South Australian Kart Championship, Round 4


by Steven Blee 5 August 2016

Alpha Industries SA Kart Championship Round 4 (July 30-31, 2016)

Coming into Round 4 of the championship held at The Spitwater Raceway at Nuriootpa, the guns of each class had already showed their hand and this continued through qualifying and the first two heats on Saturday. 

Overnight rain, however, left the track washed of that rubber that produced some lap records the previous day.  Heat three, run early on Sunday morning offered a wet track for all classes, but come the finals, drivers faced a slowly drying track and 28 laps making setup decisions difficult.

Simon Enright powers through the kink on the back straight ahead of eventual TaG Heavy winner Luke Bergens (92)
Above: Simon Enright powers through the kink on the back straight ahead of eventual TaG Heavy winner Luke Bergens (92)
pic - Steven Blee

The first class of finalists to face the starter was TAG 125 Light, the fastest karts contesting the Championship series.  Series leader, Paul Pittam, had shown his superior pace lining up for pole with a qualifying time nearly a quarter second clear of nearest competitor, Tony Kart driver Conner Farr.   The circuit was still not showing any sign of drying.   Pittam chose the  wet weather tyre as did Stajakovic, Ribarits and Farr but notably Price, Redjepi, Wallis and Floyd were among those who gambled on the slick tyre.

Off the start the wet runners cleared out, the difficult conditions causing spins and a collision involving several slick runners left Matthew Hall stranded and a recovering Daniel Wallis in twelfth.  Farr trailed Pittam and by lap 20 Pittam’s Omega kart and had over 5 seconds advantage.  Only now the slick tyre runners were being rewarded for their earlier pain with Price moving to second spot and just a handful of laps later he was challenging Pittam for the lead and on lap 26 took over the top spot.  But it was a charging Ben Redjepi in the Zinardi who timed his run perfectly to take both Pittam and Daniel Price in the final lap, giving Pittam second place with brief leader Price finishing in third.

Provisional results TAG 125 Light
1. 17 Ben Redjepi
2.  13 Paul Pittam
3.  12 Daniel Price
4.  65 Ben Floyd
5.  27 Daniel Wallis

Series points after round 4
Paul Pittam                262
Jedd Stojakovic          196
Daniel Price                195

The Cadet 9 class (for our youngest competitors) was dominated by Ben Holliday.   Rock Han improved during the meeting from a modest qualifying result.   Riley Fortanier excelled in the wet third heat to line up on the front row for the final.

In the final Fortanier grabbed the lead and held on until Holliday slipped by on Lap 4 with Han charging, trying to stay with Holliday, and getting clear of Fortanier a lap later.  Holliday streaked away building up a two second lead which evaporated on lap 16 allowing Han five laps of fame leading the final until Holliday took the lead back.  Han never let the gap get too big again and was in a challenging position right up to the line.

Provisional results Cadet 9

  1. 2 Ben Holliday
  2. 86 Rock Han
  3. 16 Nathan Emmins
  4. 43 Riley Fortanier
  5. 75 Michael Tarbotton

Series points after round 4
Ben Holliday              268
Rock Han                    225
Nathan Emmins         219

Local drivers Simon Enright and Andrew Cash set themselves up nicely with strong qualifying performances in TAG 125 Heavy.  Mildura driver Luke Bergens meant business winning heat two from the second row on the grid.  This set Bergens up on the front row of the final with Cash off pole with Enright now on the second row.  Enright got a poor start losing out to Hayden Slattery with Cash leading Bergens for the opening laps.  Bergens got his Tony Kart along side Cash exiting turn one and the pair crested the rise heading for the Jenke Vineyards corner, neither driver prepared to give in, but it was Cash who lost out slewing through the gravel trap.  Cash found a gap in the tyre barrier and he was able to rejoin albeit in 5th place.  Bergens continued with Enright now in second with Cash having to catch and pass Bradley Ellis and Hayden Slattery to rescue third place.

Provisional results TAG 125 Heavy

  1. 92 Luke Bergens
  2. 50 Simon Enright
  3. 38 Andrew Cash
  4. 18 Hayden Slattery
  5. 19 Bradley Ellis

Series points after round 4
Luke Bergens          284
Simon Enright         202
Bradley Ellis             174

In KA3 Senior Light, Jacob Dowson used his trouble free run to start from pole in the final.  At the start of the final Ben Delaney leapt off the start to pick up the lead ahead of Dowson while Kervers kart engine refused to run cleanly dropping him back to eighth.  Luke Marquis moved up to third and Jason Bowyer found his kart the best it had been all weekend, moving up from the back of the grid reaching second at half race distance.  Dowson hunted Delaney down and assumed the lead on lap eight, not to be headed.  Marquis too managed make the pass on Delaney into the centre corner, just as a light drizzle started to fall.  This was obviously to Dowson’s liking as the TonyKart driver extended his lead over the field as the grip diminished.  Luke Marquis also made up ground in the wet passing Bowyer in the centre hairpin going on to finish second.  Bowyer then came under fire in the final laps from Delaney, and after some swapping of positions it was Bowyer from Delaney as they crossed the line.

