SA Kart Championship - Round 1
| 14 March 2016 |
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The opening round of the 2016 South Australian Kart Championship took place at Whyalla over the weekend.
Ninety three entries contested the round and TaG Light was the largest field with 19 starters. Unfortunately, six of the nine classes had fields of ten or less.
- Top 3 results from each class are below. Full results on CMS HERE
- Images from the event have been posted on Facebook - see HERE
Cadet 9: 1 Rock Han, 2 Nathan Emmins, 3 Ben Holliday
Cadet 12: 1 Blake Purdie, 2 Troy Fortanier, 3 Aaron Oliver
KA4 Junior Light: 1 Amber Miller, 2 Jack Hutchins, 3 Hayden Jericho
KA3 Senior Light: 1 Benjamen Delaney, 2 Jordan Kervers, 3 Jacob Dowson
KA3 Senior Heavy: 1 Tyler Morrison, 2 Hamish Ribarits, 3 Sparky Marquis
KA3 Senior Masters: 1 David Rinaldi, 2 Sparky Marquis, 3 Simon Smith
TaG 125 Light: 1 Jedd Stojakovic, 2 Paul Pittam, 3 Ben Floyd
TaG 125 Heavy: 1 Simon Enright, 2 Luke Bergens, 3 Brandon Stillwell
TaG 125 Masters: 1 Craig Henderson, Danny Somerville, 3 Gavin Fowler
race report by Michael Yeo , Karting SA
Feeling the heat in Whyalla for R1 of the ALPHA INDUSTRIES SA KART CHAMPIONSHIPS @ Whyalla Go Kart Club , Mt Young Raceway
With 25% of the states karters entered Friday saw the invasion of Whyalla as teams began to set up for the event in anticipation for the start of of the series. Some of the teams and drivers made the journey 2 weeks prior to get some testing in on the new tyres.
Saturday saw the sun come up with bite in it and the previous heavy rain created very humid conditions, one would have thought they were in far Nrth Qld. Practice got underway as teams made adjustments to suit the conditions and get ready for qualifying.
CADET 9
#2 Ben Holliday set the pace in quali bringing his recent form from the AKC in Dubbo. Rookie #86 Rock Han and #16 Nathan Emmins were`nt far of the number 2 machine. The racing through out the day in the heats was very entertaining with one heat needing a photo to separate the outcome which was .024 of a sec. Ben Holliday proving to be the man to beat by winning the first 3 heats. #53 Jai Hillock showed he had some serious pace by getting up to the sharp end of the times to become a contender. However in the final of 27 laps it was the 3 drivers who had been battling hard all weekend they took it all the way to the line and down to the wire with the rookie Rock Han taking the win and Nathan Emmins in second and Ben Holliday claiming 3rd.
1st Rock Han 2nd Nathan Emmins 3rd Ben Holliday
CADET 12
#12 Ryan Morgan came out firing with great speed and rocked the field by claiming pole and to add to the new names at the front Callum Fry joined him on the front row of which he drove superbly to clear away from the field and claim his maiden win. Troy Fortanier hovered around the end of the front pack and in the 2nd heat showed he had what it takes to win the meet. Although not having a really good quali run Aaron Oliver made his presence felt by staying in the top 3. The surprise of the round was Blake Purdie the number 1 plate holder was off his normal speedy pace however over the heats and in the 27 lap final Blake drove with determination to eventually rise to the top and claim the chocolates in the final. With several lead changes during the race this was one of the most exciting and closest finishes of meet.
1st Blake Purdie 2nd Troy Fortanier 3rd Aaron Oliver
KA3 Senior Heavy
This class although small had some great racing through out the meet. #11 Tyler Morrison put his stamp on the number 1 spot very early by showing his pace right from the get go claiming pole and not releasing his grip on the front position ultimately winning every race for a clean sweep. All the way from Mildura #31 Hamish Ribarits was the best of the rest which left Sparky Marquis, David Rinaldi and Simon Smith to battle for the final podium positions, and new comer to the class Anthony DiMauro was finding the track a liitle difficult to master and in the early heats dropped a wheel of the circuit and lost a chain but as the weekend went on his pace increased and in the end was on the back of the battle for the minor places.
1st Tyler Morrison 2nd Hamish Ribarits 3rd Sparky Marquis
KA4 Junior Light
OUTSTANDING RACING is the only way to describe this class. It was a case of the girls V the boys as #62 Amber Miller straight out of the gate secured pole. #28 Jack Hutchins was next in this distinguished line up which included Last yrs Kevin Jenner Award winner Hayden Jericho and the other young lady Nikki Watson. Nikki had the pace to stay at the front but just counld`nt find an opening to make it on to the podium. Hayden Jericho spent 1 heat parked at the end of the straight very early so he was at a slight advantage with fresher tyres and this was to provide him with that bit extra. Amber led the opening laps until Hutchins made a move to take the lead. With a handful of laps remaining Nikki Watson made her move but not with the results she was after this allowed Declan Morrison to grab 4th position. So with 4 drivers now in contention and laps counting down the moves were being made but Amber stayed calm and shadowed Hutchins while the minor placings battled to retain and gain. While this was going on #41 Mikey Jones was making his way up to this group with amazing speed,such was his closing speed with 2 laps to go he was able to manufacture a clean pass on Declan to take 4th -his highest ever finish in this class. Literally at the same time Amber Miller made her move to regain the #1 position and drove to end to take the chequered flag in what was a thrilling 27 lap final.
