May Pay Day For Baines Family Motorsport
| team press release | 30 May 2014 |
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The month of April proved to be a downer for the Baines Family Motorsport Team and speedway karting in general with all scheduled meetings being rained out .
This suited Jake who, at the time, was in the USA gaining valuable experience with the Tarlton Racing Team.
By the time the rain cleared, May had arrived and the first meeting scheduled for the month was the inaugural speedway kart meeting at Kurri Kurri Speedway with the host club, the New South Wales Speedway Kart Club, for Round 4 of the 2014 season.
The Team nominated Jake (racing in Clubman Light) , Wayne (in Clubman Heavy and 125 Sportsman) and Tim (racing 125 Sportsman).
Jake - having only returned from the 'States 24 hours prior to the meeting - had a reasonable day finishing with a 5th and a 3rd place in his two heats. Starting the feature from the back of the pack was going to be tough however, with some patient well thought out moves during the race, by race's end he was able to achieve a podium finishing position of second.
This meeting was Wayne’s first meeting of the season and he chose to race Clubman Heavy for the day. This was one of the biggest senior classes of the meeting and he was always going to have his work cut out for him. For this meeting, Scott and John Gillespie had lent Wayne a motor to try in preparation for the upcoming Title events later in the year.
Heat 1 saw him foul a spark plug and he never saw a green flag, Heat 2 rolled out and, starting from P4, was making a move for the lead when contact with another kart saw him collide with the safety barriers taking him out of the race. The feature would be the only race on the day that Wayne finished and, starting from P4 again, he had the lead by the end of the first lap and led home the field taking victory.
Tim and Wayne both competed in the elite 125 Sportsman class at this meeting. However it was all about Tim’s dominance of the class taking all three race victories and he was never really challenged at all during the day. Wayne came home in second for the meeting and enjoyed the experience, thanks the generosity of Greg Paul who lent him the kart.
So, not a bad result for the meeting for the Team with Jake 2nd , Wayne 1st, Tim 1st and Wayne 2nd !
Above: Jake Leading the Clubman Light field
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Steve Hopping
Gosford Showground and Round 4 of the Central Coast Speedway Kart Club was the venue for the next outing for the Team.
As both Wayne and Jake were doing their scheduled volunteer duties for the meeting, it was only Tim who raced on the day.
In 2014 Tim made the decision to move to the elite 125 Sportsman class and he hasn’t looked back . At this meeting he completed another clean sweep, taking four race wins for the day. The heat racing was intense and a lot of passing took place, however Tim continued to find the chequered flag first on every occasion.
In the feature race it took him only three laps to take the lead after which he never looked back.
The meeting result was Tim 1st.
Above: Tim Baker has been outstanding in the 125 class
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Steve Hopping
The last meeting of the month was at the Nepean Motorsport Complex for Round 5 of the NSWSKC 2014 Championship.
The Team had three drivers racing again with Jake in Clubman Heavy, Tim in 125 Sportsman and Nathan in Clubman Light.
After the success Wayne had at Kurri Kurri with the Gillespie Motorsport engine, Scott offered Jake a motor for this meeting. The Team, not knowing the engine's characteristics, guessed at gearing for the first heat and were a little off; regardless Jake drove to third position. After a little tweaking Jake came out in Heats 2 and 3 and scored wins in both races. This set him up as the highest points scorer going into the feature which meant he started in last position.
At the drop of the green he pulled to the outside groove and moved his way to the lead early in the race, managing to edge away each lap to record a comfortable win. Jake took both the feature win and points win for the class.
Above: Nathan #47 up on the wheel charging hard
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Steve Hopping
Wayne stepped out of his kart for this meeting to allow Nathan to race. Competing in only his second ever race meeting after his death defying act at Gosford Showground, he kept it on all four wheels and finished all his races. In the first heat, carburettor issues hampered the result. However after working out the problem, his next heat saw him staying with the pack and racing some of the experienced drivers. A gear change for the feature saw Nathan up on the wheel and competing, coming home in a creditable sixth place.
Once again Tim showed his class in the 125 category taking three wins from four races for the day. The feature race was the best of the day where a race-long battle with Ben Morgan was great to watch as the two drivers raced wheel- to-wheel for the entire race distance, swapping the lead, until Tim took the lead on the last lap to race home in first place.
Meeting results were Jake 1st in Clubman Light , Nathan 6th in Clubman Light and Tim 1st in 125 Sportsman.
Above: Jake in Victory Lane at Nepean
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Lan Baines
The Team is now gearing up for the NSW State Titles to be held over the June long weekend at the Kurri Kurri Speedway where 100 drivers will converge for some of the hardest, fastest speedway racing you will see.
Tim will compete in the 125 class, Jake will compete in the Clubman Light class and, as the current Australian Champion, Wayne will competing in the Over 40’s Clubman Class.
At this meeting both Wayne and Jake are being supported by Scott and John Gillespie along with their other valued corporate partners and the Baines Family Motorsport Team would like to thank their 2014 sponsors for their ongoing valuable support .
Hopping’s Mowers
Rams Race Engines
Scott and John Gillespie
Ian Baker, Tarlton Race Team ,
Sketchy Graphix
Krikke Motorsports, Stillshots
DTO Racewear
