chick. Graham Hoar turned his back on a budding soccer career to make a return to the racetrack and take the win in TAG Restricted Light.
Senior National Over 40’s Pro was all about Steve Crocker as series leader Michael Vaughan elected to spend the weekend with his wife on their anniversary. Andrew Kuc used his local knowledge to snare second place in front of Tony Rielley who fended off Michael Jack for third. Peter Rogers was unlucky not to score a podium after registering a DNF in the final.
Above: Tayla Heath got the win in Rookies
pic - Tabatha Badger, TB Photography
The race wins were shared two apiece in the Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy class between Scott Wrigley and Greg Wood. Wrigley stepped up in the final for the win ahead of Wood and Darren Williams in third.
After two rounds there are a few clear category leaders but the majority of classes are still very close. With the series now moving to the third round to be held at the North Western Kart Club on March 3rd and 4th anything can happen. The Burnie circuit is considered a real drivers circuit and should make for some great racing. Entries for the third round of the series are now open on the AKA CMS System.
Top 3 results:
Cadets
1st Mitchell Kerrison
2nd Brock Lamont
3rd Callum Bishop
Rookies
1st Tayla Heath
2nd Zevie Eisentraut
3rd Brock Evans
Junior National Light
1st Nicky Richards
2nd Jacob Morris
3rd Wade McLean
Junior National Heavy
1st Morgan Jakobovski
2nd Keenan Slater
3rd Thomas Clark
Senior National Light
1st Kelsey Sapwell
2nd Naomi Wrigley
3rd Toby Archer
Senior National Heavy
1st Danton Evans
2nd Johnathan Males
3rd Murray Dadson
Senior National Over 40’s Pro
1st Steve Crocker
2nd Andrew Kuc
3rd Anthony Rielley
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy
1st Scott Wrigley
2nd Greg Wood
3rd Darren Williams
Clubman Light
1st Nathan Zuj
2nd Evan Livingston
3rd Brody Appleby
Clubman Heavy
1st Trent Palmer
2nd Jeff Dickson
3rd Steven Wrigley
Clubman Super Heavy
1st Peter Kemp
2nd Josh Muskett
3rd Simon England
TAG Restricted Light
1st Graham Hoar
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Michael Warren
2nd Matthew Clark
3rd Andrew Chick
TAG Light
1st Jade Waddington
2nd Jake Rice
3rd Dion Wyllie
