Country Series Concludes In Cobden
| from Paul feely | 24 October 2015 |
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Clear skies and light winds greeted karters to the 966 metre Cobden Park Raceway as the South West Kart Club hosted the 6th and final round of the 2015 AUSTRANS Victorian Country Series last weekend.
With over $23,000 worth of series prises and trophies on offer, 130 entries, ideal conditions and still 9 of the 11 class series winners still to be determined, expectations were high for some excellent racing over the two days of the meeting.
- for full series points, scroll to the bottom of the page
Above: The class of 2015 get ready for the final round
pic - Victorian Country Series
TaG Light
Home town driver Kyle Rethus showed all local knowledge is so important to qualify in the #1 position. He went on to complete a clean sweep of the class, with convincing wins in both the heats and finals, leaving the rest to battle it out for the minor placings. With only 50 odd points separating 1st and 2nd in the series points, it was Portland member Ash Lear that did enough with a second and two thirds to allow him to stand on the top step of the podium for the series win over the Geelong based Karter Bradley Marsh-Stepney who was leading the series points going into this meeting.
Series winners TaG Light: 1st Ash Lear (Portland), 2nd Bradley Marsh-Stepney (Geelong), 3rd Maverick Benson (Hamilton), 4th Bradley Saffin (Portland), 5th William Carroll (Southwest)
Above: Ash Lear (11) fighting Jordan Pianezzola (54) wins the championship but not the round in TAG Light
pic - Victorian Country Series
Above: Kyle Rethus dominated on home turf
pic - Victorian Country Series
TaG Heavy
Only a small field of three TaG entered for the meeting, so these guys ran on the back of the TaG Light field. Portland karter Scott King, only having to turn up and cross the baulk line to ensure a series win, again showed his dominance with a clean sweep of the heats and final. Second on the day was Stephen Simpson and Bradley Anderson third for the day.
Series winners TaG Heavy: 1st Scott King (Portland), 2nd Bradley Anderson (Portland), 3rd Stephen Simpson (Go kart Club Victoria), 4th Daniel Rethus (Portland), 5th Mitchell Branson (Eastern Lions)
Junior National Light
With only 200 odd points between series leader Courtney Prince and South Australian competitor Jackson Rees coming into the last round and 1203 points on offer. It was Jackson Rees that set the pace early qualifying in P1 with Prince in P5, the racing in Junior National light was sure to be fierce.
However, it was Jay Coul that showed the field a clean set of heels with a clean sweep in both the heats and the final. This left Rees and Prince to fight it out with 2 seconds and a third Rees could not overcome the 200 point difference to topple Prince (a third and 2 fourths) for the series win shy by just 112 points. Round win went to Jay Coul (Southwest), 2nd Jackson Rees (SGKC) 3rd Jaxson Cox (Geelong).
Series winners Junior National Light: 1st Courtney Prince (Eastern Lions), 2nd Jackson Rees (Southern GKC), 3rd Jaxson Cox (Geelong), 4th Michael Clemente (Geelong), 5th Nikki Watson (Barossa)
Above: Alex Baker turning laps in JNL
pic - Victorian Country Series
Above: Jackson Rees (11) leads Jay Coul (42) into turn 2 in JNL
pic - Victorian Country Series
TaG Restricted Light
Easily the biggest field for the series again did not disappoint with numbers. With less than 1200 points separating the top six places, series leader Brock Rae would have to work hard to maintain his slender 40 point lead over 2nd place Brayden Flood.
It was Flood who had the upper hand going into the heats by qualifying in the #1 position with Rae out of P4 and a lot of work to do over the heats and final.
Although Flood did not have it all his own way, he managed to maintain his cool and drive through for a clean sweep in the heats and final. Rae struggled with kart speed and traffic and subsequently only managed a best place finish of fourth in first heat, handling the series win over to Flood. Round winners 1st Brayden Flood, 2nd Mitchell Sutej, 3rd Shaun Lyness
TaG Restricted Light series winners: 1st Brayden Flood (Geelong), 2nd Brock Rae (Portland), 3rd Jordon Rae (Portland), 4th Joseph Clough (Southwest), 5th Tim Rankin (Portland)
Above: A sizeable TaG Restricted Light field heads into turn 1
pic - Victorian Country Series
Cadet 12
The Cadet 12 class offered some of the best racing seen over the two day event with some very close racing and lead changes across both the heats and the final. With wins in both the heats it looked like the 56 kart of Will Harper had the set up right to take a clean sweep of the event. However, on lap 3 of the final the 30 kart of Jobe Stewart took the lead and with the Harper, Miller, Domaschenz and the 71 kart of Boult battling it allowed Stewart to take the chequered flag in the final over Harper and 92 Kart of Matthew Domaschenz.
