Four Seasons In One Day At Tassie Statewide Opener
| words - Johnathan Males photos - Stuart Lee and Clayton House |
19 February 2016 |
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Round 1, 2016 Andrew Walter Constructions Tasmanian Statewide Series
Circular Head Kart Club’s Briant Park Raceway was the venue as the 2016 Tasmanian Statewide Series kicked off for another year on February 14th. It proved to be a very interesting day for the drivers and pit crew with wind and the occasional rain shower spicing things up. However in the main it was a typically nice, sunny, North West coast day and this meant the track never stayed wet for too long.
It was great to see long time CHKC supporter W.T. House Betta Home Living once again supporting the club and sponsoring the meeting. It is also excellent news to see a series sponsor come on board with Andrew Walter Constructions once again lending a hand to ensure that the series is a success and the end of year function and prize pool is something outstanding.
Above: Regan Townsend (53) and Cory Brown (33) battling it out in TAG Restricted Heavy
pic - Clayton House
This meeting was the first real chance for drivers to compete on the new control tyres and many classes saw the previous lap records dropping like flies. Some competitors came to terms with the extra grip and the new rear bumper bars quicker than others, so there’s a few drivers and teams out there with some work to do before the next round at Burnie.
With several of the field’s top level competitors from last year moving up to the next age bracket the Cadets 9 class was ready for the “next generation” to show what they could do. All the competitors seemed to enjoy the extra grip that the new tyres provided and all improved dramatically from last year. After last year’s state title where Toby Callow and Darcy Whelan impressed it looked to be a battle between these two but Ollie Richardson and Denzil Sargent really took it up to them at the front. Whelan though, aboard his Whelan Bros Racing Haase was not only fast but also consistent and this allowed him to take all four race wins and he started the long trip home to Southern Tasmania with a healthy twenty five point lead over his title pursuers. Second in points is Callow who missed out on the podium after being relegated down the order in the final after an incident in the final race. Second in the final then went to Denzil Sargent who got the better of Ollie Richardson in third.
Above: Brianna Hobden (3) and Andrew Lee (26) ready to hit the track for TaG R practice on Saturday
pic - Stuart Lee
The 2016 season looks to be a cracker in Cadets 12 with a few new faces joining the regular front runners at Smithton and the racing was fantastic. Not to be outshone by his younger brother, Campbell Whelan recovered from a first race penalty to record the next three race wins and along with it a slender ten point lead in the series. Jesse Keeling was second on the day and also in the series points and he, along with Fletcher Bellars and Jake Delphin pushed Whelan hard all day. Third in the final went to Bellars who really showed he’s improved over the off season.
Fresh from competing at the first round of the Australian Karting Championship the previous week, Lachlan Dalton proved too good for the rest of the field in KA4 Junior Light. The extra experience, pace and consistency meant the AWC Motorsport Academy driver finished some fifteen seconds clear of his rivals in the final race of the day. Second in the final, and twenty three points behind Dalton was Evan Chivers, the diminutive STKC driver really making good use of the kart package that won the title last year in the hands of Jackson Callow. Coming home in third was local Logan Dixon who recovered from a decent shunt in the first race and showed great improvement across the four races. With Tate Frost likely to return from injury before the next round and several drivers in this class showing potential I doubt Dalton will have things his own way for the rest of the series.
The KA4 Junior Heavy class saw an entertaining battle between last year’s winner in the light Yamaha division, Connor Griffin and the much improved Jesse Sheals. Sheals and Griffin went toe to toe for most of the day until the final when Griffin made some setup changes that allowed him to improve his race pace and ensure he took the win. Third on the day was local CHKC member Louis Popowski aboard his CRG kart. A DNF in the first heat to Sheals sees him in third place in the chase for the series behind Popowski and Griffin.
Above: Craig Phillips (81) using the kerb in TAG Restricted Light
pic - Clayton House
The engines may have changed and the tyres have certainly changed but the one thing that hasn’t is the competitiveness and close racing that the front pack of KA4 Senior Light provided. The Slater brothers, Gemma Wyllie, and Bodie Reading spent every lap of every race nose to tail, passing at every opportunity and entertaining the crowd. Barely a tenth of a second separated the quartet all weekend, but it was the Slater brothers that won every race on offer, Johnah one and Keenan three which included the final. He was followed home by brother Johnah and Gemma Wyllie in third. The title chase is well and truly on with only thirteen points separating first to fourth place.
Series sponsor Andrew Walter not only supports karting in Tasmania he also competes in it and this weekend he rolled out in the KA4 Senior Heavy class. As always he found himself up the front and challenging for the win but on this occasion he had to settle for second to his team mate Johnathan Males. Southern Tasmanian Kart Club driver Phillip Isaac made the trip north worthwhile when he took home third place in the final.
After a strong showing at last year’s state title, Wrigley’s Karts and Parts OK1 pilot Scott Hildyard entered the weekend as favourite in the KA4 Masters class. His main challenge was expected to come from regular front runner Fred Cocca, but a below average weekend from Cocca allowed Hildyard to finish round one with a thirty six point gap over Shane Burdon with Cocca languishing in sixth after two very costly DNF’s. Second in the final went to Burdon ahead of David Jackson in third.
Above: Lachlan Dalton prepares for the final race
pic - Stuart Lee
Terry Pinfold got the better of the two Lee brothers in KA4 Masters Super Heavy as he drove to a clean sweep of all four races. It was good to see Terry on the top step of the podium and well deserved too. Garry Lee was second ahead of John Lee in third.
