Victorian Country Series, Round 2
| by Michael Yeo | 1 May 2017 |
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AUSTRANS Victorian Country Series Round 2 Cobden – South West Kart Club
Cloudy Cobden and no sun to be seen, chilly were the conditions but a massive 208 entries soon had the South West Kart Club all warmed up for the second round of the Victorian Country Series.
After drivers briefing, qualifying was in semi wet conditions some drivers shined while others found the conditions tough to find setup and time.
Above: Rusty Ponting checking out Cadel Ambrose, Cadet 9 (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
The Kerbrider Trailer was set up near the hot coffee van which was being kept busy and entry to the out grid was via the Dunlop kart sport inflatable arch.
The pioneers to get proceedings under way were Cadet 12s.
Cadet 12
A good battle on the time sheet for pole between 66 Will Harper, 92 Mathew Domaschenz, 33 Jaxson Johnstone and 21 Isaac Woodhouse it was Harper who would claim number one of which he kept in heat one and 2 by winning both. Closely followed by M Domaschenz and Johnstone.
Jesse Lacey was last year's stand out and he would drive very hard to get 3rd in heat 2. The final was set to be one to watch and as the field hit turn one, several karts would be involved this allowed the front runners to skip away to a clear lead. The 66, 92 and 33 couldn’t be separated for almost every lap until a mistake from Woodhouse gave Harper and Domaschenz the chance to battle one on one. Meanwhile with 6 laps to go Lacey was on the move and being 6/10th faster than Harper he had enough laps to catch the duo. Harper would find the edge of the track at Railway cnr on the last lap and this gave Lacey the opportunity he needed to put the pepper on the bumper of Domaschenz. Lacy left his move until the last corner and it was a drag race to the finish with Lacey taking it by .049 of a sec in a thriller. But final standings after the race would see Lacey DSQ handing it to Domaschenz.
1st 92 Matthew Domaschenz
2nd 33 Jaxson Johnstone
3rd 21 Isaac Woodhouse
KA4 Junior Heavy
This was the “#9 Nathan Williams” show having the perfect day out with pole and a clean sweep of all heats and the final. The 99 Adam Slattery Jnr and 70 Aaron Oliver mixed it up overtaking multiple times throughout the heats and final. #95 Daniel Hookway showed some pace in Qualifying and 33 Aiden Solomon decided to have a real go in heat 2 coming in 3rd. 99 Jnr Slattery had pace just not that of Williams but enough to take 2nd in the final with Aaron Oliver in 3rd.
1st 9 Nathan Williams
2nd 99 Adam Slattery Junior
3rd 70 Aaron Oliver
Above: Nathan Williams, 1st in KA4 Junior Heavy (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
TAG 125 Restricted Light
A big grid of 29 karts in Restricted Light rattled Cobden's new outgrid shed as they fired up in unison.
Newcomer to the VCS #15 Liam Hunter took the pole however was swamped at turn 1 and the familiar number 7 of Gerry Westerveld found clear air and drove away to claim both heats and the final with a dominating performance. This left 94 Joseph Clough and 48 Jonathan McKean to fight it out for the remaining steps, but the one to watch coming through the field in heat 1 going from 12 -3 was 98 Andrew Sotiropoulos , driving well to see him claim 3rd in the final.
1st 7 Gerry Westerveld
2nd 94 Joseph Clough
3rd 98 Andrew Sotiropoulos
Above: Show time for Lachlan Hill in TaG R Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
TAG 125 Heavy
Damp qualifying saw a couple of karters fall off the track as they started to push the conditions, with 80 Bjorn Schultheiss finding the weeds at railway corner on the last hot lap; but still with enough pace to keep third on the grid.
The Heavies put on great entertainment with some very “heavy” racing of which saw 69 Luke Bergens receive the unsportsman flag for an incident with S King and Jackson. #14 Ashley Seward would claim pole just ahead of 4 Scott King. In the final #18 Hayden Slattery found himself in the lead for a few laps until 2 Aaron Jackson created an opportunity and took the lead and the win.