Series winner Cadet 12: 1st Jobe Stewart (Portland), 2nd Amber Miller (Southern), 3rd Hugo Simpson (GKCV), 4th Bronson Boult (Mount Gambier), 5th Matthew Domaschenz (Geelong)
Above: Amber Miller (62) and Matthew Domaschenz (92) had great battlesall weekend
pic - Victorian Country Series
Above: Will Harper (56) charging into turn 2 with the Cadet 12 field in tow
pic - Victorian Country Series
Junior National Heavy
With series winners pretty much decided before the start of the racing in the JNH class, it was all about racing for the round win. Cody Donald qualified fastest, but with Cory Arnett, Michael Clemente, Bryce Woollard and Giles Rogers all showing good pace, it was never going to be easy.
With wins in both the heats, Donald went into the final with confidence, however it was the 90 kart of Cory Arnett that led for 11 of the 14 laps before a small error allowed Donald through to the lead and ultimately the chequered flag in the final. Round results 1st Cody Donald, 2nd Michael Clemente, 3rd Bryce Woollard
Series winners Junior National Heavy: 1st Cody Donald (Eastern Lions), 2nd Michael Clemente (Geelong), 3rd Alex Baker (Wimmera), 4th Giles Rogers (Portland), 5th Nicholas Carroll (GKCV)
Sportsman Restricted Super Heavy
Another very popular class in the series. It was Nathan Van Es who set the pace in qualifying. He took this pace into both heats and the final for comfortable wins in all. This left the rest to fight it out for the minor placings and series points. Mick Angwin showed excellent pace in the heats to beat home the series leader and reigning VCS title holder Andrew Hayes and Martin Golledge, however he struck trouble in the final after dropping a wheel at the double left hander tramway park corner resulting in a DNF. Round results 1st Nathan Van Es 2nd Andrew Hayes 3rd Martin Golledge
Series winners Sportsman Restricted Super Heavy: 1st Andrew Hayes (Hamilton), 2nd Martin Golledge (Rochester), 3rd Peter Sloan (Rochester), 4th William Ryan (Warrnambool), 5th Frank Ferraro (Geelong)
Above: Martin Golledge (11) slips by Andrew Hayes (15) in Sportsman Restricted Super Heavy
pic - Victorian Country Series
Clubman Heavy
With Remo Luciani a clear series leader in the Clubman Heavy class it was all about the round win for this group of karters. It was Chris Thomas who qualified in the #1 position with Aaron Jackson second with Remo out of P3 for the heats. What was witnessed by the crowd was some of the closest nose to tail racing seen over the weekend especially by Luciani and Thomas. And it also proved that while you might be able to catch him (Remo) it is certainly a different kettle of fish to pass him. In the end it was a clean sweep by Remo with Thomas in second and the 13 kart of Jackson in third.
Series winners Clubman Heavy: 1st Remo Luciani (Wimmera), 2nd Chris Thomas (Oakleigh), 3rd David Rinaldi (GKCSA), 4th Simon Smith (GKCSA), 5th Michael Seeary (Wimmera)
Above: Chris Thomas (7) holds Aaron Jackson (13) at bay while in pursuit of Remo Luciani
pic - Victorian Country Series
TaG Restricted Heavy
Nicholas Wortley had an unassailable lead in the series and just to insert his dominance poled the qualifying with the 92 kart of Ron Taylor starting the heats beside him. As with a lot of the other races on the weekend, Wortley would clean sweep the heats and the final but not without withstanding some significant pressure from the 8 kart of John Dankowski and the 99 Kart of Barry Clough. Both Taylor and Paul Feely (second in the series coming into the final round) struggled for race pace to finish with a couple of fourths in the heat and final. Round winner 1st Nicholas Wortley 2nd John Dankowski 3rd Barry Clough
Series winners TaG restricted Heavy: 1st Nicholas Wortley (Eastern Lions), John Dankowski (Mount Gambier), 3rd Paul Feely (Ballarat), 4th Barry Clough (South West), 5th Ashley Mitchell (Wimmera)
Cadet 9
Only 54 points separated the top three drivers in the series and only 600 points from 1st to 5th. With all these Cadet drivers in attendance, the final round was going to be very important to the winners of the series. And that’s how it turned out. With the 33 kart of Jaxon Johnson claiming the pole for the heats, he drove superbly to take the chequered flag in both from the 15 kart of Christian Cowie and the 88 kart of Joseph Fawcett. In both the heats you could have thrown a blanket over the first five karts across the line. Some exceptional racing shown by the young guns.
