It was Joel Lammer’s first time at the Dubbo Track and first race back in the KNSW Rookies Class since winning the ACT State Titles 6 months ago at Canberra.
In that time, Joel had completed the 5 rounds of the Rotax Pro Tour finishing 3rd overall in the Minmax Class and competed in the last 3 rounds of the AKC which provided both positives and a few hard luck lessons along the way, the last AKC round at Newcastle resulted in a DNF in the final, so Joel was pretty pumped and determined for a win as we headed on the 10 hour road trip to Dubbo.
In the first Friday Practice, Joel recorded the second fastest time of the session and continued to improve a 1/10th second each session as he learnt the track and grip level of the Maxxis tyres as well as changing kart set up and gearing helped by Tom Williamson Motorsport.
Saturday morning Qualifying saw a heavily congested track with 34 other drivers trying to get a clean lap with karts still coming out of the out grid as the first karts were coming around the last corner starting their 2nd lap, but everyone got through safely and Joel qualified in P3. There was some great racing within the entire field during the 3 heat races and after drop down and technical penalties, Joel had the highest amount of points to start off Pole Position for the 22 lap Final.
advertisement
With a clean start, Joel pulled a small gap to lead the first 17 laps until Jack Bartlett & Jedd Wrigley worked together to reduce the margin with Jack taking the lead to make it a 3 way battle with a few laps to go. By this time, Alaster Flack had also joined the party as Joel took back the lead with Max Rollan catching the front 4 to make it a 5 way battle for the podium places.
Jack again took the lead on the second last lap and was under pressure heading up the hill for the final time when Joel saw a small gap at the top of the hill to regain the lead which also allowed Alaster to slot into 2nd position heading back down the straight for the final few corners. Wrigley looked for an opportunity to pass Bartlett in the 2nd last corner however Jack had him covered with Joel taking the win, Alaster 2nd, Jack 3rd and Jedd & Max 4th & 5th in an absolute cracking race.
A massive thanks to TWM, Kev the Noise calling the action, Nick from Nic Pic taking the photos and sponsors Sanctus Brewing Co and Evans Head Hardware for supporting Joel all year.
advertisement