Above: TaG Heavy, turn 1, Scott King in the lead (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
KA3 Junior
#95 Nathan Williams again would take pole in this class however this was the only time we would see the 95 on the score board. Heat 1 16 Coady Gorringe blasted away to take the win from Kelly-Merrifield. Heat 2 and T1 was to claim another victim 16 Coady Gorringe would see the whole field pass him this left Merrifield , 65 O`Leary and 99 Adam Slattery Junior to put on an awesome display of racing with Slattery taking the win.
1st 99 Adam Slattery Junior
2nd 65 Tyler O'Leary
3rd 42 Wil Kelly-Merrifield
Above: Ethan Church (90) and Nathan Williams pioneering slicks on a dirty track, KA3 Junior (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
TAG 125 Light
Complete domination is the only way to describe 44 Mitchell Sutej in round 2. 72 Daimon Goode put his machine on the front row but an incident would see him drop back in the hotly contested field of 17. T1 would catch several drivers out. The 82 of Conner Farr was showing he had what it takes to secure 2nd in the heats. In the 2nd heat and the final #9 Jordan Rae put his foot down and claimed 3rd and in the final 2nd after a battle with Farr who would finish 3rd.
1st 44 Mitchell Sutej
2nd 9 Jordan Rae
3rd 82 Conner Farr
Above: Mitchell and Andre Sutej, after victory in TaG Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: TaG Light, turn 2 (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Cadet 9
The little men and women of Karting gave the spectators a day not to forget in a hurry with raging battles all through the field which spread around the Cobden circuit. 14 of Toby Dvorak took pole but then had mixed results through the heats eventually claiming 2nd in the final. 94 Cadel Ambrose was the man to catch as he lit the track up with impressive times. 5 Leo Iannella showed glimpses of pace mixing it with the leaders and would keep 3rd at the end of the day. Local 21 Rusty Ponting used his knowledge to work his way to the front and while having an awesome battle with Cadel they come across back markers of which proved Cadel's undoing and Rusty went on to win an epic final.
1st 21 Rusty Ponting
2nd Toby Dvorak
3rd Leo Iannella
Above: Tyce Hodge & supporters, Cadet 9 (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
TAG 125 Restricted Masters
The masters were at it again and 32 Clint Hobbs secured pole and had a great race with 55 Andrew Stubbs. 97 Matthew Crane was on fire but a mechanical problem saw him drop back down through the field. 12 Steve Malkin looked like he was playing poker by showing the nose left and right until he made the pass at Kerbrider corner to take the lead and the win in the final. 92 Ronald Taylor put up a good defence but succumbed to Malkin and Crane to finish 3rd. 18 John Page had a go into T1 but couldn’t get it pulled up and would watch the field go by eventually coming home in 4th.
1st 12 Steve Malkin
2nd 97 Matthew Crane
3rd 92 Ronald Taylor
Above: Leon Forrest gets air trying to avoid John Owen, TaG R Masters (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
TAG 125 Restricted Heavy
Nathan Van Es secured pole and from the get go would take each heat except the final where T1 struck again. He would watch the rest of the race from there. Meanwhile 6 Brett Jenkin and 38 of Marc Tune were locked in battle for the minor placings as the 82 of Aldo DeStefano found himself in the lead of his class very comfortably after the Van Es exit.
1st 82 Aldo De Stefano
2nd 6 Brett Jenkin
3rd 38 Marc Tune
TAG 125 Restricted Medium
David “chef” Stewart started p24 our of 25 and carved his way through to 8th with an amazing drive. After a chaotic start and T1 incidents the medium field was on its way providing some of the days most spectacular racing. Billy Westerveld would see a penalty for starting infringements putting him on P2 but this was a mere formality as he assumed dominance from T1. Heat 2 T1 saw a big incident of which the 14 Greg Ord came off worse for wear and this brought out the red flag. On resumption Westerveld took off 16 Phillip Zentai found 2nd and further back 89 Nikola Schmidt in 3rd.
In the final only a few leaders were lucky enough to get through turn 1 unscathed, and those that did realised their chance for a podium and pushed hard.
While in second and third respectively, 31 Ray Dumesny and 19 Matt De Stefano touched in railway corner, sending them both off the cliff of doom, with only De Stefano being able to rejoin the track. Local 16 Philip Zentai used his local knowledge to stay on the black stuff and out of trouble to come through for 2nd.
