Champs Crowned in Tassie Statewide Series
| from Stuart Lee | 16 September 2016 |
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After three terrific rounds of racing it all came down to the fourth and final round of the 2016 Andrew Walter Constructions Tasmanian Statewide Series held at Archerville Kartway on Sunday the 11th of September.
This event was held in conjunction with the Tasmanian Auto Recyclers Phil Goss Memorial and the ever changing weather conditions proved to be interesting for competitors and spectators alike.
Above: Launceston Kart Track
There were several nervous drivers come race day wondering if they could hold on to their lead in the series and take home the coveted red plate. This was no more evident than in both TAG classes where both the Light and the Heavy series leaders suffered engine failures on the Saturday and had to source spare engines to compete on the Sunday and try to stay in front of the chasing pack.
It was also a day to remember and celebrate the lives of Phil Goss and the LKC’s resident commentator Rebecca Wyatt who passed away only two weeks before the event. Anyone that ever heard Rebecca calling a race knew she had a rare gift that not many people have. It was fitting that Renee Chettle stepped in and did a tremendous job on the microphone all day, an effort I know Rebecca would have been proud of. Phil was a long time member and racer at the Launceston Kart Club and this was the annual running of the event held for Masters competitors named in his memory
Above: Phil Goss Memorial winner Scott Hildyard
It was fantastic to see the quality of racing in the Cadet 9 class. All of the competitors have improved immensely over the course of the series. At Launceston the top four consisted of Xavier Renshaw, Ollie Richardson, Toby Callow and series leader Darcy Whelan. These four raced nose to tail all weekend with nothing separating them. Hard on their tails though were the next pack of Emilie Williams, Stevie Smith, Denzil Sargent and Philip Cowles all ready to pounce should anything happen at the front. However Xavier Renshaw withstood every challenge and he took a clean sweep of all four races. Second across the line was Darcy Whelan followed closely by Toby Callow. In the series Callow was able to cut Whelan’s lead slightly but it wasn’t enough and that meant Darcy Whelan claimed his maiden red plate, fifteen points clear of Toby Callow who in turn was well ahead in points to Ollie Richardson in third.
Above: Stevie Smith, Cadet 9
Cadet 12 mimicked the younger class in many ways with all drivers’ really showing improvement and the close racing at this round. That, and there was also a Whelan leading the series, this time though it was Campbell aboard his JGE Kart Tuning Haase kart. Spoils on the day were shared amongst Jesse Keeling, Whelan and Fletcher Bellars who managed to get two race wins including the all-important final. It was a pretty impressive drive from young Fletcher as he had to recover from a flat tyre sustained in the third heat. It wasn’t enough though to deny Whelan the title as he finished with a handy sixty four point gap over Bellars in second place and Keeling rounded out the top three.
Above: Jesse Keeling, Cadet 12
Since joining the series at the second round Tate Frost simply dominated KA4 Junior Light. His pace and experience from his Australian Kart Championship racing this year really shone through. Although facing a hefty point’s deficit the Westbury native managed wins in every race he contested. This allowed him to overtake previous series leader Logan Dixon who had to settle for second. This was Logan’s best result so far in his career and he really improved his race craft throughout the year. The battle for second was amazingly close Dixon only finishing two points clear of Tyson Phegan in third and Evan Chivers was a mere four points behind in fourth place. On the day though it was Frost in first, William Reeve giving father Paul a birthday present with a fine second placing ahead of Logan Dixon.
Above: Tate Frost, KA4 Junior Light series champion
KA4 Junior Heavy series leader Connor Griffin needed a consistent round to preserve his lead and ensure back to back titles. This he achieved by never finishing outside of the top three positions on the day. Wins were shared between Jackson Callow and Kyle Love who broke through for his maiden race win, well done Kyle. In the final it was Callow who greeted the chequered flag first followed by series winner Griffin and Love in third. Hard luck story of the weekend would have to go to Lucas “Looty” Dickenson who was unable to compete on Sunday due to a nasty crash during practice on Saturday. It was good to see the big fella back at the track helping out on Sunday. So in the end it was Connor Griffin going back to back. Two DNF’s on the day saw Jesse Sheals challenge subside and he finished second ahead of the much improved Louis Popowski having his best series result to date in third.
