Rogers and Scarman Clear of the Field in Race 1

by Mark Jones

Michael Rogers took the first race of the weekend at the Australian non-gearbox Superkart Championships after a neck and neck battle with Tim Scarman for the win in race 1.

Rogers (Ian Williams Tuning Arrow) and Scarman (Jones Kart Developments Viper) exchanged the lead after Darren Tyler initially jumped into the lead from the second row of the grid, only to be assigned a stop-go penalty for a too aggressive jump at the rolling start which saw him out of formation as the race crossed the start-finish line. Rogers and Scarman fought clear of the battle involving Shaun Jones and Jason McIntyre to fight out the lead over the next three laps. A slight mistake from Scarman allowed Rogers to skip clear to a gap that Scarman would not recover, racing to a one second win.

Third place as decided right at the finish with a drag race to the line resolved in favour of Jason McIntyre (Marron Excavations Arrow) over Shaun Jones (Viper Superkarts Viper) by just over six thousandths of a second.

Fifth place was a snarling six kart battle which saw Kristian Stebbing (Suburban Accounting Phoenix) getting to the line first while choas errupted behind him. Ryan Felmingham (Ian Williams Tuning Omega) jinked to the left for a run on Mark Wicks (KartsportNews.com Hypermax) for what would have been sixth position and the win in Rotax Heavy causing Rod Clarke (Trimworld Racing/Raceline Seating Arrow) to check left to avoid the Omega driver. Clarke spun backwards into the concrete wall, crossing the finish line backwards in ninth position, braking a rear axle on the concrete. Felmingham finished seventh behind Wicks, with Colin Moore (Impact Flags and Banners Arrow) crossing ahead of Clarke and Brendan Luneman's CRG completing the top ten finishers.

Rhys Newman (Ian Williams Tuning Arrow) won the Junior division after a race long dice, beating Mitchell Abbot (AMG Racing Arrow) to the chequered flag by a single tenth of a second. Sean Whitfield (Wild Digital Phoenix) finished third after a last lap clash with another kart.

Sunday will see three races with the final race a longer bonus point race to decide the Australian titles for the three classes.

Points: Michael Rogers 20, Tim Scarman 17, Jason McIntrye 15, Shaun Jones 13, Kristian Stebbing 11, Colin Moore 10, Matthew Pannowitch 9, Doug Savage 8, Darren Tyler 7

Rotax Heavy: Mark Wicks 20, Ryan Felmingham 17, Rod Clarke 15, Brendan Lunemann 13, Ian Goldfinch 11 etc

Rotax Junior: Rhys Newman 20, Mitchell Abbott 17, Sean Whitfield 15, David Webster 13, Greg Stillwell 11

 

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