Hamilton's Triple Treat
| by Andrew Hayes | 16 September 2013 |
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The weather was perfect and the racing fierce as the Hamilton Karting Club hosted its triple treat of feature events over the weekend. The club’s prestigious Handbury Titles was run for a seventeenth time, incorporating round five of the Austrans Victorian Country Series and the Millard Memorial for Over 40s.
Despite a grim weather forecast, 126 competitors were treated to an overcast Saturday. However, it was followed up by a spectacularly sunny Sunday, making the immaculate Buckley Park Circuit a pleasure to drive. The awesome foursome of Hollis, Rethus, Thomas and King all remained unbeaten in finals, with one round remaining.
Above: Rookies form up in sunny conditions at Hamilton, Mathew Steel (33) and Tyler O'Leary (65) on the front row
Results as follows:
SPORTSMAN RESTRICTED HEAVY (13 Entries)
Taylor Gore got the first win of the day in SRH leading home Craig Widgery and Court Griffiths. Widgery showed he was in great form, taking the race 2 win from Chris Rodda and Barry Clough. Widgery Led the field away, however it wasn’t long before Rodda stamped his authority on the race, taking a the lead on lap 2 and holding it till the chequer. Widgery stayed right up on Rodda’s bar for second, however the action was behind them. Gore and Clough were battling hard for third place over the closing laps, before they got together, allowing Griffiths to sneak through for third.
1 Chris Rodda (Warrnambool), 2 Craig Widgery (Ballarat), 3 Court Griffiths (Geelong)
Above: Warrnambool's Chris Rodda
TAG HEAVY (10 Entries)
Scott King was poised to continue his dominance on the class, taking a first up win in the class after both he and Corey McCullagh chased and passed early leader Andrew Hayes for the top spots. McCullagh turned the tables with an all the way win in race two, King and Mick Angwin chasing hard. The scene was set for another battle between King and McCullagh, but despite McCullagh’s best efforts, King led from start to finish. Daniel Rethus recovered from a broken seat in race one to secure third, and complete the identical podium to Portland.
1 Scott King (Portland), 2 Corey McCullagh (Warrnambool), 3 Daniel Rethus (Portland)
JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT (13 Entries)
Dylan Hollis continued to make this class his own, with yet another clean sweep! And to add to the other drivers pain, only to other drivers got to step on the podium. Callan Belmonte had his best series round to date, securing a third and two seconds, whilst Jordan Rae had a second and two thirds. Belmonte and Rae will have boosted their claims on the minor series podium positions, the win already sewn up by Hollis.
1 Dylan Hollis (Geelong), 2 Callan Belmonte (Mt.Gambier), 3 Jordan Rae (Geelong)
Above: Jordan Rae leads Callan Belmonte, JNL
ROOKIES (13 Entries)
Rookies sensation Mathew Steel continued his stellar series joining the clean sweep crew in his first attempt at the Hamilton circuit. Steel had plenty of competition, but just proved too good. Almost as good as Steel’s effort, was hard charging Tyler O’Leary who completed a trifecta of second places. Jay Coul and Brayden Souter took third in the heats, before Nathan Williams got going for third in the final. Interestingly another repeat of Portland’s podium.
1 Mathew Steel (Oakleigh), 2 Tyler O’Leary (Hamilton), 3 Nathan Williams (GKCV)
CLUBMAN HEAVY (7 Entries)
Johnny Dankowski opened proceedings in Clubman Heavy with a win in the Henley owned kart, which is older than most of his competitors themselves. Andrew Cash raced hard for second, points leader Chris Thomas third. From there Thomas took the ascendancy, taking the heat two win and followed it up again in the final. He had to earn it though, Cash turning the screws in each event to take a treble of seconds. Jack Woodfall took third in heat two, but it would be local Matt Crane turning his fortunes around for a strong podium in the final.
1 Chris Thomas (Oakleigh), 2 Andrew Cash (Mt.Gambier), 3 Matt Crane (Hamilton)
CLUBMAN LIGHT (9 Entries)
Several new drivers came and challenged, however the result remained the same, yet another clean sweep for Kyle Rethus. Rethus’ clubman driving has been a pleasure to watch all year, as he has shown pure speed and precision. Jack Wynack carried his blue plate to a pair of seconds in the heats to loom as Rethus’ biggest threat, Matt Mahar and Maverick Benson sharing the thirds. With Rethus gone, second looked like done deal for Wynack, until an unfortunate collision with a lapped kart on the last corner saw him stopped in the grass just metres from the finish line. Benson would swoop through to improve to second, Mahar grabbing third.
