King Of The Hill
| from Nicole McGregor | 28 August 2013 |
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PLENTY OF “WOW” AT WUNDOWIE
The fourth annual “King of the Hill” event was held at Hurricane Go Kart Club in Wundowie, Western Australia on Saturday 24th August 2013. With a record 290 entries the organisers and officials were kept busy to ensure that everything was running on schedule.
If anyone had been hoping for some wet weather racing they were disappointed as the region was blessed with clear skies for the whole event, resulting in glorious winter sunshine during the day and moonlight during the night (supplemented by artificial lighting of course).
There were good sized fields across all classes and the KZ2 Shifters had the grid filled to capacity with 32 drivers – possibly the biggest field to be assembled in Australia in this class to date. It was just a few years ago while I was Treasurer of HGKC that Daniel Currey and Hayden Patrizi approached the Club and presented a proposal at a committee meeting in regard to the future of the KZ2 class in WA. I think it is safe to say that the class is now booming and Hurricane is very proud to have played a part in its progress.
Demonstration drives by members of the Vintage & Historic Karting Association gave the spectators some insight into what racing looked like (and sounded like) in days of old.
Above: Ross Sears during the Vintage demonstration which saw 17 karts on track
pic - Graeme Agland
The legendary Marlene Dean is still going strong, having been involved in karting for approximately 50 years. She was joined on the track by 15 other drivers: Craig Andrew, Kelvin Davies, David Green, David Hood, Gavin Kennedy, Grant Knowles, Brad Scrivener, Amy Sears, Ross Sears, Mike Stevenson, John Thompson, Jonathon Whisson, Brandon Wilks, Colin Youd and Jason Youd.
The racing concluded soon after 9.00 pm and drivers and spectators alike were then able to enjoy a spectacular fireworks display (there had been a few “fireworks” of a different nature earlier on) followed by live entertainment provided by local Northam band “Rum Jungle“ who played a variety of music to please the crowd. “Stray Cat Strut” was a cover I hadn’t heard in a long time.
Following is a class by class summary in order of racing on the day. I would love to mention everyone who participated but sadly space does not permit.
CADETS
Most of the racing by these youngsters was smooth and clean until the pre-final which saw one incident cause the loss of three karts from the race and a further four karts DNF due to separate incidents. This created an opportunity for other drivers to move up and secure prime grid positions for the final.
This made for a very interesting final as a number of faster karts were starting from the back, including Jack Harders and Damon Papasergio who started from 17th and 19th respectively. Fastest qualifier on the day Aaron Love claimed the lead by Lap 3 and held it for six laps until it was taken by Harders and then Papasergio moved up to 2nd in the last lap. A couple of other notable performances came from Jack Cattalini who won the pre-final and went on to finish 7th in the final and Griffin Gardiner who finished 2nd in the pre-final but had an unfortunate DNF in the final.
1.Jack Harders 2. Damon Papasergio 3. Aaron Love 4.Bartholomew Horsten 5. Memphis Knowles
Above: A big drive from Jack Harders saw him win Cadets
pic - Graeme Agland
SPORTSMAN PRO 100
With a field of 30 there was bound to be plenty of action here and this began before the racing had even started, with one kart losing a wheel during the warm-up lap for the first heat. (Presumably this belonged to Nick Rowe as he was the first to DNF in this race.) There were a number of DNF’s in this class and the worst luck of the day went to Chris Preston who managed to DNF in three out of four races, the pre-final being the only one which he finished.
There was some close racing between these drivers, including some brotherly competition between Matt and Nathan Davis who were vying for first place in the pre-final until Brenton Magri (who qualified first) jumped into second place. Magri had some difficulties during the warm-up laps for the final but eventually got going and put on a brilliant performance, maintaining the lead for the whole 12 laps. Aaron Grossman and Matt Davis were very close behind him but there were no position changes between these three.
1.Brenton Magri 2. Aaron Grossman 3. Matt Davis 4. Nicholas Rowe 5. Nathan Davis
RESTRICTED 125 LIGHT (PERPETUAL TROPHY)
Defending champion Kalen Barker got off to a good start by qualifying first but soon discovered that there were a few other contenders equally keen to take the “King of the Hill” title. He did win the second heat and was leading in the pre-final for the first half of the race. The first heat and pre-final were won by Kerry Foster, which prompted people to wonder if this year we would see the crowning of the first “Queen of the Hill”.
