Race report my Mitch McLellan, MMS Media & Commentating
- full results are on speedhive HERE
Former state champion Jace Lindstrom and his Pro Karting protégé Declan Somers have put themselves into Australian Karting folklore by taking out the gruelling 4.5-hour Shamick Racing Enduro.
Lindstrom and Somers raced around the top 10 all day but overcome trouble, wild weather and fast racing to take the prestigious event.
James Wharton set the pace in a hot qualifying session over multiple time national champion Bradley Jenner and Cooper Johnstone.
The Top 10 shootout was a new feature of the event and New South Welshman Jackson Souslin-Harlow set the pace in the 1st half of the one lap dash moving up spots. TAG 125 National champion Zachary Heard then went to the top of time sheets, before Jenner was able to pull out a remarkable lap to go to position 1. Wharton was last out in the shootout and put in a scintillating lap to top the shootout and put himself off pole position for the main event.
Wharton was able to lead the field away but the action started on turn 1 lap 1 with the 96 entry of David Sera and Peter Bouzinelos and the 25 of Elly Morrow and Elliott Clearly both involved in incidents, putting them out of race winning contention.
Wharton led the field for the first 40 minutes of the race but the gamesmanship was on between himself and Jenner on multiple restarts with Jackson Souslin-Harlow, Jesse Lacey and the Heard/Leon Cordato kart racing near the front.
Harry Arnett and Harrison Hoey were the big movers in the opening stint, bringing themselves into contention. Harry Arnett, paired with his brother Corey had an abrupt end to his charge when his kart stopped on the final corner of the circuit while battling for the lead.
Sam Housten jumped aboard the Harrison Hoey 97 machine and Kobi Williams aboard the Jesse Lacey 26 machine to effectively be the lead two pairings after the 1st round of stops. The Pro Karting pair of Kristian Janev and Adam Lindstrom along with Declan Somers and Jace Lindstrom were coming into play, with Nicolaou also in the mix after taking over from James Wharton.
Reece Cohen took over from Jackson Souslin-Harlow but a faulty spark plug put them multiple laps down. Zachary Heard was making his charge up the field in the number 1 kart, when an electrical misfire stopped his kart and this put an end to another major contender’s charge to end.
As the 3rd and 4th hour went on the teams of Hoey and Houston, Lacey and Williams, Lindstrom and Somers, Wharton and Nicolaou, Jenner and Percat were all in the mix, with underdogs Braden Clark and Hayden Millington working their way into contention.
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As the final compulsory stops took place the rain started to fall which put Clark and Millington in the box seat, as they were able to use their stop to change to wet tyres while every other driver had to stop again. With just on 20 minutes to go Millington was in the kart leading the race with Jace Lindstrom, Harrison Hoey, James Wharton and Bradley Jenner all ready to do chase.
In an exciting and heart stopping finish, Millington was able to cross the line at the end of 270 minutes 1st! In a post-race investigation Lindstrom and Somers were handed the victory due to not enough laps done by Clark in the 18 kart. Hoey and Houston were able to settle for 2nd position just 5 seconds back over Jenner and Bathurst 1000 winner Nick Percat! Lacey and Williams came home in position 4, with Janev and Adam Lindstrom rounding out your top 5.
KA3 Junior was an unbelievable spectacle with the team of Xavier Avramides and Mika Lemasurier grabbing pole position from Western Australian Jack Webster and Max Walton. The Avramides / Lemasurier kart and Walton both had their turns in the lead in the opening stint. At the completion of all compulsory stops there was a 3 kart battle between the 2 Queenslanders and Victorian James Anagnostiadis.
All 3 drivers had their chance of taking the lead in the dying stages with Walton emerging from the last lap action to add another major title to his 2022 resume!
European based racer William Calleja took pole position in Cadet 12 over South Australian state champion Maxim Kirwan. Kirwan and Calleja both had their turns at the front of the field until the race changed complexion with Kirwan stopping on the circuit with a mechanical issue.
Calleja emerged from the pit stop in the lead but had multiple time state champion Riley Harrison trying to chase him down. Calleja was able to hold firm and take victory in the Cadet feature over Harrison and Ewan Anderson.
Oilver Williamson was able to take victory in the Cadet 9 division over Levi Lord and Tate Waddington in 2nd and Koda Singh in 3rd.
With a full field of 40 karts and 80 drivers hitting the track in TAG Senior in 2022, the Shamick Racing Enduro will be back bigger and better in season 2023.
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