by Russell Innes, Ipswich Kart Club
Despite a large number of Ipswich Kart Club members being away racing at AKC Round 1, another huge entry of 155 drivers fronted up for the 4SS Titles meeting at Ipswich Kart Club on February 29th.
All classes were random grid draws, except the 4SS Cadet, 4SS Junior, 4SS Clubmaxx and 4SS Supermaxx who all had qualifying. The format for all classes was Final only counts.
With some of the normal front runners away at AKC, the Cadet and Junior classes were opened up a bit and it was great to see some new names get amongst the placings.
In Cadet 9, Cooper Folley started the day with a DNF in Heat 1, but came back with a solid win in Heat 2, then a 3rd place in the Pre Final, but was very assertive at the start of the Final and went to the front early and led all the way for his breakthrough class win at IKC. Kobi Preston also was strong throughout the day with a Heat 1 win and the Pre Final win, a 2nd in Heat 2 and then the Final. Caleb Myers had a bit of an up and down day but was super impressive in the final coming through to complete the podium in 3rd. Riley Curtis had a very consistent day with a couple of placings through the heats, but just missed out in the Final in 4th place.
The big battle amongst the 8 P-Platers was close all day. Gabriel Elkayam came home 5th overall in the Final and 1st P Plater ahead of Joel Lammers and Jake Ruyg.
Cadet 12 had a lot of the normal pacesetters away at AKC, so we seen some new names amongst the placings. Kayden Thompson won all 4 races, but there was some great battles going on behind from the likes of Charlie Bowen, Jordan Sell, Loius Brown, Ari Wedlock and Sebastian Bennet. Bowen came through for 2nd in the Final and was joined on the podium by Sebastian Bennet in 3rd. Jhet O’Brien, Marcus Lio and Jacob Whiteman had some very close battles for the P Platers in the heats, but Whiteman came home 1st in the Final after O’Brien and Lio got tangled up in a first lap incident.
KA4 Junior was also opened up a bit with a few of the normal frontrunners away at AKC. Jordan Ensbey, Dean Silcock and Lachlan Platten were the 3 frontrunners all day with Alex Gardner the best of the rest. Ensbey won the 1st Heat, Silcock winning the 2nd Heat and the Pre Final and led all the way in the Final in his first drive up in Juniors. Ensbey was close behind in 2nd with Platten 3rd.
Ty Spencer dominated KA3 Junior with wins in all 4 races. Jakob Scott and Hayden Hume shared the minor placings throughout the day with Lachlan Cowie and Ryan Laycock just behind. Spencer was challenged by Scott in the final but held him out all race. Laycock came through for a great 3rd place in the Final, Cowie right behind him followed by Hume.
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Another class with some of the normal frontrunners away was KA3 Senior. Sam Seccombe and Lachlan Nichols enjoyed some good battles through the heats. Seccombe winning the first 2 Heats, before Nichols turned the tables in the Pre Final with a good pass late in the race. Ryan Uhlmann, Annabel Rolfo and Brieann Moyse were all close behind throughout the heats. Seccombe was strong in the Final though and led all the way from Nichols with Uhlmann close behind. These 3 well clear of Moyse and Rolfo.
After being out of karting for 10 years, Brent Reading has come back to the sport in a dominant fashion and won all 4 races across the day in TAG Restricted Light. Peter Bossons and Nathaniel Harrison scrapped over the minor placings throughout the day ahead of a good mid field battle including Simon Chadwick, Talea Kiddle, Mitchell Robinson and Dean Vellacott.
Tom Steinfort set the mark early in TAG Restricted Medium with a dominant win in Heat 1 from Lewis Morgan and Mathew Peters, followed by another big win in Heat 2 from Peters and Troy Kubler. Steinfort DNF’d early out of the Pre Final, opening the door for Peters to take a narrow in from Morgan and Kubler. Peters led early in the Final, but Steinfort soon resumed dominance and went away to a large victory, from Morgan and Kubler. TAG Restricted Masters ran with TAG Restricted Medium, Darren Wong won a couple of heats, Nigel Brokenshire the other, but Wong had too much in the Final winning from Brokenshire and Linus Brown in 3rd.
TAG Light and TAG Heavy ran combined and the spoils throughout the heats in TAG Light were split between Bailey Sagaidak and James Litzow with Christopher Williams and William Seccombe getting some minor placings. Sagaidak went away to a big win in the Final though by over 5 seconds, from Litzow with Conner Roberts getting the better of the scrap for 3rd from Christopher Williams. In TAG Heavy, Andrew Gilliam, Blayke Wagner and Rudy Farkas all won a Heat during the day, but Wagner had a narrow win in the Final from Gilliam with Farkas 3rd.
A total of 46 entries were received across the 4SS Feature Classes, highlighting the growth in the 4 Stroke classes.
In 4SS Cadet, Tyson McGill was pretty dominant winning all 4 races. Samual Piggott and Hayden McGill raced for the minor placings throughout the Heats, with McGill taking 2nd in the Final, but Jackson Nott steadily improved during the day and was a great 3rd in the Final in his very first race meeting at IKC.
The 4SS Junior class is growing in numbers at IKC with some great talent coming in to the sport through this low cost entry level class. Hayden Hume, Miles Bromley and Coby Tucker took the placings in the early heats with Jack Stimson not far behind. Bromley led pretty well all the way in the Final in a very impressive display. Hume was close behind but dropped out and DNF’d, whilst Tucker was storming through and managed to catch and pass Bromley on the last lap to grab the Final win from Bromley and Stimson who saved his best for last with a great drive up to 3rd.
Scott Pearce was dominant in 4SS Senior ClubMaxx Light, winning both Heats, the Pre Final and the Final. Kevin Johnston, Alice Litzow and Caleb Webber filled the placings during the Heats, just ahead of the likes of Justin Page, Julie Folley and Julian Cook. Pearce went away to an easy win in the Final , but Litzow put in a fabulous drive to take 2nd ahead of Page. In 4SS ClubMaxx Medium, Rhys Kinder won the first 2 Heats from Danial Lawler. Lawler was able to turn the tables in the Pre Final, but Kinder bounced back with a very solid win in the Final, Lawler was 2nd and Vincenzo Surace was 3rd.
In the hotly contested 4SS Senior Supermaxx Medium, Hayden Nissen, Scott Pearce and Craig Nissen took a win each throughout the 2 Heats and the Pre Final to set up an enthralling Final. Hayden Nissen took the lead from Pearce early and they ran nose to tail thereafter until the chequered flag. Nissen winning by the very barest of margin, 0.052 seconds. Craig Nissen faded away from the two leaders but held on for 3rd at the flag. In 4SS Senior SuperMaxx Heavy, Colin Palmer, Anthony Tucker and Cooper Walvin each took a Heat win, with Thomas Ludbey and Jason Ramsay also getting amongst the placings, setting it all up for a what was anticipated to be a closely contested Final. Palmer though took an easy win in the Final with Tucker and Walvin left to fight out the final positions on the podium, Tucker just edging past Walvin on the final lap to secure 2nd.
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