Above: Kyle Love, KA4 Junior Heavy
KA4 Senior Light saw another cracker of a battle between Gemma Wyllie and Bodie Reading. These two were a cut above their opposition and had a fantastic duel throughout the series. Reading’s charge in the final was cut short as a moving axle saw him quickly drop down the order and shortly afterward in to retirement. This allowed Wyllie aboard her Wyllie Tiles backed Tony Kart to cruise to an easy win ahead of Leah Beechey and Justin Duncombe who both recorded their best finishes in the series. The title though went to Wyllie ahead of Reading and Ellis Dickenson who really improved across the series and will be one to watch if he keeps improving at this rate.
Above: Gemma Wyllie, KA4 Senior Light
Only a small field this time out in KA4 Senior Heavy but that didn’t stop Johnathan Males and Phil Isaac getting amongst the action with the other competitors in the combined classes. Males was able to make his way up to second outright in the final before mechanical gremlins crept in, and he slowed over the last few laps allowing Isaac to nearly snare the win. Unfortunately this class didn’t get enough entries across the four rounds to qualify for red plate status.
Runaway series leader Scott Hildyard looked to have his opposition well and truly covered going into the weekend in KA4 Masters but somebody forgot to tell comeback kid Ben Davey that. The OK1 driver was making his first appearance for the year and he really took it up to his more fancied rival. After a first race DNF Davey shadowed Hildyard all day and very nearly won the final. However Hildyard was simply too good and the Wrigley Karts and Parts driver not only won the final but also the Phil Goss Memorial and with it clinched the 2016 statewide series in this class. Second on the day was Davey ahead of Shane Burdon who did enough to clinch second in the series. Third in the series went to evergreen Kerry Beechey. It was good to see Kerry rewarded after all the hard work he puts in to both his and his daughter Leah’s racing.
Above: J-powered Kerry Beechey, KA4 Masters
KA4 Masters Super Heavy saw somewhat of a resurgence with five competitors facing the starter. Class benchmark Scott Wrigley dusted off the helmet and proved he’d lost none of his speed taking wins in the first three heats. However his teammate Shane Toon managed to get one over the master and he took the win in the final ahead of Wrigley and Terry Pinfold.
All the big guns came out to play in KA3 Junior for this round and they certainly showed how much they’ve improved this year in terms of their pace and their race craft. With six of the drivers having competed at National level events in recent months it was a pleasure to watch how they all performed. In no particular order any one of Harry Ward, Tate Frost, Kiana Toon, Callum Bishop, Jackson Callow, Mitchell Kerrison, Kurtis Love or Lachlan Dalton could have won the final and nearly all found their way to the front of the pack at some stage. Nobody had the outright pace to break the shackles of the freight train and it wasn’t decided until the chequered flag fell. Across the line it was Tate Frost taking a very well deserved win from Lachlan Dalton in second and Harry Ward in third. Keep an eye on this class in November at the State Titles. I predict it will be the class to watch. The series was taken out by Jackson Callow who added another red plate to his collection. Second was the consistent Declan Sherburd, narrowly ahead by ten points over Kiana Toon who no doubt would be ruing a costly DNF in the third heat.
Another driver that managed to achieve back to back titles was Shane Bray in KA3 Senior Light. The rapid North Western Kart Club member nearly scored a perfect number of wins but young Hobart driver Zevie Eisentraut was able to get one over his more senior rival at Launceston. The finishing order in the final also replicated the final positions in the statewide series with Bray first, Eisentraut second and Tabatha Badger in third place.
