NSW Title For Baines Family Motorsport
| team press release | 11 June 2014 |
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After a successful start to the 2014 speedway kart season which has seen the Baines Family Motorsport Team finish on the podium at every meeting, it was time to focus on the first "blue ribbon" event of the year - the NSW Speedway Kart Championship.
Over the June long weekend, the team headed to the Kurri Kurri Speedway, the venue hosting the event .
Jake entered in Clubman Light and was calling this meeting his “redemption meeting”, just 12 months ago after qualifying for pole he was in strong contention to take victory until contact with another kart saw him fall back to 9th in the race before he fought hard to finish 2nd to Michael Saller. It had been a long 12months but now he had his chance to do it all again.
Wayne is the current Over 40’s Australian Champion and entered in the class to try and make it a National and State title double. With only one run so far this season, Wayne was very cautious of the strong field that had entered and wasn’t making any prediction until he had a chance of getting on track to see where he stood.
The heat racing was intense as all drivers needed to finish as close to the front as possible to score enough points to get to the all- important front row starting position for the Title race.
In Jake’s class a strong field had assembled and when questioned about his chances, Jake stated that his two main rivals for the weekend were going to be Michael Saller (the current State Champion) and Jason Woodward. And this proved to be the case.
In Heat 1 after starting on the front row, Jake was passed by Michael and went on to run 2nd.
Heat 2 had Jake starting from P12 on the grid and, after some very tactful driving, he raced his way into 4th place.
Heat 3 was the toughest race of the day and, with the sun going down over the venue, vision through turns 1 and 2 was very difficult for all drivers. As a result they all drove cautiously - Jake started P7 and came home in 4th.
Above: Jake in his Tarlton Motorsport inspired Hopping’s Mowers #21
pic - Redline Media
The final Heat of the day was run under lights as night fell. Jake had a P6 starting position and the points chase for pole in the feature was very tight. The Team was nervous after making some changes to the motor and set up and was taking a gamble to try and find something extra for the final. Even thought the race had been cut in laps, Jake secured the coveted pole position with a win.
Jake was now where he was 12 months ago, back on pole for the feature race. It was time to focus!
Wayne’s heat racing was just as tough - in Heat 1, a P1 gave him the perfect start and he won the race comfortably.
In Heat 2, after starting P8, he raced hard to get the win and was now looking at a front row start, however Heat 3 would see him stumble and only finish 4th after starting from P5.
Changes made on his kart didn’t work and the Team set about changing it back.
Meanwhile Phillip Farrow in Kart 23 was very fast and, after Heat 3, points between him and Wayne were so tight it would come down to the last heat race to see who would start pole.
Wayne started P4 and struggled to get through the field to have a shot at the lead. When he finally worked his way into second position, catching up to Phillip who was leading, Wayne tried everything for four laps - high side, low side - but couldn’t get the job done.
Taking the last lap white flag, Wayne had conceded that 2nd place was his and he would start P2 in the feature however, as he pressured Phillip one last time in turn 1, the 23 machine had a slight push and Wayne drove to the inside. Wheel-to-wheel they ran down the back straight and into turn 3, the pair staying locked together, crossing the line with the closest finish of the meeting with only 0.126 seconds separating them.
Wayne claimed victory and pole position!
Above: Wayne racing to pole position
pic - David Teodorovic
The Team had done the work. Both karts were sitting proudly in pole for their races and it was now up to Jake and Wayne.
Jake rolled out first for his Title attack and the pressure was on; Jake on pole, Jason P2 and Michael P3. This is what it is all about - the top three drivers together with nowhere to hide .
At the drop of the green for the 15 laps feature everyone held their breath as Michael went to the inside of Jake and Jason, wheel-to-wheel with the pair on the outside. Three wide into turn 1 was never going to work however the skill of all three drivers saw them get through cleanly. Michael lifted to get in on the bottom and Jason ran it in as hard as he could, Jake was in the prime spot and held the race line.
Off the corner Jason dropped in front of Michael as Jake led down the back straight. Approaching turn 3 Jason tried a slider on Jake but just missed getting it done and off turn 4 for the first lap Jake was leading the field.
The race settled and as Jason and Michael battled, Jake edged away to a nice 5-6 kart lead by mid-race. With a handful of laps left, Jason had broken away from Michael and was chasing down Jake fast.
With just 2 laps left on the board to run, Jake’s worst night mare - a yellow flag on the speedway slowed the field and bunched them back up for a 2 lap sprint to glory.
Once the track was cleared all was set - at the green Jake jumped about 2 kart lengths which was just enough to hold off one last attempt by Jason in turn 1. Jake held on to claim victory and his first senior State Title.
After the race when interviewed Jake said “I really wanted this last year, I wanted to race Michael and we didn’t get the chance and I have hungered for this for 12months - it feels so good “ .
In a post race interview Michael praised Jake by taking his blue State champion's plate off his kart and placing it on Jake's saying “ He probably should have had it last year, but happy that he has now got it , Jake is a great racer".
Above: Jake on his victory lap
Now it was Wayne’s turn. The race was always going to be between Wayne and Phillip however at the drop of the green all seemed gone for Wayne.
He missed the tune on the carby, dropping back as far as 5th place, and Phillip took control and was driving off into the distance. Once the problem was fixed Wayne set about driving as hard as he could to recover from the shocking start; with 9 laps to go he was into 2nd place chasing the leader, then with 7 laps to go and pressure off by a break to 3rd place , Wayne now had to find a way past Phillip.
After trying a few laps around the bottom Wayne moved to the top of the track and started to work a line he could possibly use. Each corner Wayne would pull to the outside of the 23 machine only to lose grip off the corner.
As he did in the heats, Wayne continued to build pressure and when Phillip tried to cover and inside pass, Wayne switched to the top going into turn 3 and made the pass stick with only 3 laps to go.
After taking the chequered flag and victory Wayne stated at the post race interview “There is no side like the top side, I had to make it stick if I wanted the win because he wasn’t moving off that line but - hey - we got the job done!”
Above: Wayne now National and State Champion
pic - Redline Media
At their victory speeches both Wayne and Jake thanked the Gillespie Family Motorsport Team for their support over the weekend lending them each a Rams Race Engines built motor, Hopping’s Mowers Rydalmere for their continued support, Ian Baker for always being there when needed , Danny Stewart from Sketchy Graphix for making the karts look so good, Baines Paul Motorsport for help and knowledge and, of course, the whole Team.
Above: Jake and Wayne enjoying their victories
pic - David Teodorovic
The Baines Family Motorsport Team would like to thank their 2014 sponsors for their ongoing valuable support:
- Ian Baker
- Hopping’s Mowers
- Gillespie Family Motorsport
- Rams Race Engines
- Sketchy Graphix
- Krikke Motorsport
- Stillshots
- Tarlton Race Team
