Barossa Cadet/Rookie/Junior Titles

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from Danny Somerville

The Barossa Go Kart Club held its yearly little racers championship for 2012, the Cadet/Rookie/Junior titles. The event was a huge success with the biggest Cadets fields we have seen in South Australia for many years.

The event was well supported by all the seniors considering the inclement weather for the event. Racing was held in soggy conditions with the on-again off-again rain keeping the track moist for the entire event.

The racing was as competitive as ever with the little ones showing their wet weather skills on both wet and dry tyres. Even the seniors got into the action with some wild driving and the talk was the Sportsman 125 Heavy drivers had cut a deal to stay on slicks regardless of the conditions, which they all adhered to with some interesting driving to say the least.

Rookies:
The race order started with the Rookies hitting the track, and hit the track hard they did. With all points counting for the day these little takers went hard all meeting with little Joshy Montague continuing his love for the Barossa circuit and leaving the field for dead in all 4 heats. Josh took a straight sets victory with 4 for 4 to put his name on the championship trophy as the 2012 winner.

Above: 2012 Rookies Title Winner Josh Montague
pic - Danny Somerville

Mr. consistent as ever Tyson Harvey came home in a strong second place and showed he is one to watch in the future. Tyson showed that it takes good consistent results in all 4 races to finish up front and handled the wet brilliantly. Kustom Karts racer and daughter of champion racer Phil Morrison, young Jade Morrison, took 3rd place.
Jade drove a sensational weekend and was a crowd favorite as she took it up to the boys with her best result of the year. Keep your eye on Jade as she looks like keeping the success going in the Morrison camp just like her older brother Tyler, dad Phil and uncle Stuart have done for many years. Jacob Dowsen 4th and Jack Hutchins 5th both had strong performances.

Cadets:
With 20 in the field this event was truly set for one of the races of the night with some serious wheel-to-wheel action.
Conditions were tough for these drivers and the drivers had to work for every inch on the track. Little superstar Jason Bowyer drove a brilliant weekend and had the kart setup perfect for the entire day. He took the win from the super fast Jackson Rees who fought hard all day and even won heat 4. Bowyer drove out of his skin to take the event and title by just 3 points for the day and his celebration over the line was almost as good as his driving for the day. Bowyer’s kart control in the mixed conditions was a sight to behold and he looked as if he was skating along the track without error all day.

Jackson Rees had a great drive to 2nd who just didn’t have the setup for the tricky conditions. 3rd place was much deserved by Michael Jones who was consistent all day and a great drive by Declan Morrison brought his machine home in 4th for the day. These drivers showed the seniors how to handle the tricky conditions and rarely was there a spin in this class all day.

Above: 2012 Cadets Title Winner Jason Bowyer
pic - Danny Somerville

Junior National Light:
A great bit of racing from these drivers with Tyler Morrison winning the title with another straight sets victory. Tyler adapted to the conditions best with the kart handling like a dream in the mixed conditions and showed how it is done. Morrison showed a clean set of heals leading from start to finish in every race and showing why he is one of the upcoming stars in South Australian karting.

Holly Marquis drove a brilliant weekend to finish 2nd in a hard fought battle with Jordan Tasker 3rd. These drivers were neck and neck all day and tied on points in the end with Holly winning on a count back.

Junior National Heavy:
With a small field of 3 Scott Matheson drove brilliantly in the wet to win the event easily and win the title. Dylan Hannan looked impressive to second position considering he was carrying around 15kgs extra weight. Dylan jumped into the class to fill up the numbers and showed he is competitive in any class he enters. Hamish Blair came in in 3rd.

Above: Junior National Heavy Title Winner Scott Matheson
pic - Danny Somerville

Clubman Heavy:
With a field of only 5 Clubman Heavy drivers, racing was a close fight for the minor positions all night. Clancy Venables in the DBG kart excelled in the wet and won every heat from a fast charging Sparky Marquis. Venables used his extensive track knowledge to advantage and made one of the biggest overtaking moves in the wet we have seen at the track. From about 4 karts back he dropped his kart down the inside of Marquis in the final, and slid it into the lead at the end of the straight. Marquis had a mixed day in the conditions and settled for 2nd. Club stalwart Simon Granfield finally had some good luck and came home 3rd for the event. Simon was over the moon with the result and looks like lady luck might have changed for him.

Above: Clubman Heavy Winner Clancy Venables
pic - Danny Somerville

Clubman Super Heavy:
Only 3 in the field for this class, local favorite John Ellis took the win for the weekend. John drove away in heat 4 to take the points easily. Rachael Ford came home an impressive 3rd for the meeting with some consistent driving followed by Scott Woods.

Above: Clubman Super Heavy Winner John Ellis
pic - Danny Somerville

Sportsman 125 Heavy:
These guys decided to cut a deal and go out on slicks for the whole meeting with a few hairy corners had by all. There was some very close racing between the 3 drivers all meeting, with Brandon Stillwell the most consistent and took the victory by a couple of points. Brandon handled the conditions the best and looked quick all day. Coming home in 2nd was Danny Somerville in 66 kart who was fastest on track during the final heat but just couldn’t keep the nose facing the same way. Matthew Fritz came home in 3rd.

Above: Sportsman 125 Heavy Winner Brandon Stillwell
pic - Danny Somerville

Clubman Over 40s:
The day belonged to track sponsor Sparky Marquis who drove a great weekend to take the win for the Molly Dooker Wines camp. Sparky won 3 out of the 4 races for the day and could even afford a DNF in heat 3 to win overall. John Ellis came home in 2nd with a great drive considering he was around 15kgs heavy for the class but showed it may have helped him in the wet conditions. Simon Granfield continued his impressive day with a strong drive to 3rd place. These guys had a great time out there with some of the drivers opting to stay on slicks, which looked like great fun.

Above: Clubman Over 40s Winner Sparky Marquis
pic - Danny Somerville

Restricted 125 Light and Heavy:
This class was full of great racing with the classes being combined for the heats for the day. The Light drivers mixed it with the Heavy drivers and vice a versa, and a lot of the time they were unsure who they were racing against, which made the racing very interesting.

In the Lights the victory was taken by Brayden Dichiera, who drove a sensational drive and seemed to be the only one who handled the changing conditions the best. Frankie Maiolo came home a strong 2nd with Steven Brady coming home 3rd.

In the Heavies, David Rinaldi was blindingly quick all day and even beat all the lights on the track to take the top step of the podium. James place drove well all day to finish 2nd with Alex Caminiti making up the podium in 3rd.

Above: Great Fun in the Molly Dooker Camp
pic - Danny Somerville

Overall a great event again at the BGKC with great racing, great jokes, great food and of course some great wines to finish the day. There were some very proud parents with their little racers performing brilliantly all weekend.

The BGKC would like to thank all the officials, volunteers, drivers, canteen staff and all involved with the weekend for hosting a great event. We look forward to seeing everyone at the seniors title race The Jenke Classic, Saturday 20th October 2012. Be sure not to miss it!!

Above: The Barossa track before the downpour
pic - Danny Somerville

 

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