Festival State Cup, Round 4
| from Ian Williams | 13 August 2013 |
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Sunday August 4th saw the running of round 4 of the SA Festival State Cup series at the Monarto karting complex.
Since the Nationals were held at the circuit way back at Easter, the circuit has had a huge change in appearance with the winter rains creating a giant green carpet across the infield and paddock areas.
Above: The racing amongst the top four in Junior National Light was this close all day. Here Josh Denton leads Tyler Morrison, but it was Jordan Tasker who got up to win the final
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
The competitors were greeted with brilliant sunshine all day, and the near record 150 entries across 15 classes put on a fantastic days racing. What was very obvious was the enormous shift of senior drivers from the traditional 100cc Yamaha classes to the various 125 TaG divisions, and there was only one P-plater in all of the senior 100cc classes.
The Junior Max field was all class with the nine drivers running line astern for almost all laps with no more than a couple kart lengths gap to be seen between any of them. Jaydn Sharrad’s recent Pro Tour experience was invaluable in chasing Junior Clubman national champ Josh Denton in the heats and the taking a win in the final. Blaine Grills also made a good return to racing after his unfortunate playground accident caused him to miss the round 3 meeting.
Above: Rookie driver Sam Henderson testing the grass.
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
The Cadets had the second largest field for the meeting, with Blake Purdie and Michael Jones finishing at the top of the class, racing hard and staying out the front all day. With so many drivers involved it was amazing that not one Cadet class driver DNF’d a single race all day long!!
The Rookie class had 11 entrants and Jocab Dowson lead them home throughout. The top 5 finishing drivers all shared the top 3 placings amongst themselves and it took until the final heat to settle the days minor placings.
Above: In such fine weather, even a ride back to the pits on a quad bike is something to celebrate! Thumbs up from Thomas Fritz after a pre-final DNF, JNL.
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
Some exceptional race long dices were featured in both Junior National Light and Heavy classes, with the top 4 always running close enough to swap positions at any time. The experienced Tyler Morrison took a 1st and a 2nd in the two classes, with local Murray Bridge driver Jordan Tasker taking the win in JNL. Heat winners in the 2 classes also included Jordan Murphy, Joshua Denton and Benjamin Delaney.
For the most senior class, Clubman Over 40s, it was business as usual out front for Steve Blee and Keith Bartlett, but they had some unexpected work to do with new opposition in David Rinaldi mixing it up all day long to eventually split the two veterans on the podium.
Above: Michael Jones leads a congo line of Cadets - Adam Slattery Jnr (99), Kai Allen (26), Troy Fortanier (67), Tyler Craig (58), Thomas Aston (92) and Alex Montagu (10).
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
The TaG 125 open classes again featured Paul Pittam at the front, with a win in Heavy after holding off a fast and furious Luke Dillon, and a 2nd place in Lights behind a reinvigorated Rocco Ventra who has finally made the most of his move from Clubman Light. The racing in both 125 TaG divisions was fast and exciting, the largest field for the day was the Heavies and even the 10th placed driver overall had a 4th place finish in one heat, showing the depth of talent and closeness of the racing.
- Top 3 results below. Full results on AKA CMS HERE.
Clubman Light
1 Matt Mahar
2 Domenico Tiani
3 Ben Kenewell
Clubman Heavy
1 Clancy Venables
2 Peter Zacharia
3 Nick Larcombe
Clubman Super Heavy
1 Simon Enright
2 John Ellis
3 Jeff Redjepi
Above: Murray Bridge local and Rookie driver Hayden Jericho had a broken finger, so he took the job as a grid marshal for the day.
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
Clubman Over 40s
1 Stephen Blee
2 David Rinaldi
3 Keith Bartlett
TaG 125 Heavy
1 Paul Pittam
2 Luke Dillon
3 Anthony Bartel
TaG 125 Light
1 Rocco Ventra
2 Paul Pittam
3 Luke Bergens
Sportsman SA 100
1 Dan Palamountain
2 Grant Edwards
3 Jake Burrows
Above: Tyler Morrison was the winner in Junior National Heavy
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
TaG 125 Restricted Light
1 Micah Montgomery
2 Christopher Coombe
3 Ben Floyd
TaG 125 Restricted Heavy
1 Michael Smith-Crossing
2 Joel Rinaldi
3 Shaun Field
Junior Max
1 Joshua Denton
2 Jayden Sharrad
3 Jordan Murphy
Above: Junior Max class winner Joshua Denton
pic - Michelle Newman, mnphoto@internode.on.net
Cadets
1 Blake Purdie
2 Michael Jones
3 Britanny Morrison
4 Kai Allen
Rookies
1 Jacob Dowson
2 Jackson Rees
3 Tyson Harvey
4 Cooper Hay
Junior National Light
1 Jordan Tasker
2 Tyler Morrison
3 Joshua Denton
4 Benjamin Delaney
Junior National Heavy
1 Tyler Morrison
2 Jordan Murphy
3 Blaine Grills
4 Brodie Cook