1st Amber Miller 2nd Jack Hutchins 3rd Hayden Jericho
KA3 Senior Light
The #32 Benjamin Delaney owned this class and was a class act by claiming pole and all the heats by an absolute country mile. The defending champ Jordan Kervers took it up to Delaney in the early laps but could`nt match the pace of the 32 kart. Haiden Smith had his best performance matching it with the best of the rest in this tough field. Looming large for a small man Jacob Dowson held his nerve as he was constantly pressured for 3rd place by Haiden. Mathew Douglas left his run to late to show he has got what it takes to be in the mix for the series The stunning performance from Benjamin has left the others in this class wondering what to do to catch this talented driver.
1st Benjamin Delaney 2nd Jordan Kervers 3rd Jacob Dowson
TAG 125 Heavy
TaG Heavy started out like any normal class would and provided on lookers with some entertaining racing between the heavyweight`s. Luke Bergen was the man to beat with a very impressive sweep of qualifying and the 3 heats. Simon Enright is no stranger to the Whyalla track and showed he had good pace in his new team. The heats produce good racing and saw some coming together of drivers in the early stages of the heats as the heavies jostled for position with some losing out in the end. The final was reminiscent of Bradbury`s win at the olympics. The 27 laps proved to be to much for Luke Bergens when leading by the length of the straight the chain gave up the ghost on lap 22. not before he manage to pass most of the field causing the stewards at their discretion to use the blue with red flag right up to lap 20. Some of the heavies dns and others simply made there own mistakes and failed to finished. So with 4 laps remaining and only one kart left on track Simon Enright managed to complete all laps and casually drive across the line to take the win in the final. Later saying that it was Lukes day i just got lucky.
1st Simon Enright 2nd Luke Bergen 3rd Brandon Stillwell
KA3 Senior Masters
Not a big class by any means but full of action by the old boys. The Onion grower David Rinaldi and the Wine maker Sparky Marquis would flip the coin during the heats with Rinaldi winning 2 outta 3. James Gorman showed early pace to take it to these 2 but despite his pace he said later in the day his fitness was the factor. This left the door open for Simon Smith to try his luck to get up a further step on the podium by harassing the back of Marquis machine but in the end Sparky held his nerve to take 2nd behind David Rinaldi.
1st David Rinaldi 2nd Sparky Marquis 3rd Simon Smith
TAG 125 Light
A big field of tag light was the jewel in the crown with 19 in the star studded line up. One driver that SA hasnt seen in a while starting his career Jedd Stojakovic made a return and said to Karting SA he wasnt expecting to much but suprized himself and the class by claiming pole in this prestige’s field. Paul Pittam was not to far off Jedds pace so this set the scene for an epic battle. Daniel Wallis was there in the early heats and Rocco Ventra kept out of trouble to stay in the top 5. The man on the move was Ben Floyd steadily passing others to see him in contention but running out of laps to challenge for a higher spot on the podium. In the end it was a fairy tale return for Jedd leading Paul Pittam and Ben Floyd across the line to take the round win.
1st Jedd Stojakovic 2nd Paul Pittam 3rd Ben Floyd
TAG 125 Masters
With the restrictors out the masters that put in the effort to race at Whyalla showed they had lost nothing except body weight through sweat in the trying conditions. Craig Henderson threw the gauntlet down but was never headed over the whole weekend. With a healthy lead Craig enjoyed his arm chair ride as Danny Sommerville had the pace to secure second but not the pace to stay with Craig.This left the rest of the field to fight amongst themselves , Jamie Coles in his immaculte Pheonix kart was the meat in a sandwhich late in the final spliting Warren Neitz and Scott Hubner. Mean while Gavin Fowler claimed 3rd for the meeting after in the heat prior showing off his rally skills with a well worn set of tyres.
1st Craig Henderson 2nd Danny Sommerville 3rd Gavin Fowler
Over all the 95 entrants provided locals with great entertainment and gave the Whyalla Club a much needed boost in their quest to raise funds to resurface the track ready for the night titles later in the year.
Thank you to our major sponsors for the round podium prizes Adelaide Oils, Molly Dooker and The Bridgewater Inn and all of our sponsors for the series which moves 1000ks away to Mt Gambier on April 30-May 1st.