by Russell Innes, IKC
250 entries were received for Round 7 of the Ipswich Kart Club Championship on Saturday the 2nd of September and fine racing conditions ensured a magnificent day of on-track activity.
TAG Light and TAG Heavy were the Feature Classes and they were racing for the Graham Acreman Memorial perpetual trophies.
- full results on speedhive HERE
Ipswich Kart Club took the opportunity prior to racing starting, to acknowledge the 5 IKC Members (Brock Nolan, Max Walton, Keegan Fraser, Jace Matthews and Harrison Hoey) who all won their class in the 2023 Australian Kart Championship, plus the 2023 Ladies Champion Lana Flack. Ipswich Kart Club appreciates the wonderful representation by all IKC Members in the 2023 Australian Kart Championships and is very proud of the magnificent achievements by Queensland drivers.
Tyson McGill got off to a great start in KA3 Junior Light with a strong Heat 1 win from Jye Flynn and Isaac McNeill. Club Championship leader Luke Rinaldi had a narrow win in Heat 2 from Ryan Reid and McNeill. McNeill led the early laps in Heat 3 before Flynn took over at the front and he was able to hang on for the Heat win from McNeill and Rinaldi in 3rd. Flynn would go off pole in the Final from Rinaldi and McNeill and these 3 were the class of the field and would not be challenged for the podium spots. Flynn was able to lead every lap with McNeill and Rinaldi close behind, Flynn winning by 3/10ths from McNeill and Rinaldi 2/10ths further back.
KA3 Junior Heavy continues to increase in numbers and is providing some great racing. Jackson Cooper got thigs going in Heat 1 with a very dominant win ahead of Jaxson Fischle and Jack Doessel. Tyson McGill took a solid 2nd Heat win from James Raaymakers and Lucas Lesmes. Cooper led all the way in Heat 3 for a narrow victory over Fischle and Charlotte Page and he would lead the field away from pole in the Final. With a good start he was able to get an early advantage from Fischle and Page who were engaging in a battle for 2nd. Page got the better of that battle on lap 5 and moved to 2nd but Cooper was comfortable in front and would win by over a second from Page with Fischle 3rd.
New Australian Champion Keegan Fraser was the class of the field in Heat 1 of KA3 Senior, winning by over 5 seconds from Talea Kiddle and Max Chattin. Dominic Penman who has just moved up from Juniors had a good battle with Fraser at the start of Heat 2 before edging away to a comfortablw in with Brieann Moyse in 3rd. Fraser and Penman again battled for the lead in Heat 3, swapping the lead multiple times before Fraser was able to consolidate a small lead over the last few laps and win narrowly from Penman with Chattin 3rd. It was close again in the early laps between Fraser and Penman in the Final, but Penman started to build a small lead and kept increasing it each lap to edge away in front. Penman going on to win in his 1st outing in Seniors from Fraser and Moyse.
Alester Flack got off to a good start to the day in Cadet 12 with the Heat 1 win ahead of Gabriel Elkayam and Brock Helm. The random reverse grid produced a different top 3 in Heat 2 with Lana Flack winning from Blake Haigh and Basilo Micale. The results continued to be mixed in Heat 3 with Alester Flack again winning but Riley Grande and Vincent Ter Horst were up in the top 3 placings. Alester Flack would start the Final from pole and he was never headed as he built a small lead throughout the 10 laps to win from Grande and Lana Flack, but Grande was to receive an after race underweight penalty and this elevated Lana Flack to 2nd and Helm to 3rd.
New Australian Champion Brock Nolan took the Heat 1 win in Cadet 9 ahead of Kenichi Morita and Lukas Loeskow. Jack Musico was the Heat 2 winner ahead of Carter Grother and Kai Kanyaro. Heat 3 was another win for Nolan with Riccardo Johnston and Paige Flack in the placings. The Final therefore looked to be a very open affair with many potential winners. Nolan led the early laps from Johnston and Flack, but Johnston went to the lead on lap 5 as Nolan slipped back to 4th with Loeskow now 2nd and Flack 3rd. Grother was on a flyer and moving forward and in a major shuffle of positions on lap 7 he moved to 3rd. The next lap he passed Nolan for 2nd but Nolan retook the spot on lap 9. Johnston had edged out to a small but comfortable lead as they started the last lap with Nolan, Grother, Flack, Loeskow and Musico all lining up for the minor placings. In a thrilling final lap, as they always seem to be in Cadet 9 at Ipswich, Grother was able to grab 2nd ahead of Flack in 3rd, with Nolan slipping to 4th ahead of Loeskow.
Jett Saraghi and last Round winner Jaxon Duong were the pacesetters in the Heats of 4SS Junior, Saraghi winning Heat 1 from Duong and Will Hammond, Duong getting the win Heat 2 from Saraghi and Jarred White and then Saragi holding out Duong in Heat 3 with White again 3rd. In to the Final and Saraghi was flying, getting away to an early lead from Duong and just kept increasing it lap by lap to eventually win by 5 ½ seconds from Duong with Hammond 3rd.
