NSW TaG Super Series, Round 4
| from Phil Warder | 24 September 2013 |
| Tweet | |
Newcastle put on wonderful weather for round 4 of the Workplace Training Centre TAG Super Series on the weekend. Numbers where down from last year's Newcastle event, but the racing was still first class.
TAG 125 Heavy
Qualifying was so close with Benjamin Ritchie leading the way, with Matthew Endres very close behind. It should be mentioned that there is only 0.5 of a second between 1st and 5th.
A field of 14 raced hard all day, however Matthew Endres shone in the heats and final to clean sweep the day. Chris Aoun was right there all day to pick up a well-earned 2nd place. After Qualifying 7th Aron Thornhill drove well all day to pick up a great 3rd place. Some hard luck stories, as always, Benjamin Ritchie blowing his race engine and moving to a spare engine hampered his day and contact with Sam Taylor in the Final meant a DNF.
The leader of the series after round 4 is now Michael Lawrence 1 point. Behind him is Aron Thornhill, with Alex Tayler and Benjamin Ritchie both in a great position after having already dropped there compulsory round. It will come down to the final round to decide who wins the converted 2013 Champion Jacket at Lithgow, on the 23rd November.
Above: TaG 125 Heavy podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
TAG 125 Light
Qualifying was very close. Mitchel Hewitt took pole with a 49.82 and Todd Stocks in 7th at a 50.08. Royce Sutherland and Dimitri Kozlinski in 2nd and 3rd were very close at the top end of the field.
A field of 13 raced clean ad hard all day but, Mitchell Hewitt showed no mercy taking both the heats and the final. Royce was very consistent taking 2nd in the final. Zac Van Leeuwwestyn and Dimitri Kozinski battled all day with Zac coming htrough in the final for 3rd.
The Championship race is alive with 3 drivers in contention for the Championship Jacket. Scott Willoughby and Laurie Fooks are yet to drop there compulsory round which leaves Royce Sutherland in a good position. Mitchell Hewitt still could, mathematically, get there so anyone could be the TAG 125 Light Champion for 2013.
Above: TaG 125 Light podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
TAG Restricted Light
Qualify was fast with Jonathan Naughton proving to be very quick with a time of 50.993 for pole but only a few hundredths of a second behind was Christopher Cheetham at 51.000 and Terry Hanly at 51.064 so, so close.
In a competitive field of 12, Jonathan Naughton, off pole won both heats but then Chris Cheetham came back at him with a win in the pre final. Watch out here comes, Robert Boaden after a DNF in the pre final and starting from grid position 9 put in the drive of the day, and to come threw to 2nd in the final followed home with a consistent day, by Chris Sunter.
At the end of racing the results were: 1st Christopher Cheetham, 2nd Robert Boaden and 3rd Chris Sunter.
The Championship race, with 1 round to go, looks like this: Jonathan Naughton, Christopher Cheetham, Mick Sieders, Jonathan Tobey and Cody Mckay all in the race to be the TAG Restricted Light Champion for 2013. The last round, at Lithgow, will tell ultimately determined who becomes the 2013 champion for this class.
Above: TaG Restricted Light podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
TAG Restricted Heavy
In qualifying, Wayne Bower, the king of Newcastle, did it again, winning the pole position with a great time of 51.240. Ian Fitzgerald and Allen Leayr pushed him but Wayne was just too fast, as usual.
This was the biggest field of the day, with 22 drivers. The front positions were unchanged all day with Wayne, Ian and Allen in the top 3. Positions 4 to 10 were very close with very competitive racing all day. An incident at turn 2 in the pre final saw the whole field bar the top 3 involved which really scrambled the finishing order. Series leader Phillip Curran had a hard day at Newcastle. He had a DNF in the final. Michael Osmond also struggled for pace and ended the day in 6th.
The Championship will go down to the wire at Lithgow Round 5 on 23rd November. With 80 points for a win and only 30 points between the top 6 drivers it’s anyone’s at Lithgow. Michael Osmond has the home track advantage but the rest are going to push him hard.
Above: TaG Restricted Heavy podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
TAG Restricted Super Heavy
In qualifying these guys know each other very well and it’s always very competitive in Super.
Lee Gardiner took the advantage with pole from Steve Lalas and last year’s champion Shane Tate finishing in 3rd.
This was a small field with quality driving all day. Lee dominated the 1st position for the day but Shane and Steve were right there. Shane finished 2nd in the final by 0.199 and Steve setting the fastest time in the final of 53.395.
Mathematically, one of these guys will go home from Lithgow with the 2013 Champions Jacket. Will it be Shane Tate, Lee Gardiner or Scott Dalton-Kirby?
Above: TaG Restricted Super Heavy podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
Junior Max joined into the TAG Super Series for the first time.
This was a small field of junior competitors but they had great racing, all day. Lap times were fast and most of the senior drivers would have been more than happy to race these times, themselves.
Jack Black took pole with a 50.027 which would have seen him off P5 in the TAG125 light race. Tyler Di Legge came in 2ND with a 50.254 and only 1 tenth back Melissa Whitmore with a time of 50.335.
In heat 1 Jack dominated but 2nd, 3rd and 4th finished 0.3 apart, so close, with Kyle edging out Melissa and Tyler. This is how it was all day with the final result coming down to a .06 gap between the 2nd to 4th competitors. Jack took the win with Kyle 2nd Melissa 3rd then 0.3 to Tyler in 4th.
Above: Junior MAX podium
pic - quickpixels.com.au