In the final however it was Cowie who turned the tables on Johnstone to take the round win with Johnstone in second and the 88 kart of Fawcett in third.
Series winners Cadet 9: 1st Jaxson Johnstone (South West), 2nd Christian Cowie (GKCSA), 3rd Beau Russell (Ballarat), 4th Anton Hortis (GKCV), 5th Joseph Fawcett (Ballarat)
Junior Clubman
Another class that the series leader would be determined by the drivers performance in the final round. It was Cody Donald setting the pace in qualifying followed by Dylan Hollis and series leader Benjamen Delaney. It would be these three who would battle it out for the top points in the heats and final.
Hollis took the honours in heat 1 over Donald after Donald made a nice pass on Delaney in the latter stages of the heat. In heat two it was a Donald's win from start to finish, this time Hollis relegating Delaney to third and certainly not helping his series points. In the final the order never changed even though the racing was close - it was Donald 1st (JNH and JC Double) Hollis 2nd and Delaney 3rd.
Series winners Junior Clubman: 1st Cody Donald (Eastern Lions), 2nd Benjamen Delaney (Barossa), 3rd Max Vidau (GKCSA), 4th Kirby Hillyer (Mount Gambier), 5th Domenic Romeo (GKCV)
Above: Benjamen Delaney, Junior Clubman
pic - Victorian Country Series
Above: Cody Donald
pic - Victorian Country Series
Above: Dylan Hollis
pic - Victorian Country Series
Cadet 9
1 Jaxon JOHNSTONE 5160
2 Christian COWIE 5147
3 Beau RUSSELL 4877
4 Anton HORTIS 4590
5 Joseph FAWCETT 4074
6 Lachlan REES 4032
7 Daniel MALCOLM 3417
8 Lachlan BRADY 3317
9 Brocklan PARKER 2850
10 Robbie TURMINE 2576
11 Will HARPER 2326
12 Parker SCOTT 2180
13 Matthew DOMASCHENZ 2138
14 Brock FEWINS 2003
15 Brodie THOMSON 2002
16 Brock HAND 1287
17 James PISZCYK 882
18 Harry ARNETT 738
19 Ruby GIBSON 481
20 Jessica FORTANIER 476
21 Spencer RICE 451
22 Shaun CLOVER 447
23 Massimo CAPITANIO 422
24 Shelby CHAMBERLAIN 336
Cadet 12
1 Jobe STEWART 5564
2 Amber MILLER 4553
3 Hugo SIMPSON 4521
4 Bronson BOULT 4228
5 Matthew DOMASCHENZ 3567
6 Nicholas SACCO 3542
7 Tex STARR-MCKOY 3044
8 Zaiden BARRY 2416
9 James WHARTON 2399
10 Matteo MIFSUD 2279
11 Harrison CHANTER 1752
12 Blake PURDIE 1692
13 Will HARPER 1645
14 Harry HUTCHINS 1365
15 River JACKSON 1311
16 Tyler CRAIG 1203
17 Liam STEWART 1165
18 CALLUM FRY 1039
19 Kacey MANN 987
20 Corbin BAILEY 882
21 Aythyn ROBOTHAM 775
22 Troy FORTANIER 700
23 Maximus FAHEY 588
24 Kai ALLEN 571
25 Jordan BEARD 546
26 Joshua HOCKING 415
27 Reuben GOODALL 358
28 Coady GORRINGE 299
29 Karlee PEARSON 298
Junior National Heavy
1 Cody DONALD 7032
2 Michael CLEMENTE 6083
3 Alex BAKER 4876
4 Giles ROGERS 4724
5 Nicholas CARROLL 2933
