NSW Junior Pro Clubman Series, Round 3


by Paul Schofield 8 August 2013
 

The 3rd round of the NSW Junior Clubman Pro series was hosted by the Newcastle Kart Racing Club as part of the Club’s annual feature event, the Newcastle City Cup.

Beautiful winters day greeted the 14 entrants. Apart from the NSW JC regulars, Jordi Marcon made the trip down from Queensland and NSW youngster Joshua Car had to wait until his birthday, the day prior to the event, to be old enough to obtain his JC licence. Other newcomers to the series included Holly Holden-Stewart, Anthony Wiskich and Kyle Angel.

Format for the event was Qualifying, 3 x 8 lap heats, 11 lap Pre-final and a Final of 14 laps.

Qualifying

With bonus points up for grabs, qualy was expected to be hotly contested. First blood went to newly crowned Closed State Title holder, Harry Hayek, closely followed by series leader Chris Sandrone and Thomas McDonnell. These 3 were split by 6/100th’s.

Nick Becker started his weekend with a time that would have put him in the top 5, but unfortunately weighed in a few grams under. This was to be the beginning of an interesting day for Nick, but more about that later.

Heat 1

As expected by most, Harry Hayek and Chris Sandrone were both keen to stamp their authority from the outset. Sandrone set the early pace in heat 1 with Hayek in hot pursuit. This pair running nose to tail. After a period of sustained pressure Hayek took the lead with 3 laps to go and drew a heat winning gap from Sandrone.

Damon Schofield was 3rd throughout, hanging onto this pair. But it was the drive of Joshua Car that made the others sit up and take notice. At one stage was back in 7th, the youngster made short work of the established Ormerod and McDonnnell before cruising effortlessly onto the back of Schofield.

Marcon, Angel, Wiskich and Heath enjoyed a good battle. Alex Waters looked off song and Shae Becker’s Clubman didn’t sound right at all. Unfortunately Holden-Stewart’s first race in JC ended, along with Becker, on the first lap.

Across the line, Heat 1:

1st  Hayek
2nd Sandrone
3rd Schofield
4th Car
5th Ormerod

Heat 2

Race was over before the start for Schofield who snapped a chain on the roll up lap. The battle for dominance resumed between Hayek and Sandrone. But if they thought that they were going to have things all their own way, Car and Ormerod had another thought coming. Sandrone established the early lead. But just as heat 1, Hayek with a package that appears to comes on later got the better of Sandrone with 2 laps to go. Car and Ormerod who had a good battle throughout started to have a few bites at the leaders at the closing stages. Becker having started last was the big charger, working his way through to 5th and in doing so set the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

The battle in the mid pack was a fierce one between Angel, McDonnell, Marcon and Wiskich. Waters kart looked better than it did in the first heat, Holden Stewart completed her first JC race ahead of Heath and Shae Becker.

Across the line, Heat 2:

1st Hayek
2nd Sandrone
3rd Car
4th Ormerod
5th Becker

Heat 3

Ormerod and Marcon had a poor first lap sending them both to the rear of the field. Sandrone got the jump at the start for the 3rd time in a row. Schofield got past Hayek before Hayek resumed order by getting into second on the second lap. There was no catching Sandrone this time who worked a comfortable gap. Hayek having disposed of Schofield similarly had a relatively easy run in second. Car heaped the pressure on Schofield. Again Becker made his run from last place on the grid to get up to as high as 5th before his chain let go resulting in some horrible noises emanating from his screaming engine. Matters got worse when the trolley tyre blew. This was a day to forget so far for Nick.

That left the mid-pack to sort out claims for 5th. After a spirited race it ended up Angel, McDonnell, Ormerod, the improving Wiskich and Waters, Marcon, Holden-Stewart and Shae Becker.

Across the line, Heat 3:

1st Sandrone
2nd Hayek
3rd Schofield
4th Car
5th Angel

Prefinal

Another nice day on Sunday. Valuable series points are up for grabs in this race. The line up for the prefinal saw, Hayek starting on pole from Sandrone, Car and Ormerod. Would anyone be able to stop the dominance of Hayek and Sandrone?