Provisional results KA3 Senior Light

  1. 98 Jacob Dowson
  2. 76 Luke Marquis
  3. 73 Jason Bowyer
  4. 32 Ben Delaney
  5. 21 Jordan Keevers

Series points after round 4
Ben Delaney               274
Jacob Dowson            241
Jordan Keevers          228

KA3 Senior Light, Ben Delaney (32) two wheels into turn one ahead of eventual winner Jacob Dowson (98), Jordan Kervers (21) and Jason Bowyer
Above: KA3 Senior Light, Ben Delaney (32) two wheels into turn one ahead of eventual winner Jacob Dowson (98), Jordan Kervers (21) and Jason Bowyer
pic - Steven Blee

The air-cooled 100cc KA3 Senior Heavy class was dominated by Midura driver Hamish Ribarits.  It was up to David Rinaldi, Sparky Marquis and Michael Yeo to fight over the minor positions. 

In the final race Ribarit’s Tony Kart claimed the lead with Yeo grabbing second spot.  It wasn’t long before Marquis moved on to the back of Yeo looking for a way past. On lap seven he found the opening at Jenke Vineyards corner slipping up the inside under brakes and headed off, hoping to chase down Ribarits who by this time was a whole 2 seconds down the road.  The dice between Yeo and Marquis had allowed Rinaldi to join the group and he too waited for the opportunity at Jenke corner.  Rinaldi soon had Marquis behind him as well but the pursuit was futile with Ribarits winning by over five seconds.

Provisional results KA3 Senior Heavy

  1. 31 Hamish Ribarits
  2. 26 David Rinaldi
  3. 76 Sparky Marquis
  4. 72 Michael Yeo
  5. 87 Simon Smith

Series points after round 4
Hamish Ribarits         213
Sparky Marquis         170
Thomas Fritz              119

The Omega kart of Craig Henderson continued to dominate the TAG 125 Masters leading from qualifying through to the final.  Danny Somerville in another Omega kart challenged Henderson early in the final with Warren Nietz joining the procession in the Arrow kart.  When Somerville drop a wheel off the track heading toward the centre hairpin the tow was broken and this released Henderson to take an easy win.  Nietz hung on to Somerville for some laps but he too dropped off and circulated to take third at the end.

Provisional results TAG 125 Masters

  1. 11 Craig Henderson
  2. 66 Danny Somerville
  3. 9 Warren Nietz
  4. 17 Scott Hubner
  5. 39 John D’Ambrosio

Points after round 4
Craig Henderson       303
Danny Somerville      252
Scott Hubner              206

TaG 125 Masters winner Craig Henderson leads Danny Sommerville, Warren Nietz, John D'Ambrosio, Jamie Coles and Scott Hubner
Above: TaG 125 Masters winner Craig Henderson leads Danny Sommerville, Warren Nietz, John D'Ambrosio, Jamie Coles and Scott Hubner
pic - Steven Blee

Blake Purdie sat on pole for the final in Cadet 12 after some fine performances in the heats, but it all became undone after a bad start and by turn one the series leader had lost two positions.  By lap six he was back, challenging Christian Cowie for the lead having dispensed with James Piszcyk on lap two.  On lap 8 he had grabbed the lead and the trio of Cowie, Purdie and  Troy Fontanier  circulated nose to tail swapping positions until two laps from the finish when Fontanier pounced relegating Purdie to third.

Provisional results Cadet 12 

  1. 15 Christian Cowie
  2. 67 Troy Fontanier
  3. 48 Blake Purdie
  4. 12 Ryan Morgan
  5. 93 James Piszcyk

Series points after round 4
Blake Purdie              273
Christian Cowie         228
Troy Fortanier           213

Amber Miller had the measure of her opponents all weekend in KA4 Junior Light and started on pole for the final.  Off the start Miller got to the first corner in the lead and was never headed.  Hayden Jericho lost a place off the start to Adam Slattery Jr and things got worse on lap 6 as both Jack Hutchins and Declan Morrison slipped up the inside at Jenke Vineyards corner.  Whilst Miller cleared out, Jericho set about redressing the order, first Morrison then Hutchens.  Jericho rounded up Slattery with a dive into the centre corner with only a few laps left to the flag.

Provisional results KA4 Junior Light

  1. 62 Amber Miller
  2. 53Hayden Jericho
  3. 99 Adam Slattery Jr
  4. 28 Jack Hutchins
  5. 52 Declan Morrison

Series points after round 4
Amber Miller              260
JackHutchins              250
Hayden Jericho          244

 

The Alpha Industries SA Kart Championship will be decided at the fifth and final round on September 10 & 11 at the Monarto Karting Complex 3711 Old Princes Highway, Monarto.  For more information on Karting in South Australia visit kartingsa.com.au



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