SEQ J-MAX Series, Round 5
| by Geoff Salmon, Sportsvoice | 20 September 2013 |
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A select group of the leading point scorers in the Series arrived at Toowoomba Kart Club last Sunday, September 15, with the intention of delivering the maximum number of points and carrying them forward into the final round of the Inaugural 2013 SEQ J Max Titles to be held at Ipswich Kart Club on the 30th November 2013. We welcomed a new member to the Jmax fraternity, Marc Tulloch (#21) who chose this round of the Titles to move to the class. Welcome Marc.
A total of 78 drivers attended the meeting to compete, with the weather conditions showing no sign of anything but a sunny day with temperatures up to approx. 29 degrees Celsius.
The Club runs a five round format and with the Jmax’s running qualifying 1 heat of 12 laps a pre final of fifteen and final only counts of 20 laps we fitted in to the format without any congestion.
Above: SEQ J-Max series round 5 podium - 1st Nicholas Andrews, 2nd Daniel Plants, 3rd James Litzow
Qualifying JMAX
The top eight drivers recorded grid positions for the 12 lap heat as follows: Pole Nicholas Andrews (#7) recording a best time of 42.651 seconds; P2 went to Daniel Plant (#12) 42.994; P3 Mitchell Maddren (#92) 43.002; P4 James Litzow (#58) 43.104; P5 Marc Tulloch (#21) a great start to his JMax racing with a 43.294; P6 Michael Fabri (#14) 43.438; P7 Jack Smith (#41) 43.490 and Blake Brooks (#18) 43.711.
The Heat
Nicholas Andrews (#7) drove away from the field and took a comfortable win over the 12 laps; second Mitchell Maddren (#92) from a hard charging Daniel Plant (#12) in third; Nicholas Andrews winning the Heat by a margin of 4.129 seconds with Daniel Plant a further .486 of a second back with James Litzow (#58) finishing fourth 1.214 seconds back. The fastest lap recorded by Nicholas Andrews a 42.999 on lap four.
Pre final
Nicholas Andrews (#7) continued his winning ways with a 4.132 second win over Daniel Plant (#12) in second; James Litzow (#58) and Mitch Maddren (#92) fighting throughout the pre final to eventually finish with James in third and Mitch finishing in fourth place. Jack Smith (#41) drove the full length of the prefinal in fifth position. Michael Fabri (#14) finishing sixth after dropping back to seventh on the thirteenth lap before passing Blake Brooks (#18) on the last lap to secure the position. Unfortunately Marc Tulloch recorded a D.N.F. and took no further part retiring from the prefinal on lap eight. . The fastest lap recorded by Nicholas Andrews a 43.126 on lap nine.
The Final
The final had it all, James Litzow (#58) with an engine that would not start on the grid and a team of helpers worked feverishly with the 2 minute time limit in place before finally the engine fired and James was able to join the field for the 20 lap final.
The start and Daniel Plant (#12) jumped away and led the first lap, but not before he and Nicholas Andrews (#7) were seen to trade blows, firstly with Andrews passing at the end of the back straight then Plant regaining the lead with a pass on the inside through the tree hairpin and then Nicholas Andrews driving through under Daniel at the Canteen corner this all happening over the period of the first two laps; James Litzow (#58) after almost missing out due to engine gremlins was not to be deterred with a pass on Daniel Plant (#12) up into second on the same lap, it was not until lap five that Daniel Plant (#12) was able to regain the second position, he and James Litzow (#58) making a very entertaining final (as far as the spectators were concerned) with close racing throughout.
Mitch Maddren (#92) had to be content with fourth throughout, Michael Fabri (#14) who had front end
problems all day finally getting the “feel” right to finish in fifth, Jack Smith moving forward one position over the 20 laps to finish sixth, another great dice throughout with Marc Tulloch (#21) finishing in seventh position on his first outing in the class. Blake Brooks (#18) unfortunately retiring on lap seven.
Nicholas Andrews (#7) taking the fastest lap with a 43.226 on lap twelve, and winning with a margin of 6.983 seconds over the second and third placegetters who finished just .226 of a second apart. James Litzow (#58) with a best lap time of 43.321 on lap fourteen and Daniel Plants best lap of 43.408 on lap ten. A highly entertaining final and certainly one that makes the final of the Titles in 2 months at Ipswich a must see event.
My congratulations to all competitors, these youngsters have certainly taken the JMax class of racing to a new high in Queensland.
The hard Charger award presented by Geoff Salmon from Sportsvoice went to Daniel Plant after his brilliant driving throughout the day.
To the sponsors a big “thank you” to Dale Verrall from Pacific Kartsport, Ian Black from IKD and Geoff Salmon from Sportsvoice for their great support of the Series.
Until the 30th November at Ipswich Kart Club for the final round of a great Series, and thanks to Rick Fabri for his great insight as coordinator of this very popular Series.
Bye for now.
Geoff Salmon - Sportsvoice