They’re off and racing and for the first time Sandrone is beaten to the first corner by Hayek. When Hayek completed the first lap in front of Ormerod and Sandrone closely followed by Angel, it was obvious that this was going to be just the beginning of a huge battle. Next lap and across the line it was Ormerod, Sandrone, Hayek and Car.

Not until lap 4 did it look like the race had settled down any. By this time Car was in the lead from Sandrone, Ormerod, Schofield and Hayek. Unfortunately Sandrone’s run came to an end on lap 7 when he uncharacteristically misjudged turn 1 to end up in the gravel trap.

Car continued with relentless pace to the finish. The action behind him was hotting up though sending the commentator into a frenzy. Ormerod, Schofield and Hayek were now joined by Marcon, Angel, the hard charging Becker, McDonnell and Waters. This lot swapped positions every lap right up to the finish line. In the end Schofield got the nod from Hayek, Angel, Marcon, Becker, the early leader Ormerod and McDonnell.

The Queenslander Marcon had announced that he had learnt this technical track by setting the fastest lap time.

Across the line, Prefinal:

1st Car
2nd Schofield
3rd Hayek,
4th Angel
5th Marcon

Final

Well this race promised to be a cracker. The prefinal results had turned everyone’s initial predictions on their heads. Joshie Car now looking the goods. The excitement generated by the Pre-final ensured that the crowd packed the fence. Junior Clubman has returned to be the class to watch.

At the start Schofield got into the lead from P2. A bit of jostling for position in turn 1 saw Schofield emerge with a 6 length lead, the biggest break anyone has had so far this weekend. That lead was gone by the second lap with Hayek leading the chase with Car in tow. Ormerod, Becker and Marcon formed a second pack. Heath in the meantime had a big off at the speed bowl to see out of the event.

Some infighting between Schofield, Hayek and Car ensured that the 2nd pack joined the first one. These 6 then set about an almighty tussle with not only the lead swapping several times but the order of the whole group changing at almost every corner. Before long this 6 was joined by Sandrone making ground up from last, McDonnell, Angel and Waters to form a pack of 10.

This race had developed into a thriller. The crowd cheering every move. The commentator has by now gone absolutely berserk.

By half race distance, the order was Ormerod, Schofield, Car, Hayek, Marcon, Becker, Sandrone, Angel, Waters and McDonnell all in the lead pack, closely followed by Wiskich, Holden-Stewart and Shae Becker. McDonnell by this time had retired with some sort of engine issue.

Everytime someone got into the lead and looked to make a winning break of 2-3 kart lengths, the gap was hauled in almost immediately and the racing resumed. It was hard to know where to look, action was everywhere. With a few laps remaining, Schofield was back in the lead heading a very determined looking pack. A few more lead changes were responded to immediately the very next corner. With 2 laps to go a series of passing manoevres on each other by Car, Hayek, Ormerod, Morcon and Becker allowed Schofield some breathing space to set sail for home. But Car and Ormerod with superior pace soon rounded up the leader before the start of the last lap to set up a classic. Schofield though managed to hold the charging pair at bay.

Following Schofield across the line was Car, Ormerod, the fast finishing Sandrone, Hayek, Marcon, Becker, Waters, Angel, Wiskich, Holden Stewart and Shae Becker. Unfortunately Ormerod was relegated after the race due to a minor technical infringement.


Above: Damon Schofield celebrates a well earned victory
pic - quickpixels

Official top 5 placings:

1st Schofield
2nd Car
3rd Sandrone
4th Hayek
5th Marcon

This race turned out to be the highlight of the Newcastle City Cup and as Troy Hunt from the Top Gear Racing Academy commented “It’s a long time since I have seen a race like that”. All the drivers should be commended on the exceptional standard that they set and the sportsmanship shown by one and all.

Official sponsors of the NSW Junior Pro Clubman Series are:

Scuderia PCR Australia, Yamaha, Remo Racing, Laing Simmons (Potts Point / Pyrmont),  Kart 1 Racing, Stones Kart Sport,  Karting World

Next round will be held at Lithgow on Sunday 25th August. Further information call Dennis  Sandrone 0409330025

 

 

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