Four Podiums for TWM at Pro Tour Opener
| press release | 5 February 2016 |
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Tom Williamson Motorsport (TWM) have started their National season of Karting in fine style at the first round of the 2016 Rotax Pro Tour National Series with four podium results for a mixture of both new drivers for TWM and a handful that have stepped up for the start of the 2016 race season.
The key standout performances for TWM existed within Rotax Light, firstly, Cody Gillis who made the switch to the Kosmic chassis for the new year. Qualifying eighth overall, Gillis made good progress in the heat races, finishing sixth, first and second. From there, the Wollongong driver advanced even further, taking a commanding victory in the pre-final by 4.5 seconds. Cody then managed to translate that result into a narrow victory over teammate Joshua Fife by 0.3 seconds in the final, helping to secure maximum points from the first event of 2016.
Above: Cody Gillis (#9) and Joshua Fife (#70) took first and second respectively overall at Todd Road
pic - Coopers Photography
For Fife, it was his first event in Rotax Light for his Pro Tour career and despite qualifying 20th, the Canberra racer managed three heat race results inside the top ten with eighth, sixth and seventh respectively. Fife succeeded even further in the longer races, picking up third in the pre-final and second in the final.
Timothy Colombrita started his first weekend in Seniors in good form, qualifying eleventh before earning three heat race results inside the top ten, picking up seventh, tenth and sixth. A DNF on the opening lap of the pre-final would see Timothy starting from the rear of grid in the final and he made the most of the 22 laps, moving his way up to tenth by the completion of the race.
In their first event for TWM, New Zealand’s Stewart sisters came together in Rotax Light, also for the first time. Ashleigh qualifying 30th and finishing 28th in heat one with two 22nd place results in heat two and three. The two finals saw good progression with Ashleigh finishing the pre-final in 30th before moving to 19th in the final. In her first event in the class, Madeline qualified 15th, finishing as high as 12th in heat two with 16th and 18th in heat one and three respectively. The pre-final saw Madeline finish in 16th with 14th in the final.
After stepping up from the Mini Max category where he was a race and round winner, Jaiden Pope qualified 12th in Junior Max Trophy, followed by making a steady progression in the heats, finishing eleventh, thirteenth and eighth. Finishing tenth in the pre-final, Pope capitalised on the longer race in the final, working his way up to take third and his first podium result in the category. Jac Preston qualified ninth in his first meeting for TWM, before taking eighth, fifteenth and tenth in the heat races. Finishing eleventh in the pre-final, Preston mirrored his team mates performance in the final, stepping up to take fifth and a podium finish.
Ric Kusnetsov made a solid start to his first weekend in Junior Max Trophy, qualifying sixth before taking twelfth, eighth and eleventh in the heat races. Likewise with his Junior Max Trophy team mates, Kusnetsov made solid progress between the pre-final and final, taking twelfth in the earlier race and eighth in the final. Nathan Tigani made his first outing in DD2 at Todd Road, qualifying 12th, Tigani picked up eighth in heat one and seventh in heat three, earning him two top ten results to go with 14th in heat two. A 15th place result in the pre-final proved to be just a minor setback for Nathan as he progressed his way up to finish sixth in the final and well within the points for the first round.
TWM’s strongest contingent of drivers existed within Junior Max with Tomas Gasperak heading the best of the results in the final. Qualifying 25th overall, Tomas made a steady start before coming on strong in heat two, finishing tenth with ninth in heat three. An 18th place result in the pre-final would set another challenge for the Gold Coast racer as he worked his way up to fourth by the end of the final. A post-race penalty relegated Tomas two places to sixth. Tomas’ brother Gabriel had a mixed beginning to his Todd Road weekend, qualifying 32nd he finished in 27th and 15th in heat one and two with a DNF in heat three. A steady movement up the order in the longer races with 23rd in the pre-final and 11th in the final.
Nathan Hadlow joined the TWM outfit for the first time at Todd Road, qualifying 19th, the Queenslander then finished the heat races in 23rd, 17th and 25th. A substantial move up the order in the pre-final saw Hadlow take fifth with eighth in the final, banking a good amount of points for the first event of the year. Cameron Longmore started the weekend in good form, qualifying 11th with the heat races see him finish 19th, with a DNF in heat two before returning to form in heat three with seventh. Longmore then managed 12th in the pre-final and 14th in the final.
Kade Vink had a challenging beginning to the Todd Road event, qualifying 33rd, though the determined young racer fought back from a DNF in heat one by taking 16th in heat two and 18th in heat three. Finishing 22nd in the pre-final, Vink returned to his climb up the order in the final, picking up ninth.
The next major event for Tom Williamson Motorsport will be round one of the 2016 Australian Kart
Championship that takes place in Dubbo, NSW from February 5-7.