1 Kyle Rethus (South West), 2 Maverick Benson (Hamilton), 3 Matt Mahar (Southern)
Above: Kyle Rethus ahead of Jack Wynack, Clubman Light
CADETS (14 Entries)
Breakaway series leader Jonathon Cassar added to his pointscore with a heat one win, holding off Courtney Prince and Darcy Micallef. Prince made heat two a win for the girls, before driving superbly to secure her first final win for the series. Cassar settled for second and a swag full of points in the last two events. Carter Dines produced some of his best work to finish third in heat two, with Kacey Mann filling the podium in the final, bettering his best of fourth in heat two.
1 Courtney Prince (Eastern Lions), 2 Jonathon Cassar (GKCV), 3 Kacey Mann (GKCV)
CLUBMAN OVER 40s (8 Entries)
It is always a special weekend for the Over 40s at Hamilton, where they battle for the Graeme and Kathleen Millard Memorial Shield.
Defending champion Glenn Henley was determined to retain the shield, and he did so in a dominant display. Three straight wins in a kart which itself would be half way to Over 40s, typified the spirit of Graeme Millard, making the most of the equipment he had. Craig Widgery took second in heat one to continue his good form from restricted heavy, and was followed home by series leader Craig Jelbart. Ron Taylor took up the second placing for the remainder of the events after a fourth in the opening heat, to repeat his great result of second from Portland. Leon Forrest sealing third and the final podium spot after a fifth and a third in the heats.
1 Glenn Henley (Mt.Gambier), 2 Ron Taylor (Hamilton), 3 Leon Forrest (Wimmera)
JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY (13 Entries)
Just in case Dylan Hollis wasn’t giving JNL enough grief, he turned up on the JNH grid for the round and took a first up win in heat one of the class. Morgan Feast was on the pace, scoring second ahead of Brad Marsh-Stepney. Marsh Stepney would make his run in heat two, taking the win over Hollis and Aaron Jackson. The final was a cracker, as Marsh-Stepney and Jackson led them away. It wasn’t long before Hollis and Feast took up the front running and endured a fierce battle. Things all changed with three laps to go, as Hollis and Feast parked on the exit of Siberia, and Jaymi MacKay shuffled down the order. Marsh-Stepney would again emerge from the pack to take the win, from a charging Mitchell Broome and Aaron Jackson in a solid third.
1 Brad Marsh-Stepney (GKCV), 2 Mitchell Broome (Mt.Gambier), Aaron Jackson (GKCV)
Above: Junior National Heavy winner Brad Marsh-Stepney
SPORTSMAN RESTRICTED LIGHT (16 Entries)
The Sportsman Restricted Light class is always one of the most competitive classes and accordingly the results are generally a mixed bag. Race one belonged to Rohan Kinens, taking the win ahead of Aaron Ivers and Stuart Reed. Jake Hose broke through to record the race two victory from Andrew Dang and Shaun Lyness. Andrew Dang finally showed he was the man to beat with an all the way win in the final. Rohan Kinens and Shaun Lyness battled hard, changing positions regularly before Kinens grabbed the ascendancy to take second from Lyness.
1 Andrew Dang (GKCV), 2 Rohan Kinens (Geelong), 3 Shaun Lyness (South West)
Above: Andrew Dang ahead of Shaun Lyness, Brock Rae and Jake Hose, Sportsman R Light
TAG LIGHT (12 Entries)
The final race of the day was always going to be a ripper, with series points tightening and all the major players trying to improve their standings. The podium of the first heat was something of a return to the class. First place for Tyler Cramer, second for Mark Hatton and third for returning Formula 500 star Andrew Rae. The regulars took control again in race two, Ash Lear the top man, followed by Kyle Rethus and Broe Shiells. The final was another great race, the field was shown a clean pair of heels by the Lear Jet, in a display reminiscent of his Cobden dominance. Rae’s return was a success with a solid second, and Cramer recovered from engine dramas in heat two to secure third.
1 Ashley Lear (Portland), 2 Andrew Rae (Portland), 3 Tyler Cramer (Bendigo)
Above: Ashley Lear jetted away from the field in the final of TaG Light
- Full results are available on the CM:S.
The Austrans Victorian Country Series concludes in Horsham on October 18/19, and is brought to you by valued sponsors Austrans, Remo Racing, All Star Graphics, Yes Optus Warrnambool-Portland-Hamilton, Shamick Racing and Yamaha Australia.
