South East Zone Series Concludes at Lake King

 

by Frank Viola

Lake King Kart Club, 5th and 6th August 2017

The small rural hamlet of Lake King was the venue for the final round of the South Eastern Zone Championships for 2017. Having never visited the town or club previously, I was looking forward to seeing the track and meeting the people and drivers who keep the club running. The track hosts only two race meetings a year as the members also race at the Esperance and Albany Kart Clubs.

I was not disappointed when the morning dawned on Friday after having arrived late on Thursday night. Putting the tent up was the most difficult thing to do on the week-end as the hospitality shown by the members and drivers was second to none. The rack is nestled in between the Aussie Rules Football ground and a rather nice forest of white gums. I even got to sample the wonderful flowing circuit after the race meeting had concluded. I you have not been to the track and competed before, you may need to add this track to your list for 2018. You will NOT be disappointed.

Mitchell Peralla was the round and series winner in KZ2 (pic – Frank Viola)

KA3 Junior

A smallish class of KA3 Junior fronted up for the start of racing on Saturday morning, but Cody Leunen showed us all what a good driver he is. Taking out all four heats including Pole position was a great result for him. A DNF cost Kieren Ellis a place on the final podium in heat three. That left Holly Panizza and Chase Hoy battling for the minor placings over the four heats. In the end, Panizza was able to complete the required job and run away series winner, Chase Hoy was only able to manage third place overall for the week-end.

Italkart driver, Hoy was the dominant winner in rounds two and three. With a good solid effort in rounds one and four he was able to take out the series win. It was terrific overall effort for a great young man and most well deserved. His father, former Sports Sedan driver Byron Hoy, was an extremely proud man over the week-end. Well done to both of them for a series well run.

Weekend Result:

1. Cody Leunen
2. Holly Panizza (Ricciardo/KA)
3.Chase Hoy (Italkart/KA)

Series Result:

1. Chase Hoy
2. Holly Panizza
3. Daniel Trow
4. Kieren Ellis
5. Grace Patrick

KA3 Junior, series winner Chase Hoy ahead of Kieren Ellis (pic – Frank Viola)

Cadet 12

After struggling with set up on Thursday, James Micucci-Allen qualified 4th with Lachy Marshall doing a great job and taking pole. Micucci-Allen was able to get the small issues he had sorted by heat one and he took the lead early finishing in that place after the 12 laps. He and Judd Stevens and Joshua Byrne had a great tussle in the early laps of each heat. But as the laps counted down in heat two, three and the final, Stephens and Byrne were bogged down with their own battles and Micucci-Allen was able to skip away. The final was a slightly different story as the gap between first and the minor placings was quite big from the outset. A tweak in the rear end of the number 41 Omega was all that was needed.

The overall series winner Lachy Marshall was content to stay in the background, all he had to do was stay in the top five over the weekend and he would secure the series win. He did that very well and took home the plate and the big trophy.

Weekend Result:

1. James Micucci-Allen (Omega/Mini Rok)
2. Judd Stevens (OTK/Mini Rok)
3. Joshua Byrne (OTK/Mini Rock)

Series Result:

1. Lachy Marshall
2. James Micucci-Allen
3. Joshua Byrne
4. Jacob Zloich
5. Ethan Flynn



Tag 125 Restricted Medium

After qualifying in third place, Jarrad King was able to jump the rest of the field and skip to a great win in the first heat. After that it seemed as if it was all plain sailing for him as he romped to four straight wins. All in all a pretty satisfying win for the Tibi Kart driver.

Adam Cornick had to fight back from an average start to the week-end after qualifying in 8th place. He gradually made his way through the field to register a fine second place in the final. After a disappointing finish to the previous meeting in Bunbury, he was pretty determined to get it right this time. That he did, with a strong finish to the four heats for him.

Mathew Cole ran consistently in the top four all week-end along with Graham Westling and Roy Tester. The three had some great tussles in each heat, but a spin at the end of the main straight in the final put paid to Westling’s attempt to finish in the top three.

Weekend-Result:

1. Jarrad King (Tibi/X30)
2. Adam Cornick (Energy/Rotax)
3. Mathew Cole (OTK/X30)

Series Result:

1. Jarrad King
2. Luke Hall
3. Mathew Cole
4. Adam Cornick
5. Jess Allan

KA3 Senior Combined

Keb Evans dominated this class from the outset. No-one could do anything about the OTK mounted #96 kart and driver. Terrence Flynn-Dowell, Spencer Stone and Brad Nock all did their best, but to no avail. A DNF for Nock in the pre-final after some wheel alignment adjustments prior to the race put paid to the attempt to better Evans.

It was a good sized class with a dozen drivers, but clearly the week-end belonged to the young driver from Albany. He is perhaps one of the finest drivers in WA outside the metropolitan area. He dominated the entire series winning three of the four rounds in the series. It will be interesting to see how he progresses outside the Karting ranks in the next few years.

