Huge Fields At Western Cup Round 1
| by Sean Phillips | 11 February 2014 |
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WA karting kicked off the year in style with a massive 296 karts entered for round 1 of the Western Cup Series hosted at the Tiger Kart Clubs renovated Wanneroo Kartway.
The club worked tirelessly in the lead up to the meeting preparing the facility so it was top notch in preparation for this huge event.
Karters from all over the state and even a few from interstate made the effort to be part of this meeting with some fantastic racing and a great atmosphere. Everyone enjoyed what was a long but entertaining day and night of kart racing.
Above: A massive field of KZ3 take the start for heat 1 at Wanneroo. Blake Mills leads Amrit Kondola (11), Jake Klarich (95) and Simon Gwilliam (21)
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
As with any kart event, but particularly one of this size, the behind the scenes effort by the track crew, stewards and the immense job of running the canteen was just amazing. The meeting ran smoothly, on time and all the race laps were completed in full making the day a complete success.
Most classes had 20 or more karts and that alone makes for a great spectacle. It’s been a while since we have seen fields that size lining up for the starter and a long long time since the track capacity has been maxed out with the 44 KZ3 drivers putting on racing unlike anything seen in WA before...
Some stand out winners on the day were Jay Bunton in R125H, John Sheppard taking the win over Kerry Foster in R125L and Anthony Martin just piping Kip Foster in 125L.
Above: Bit of trouble in 125 Light
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Other notable results were Bailey Mickler winning a carnage ridden 125H and a fantastic 2nd place by Robert Hooper who has just moved up from Jnr’s competing in his first meeting in this class.
The kids also put on a great display of racing with Dylan Ferfolja winning Cadets and Aaron Love taking an awesome win in Rookies. Jnr National Light was won by the super fast and professional Flat Out Karts driver Sam Dicker with Ben Harders winning the Heavy class in style as well.
Jmax has started the year with a bang having 16 of these super fast Jnr karts entered for the weekend. Thomas Schou led home Jake Kosteki and Josh Wood in the Jmax class. Not to be outdone, Jnr Clubman also had 10 entries even though at least five of the drivers from last year have moved to seniors in 2014. Shae Thompson took a well deserved win.
Above: Aaron Loves leads Damon Papasergio and Corey Minton, Rookies
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
The best races of the weekend though were reserved for the 44 kart field in KZ-3. The sight and sound of 44 KZ karts blasting around the track running well into the 46 second lap times was just amazing.
It’s not often that a kart race could be compared to a full grid of V8 Supercars or even sprint cars blasting around the circuit but these races has the sights, sounds and smells of a world class motor race. The crowd was 4 deep almost the whole way around the track and the karts were actually starting to stir up a wind storm on the track with dust blowing around and you could even feel the heat and smell the hot brakes from the karts on the track.
I’ve been karting for over 30 years and I’ve never seen a kart race like that before; the night time races even more so with sparks flying up and red brake disks glowing in the dark. What a spectacle to see for everyone at the track.
It also shows the calibre of the drivers in KZ-3 with almost no crashes and no agro or silly take outs though the weekend. The whole WA KZ-3 group should be congratulated for organizing and putting on such an awesome show, well done.
Above: KZ3 brings the crowd to the fence :)
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
As with any top level motorsport the cream rises to the top and currently Blake Mills is just in another world at the moment in KZ-3. Last year’s series champion took a commanding pole position setting a new outright lap record of 46.241 and won all the heats and the final in a stunning display of driving. Blake also puts in 100% effort and lots and lots of testing to get to this level, he’s completely deserving of his current form and has raised the bar in WA to a level equal to anything in Australia at the moment. Well done Blake.
Jake Klarich and BD Souter Dawson took 2nd and 3rd places in KZ-3 for what was a great result in a field of drivers completely stacked with WA's best karting talent.
The 2014 Western Cup round 1 will be an event to remember for a long time, a great meeting held at a fantastic venue run and promoted by a great club, roll on 2015...
- Full results on the AKA CMS HERE
Overall placings:
Restricted 125 Heavy: 1 Jay Bunton, 2 Mark Unstead, 3 Trevor Gaynor
Junior National Light: 1 Samuel Dicker, 2 Brock McGregor, 3 Bailey Grech
Sportsman 100 Light: 1 Aaron Grossman, 2 Oliver Baxter, 3 Brenton Magri
Over 40s: 1 John Ray, 2 Craig Ryan, 3 Steve McGregor
Sportsman 125 Heavy: 1 Bayley Mickler, 2 Robert Hooper, 3 Stuart Verco
Junior MAX: 1 Thomas Schou, 2 Jake Kostecki, 3 Joshua Wood
Cadets: 1 Dylan Ferfolja, 2 Samuel Christison, 3 Luke Sawyer
Sportsman 100 Heavy: 1 Jake Burton, 2 Thomas McPherson, 3 Matt Davis
Sportsman 100 Super Heavy: 1 Simon Furzer, 2 Jarrod Wilson, 3 Nathan King
Sportsman 125 Light: 1 Anthony Martin, 2 Kip Foster, 3 Tyler Peel
Rookies: 1 Aaron Love, 2 Jack Harders, 3 Corey Minton
Junior Clubman: 1 Shae Thompson, 2 Ben Harders, 3 Cameron Nash
Senior National 150kg: 1 Jake Truarn, 2 Thomas Sparkes, 3 Steven Clarke
Restricted 125 Light: 1 John Sheppard, 2 Kerry Foster, 3 Nicholas Mays
Junior National Heavy: 1 Ben Harders, 2 Bayley Bell, 3 Braedyn Bowra
KZ3: 1 Blake Mills, 2 Jake Klarich, 3 BD Souter-Dawson, 4 Simon Gwilliam, 5 Darren Burke
Above: Cadet racer Memphis Knowles grabbed 2nd in the Final
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Sportsman 125 Light get a start, Adam Garnaut leads Lewis Shugar
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Kip Foster, 125 Light
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: P-Plater Kieren Ellis in the Rookies class
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Brendan Shugg, 125 Light
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Out-grids packed with karts is always a good thing
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Cadet winner Dylan Ferfolja (4)
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
Above: Cadet racer Caprice Hall
pic - Sean Phillips, TKC
