The 'My Style Homes' 100 Lap Endurance Races
Tweet| 27 November 2012 |
from Annette Dodge
100 Lap Endurance Event, Cairns, 24 November
Qualifying commenced under fine skies. Competitors at this event always come up with some ingenious ways of getting a drink and refuelling the kart for their mandatory fuel stop. It is a long day and it takes its toll on drivers mentally and physically and karts mechanical wise; snapped chains, lost bolts from engine mounts, BUT drivers enjoy the event immensely giving them the opportunity to team up or go solo and compete in other classes not normally competed in. This event brings out the courteous driver everyone wants to finish and so we get to see drivers pass each other without incident a credit to them all.
Above: Refueling the winning Sportsman Heavy entry of Nathan McNabb
Junior National Light
Numbers were down visiting drivers opted not to attend this year, with the exception of one Joshua Smith from Townsville (just recently returned from competing overseas at the CIK-FIA Asia Pacific KF3 Championship in Macau finishing in seventh position), teamed up with local lad William Foyle in the Junior National Light taking second place half a second behind his sibling Matthew Foyle with Matthew Want finishing third on the podium. Both William and Matthew Foyle are gearing up to compete at the CIK Stars of Karting rounds starting February 2013.
1 Matthew Foyle
2 William Foyle/Josh Smith
3 Matthew Want
4 Jack King
5 Zac Ewing
Above: Matthew Foyle grabs a drink during his pit stop, JNL
Senior National Light
Tessa Underwood Senior Nat Light Class took a clean lead settled into pace and held position for over half the race her pit stop was quick but not quick enough she placed second a mere 1.8 secs behind the duo of Lydon Dodge/John Magro. A loose engine mount and worn sprocket brought an early end of race to the son and father duo of Lucas/Mark Stover.
1 Lydon Dodge/John Magro
2 Tessa Underwood
3 Lucas/Mark Stover DNF
Above: John Magro springs out of the winning SNL kart before Lydon Dodge takes over
Cadets
Brodie Davis was the clear winner in the Cadet class with second placegetter Sam King pressing hard to find a pass in the final laps a mere 3 tenths of a second separating the two drivers Will Wright was content with third place.
1 Brodie Davis
2 Sam King
3 Will Wright
Above: Cadet winner Brodie Davis
Son and father duo of Nic/Craig Beehag took the honours in the Senior Nat Heavy Class after leading duo of Lexi Underwood/Nathan McNab had a mechanical problem costing them dearly relegating them to second on the podium, with team Wayne Boylett/Michael Cawse (ex Darwin State Champion) taking third spot.
1 Nic /Craig Beehag
2 Lexi Underwood/Nathan McNab
3 Wayne Boylett/Michael Cawse
Above: Senior National Heavy, Nic Beehag
Junior National Heavy
John Underwood took the lead of JNH but was quickly overtaken by lap 2 by the William Foyle/Josh Smith duo. They held the lead for over half the race when during pit stop a spillage of fuel gave them a stop go penalty handing the lead to John Underwood he also was given a stop go penalty for fuel. Underwood somehow maintained the lead until the final 4 laps when he was overtaken in the hairpin pushing hard he was unable to get a pass, finishing second behind Foyle/Smith by a mere 4 tenths of second, Mitchell Naylor first time for this event finishing a respective third place. This was John Underwood’s final event in Juniors he moves through into Seniors next year and is looking forward to having a crack at his sibling Lydon Dodge in the Clubman class.
1 William Foyle/Joshua Smith
2 John Underwood
3 Mitchell Naylor
4 Matthew King
5 Matthew Want
Sportsman Light
The combo of Lydon Dodge/John Magro in Sportsman Light took and held the lead until mid race pit stop and driver changeover relegated them to second, handing the lead over to the girl duo of Lexi/Tessa Underwood their lead was short lived when the Dodge/Magro team powered though once again to take the lead and win, followed by the Underwood duo with Leigh Naylor taking a respective third place in his first 100 lap event.
1 Lydon Dodge/John Magro
2 Lexi Underwood/Tessa Underwood
3 Leigh Naylor
4 Alexander Moorehead
6 Lucas Stover/Mark Stover DNF
Above: Sportsman Heavy, Nathan McNab, enters pit lane
Mathew Coulson Sportsman Heavy Class powered to the lead and sprinted away from the field. He looked set to take the win all the way. Fate unfortunately had other plans for him, a chain broke leaving him devastated to watch from the sidelines. This left the way open for Nathan McNab to take the lead followed by Blake Harris in second. Fortunes were once again unkind when Harris pitted; he was penalised for a fuel spill costing him dearly. This allowed Craig Beehag to move into second position followed by the Glen Wilkins/Leigh Naylor duo to take third placing.
1 Nathan McNab
2 Craig Beehag
3 Glen Wilkins/Leigh Naylor
4 Blake Harris
5 Nic Beehag
6 Matt Coulson DNF
7 Michael Barkley DNF
8 David Coulson DNF
Above: Sportsman Heavy, Nathan McNab exits his machine
TaG 100
Mark Ezzy and Andy Lane teamed up in Tag100 and streaked away to take the win over Mark Stover for second and Dennis Andrews for third place. The Wayne Boylett/Michael Cawse duo unfortunately suffered mechanical problems and had to watch from the sidelines.
1 Mark Ezzy/Andrew lane
2 Mark Stover
3 Dennis Andrews
4 Wayne Boylett/Michael Cawse DNF
Above: Matthew Foyle jumps out of his JNL kart - and about to charge the photographer??