KA3 Junior came down to a battle between Justin Murphy, Kurtis Love and Jackson Callow. Very little separated Callow and Murphy throughout the heats but Callow always managed to greet the chequered flag first. However in the final it was Murphy who gained the upper hand and he seemed to have things under control going into the final lap. Corner by corner though Callow was able to erase the deficit and found himself in the right position to execute a text book perfect pass on the very last corner. The whole crowd lined the fence congratulating both drivers on what was a very good race. Keeping a close eye on the two in front was Kurtis Love who finished in third just ahead of the much improved Kiana Toon.
Last year’s winner Shane Bray got his 2016 title campaign off to the best possible start by taking four wins from four races in KA3 Senior Light. Bray drove very well last year and since updating to the new KA engine has really shown what he is capable of. Impressive on his senior debut was Zevie Eisentraut, the Devil Engines sponsored Tony Kart driver finishing in second place on the day. Tabatha Badger’s campaign got off to a rocky start with a DNF in the first race but she fought back to take third in the final.
KA3 Senior Heavy was a two man battle between Chris Williams and Stephen Johnstone. Whilst Williams won the first three heats it all came unstuck in the final with an early race altercation eliminating him from the race and allowing Johnstone to take what would now become a comfortable win.
Above: Toby “Chopper” Callow’s pit crew Heath Butt on his way to the grid
pic - Stuart Lee
Since winning his first Statewide Series title last year in Juniors young Andrew Lee has really stepped up to the plate after moving to the TAG Restricted Light class this year. The Hadspen Excavations sponsored CRG driver made his series intentions known at the first race meeting of the year at Launceston a few weeks previously and he certainly picked up from where he left off. Four commanding wins sees him twenty six points in the lead of the series. Second on the day went to Nicholas Walpole, another recent graduate from juniors who recovered from a second heat DNF. Third was Brianna Hobden in her best drive to date who finished top three all weekend. One to watch later in the series will be the man that sits in third place in the series, Paul McKenzie who impressed in one of his first big race meetings.
Brodey Lovett is in a class of his own in the TAG Restricted Heavy class of late. Nobody was able to get the better of him at Smithton and he won every race. Scoring the maximum one hundred and twenty points Lovett is now twenty eight points ahead in the series. Second on the day and also second in the points was Troy Sheahen, he was able to finish just ahead of Jason Close who was making his racing return after a lengthy sabbatical.
There were two drivers in the TAG Light class that stood out from the pack in Nathan Zuj and Jade Waddington. These two were the pace setters at last year’s Tasmanian State Title at Launceston and the pair resumed their battle at Smithton. Zuj was fresh from his excellent sixth placing at the recent Australian Kart Championship round at Dubbo and Waddington was more than ready to meet the challenge. Once the dust had settled it was Waddington who took the honours on the day with three wins that included the final. Zuj was second and trails Waddington by a mere ten points heading to the leaders home track at Burnie. Adam Garwood emerged from the pack to take a well-deserved third placing in the final and both he and Bradley Hobden find themselves tied on eighty two points in third position in the title race.
Above: Samuel Muskett getting a little bit of sideways action
pic - Clayton House
Ricey Race Engines, Tony Kart pilot Jake Rice took a very dominant win in the TAG Heavy class. Rice had the pace to distance himself from his rivals in every race and left them to fight amongst themselves for the minor placing’s. In the final Dillon Van Galen aboard his CRG kart snagged second place and was followed home by Joshua Hardy. Both front running contenders Troy Stone and Alastair Lee struck trouble at different stages across the day and after separate DNF’s both sit outside the top three in the series points.
The focus now turns to the North Western Kart Club and the second round of the series at their Highclere facility. With support from the Gowans Motor Group this event should be a great race meeting with some drivers trying to extend their points tallies, and others trying to make up for a less than perfect start to their campaigns.
Cadets 9
1st Darcy Whelan
2nd Denzil Sargent
3rd Ollie Richardson
Cadets 12
1st Campbell Whelan
2nd Jesse Keeling
3rd Fletcher Bellars
KA4 Junior Light
1st Lachlan Dalton
2nd Evan Chivers
3rd Logan Dixon
KA4 Junior Heavy
1st Connor Griffin
2nd Jesse Sheals
3rd Louis Popowski
KA3 Junior
1st Jackson Callow
2nd Justin Murphy
3rd Kurtis Love
KA4 Senior Light
1st Keenan Slater
2nd Johnah Slater
3rd Gemma Wyllie
KA4 Senior Heavy
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Andrew Walter
3rd Phillip Isaac
KA4 Masters
1st Scott Hildyard
2nd Shane Burdon
3rd David Jackson
Above: AKC Official Mark Close keeps an eye on the racing
pic - Clayton House
KA4 Masters Super Heavy
1st Terry Pinfold
2nd Garry Lee
3rd John Lee
KA3 Senior Light
1st Shane Bray
2nd Zevie Eisentraut
3rd Tabatha Badger
KA3 Senior Heavy
1st Stephen Johnstone
2nd Christopher Williams
TAG Restricted Light
1st Andrew Lee
2nd Nicholas Walpole
3rd Brianna Hobden
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Brodey Lovett
2nd Troy Sheahen
3rd Jason Close
TAG Light
1st Jade Waddington
2nd Nathan Zuj
3rd Adam Garwood
TAG Heavy
1st Jake Rice
2nd Dillon Van Galen
3rd Joshua Hardy
Above: STKC drivers Brad Hobden (87) and Sam Jackson (57)
pic - Stuart Lee
Series points after round one of four:
