from Brandon Stillwell, ASC
Members of the Adelaide Superkart Club were greeted with a clear and fine day for round two of the 2023 Superkart Cup at Mallala Motorsport Park. Round 2 was sponsored by BGD Electrical and Security and the club had 19 entrants across the various classes including a debutant and a category change to spice up the event.
Non Gearbox NGB Rotax Classes
The 10 non gearbox class entries were split down the middle with 5 in each of the Light and Heavy categories and as usual the racing was fast and hard. While the results may show that Antoni Ormsby (Scorpion #61) had a clean sweep of all four heats, he didn’t have it all is own way as the TLT Drivers Johnny Twigden (Scorpion #3) and Jim Gorman (Viper #12) were hot on his tail with Doug Savage (Scorpion #78) never far from the action.
New member and debutant Brayden Parkinson (Scorpion #40) settled into the Long Circuit style of racing, familiarising himself with the brand new Scorpion Superkart, and by days end had chipped away and got down into the 1:20s bracket that the NGB Light Class was running at.
NGB Heavy was just as fierce with four current or former Australian Champions in the class, it was always going to be a hard race regardless of the result. Young Christian Amadio (Scorpion #26) was able to pop out at the head of the queue in each of the four heats but the majority of the races were spent with a mere 50-100 metres covering everyone in the class.
By days end club president Brandon Stillwell (Scorpion #41) had secured second place from Shaun Jones (Viper #48) home in third. Current Australasian Superkart Champion Patrick Ross (Viper #89) was hot on Jones’ tail with life member and club stalwart Ian Williams (Scorpion #14) never far from them either!
Gearbox Classes
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Nine entrants fronted up for the gearbox categories, and with the exception of a few absentees due to family commitments, it was almost the status quo when it came to the end result. In the 250cc class it was the everlasting Chaz Maddern (Anderson #4) who rocketed away after overcoming gremlins at the recent Tailem Bend event.
Dave Salter (Eliminator Honda #44) was as consistent as ever in the 250cc Single Cylinder class, even though he had to overcome an engine seize in qualifying and run an older spec spare barrel the majority of the day. Third in the 250cc class was Steve Frankhusien (ZIP BRC #29) who made the step up from the NGB Light class after purchasing the former Ilya Harpas ZIP superkart. Steves eyes were as wide as dinner plates, with a few moments and hiccups during the day he became more acquainted with his new chariot. Unfortunately a moderate piston issue in the final race halted the learning process.
Let’s not forget the 125cc Open and Stock Honda karts were there too and they frequently feature higher up the field than their horsepower deficit would have you know! Current Stock Honda Australasian Championship leader James Boden (BRM Honda #79) spent the day testing different setups as he looks to perfect the package prior to Phillip Island later in August.
The Stock Honda karts have always been a nimble package around Mallala where the bigger superkarts can sometimes struggle. Our best showing of this was a titanic braking duel between the Stock Honda and Salters 250cc Eliminator during the day with both drivers giving there all but maintaining a healthy appreciation for how fast we go in Road Race!
Mike Davies (PVP #11) shot out of the gates and bagged race one while young Seb Amadio (Anderson DEA #22) was running in a new piston during heat 1. Disaster for Mike after a perfect start with mechanic gremlins creeping in and putting a halt to his day.
Peter Salter (Eliminator Modena #52) put in an ever consistent effort with second place for the event and relative new comer Fausto Dametto (Anderson #47) bagging third for the day with a consistent showing of his own.
The club rounded out the day with its second come and try session for the season which allows us to give a brief showing of our sport to prospective new comers or as a reward for the occasional crew member for their efforts.
Round Three of the Superkart Cup will be on June 4th at Mallala Motorsport Park and with a few more members available it should be another fantastic showing!
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