6 Jackson HODGETTS 2134
7 Naomi BRADY 1888
8 Luke THURSTON 1206
9 Simon FALLON 1083
10 John DORIA 911
11 Bryce WOOLLARD 888
12 Keely BRANSON 879
13 Taine VENABLES 804
14 Cory ARNETT 757
15 Mason RICE 633
16 Ryan PHILLIPS 614
17 Jake GIBSON 596
18 Karl FERRARI 590
19 Kade GIBSON 552
20 Vallence SIMONDS 473
Junior Clubman
1 Cody DONALD 5906
2 Benjamen DELANEY 5794
3 Max VIDAU 5322
4 Kirby HILLYER 4427
5 Domenic ROMEO 4132
6 Haiden SMITH 3898
7 Dylan HOLLIS 3529
8 Hamish RIBARITS 2103
9 Callum NORRIS 2043
10 Thomas FRITZ 1488
11 Rhys WAGNER 1368
12 Simon FALLON 824
13 Jacob DOWSON 772
14 Tayla HEATH 691
15 Taine VENABLES 668
16 Nicholas MATTHEWS 582
17 Bethany SIMPSON 563
18 Blake GRAHAM 556
19 Douglas JACKSON 525
Clubman Heavy
1 Remo LUCIANI 6830
2 Christopher THOMAS 5315
3 David RINALDI 5163
4 Simon SMITH 4065
5 Michael SEEARY 3286
6 Aaron JACKSON 3113
7 Heath JELBART 2553
8 John REYNOLDS 1480
9 Scott KING 1203
10 Phil SMITH 975
11 Blake GRAHAM 943
12 Ryan AITKEN 824
13 Michael YEO 772
14 Robert REID 717
15 Ian COWLING 668
16 Thomas FRENCH 548
TAG Restricted Light
1 Brayden FLOOD 5552
2 Brock RAE 5207
3 Jordan RAE 4513
4 Joseph CLOUGH 4487
5 Timothy RANKIN 3989
6 Mitchell SUTEJ 3949
7 Tom OWEN 3680
8 Jimmy MASON 3451
9 Guillaume DOMBRET 3160
10 Andrew STUBBS 2626
11 Shaun LYNESS 2442
12 Samuel PREECE 2351
13 Matthew CRANE 2217
14 Lachlan HILL 2078
15 Matthew FERRARI 1979
16 James HEAD 1958
17 Steven CAMPBELL 1924
18 John PAGE 1694
19 Brendan TORPY 1672
20 Brayden SOUTER 1531
21 Nathan COOK 1294
22 Jerome SPEED 1146
23 Jarrod DWYER 1127
24 Leon FORREST 926
25 Daniel LINKE 887
26 Ronald TAYLOR 711
27 Andrew HOLMES 708
28 Zeke SLOAN 700
29 Megan VALLANCE 681
30 Elton TRELOAR 613
31 Thomas FREEMAN 531
32 Matthew TRIGG 470
33 Todd CHAMBERS 467
34 James MACDONALD 445
35 Jeremy KIENSROD 415
36 Blake GRAHAM 404
37 Anthony FEDELE 393
38 Mark BURLEIGH 375
38 Matthew KEILLER 375
40 Steven MALKIN 280
41 Luke MASON 229
42 Alan HAYNES 211
43 Stephen DENSLEY 198
44 Murray SWAYN 164
45 Michael GARLAND 151
46 Andrea PERRETT-FAHEY 146
47 Luke WHITTEN 140
48 John RACCOSTA 3
TAG Restricted Heavy
1 NICHOLAS WORTLEY 6830
2 John DANKOWSKI 5355
3 Paul FEELY 5111
4 Barry CLOUGH 4653
5 Ashley MITCHELL 3480
6 Malcolm MASON 3061
7 Ronald TAYLOR 2275
8 Craig WIDGERY 2195
9 Jake KILCULLEN 1857
10 Chris RODDA 1716
11 Stephanie PHILLIPS 1570
12 Wayne ARMISTEAD 1449
13 Jason MCKAY 1389
14 Warren PONTING 1340
15 Ben FORESTER 1275
16 Mark COTTRELL 1028
17 Beau HUMPHREY 971
18 Glenn CAMPBELL 968
19 Anthony WARNER 725
20 Jordan LEE 712
21 Stephen JONES-SEXTON 614
22 Michael MIFSUD 602
23 Jamie MIDGELEY 573
24 Daryl BOLDEN 548
25 Luke MASON 526
26 Luke MCPHERSON 480
27 Ben ARMSTRONG 462