1st 12 Billy Westerveld
2nd 16 Phillip Zentai
3rd 89 Nikola Schmidt
Above: Matt de Stefano (19) tunder Ray Dumesny (31), TaG R Medium (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
KA4 Junior Light
The JL class turned up the volume and gave the spectators some great racing with 25 Corey Herbertson taking pole. 94 Kobi Williams and 23 Jai Stephenson along with 31 Jaxson Cox were going toe-to-toe. 10 Nerinda Beard was close by this group in the final and on the last lap railway corner caught out Jaxson leaving Jai and Kobi to go on and claim 1st and 2nd with 25 Corey in 3rd.
1st 23 Jai Stephenson
2nd 94 Kobi Williams
3rd 25 Corey Herbertson
Above: Jai Stephenson, 1st in KA4 Junior Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
KA3 Senior Light
Even though 94 James Sera did not qualify he made it look easy carving through the field to leave 37 Jack Bell, 27 Jack Martin, 55 Jordan Dudfield and the 53 Hayden Jericho to race for the minor placings. Jericho made it to 2nd briefly during the race but was eventually passed by Bell and Martin.
1st 94 James Sera
2nd 37 Jack Bell
3rd 27 Jack Martin
KA3 Senior Medium
The medium class proved to be the one to watch in this combined race, the #20 Remo Luciani took pole and found the going tough through the heats battling with 13 Aaron Jackson, 99 Mitchell Mackay and making a return 17 Luke May. 13 Aaron Jackson was the pace setter early along with Mitchell Mackay, all the while 17 Luke May was working away with set up and in the final hit the front for almost half the race where positions changed every lap until near the end Remo slotted his machine up the inside of T1 on Mitchell to take the lead and go on to win with May fighting back to 3rd on debut.
1st 20 Remo Luciani
2nd 99 Mitchell Mackay
3rd 17 Luke May
Above: Tyres Vs Engines - Luke May (17) and Remo Luciani (20), KA3 Senior Medium (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Congratulations to our Kerbriders of the day from Round 2! Each steward voted winner picks up a new set of Adidas gloves courtesy of Kerbrider:
- Cadet: Rusty Ponting
- Junior: Adam Slattery Jnr
- Senior: Jordan Rae
Congrats to our lucky Dunlop Kartsport and Rock Oil random draw winners from Cobden. Each received a bottle of Rock Oil and a can of Brake Kleen or Carb Kleen:
- Bethany Koch
- Mark Lunn
- Nathan Cook
- Jack Bell
- James Head
- Brendan Sartan
- Andrew Harvey
- Andrew Stubbs
The next VCS round is in just a few weeks time at Portland District Karting Club on May 21.
Above: Event commentator and report writer Michael Yeo (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Dropping off 'the edge of the world' at Railway Corner (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Harley Benson DNFs a heat in TaG Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Line 'em up (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Luke Bergens, TaG Heavy (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Oliver McNaught, KA3 Junior (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Ethan Church, KA3 Junior (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Caleb Spence, Cadet 9 (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Chelsea Humphrey, Cadet 9 (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Adam Slattery Jnr on a drying track (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Antonio Cafiso, KA3 Senior Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Jordan Dudfield heads Hayden Jericho, KA3 Senior Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Joel Johnson, KA4 Junior Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Kye Cavedon, KA3 Junior Heavy (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Maximus Fahey, KA4 Junior Heavy (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Nathan Williams (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Gerry Westerveld, TaG R Light winner (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Joseph Clough, TaG R Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Brad Trott, TaG Heavy (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: TaG Heavy head to the line, Aaron Jackson ahead of Adam King (4), Ben Armstrong (8) and Scott King (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Will Kelly-Merrifield (42) and Nathan Williams, KA3 Junior (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Hugh Wilson, TaG R Medium (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Kobi Williams, KA4 Junior Light (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
Above: Cadet 9, Thomas Schmidt (36), Chelsea Humphrey (28), Bradley Axford (7) and Annalise Ellis (42) (pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
(pic - Ben Roehlen, Pace Images)
