Lights, Camera, Action - Ark At The Park
| by Johnathan Males | 22 May 2013 |
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Lights, Camera, Action At The Circular Head Motorcycle’s Ark At The Park Night Race Meeting
The Circular Head Kart Club once again held their annual Circular Head Motorcycle’s Ark at the Park race meeting held on Saturday 18th of May. The heats were held in the afternoon followed by the finals in the evening under lights. This made for spectacular viewing and a very different experience for the competitors. Throw in intermittent showers and a half dry surface, Open Performance putting on a show and the scene was set for some entertaining battles.
Jackson Callow has really come of age in the Rookies class and he put in his most complete weekend to date by winning every race by a large margin. In the final his job was made a little easier when two of the frontrunners, Justin Murphy and Kurtis Love both succumbed to mechanical problems before facing the starter. This left Callow to once again drive away from the field and leave his Forty Seven Kart Tuning/Kosmic teammates to battle for the remaining podium positions. The vastly improved Tate Frost and recent graduate from Cadets, Lachlan Dalton were nose to tail for the entire race with Dalton trying everything he could to get past on the greasy surface. With two laps to go he made his move but unfortunately for him he ended up running wide and in the process allowed Callum Bishop to sneak through and take third placing behind Frost.
TAG Light saw close racing throughout the day as per usual. By the final though the wet track looked to be drying out and brothers Matthew and Jorden Distill elected to take the gamble on slicks. This soon proved to be the wrong choice with their MG White shod counterparts showing far superior pace in the conditions. Jake Rice won the start and cruised to a relatively easy victory ahead of Jade Waddington in second, who finished a similar distance ahead of Steven Wrigley in third.
Local CHKC member Daniel Hinds looked the man to beat in TAG Restricted Heavy after taking wins in all the heats leading up to the final. However a DNF in the final saw STKC President Joshua Muskett storm through and take the win in his first race meeting in this class. Muskett only put the kart together during the week prior to the race meeting, so was very happy with the outcome. Brodey Lovett continued his recent strong form by taking second ahead of Jeremy Green.
Gemma Wyllie chose to park her Senior National kart, that has brought her considerable success of late, and try her hand at Clubman Light. Over the course of the day she moved herself to the front of the pack and recoded a comfortable win in the final ahead of Marcus Johnson and Shane Bray. Murray Dadson took the gamble of using slick tyres on what was a drying track but after another brief shower during the first few laps this proved to be the wrong choice.
Senior National Heavy had one of the largest fields of the day and the racing throughout the four races was typically intense. With the Sheahen brothers electing to race this class regular Johnathan Males was always going to have to be on his toes to come out in front. This however he did and took the four wins on offer for the day. Troy Sheahen came out on top in his battle with his brother Allan and he took second place in the final. Stephen Johnstone made a successful return to racing by getting across the line in third place.
With only one entry in Clubman Heavy Alastair Lee took it upon himself to try and finish as high as he could in the Clubman Light field. With the final being held in wet conditions he was able to make his way up to second but couldn’t quite chase down the leader.
Jay Baily made a return to racing in Senior National Light and he picked up where he left off by taking the win in the final. Both he and Keenan Slater were the class of the field and the pair diced at the head of the pack for the whole day. Thomas Stewart worked on his kart setup all day and was rewarded in the final when he was able to get the better of his duel with Naomi Wrigley and he took home the third place trophy.
Brock Lamont returned to his winning ways in the Cadets class and he proved to be too good on the day from Ethan Wyllie. Young William Reeve rounded out the podium aboard his brand new Flandria Kart in third. This was apparently Lamont’s last race meeting as a Cadet and he will be hoping to carry his strong form into the Rookies category.
Thomas Clark made a successful return to racing by winning the Junior National Heavy class. He was simply too fast for his opposition and kept the leaders of the Light division on their toes all day. Liam O’Connor got the better of his duel with James Fitch to take second ahead of Fitch in third.
Junior National Light provided some of the best racing of the day with regular front runner Johnah Slater being challenged by the much improved Jordan Smith. These two swapped positions regularly all day with Smith leading for the majority of the final race. However Slater bided his time and made his move with only two laps remaining. Smith was unable to respond with the Devon Contractors/Tony Kart pilot Slater taking the win from Smith. LKC driver Brodie Sward rounded out the podium in third place after another strong showing.
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy once again saw Darren Williams go head to head with Greg Wood. Although this time Williams had updated to exactly the same Omega Wasp chassis as Wood. The result however was the same with very little separating the two out the front. Wood took the wins in the heats but Williams was able to get to the lead in the final. Wood made his move for the win on the last lap but came unstuck allowing Williams to take the win. By the time Wood was able to rejoin the track both Paul Reeve and Shane Toon managed to pass him and he had to settle for fourth. This left the ecstatic Paul Reeve to take his first podium finish in second ahead of Shane Toon in third aboard his new OK1 chassis.
Local hotshot Tim Hinds elected to help run the race meeting and not race, this meant that the battle to take out Senior National Over 40’s Pro was going to be on in earnest. Tony Reilley made his intentions known early on by winning the first race, but a DNF in race two then put him on the back foot. This gave the likes of Ian Stewart, Wayne Fisher, Stephen Johnstone, Craig Phillips and Michael Sheehan all the opportunity to make their claim for the trophy with strong performances throughout the racing. Reilley however got the job done when it counted and he took the win ahead of Fisher in second and Johnstone repeated his effort in Senior National Heavy by taking third.
The competitors in Open Performance don’t race too often but when they do it’s always worth the price of admission as the spectacle is worth the time, effort and money that is required to keep these beasts on the track. Scott Calvert had an “interesting” weekend with a machine that kept randomly spitting out brake pads. This unfortunately led to DNF’s in the pre final and final. The field was made up of twins and singles with both types having advantages at different stages. In the end though it was Jake Rice aboard the well sorted Southern Kart Centre 200cc super twin that took the win ahead of the singles of Daimon Shelton and Zane Wyatt.
Cadets
1st Brock Lamont
2nd Ethan Wyllie
3rd William Reeve
Rookies
1st Jackson Callow
2nd Tate Frost
3rd Callum Bishop
Junior National Light
1st Johnah Slater
2nd Jordan Smith
3rd Brodie Sward
Junior National Heavy
1st Thomas Clark
2nd Liam O’Connor
3rd James Fitch
Senior National Light
1st Jay Baily
2nd Keenan Slater
3rd Thomas Stewart
Senior National Heavy
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Troy Sheahen
3rd Stephen Johnstone
Senior National Over 40’s Pro
1st Tony Rielley
2nd Wayne Fisher
3rd Stephen Johnstone
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy
1st Darren Williams
2nd Paul Reeve
3rd Shane Toon
Clubman Light
1st Gemma Wyllie
2nd Marcus Johnson
3rd Shane Bray
Clubman Heavy
1st Alastair Lee
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Joshua Muskett
2nd Brodey Lovett
3rd Jeremy Green
TAG Light
1st Jake Rice
2nd Jade Waddington
3rd Steven Wrigley
Open Performance
1st Jake Rice
2nd Daimon Shelton
3rd Zane Wyatt
