WA KZ Finale: Jake Klarich
| 22 August 2014 |
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This weekend sees the final round of the FMA Motorsport West Australian KZ series played out at the Hurricane Kart Club's 'King of the Hill' meeting at Wundowie. Jake Klarich, Darren Burke and Blake Mills fill the top three positions. Today, we hear from Jake!
by Paul Williams
Q: Jake, you have a handy lead going into the last round. You could still, mathematically, not make it. Are you changing tactics for the last round or going to attack for the round win?
JK: Going into this last round it's always good to have a handy lead over the next driver just incase some sort of disaster strikes! But of course I'm still going to have to remain consistently inside the top five to have a chance of taking out the title.
My tactics as such won't be changing. I’ve been thinking about the championship a lot throughout the season. It's very important to finish every race, especially with the others having quite a good run this season! Going into this last round I will be pushing very hard as always, still going to be putting everything on the line within reason. My plan initially would be to try and get my first pole position for the season. I haven't had the run I have wanted all season In qualifying so that will be the main thing to focus on for me.
I would love to end the season with a round win, that's definitely on the cards for me. I have had a good run at the King Of The Hill race in the past with a win at the first ever event and a close second place last year to Millsy, who is one of the challengers for the title this year. It's one of my stronger tracks but also a strong track for many of the other drivers so it's going to be the toughest yet. Definitely a race meeting full of action for the spectators as always!
Above: Jake Klarich under pressure from Simon Gwilliam at the previous round
pic - Hayden O'Keefe
Q: This year you changed manufacturers and started your own team. How has the switch been?
JK: The switch has been really good for us! The change of chassis was a good change. The Lenzo Kart wasn't bad at all, had a lot of success in it, but the CRG has been good as we could stick with Joey Hanssen who is my engine builder. Setting up our own team in WA suits us well because we can focus on what we came to the track to do, and me and my dad work better together in a closed environment without too many distractions. We will be looking to build the team up for next season and possibly even take on a kart brand that we could sell and push for!
Q: So building a team up, does this mean expanding the team to more drivers?
JK: Possibly expanding it to another driver, but for now we are just interested in a team with one driver. We are more so looking to expand the team as in selling parts at the track, maybe taking on a kart brand. More so like a professional kart shop at the track. We want to have an image that portrays something that you would see when walking through the pits at a European karting event.
Above: Jake and his dad
Q: You have been spending a bit of time with Burkey between rounds - even a few ‘selfies’ together on social media. We asked Burkey if he was thinking of a team switch!
JK: *Laughs* Well me and Burkey are good mates, we hang out quite a bit when he's down from work, but as soon as the helmets go on at the track, we battle hard and going into this last round he's a big threat to me and Millsy for the championship so it's going to be an interesting final round! *laughs* I don't know if Burkey will be leaving FMA anytime soon! He tells me he loves his FK kart or as they call it Fiesty Koala.
Above: Jake Klarich / Darren Burke selfie
Q: Speaking of Millsy... he’s bringing the yellow suit back for his last race in WA. Are you trying anything out of the ordinary for the final?
JK: Oh the Big Bird suit! Good to see him bringing the classic suit out for his last round. Blake and Clayton have done so much for the series over the past few years it's going to be sad to see them leave, they will be missed! But I'm almost sure he will be back next year for the odd round!! For the final round I'll have a new suit myself which I recently got from Performance Racegear in Ascot. It won't be quite as bright at Millsy’s yellow suit but it has a nice white throughout it, which will probably end up black before the final!
Thanks for talking with us Jake, and good luck for the Final!