Jonathan McDonald managed to take another win in the KA3 Senior Heavy class. This time he was able to overcome young Southern Tasmanian Kart Club compatriot Lachlan Newman who kept him honest all day. Tony Kart driver Brad Danrell was snapping at their heels all weekend but suffered a DNF in the final race.
Yet another class to impress with the quality of racing was TAG Restricted Light. The three title aspirants, Andrew Lee, Nicholas Walpole and Ryan Jenkins were joined at the front by Brodie Sward, Paul McKenzie and Jacob Costello. What transpired was good, hard and fair racing across all four races on the day. It was Walpole though that always seemed to find a way to be in front come chequered flag time and he took the win on the day ahead of Andrew Lee and Ryan Jenkins. The win saw Walpole stretch his lead in the series from a mere two points at the beginning of racing to seventeen by the end and he took the red plate in this class. The other series podium placing’s were befittingly filled by Andrew Lee in second and Ryan Jenkins third.
Above: Ryan Jenkins, TaG R Light
TAG Restricted Heavy came down to a battle between three drivers, Troy Sheahen, Jason Close and last year’s champion Brodey Lovett. Close had a slender thirteen point buffer going in to racing however Sheahen finished the series strongly with three wins including the final. Lovett had a DNF in the first heat that ensured he was going to have to settle for third place in the series. When the points were counted Sheahen had turned the deficit in to a fourteen point advantage and he was the 2016 champion in this class. Close finished second in the series and on the day and it was great to see Caitlin Fitch rewarded for all her hard work with her best result so far by taking third on the day in a tough class.
Above: Caitlin Fitch, TaG Restricted Heavy
TAG Light is always an entertaining class to watch and this time was no exception. Series front runners Jade Waddington and Nathan Zuj were joined by series debutants Brody Appleby and Mitchel Evans. This quartet ran at the front all weekend with Appleby having just enough pace to stay in front of the rest and he took a comfortable win in the final. An unfortunate DNF saw Evans relegated to the sidelines early on in the final and meant he wouldn’t be able to challenge for the win. Second across the line was Jade Waddington followed by Zuj who did just enough to score his seventh red plate after recovering from an engine failure the previous day. Second in the series by a mere eight points was Waddington with Mitchell Lovell being rewarded for a great performance all series with third place.
Above: TaG Light Brody Appleby (33) and Nathan Zuj (74)
Alastair Lee had a handy thirty point buffer going in to the final round in TAG Heavy, but just like the other TAG class series leader he suffered terminal engine failure during practice on the Saturday. With Paul McKenzie’s spare motor fitted Lee then had to contend with a difficult qualifying session that saw him beached in the sand trap at the end of the main straight with no time recorded. Much to his delight (and father/mechanic Stuart) he was able to make his way through the field in all four races and was able to minimise the damage that Troy Stone inflicted on his points buffer with the CRG pilot winning three of the races including the final. The final wash up saw Lee take his maiden red plate, only six points clear of Stone who finished a very close second ahead of his Tazzie Karts and Parts team mate Dillon Van Galen, who also had a very strong series finishing in third position.
Above: Alastair Lee, TaG 125 Heavy Champion
Well that’s another series done and dusted. Thanks to all the competitors that supported the series once again and to all four clubs who put on excellent race meetings. A big thanks to Andrew Walter Constructions for their ongoing commitment to the sport through their sponsorship and support of the series and karting in Tasmania.
Well done to all the officials and volunteers who allowed everyone to go racing and Karting Tasmania for all the behind the scenes work that goes into organising such a series and special mention to Stuart Lee for all the promotional work that he has put in this year. The Tasmanian karting year is far from over with the final round of the Driver of the Year and the 2016 Tasmanian State Titles to be both held at the picturesque North Western Kart Club’s Highclere facility. This Blue Plate event is open to all other states and territories and will feature TAG Restricted for the first time in Tasmania. So come visit, have a holiday and bring your karts, we look forward to seeing you.
- Round results on CMS HERE
