Pro Karting made the long trip from cold Victoria to the Sunshine state of Queensland for the fourth and penultimate round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship.
Pro Karting led by the Lindstrom family of Grant, Jace and Adam took a team of eleven drivers across six classes to the Emerald Kart Club. The stable had strong drivers across all lines and the team were looking for more Australian Kart Championship glory.
Lucas Costanzo, Marco Manson and Miles Baker was the triple threat attack for Pro Karting in the oversubscribed Cadet 12 category. Manson led the way in qualifying landing just outside the top ten in position twelve, with Costanzo in position eighteen and Baker down in position twenty-three. Manson led the way in the heats, coming home with two seconds and two heat wins putting himself off the front row of the grid in the final. Costanzo was super consistent grabbing two third placings while Baker moved up inside the top five in heat two in the split races. Manson had heart break in the final coming away with a DNF after leading at stages of the race. Costanzo led the charge from there coming home just outside the top ten in position fourteen, with Baker coming home in position twenty-eight overall.
TAG 125 had the sole driver of Ryan Cook taking on a near full grid of forty drivers. Cook qualified down in position twenty-seven and was looking to move forward across the heats. Ryan was able to move forward across the heats with a best result of sixteenth the highlight in heat three. Cook battled hard in the final and showed improved racing and pace coming home just outside the top twenty in position twenty-two overall.
Sebastian Manson was another sole driver for the Pro Karting team, this time in KA2. Manson qualified down in position thirty-two and knew he had work to do in the heats. Sebastian moved up to position nineteen in heat one and twenty-one in heat two bringing him forward in the order. Manson was able to come away with two incredible top fives in heats three and four putting him even further up the grid. Sebastian’s charged came to an end on the opening lap of the final after being involved in an incident and resulting in a DNF.
Tommy Hart was the youngest driver for the Pro Karting team racing in the Cadet 9 category. Hart did a superb job putting himself in the top ten for qualifying. Tommy was able to race in and on the edge of the top ten in all four heats, with an eleventh in heat one and tenth. Hart put in a great final race finishing just outside the top ten in thirteenth spot.
advertisement
KA4 Junior had a skilled double driver line up in Benjamin Munro and Pip Casabene. Casabene was able to qualify in the top five in fifth position, with Munro coming in just outside the top ten in thirteenth spot. Munro was able to work his way forward in the heats with two thirds and second putting him right in contention for the final. Casabene also had some fruitful heats with a win in the second heat and fifth in heat three and four. Munro was able to cross the line in fourth in the final but was unfortunately excluded from the final taking away a brilliant result. Casabene tried his heart out but had a few things not go his way, coming home in a credible fourteenth position.
X30 was the final class for the Pro Karting team with Kristian Janev. Will Harper and Declan Somers all taking the start. Janev was able to stop the clock in qualifying with the fifteenth fastest time, with Harper and Somers just outside the top twenty in position twenty one and twenty four. Janev and Harper were both able to make their way into the top ten in the heats, with an eighth for Janev in heat four and a ninth and seventh for Harper in heat three and four. Somers race consistently across the weekend with a seventeenth in heat three his highlight in the qualifying races. All three drivers were able to finish the final and come home inside the top twenty with Janev in position twelve, Somers in position sixteen and Harper in position eighteen overall.
Jace Lindstrom spoke post weekend on what could have been and the teams outright pace. “Our weekend was satisfying for our efforts. We put three drivers in the top three for the final on Sunday but unfortunately we couldn’t convert them into podiums which was a bit disappointing but that’s how it goes.
“We had some heat wins and plenty of top three results in the heats which was very promising. Our cadet drivers were exceptional all weekend which has been a big focus for us which I was really pleased with. We will now focus on the City of Melbourne titles and then look forward to round five at Newcastle”.
Pro Karting have a big month of racing coming up and will contest the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship next month.
advertisement