Weekend-Result:

1. Keb Evans (OTK/KA3)
2. Terrence Flynn-Dowell (Ricciardo/KA3)
3. Spencer Stone (Monaco/KA3)

Series Result:



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1.Keb Evans
2. Brad Nock
3. Spencer Stone
4. Daniel Panizza
5. Terrence Flynn-Dowell

Tony Arambasic in TaG R Medium  (pic – Frank Viola)

KZ2

Mitchell Perrella dominated the class during the week-end and qualified on Pole position as well as winning each of the heats. Relative newcomer to this class, Tyler Spouse-Nastasi was solid in second place did very well to record a second place on the week-end. Connor Wroth and Scott McKie fought for the final podium position until McKie had a DNF in the final.

It would be terrific to see if the drivers in this class could be persuaded to compete in the Dash for Cash in Kalgoorlie. The KZ2 class is fast and spectacular with the F1 style starts. The costs are high in this class, but the racing is always well worth watching.

Round 4 Result:

1.  Mitchell Perella (CRG)
2. Tyler Spouse-Nastasi (Maranello)
3. Connor Wroth (Lenzo)

Series Result:

1. Mitchell Perrella
2. Michael Peterson
3. Scott McKie
4. Connor Wroth
5. Graham Gall

Tyer Spouse-Nastasi, KZ2 (pic – Frank Viola)

KA3 Senior Heavy

Dion Hounsfield was the prominent driver in this class during the week-end. He did not win the final however, that was credit to a fine drive from Tim White. He and Liam Florisson had a fantastic battle over the first three heats.

But the weekend really belonged to Hounsfield with pole position, but not by much over Tim White. He was able to win the first heat by a handy margin. Liam Florrisson got closer to him in the second heat as White fell back to third. Hounsfield was able to re-establish his speed over the third heat and win comfortably. The final was a slightly different story with a fantastic last few laps; Tim White was able to outlast Hounsfield over the longer distance to win his only heat of the week-end.

It was terrific to see Anthony Perrella in a Kart for the first time in a while. He was pretty pleased with his OTK and did a great job through-out the week-end. Fourth and fifth places in the final two heats gave him great satisfaction.

Round 4 Result:

1. Dion Hounsfield (FA/KA3)
2. Tim White (Arrow/KA3)
3. Liam Florrisson

Series Result:

1. Dion Hounsfield
2. Tim White
3. Bob Harrison
4. Ashlee Flynn-Dowell
5. Todd Shearer

Cadet 9

Lachy Clee was the dominant driver in this class over the weekend and he won three of the four heats. It was the second heat which was one of the favourite races of the week-end when his younger brother Jordon stole the show with a second place. A huge smile broke over his face as the helmet came off on the in grid. The wonderful thing about the result was that he his is still on his “P” plates.

Although Nash Ferraro was quickest in qualifying, it was a different story in the heats. Ferraro was able to do well enough to take second place and the series win over the week-end. He won every single heat in the first three rounds of the series, but Lachy Clee took the first three heats of this week-end before Ferraro was able to come back to win the final.

Corey Fraser also had a great race meeting and was able to take out third place for the weekend.

Round 4 Result:

1.  Lachy Clee (Lenzo/Mini Rok)
2. Nash Ferraro (FA/Mini Rok)
3. Corey Fraser (Kosmic Mini Rok)

Series Result:

1. Nash Ferraro
2. Corey Fraser
3. Lachy Clee
4. Noah Byrne
5. Wesley Hobson

KA4 Junior Light

This was only a small class, with Cody Leunan, Bevan Stone, Liam Cain, Jessica Howe and Toby Hobson all having a good dice over the four heats. Stone qualified on pole, but Leunan won the four heats.

The final series results was taken by Leunan by a healthy Margin and he dominated by winning each round.

Round 4 Result:

1. Cody Leunan (Deadly / KA4)
2. Liam Cain (FA/KA4)
3. Bevan Stone

Series Result:

1. Cody Leunan
2. Liam Cain
3. Bevan Stone
4. Thomas Callaghan
5. Jessica Howe

KA4 Junior Light winner Cody Leunan (here in KA3 Junior) (pic – Frank Viola)

Tag 125 Light

Ethan Trow had a great dice with Lewi Sutherland all week-end and the two were trading positions during the first three heats. The two CompKart drivers were terrific to watch and never traded any paint. Along with Mark Watts and Courtney Gough, they put on a great show through-out the two days racing.

Series winner Aaron McGregor had an average weekend, but he knew what he had to do in the end. He has won previous series before (so did his dad Lance). But I am sure that when he saw the final points this time he was a little relieved that it was over.

It was a CompKart dominated class, with Courtney Gough, fresh from her wonderful effort in the Twin Super (Open Performance) in Bunbury a few weeks who made most improvement on this weekend as well. A great second place in the final after a great surge in the final laps almost saw her take out the final. Perhaps the most entertaining final of the week-end, Gough and Trow were quick and clean during the last ten laps. Positions were traded, but it was Trow who prevailed in the end.

Round 4 Result:

1. Ethan Trow (Comp Kart/X30)
2. Lewi Sutherland (Comp Kart/X30)
3. Mark Watts

Series Result:



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1. Aaron McGregor
2. Courtney Gough
3. James McKie
4. Mark Watts
5. Lewi Sutherland

Daniel Yeoman, TaG R Medium (pic – Frank Viola)
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