The final got off to a shaky start and some drivers were a little startled when they got the “re-form” flag. This resulted in an official almost getting skittled but his quick reflexes enabled him to jump backwards just in time. Foster took the lead straight away and held it for the whole race. (She was given a tiara to wear whilst on the podium in honour of her regal status.) Regan O’Brien stayed in second place throughout the race and Barker held third place until the last lap when Thomas Spence managed to move up. Nicholas Puglia did very well, taking on the challenge of starting from 15th (after a DNF in the pre-final) to finish 5th.
1.Kerry Foster 2. Regan O’Brien 3. Thomas Spence 4. Kalen Barker 5. Nicholas Puglia
Above: Kerry Foster led the Restricted 125 Light final from green to chequered flag
pic - Graeme Agland
JUNIOR MAX
This was a clean sweep by Jeremiah Sheehan who qualified first and won each race on the day. The final saw no changes in the first three places and it was good to see all drivers finish the race. Jason Betts put in a good effort to finish 8th after starting from 16th. Zachary Vassallo came a respectable 6th but may have been a little disappointed with this result after having podium finishes at a few recent meetings.
1.Jeremiah Sheehan 2. Nik Mitic 3. Thomas Schou 4. Tayla Dicker 5. Maverick Cuthbert
SENIOR NATIONAL COMBINED
It was another clean sweep in this class by Craig McKeon who was well ahead of his rivals in each race after being fastest in qualifying. The battle here was for 2nd place. Jayden King held 2nd position in the final for five laps, leading a small train with Thomas Gray, Jake Truarn and Ross Sears right behind him, before Gray took his place and Truarn got into third.
1.Craig McKeon 2. Thomas Gray 3. Jake Truarn 4. Jayden King 5. Ross Sears
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
In a field of 25 you expect to have a few dramas and most of this happened in Heat 2 with seven DNF’s. Ben Harders was another driver achieving a perfect score by qualifying first and winning all of his races, although Oliver Baxter did have the lead for the first lap of the final. Apart from that there were no position changes amongst the first five places in the final. Chad Pittard and AJ Nash had their own little race going on, swapping for 6th and 7th several times.
1.Ben Harders 2. Oliver Baxter 3. Jayden Meckenstock 4. Bayley Bell 5. Robert Hooper
Above: Not the right way to take the first corner!
pic - Graeme Agland
SPORTSMAN 125 HEAVY
These races were kept interesting by highly competitive drivers all doing their best to get into first place. Although Matt Davis was the fastest qualifier, Heat 2 was the only race he won on the day, with Ryan Barron in the No. 4 kart taking the honours in the rest. Jordan Hounsfield would have won the unlucky award by having a DNF in the final after starting from 3rd. Tim Barnes managed to get up to 6th in the final following a DNF in the pre-final.
1.Ryan Barron 2. Matt Davis 3. Vince De Marte 4. Bryce Watson 5. Ray Cochrane
ROOKIES
There was plenty of action with these young fellows (and one young lady, Chantelle Hall). Keb Evans from Albany qualified first but seemed to be experiencing some engine problems during the heats and was back to fourth place by the pre-final. Hurricane hero Brock McGregor had qualified seventh but managed to find some speed to win both Heat 2 and the pre-final, the latter by six seconds. We saw good efforts from Jacob De Cerqueira and Harrison Lang, who qualified 2nd and 3rd respectively and ended up 6th and 7th in the final.
Above: A great field of Rookies take the start
pic - Graeme Agland
Evans’ pit crew achieved whatever needed to be done by the final as he was back to his normal form and had a good lead over McGregor who in turn was well ahead of the rest of the field (making it a little easier for Mum to watch!). A few position changes for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th kept the crowd enthralled to see who would end up on the podium.
1.Keb Evans 2. Brock McGregor 3. Bailey Grech 4. Corey Minton 5. Ashley Morrissey
JUNIOR CLUBMAN
There was a mixture of quirky bits in this class with a DNF in heat one for the eventual winner and a 2nd place getter who qualified 12th. Fastest qualifier was Jemima Thomas who looks set to become a “Queen of the Hill” in the future.
The final could have been called the “Battle of the Thomases” as four of the top six have Thomas either as a first name or surname! Thomas Schou and Thomas McPherson were swapping places for 5th and 6th while Jemima Thomas stayed in 3rd the whole way and Oliver Baxter did the same in 4th. First and 2nd were a little different as Thomas Howe led in the first lap but was back in 2nd until Jeremiah Sheehan had a little hiccup in the last lap which gave Tom the opportunity to get back in front and claim the win.
