Tigani, Pope & Morse Duo Lead TWM Effort at Pro Tour
| 10 May 2015 |
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Rotax Light’s Nathan Tigani, Mini Max driver Jaiden Pope and Junior Max brother combination, Zane and Alec Morse have led an impressive outing for Tom Williamson Motorsport (TWM) at round three of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour in Albury Wodonga with the event also marking the first in the alliance between TWM and BirelART Australia.
Current number one plate holder in DD2 Masters, Adam Hunter qualified 12th in the category for drivers aged over 32 years with a 33.081. An improvement throughout the heat races saw Hunter rise to fifth in heat one before taking sixth in heat two and fourth in heat three. A sixth place finish in the pre-final, setting his fastest time on the penultimate lap with a 32.996 placed the Sydney driver on the third row for the final, while a battle through the mid-pack saw Adam claim ninth in the final.
On debut in the BirelART chassis, Cody Gillis qualified second overall in Rotax Light with a 32.688. Gillis subsequently started the first two heat races from pole position, recording a win in heat two with second in heat one and third in heat three. Contact during the pre-final saw Cody drop down the order before eventually finishing 21st in the 24 lap race, returning to his impressive pace in the final, Gillis fought his way through the field to claim seventh.
In only his third Pro Tour event, Nathan Tigani qualified third overall in the oversubscribed Rotax Light field with a quickest time of 32.694 placing him second for the start of the first two heat races and from pole position in heat three. A win in heat one and two second place finishes in heat two and three continued Tigani’s impressive run, going on to take second in the pre-final, handing the Sydney driver a front row start for the all-important final. A convincing performance handed Nathan a comfortable second place finish in the final, giving him a strong boost in series points ahead of the second half of the season.
Above: Nathan Tigani
pic - Coopers Photography
On home soil at the Albury Wodonga track, Jack Richardson qualified ninth overall with a 32.740, starting him out of fifth for the three heat races. A seventh and fifth place finish in heat one and two was then improved upon in heat three with fourth, while mid-race pace in the pre-final saw Richardson rise to take fourth, delivering him a second row start for the final. After his early weekend success, Jack suffered an unfortunate result in the final, finishing 24th. Luke Scanu qualified 20th in the capacity field, starting him from 10th in all heat races. Sixth in heat two headlined Luke’s results in addition to ninth in heat one and eleventh in heat three. A DNF on lap 14 of the pre-final for Scanu would force the Tony Kart driver to start from the rear of the field in the final, working his way to finish 18th by race end.
In the newest category as part of the Pro Tour, Mini Max, Jaiden Pope qualified fifth with a 34.587, within 0.1 seconds of pole position. Despite a DNF in heat one, Pope impressed with second in the remaining two twelve lap races, placing him out of fourth for the pre-final. A hard charge by Jaiden, setting his quickest time on the penultimate lap, handed him second and a front row start for the final, subsequently capitalising and finishing second in the weekend’s longest race, banking more critical series points. The second TWM driver in the Mini Max class, Ric Kusnetsov qualified 13th, before taking 11th in heat one and 12th in heat two and three. Kusnetsov secured 15th place in the pre-final, before a DNF in the final on lap twelve ended his weekend early.
Reigning Australian Junior Max Champion Zane Morse led a strong charge of TWM Junior Max drivers at Pro Tour Albury Wodonga, qualifying on pole position with a blistering 32.395. Morse therefore started each heat race from the number one grid spot, finishing second in heat one following a last lap pass for the lead after Zane led much of the 14 lap event. The Canberra driver returned to the winning circle in heat two and three, handing him pole position for the pre-final. A stellar display of driving delivered Morse the win by 1.3 seconds which he then capitalised upon in the final, taking victory by 1.8 seconds and extending his lead in the Rotax rankings.
Above: Zane Morse
pic - Coopers Photography
Alec Morse followed in his older brother’s footsteps with the successful weekend seeing him qualify sixth overall with a 32.618, starting heat one and two from third and heat three from fourth. Alec’s results were a mirror of his starting positions, handing him a fifth place start for the pre-final. An energetic battle at the front saw Alec fight through to claim fourth in the pre-final, delivering a second row start from the final in which he engaged further in a dice for position, going on to take fifth and the final place on the podium.
Joshua Fife rounded out the Canberra trio for TWM with the Tony Kart racer qualifying fourth overall with a 32.581, setting him up to start second in all heat races. Fife’s heat race results were headlined by third in the first race, before finishing 19th in heat two and eighth in heat three. Joshua would then start 17th in the pre-final, with a concerted recovery seeing him work his way to ninth. Again setting strong lap times, Fife secured eleventh in the final as he continues to build his experience at the front half of the field.
Timothy Colombrita qualified 16th aboard his Tony Kart chassis in the Junior Max field, delivering him an eighth place start for all three heats. Colombrita’s minor race results would be highlighted by fifth in heat two, in addition to sixth in heat three and seventh in heat one. A comfortable 12th place finish for Timothy in the pre-final after starting in that same position then saw rise into the top ten in the final, finishing just ahead of TWM team mate Joshua Fife in tenth.
Wagga Wagga based Cameron Longmore qualified 20th out of over 40 drivers in Junior Max, with a consistent performance through the heat races to claim tenth in the first two events before taking ninth in heat three. Starting from 16th in the pre-final, Longmore finished 24th, then rising to 17th by the completion of the final. Anthony Wiskich qualified 41st in the eight minute session, though a DNF in heat one and disqualification in heat two combined with 19th in heat three unfortunately placed Wiskich outside of the top 36 drivers that would move through to the finals.
The next major event for Tom Williamson Motorsport will be round two of the Australian Kart Championship at the Monarto Karting Complex, South Australia from 22-24 May.