28 James STEWART 450
29 John OWEN 431
30 David STEWART 418
31 Julian BRADY 341
32 Daniel FEDELE 331
33 Greg ORD 318
34 Michael MANGOS 311
35 Grant RINTOUL 289
36 David GIBCUS 262
Sportsman Restricted Super Heavy
1 Andrew HAYES 6646
2 Martin GOLLEDGE 5483
3 Peter SLOAN 4826
4 William RYAN 3522
5 Frank FERRARO 3295
6 Kevin HITCHCOCK 3054
7 Jason KILCULLEN 3046
8 Michael ANGWIN 2916
9 Aldo DISTEFANO 2900
10 Marc TUNE 2579
11 Stephen KERWOOD 2331
12 Nathan VAN ES 2298
13 Mark RYAN 2271
14 Andrew JACKMAN 1730
15 Ross MARSOLINO 1195
16 Billy ASKEW 1098
17 Sam WREN 1047
18 Trevor PEVITT 450
19 Ross MORGAN 433
20 David KERWOOD 418
21 David HOBILL 403
22 Michael MANGOS 398
23 Jake KILCULLEN 389
24 Luke MCPHERSON 358
25 Dale FLAVELL 356
26 Braydon MCKINNON 345
26 Charlie CUCUZZA 345
Above: Andrew Hayes
pic - Victorian Country Series
TAG Light
1 Ashley LEAR 6509
2 Bradley MARSH-STEPNEY 6393
3 Maverick BENSON 4801
4 Bradley SAFFIN 4123
5 William CARROLL 2740
6 Aaron JACKSON 2524
7 Ben FLOYD 2053
8 Clint SMITH 1914
9 Justin KAISER 1880
10 Jordan PIANEZZOLA 1874
11 Steve RYAN 1637
12 Mark HATTON 1237
13 Kyle RETHUS 1203
14 Todd CHAMBERS 868
15 Jaymi MACKAY 799
16 Daniel PRICE 756
17 Shaun LYNESS 740
18 Thomas PRASCEVIC 674
19 Nicholas CARROLL 626
20 Matthew DISTILL 588
21 Brian RAMSDEN 582
22 Matthew KEILLER 567
23 Alan HAYNES 565
24 James MACDONALD 528
25 Jonathon BRADSHAW 469
26 Brayden SOUTER 462
27 Jamie SLAYMAKER 404
TAG Heavy
1 Scott KING 7142
2 Bradley ANDERSON 5982
3 Stephen SIMPSON 4436
4 Daniel RETHUS 4174
5 Mitchell BRANSON 3051
6 Leigh BOWLER 2365
7 Jacob BELL 2058
8 Michael ANGWIN 1189
9 Corey MCCULLAGH 1123
10 Alan DAVIS 1022
11 Ryan AITKEN 1011
12 Adam KING 792
13 Anthony WARNER 747
14 Frank FALLA 717
15 Taylor GORE 631
16 Chris RODDA 626
17 Simon CHASE 590
18 Matt SLAVIN 565
19 Jason MCKAY 462
20 Bjorn SCHULTHEISS 430
21 Aldo DISTEFANO 194
Junior National Light
1 Courtney PRINCE 5449
2 Jackson REES 5373
3 Jaxson COX 4425
4 Michael CLEMENTE 3743
5 Nikki WATSON 3740
6 Nicholas SCHEMBRI 3024
7 Jordan MALCOLM 2888
8 Jack HUTCHINS 2769
9 Nerinda BEARD 2754
10 Max OWEN 2467
11 Cory ARNETT 2366
12 Kobey SHEEDY 1895
13 Jay COUL 1784
14 Jason BOWYER 1761
15 Jack RYAN 1644
16 Corey HERBERTSON 1636
17 Alexander GRUTTERIA 1426
18 Jaylyn ROBOTHAM 1222
19 Jack OWEN 1184
20 Michael JONES 1136
21 Joshua GAY 1002
22 Jacob DOWSON 751
23 Cooper HAY 715
24 Scott MCEACHRAN 678
25 Nathan WILLIAMS 622
26 Glenn NORTON 570
27 Brodie HASKARD 519
28 Jackson HODGETTS 489
29 Henry JOHNSTONE 469
30 Wil KELLY-MERRIFIELD 467
31 Ben JENNINGS 462
32 Nicholas TREBILCOCK 421
33 Harrison CAMPBELL 374
34 Hayden JERICHO 301
35 Jai STEPHENSON 245
36 Mason RICE 237
37 Cheyanne BRADSHAW 229