1.Thomas Howe 2. Jeremiah Sheehan 3. Jemima Thomas 4. Oliver Baxter 5. Thomas Schou
Above: Tom Howe on the way to victory in Jnr Clubman
pic - Graeme Agland
RESTRICTED 125 HEAVY (PERPETUAL TROPHY)
We must give credit to these gents and ladies for not creating as much drama as might be expected for a field of 28 in this class, particularly as they were vying for the prestigious perpetual trophy and (metaphorical) crown to wear until next year’s event.
Last year’s winner Mathew Le Cocq was not defending his title but there were plenty of others eager to take it, including winner of the inaugural title in 2010, Tim Symons, who did his best to reclaim it. He came close, finishing 2nd in the first two heats after qualifying 3rd (Andrew Jarvis had qualified first).
Jarrod Ferrari was a bit of a dark horse, coming through from 6th in the pre-final to finish 2nd in the final. Alfonso Carbone had qualified 4th but a DNF in Heat 2 was a major setback and led to him starting 10th in the final and ultimately finishing in 8th place. Adrian Lamacchia did well in the final to move up from 23rd to finish 12th. Ben Spencer was ecstatic about his win in the final after coming 2nd in qualifying.
1.Benjamin Spencer 2. Jarrod Ferrari 3. Thomas Spence 4. Simon Dixon 5. Timothy Symons
Above: Ben Spencer, King of the Hill. Having quaified 2nd, Spencer enjoyed a clean sweep of wins
pic - Graeme Agland
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
Another perfect score on the day was achieved by Jordan Love, being first in qualifying and winning every race. Six was the number of the day for Henry Lake as it is his racing number, he qualified 6th and finished 6th in each race. This class almost had no DNF’s for the whole meeting but unfortunately for Ross Bird he changed this in the final.
Jakson Timmer (relatively new to Juniors) was nicknamed “Action Jakson” by commentator Brad Cross and finished 7th in the final after getting up to 5th for a short time. He had lived up to this nickname earlier in the month when he won a race at the Lake King round of the South Eastern Zone series after starting from 22nd.
Sam Dicker took the lead in the final and stayed there for more than half the race but in Lap 8 both Love and Mitic passed him and the top three positions did not change after that.
1.Jordan Love 2. Nikola Mitic 3. Samuel Dicker 4. Jesse Thomas 5. James Howe
SPORTSMAN 125 LIGHT
We saw some great driving from these guys and girls, although there were quite a few DNF’s throughout the day which presented an extra challenge for some drivers. Darren Burke and Jace Daniel did not let a DNF in Heat 2 hold them back and went on to finish the final in 3rd and 7th respectively. Luke Gabin was the fastest qualifier and ultimately finished in the top 5.
In the final we saw Nathan Davis take the lead for the first five laps and then swap with Lewis Shugar for 2nd place and that was where they stayed for the rest of the race. Peter Bergman was in 3rd place for seven laps but ended up in 6th by lap 10.
1.Lewis Shugar 2. Nathan Davis 3. Darren Burke 4. Luke Gabin 5. Patrick Martin
OPEN CLASS (KZ2)
I won’t go into too much detail with this class as they usually have a separate write-up but what a buzz they brought to the meeting, literally. The sound of 32 of these machines sitting on the grid waiting for their standing start and then taking off at speed was like a giant swarm of bees coming through.
You couldn’t afford to blink during these races as you would have missed something; the action was continuous. Simon “Gumby” Gwilliam was the fastest qualifier but the best finish he had was a 2nd place in the pre-final. Blake Mills qualified 2nd and Joey Hanssen 3rd so these three guys were going to be the ones to watch.
Hanssen may have been wondering at some stage why he came across the continent to torture himself. With DNF’s in Heat 2 and the pre-final he faced the massive challenge of starting the final from 29th but showed the crowd how champions do it by moving up to 6th place by the time he took the chequered flag.
Above: Blake Mills leads the huge 32-kart KZ2 field
pic - Graeme Agland
Local celebrity Ben Van Ryt (of House Rules fame) qualified 14th and went on to finish 7th in the final. Interstate traveller Cian Fothergill was right behind him in 8th place.
BD Soutar-Dawson had an impressive start to the final, shooting into 3rd place and holding it for 10 laps before slipping back to 4th and ultimately finishing in 9th place. Blake Mills and Jake Klarich stayed in 1st and 2nd place for the entire 25 laps and maintained a healthy lead over the rest of the field.
1.Blake Mills 2. Jake Klarich 3. Hayden Patrizi 4. Simon Gwilliam 5. Daniel Currey
- Full results on AKA CMS HERE