Darcy Briggs, Jordan Briggs and Troy Bowden had some great battles in 4SS Senior Light. Heat 1 being won by Darcy Briggs ahead of Jordan Briggs and Bowden in his 1st Senior race meeting. Jordan Briggs won Heat 2 by a very narrow margin from brother Darcy with Bowden again 3rd. Darcy Briggs led for the 1st half of Heat 3 before Jordan took over at the front and Bowden right on their tail. In a very close finish Jordan Briggs won from brother Darcy with Bowden 3rd. In the Final, this time Jordan Briggs led for the 1st half before Darcy Briggs moved to the front, Bowden had slipped back early to 4th behind Ethan James but came back through to 3rd by lap 8. The Briggs boys battled hard at the front over the last few laps but Darcy Briggs won by a very narrow margin over Jordan Briggs, these two well clear of Bowden in 3rd.
Mark Walker won Heat 1 in 4SS Senior Medium from Christopher Lusty and Mark Wilkinson. Lusty won Heat 2 from Wilkinson and Walker and had a narrow win in Heat 3 over Walker and Wilkinson. These 3 then repeated the result in the Final with Lusty comfortably winning from Walker and Wilkinson.
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Jack Munro, Nathaniel Harrison, Thomas Williams, Joshua Frew and Cody Anderson were among the placings in the 1st 2 Heats in TAG Restricted Light. In Heat 3, Harrison, Williams and Munro diced at the front with Harrison winning from Williams and Munro. Harrison would start the Final from pole with Williams, Munro and Riley Van Den Broek behind. Harrison led early from Munro and Williams. Just as Munro started to build a challenge for the lead on Harrison on lap 8 he was out of the race and Anderson and Frew moved up into the podium placings. As the laps wound down Harrison was under no threat and won comfortably from Anderson with Frew 3rd.
Gav Whitmore got off to a great start in TAG Restricted Masters with the Heat 1 win from Evan Broughton and Gavin Soward. Kevin Johnston won Heat 2 from Noel Smyth and Rudy Farkas. Soward got up to win Heat 3 from Whitmore and Farkas and going into the Final he would be off pole with Farkas beside him. Farkas got the best off the start though as Soward fell back to 4th with Whitmore in 2nd and Johnston 3rd. Whitmore was able to stay with Farkas but Johnston drifted back. Over the 10 ap distance Whitmore and Farkas had a close contest but Farkas used all his years of experience to hold out for a very narrow win over Whitmore in one of the most entertaining races on the day. Johnston finished 3rd over 4 seconds behind the lead two.
Bradley McNaught continues to be the man to beat in TAG Restricted Medium and won Heats 1 and 3, with Dylan Menz winning Heat 2. Amongst the placings during the Heats were Zac King, Alan Czislowski and Michael Oro. In the Final McNaught was led early by Czislowski before getting past on lap 4 and was dominant thereafter and romped away to an easy win. Czislowski held on to 2nd with King finishing 3rd and his 1st podium at Ipswich.
Rotax Light attracted a quality field of drivers preparing for the upcoming Rotax National Cup at Ipswich and Brodie Norris won Heat 1 from Marc Tulloch and Brent Reading. Tulloch took the Heat 2 win from Harrison Hoey and Jack Webster. Hoey became the 3rd different Heat winner with the win in Heat 3 ahead of Tulloch and Adamson. Tulloch would go from Pole in the Final with Hoey beside him and Norris behind and he used it well getting a great start as Norris and Hoey battled behind him. Tulloch was able to quickly establish a small margin as Hoey worked his way past Norris into 2nd. Hoey pegged the margin back a little by mid race distance and was almost onto Tulloch’s tail, but Tulloch was able to pick up the pace and edge away again over the next 5 laps to win by over half a second to Hoey with Norris just holding Adamson out for 3rd.
Harrison Hoey on debut in a DD2 led early in Heat 2 before Jonathon Marcusson took over and won by a small margin from Hoey and then Ryan Hughes. In Heat 2 Marcusson again had a small margin of victory but was a comfortable winner from Hoey and Hughes close behind. Marcusson and Hoey were very close in Heat 3 but Marcusson again was able to take the win narrowly from Hoey with Hughes again 3rd. Marcusson was looking to take the clean sweep of the day and got a great start in the Final and proceeded to build a handy lead over Hoey early on. Hughes started pressuring Hoey for 2nd and by lap 4 had got past but Marcusson was comfortable in front and cruised to a dominant win from Hughes, whilst unfortunately Hoey was a DNF with a few laps to go.
Club Championship leader Jason Smith won the 1st Heat in DD2 Masters ahead of Scott Cleveland and Scott Howard. Troy Bretherton was the winner of Heat 2 from Terry Hanly and Howard and the same filled the placings in Heat 3. In the Final, Bretherton was unchallenged and drove to a small but comfortable margin of victory over Hanly with Howard 3rd.
With many of the DD2 drivers running the specific DD2 classes this Round, Queensland Open Performance was only a small field with only 3 KZ2’s in the Heavy Class and 1 KZ2 in the Light Class. Ty Spencer won Heat 1 from Finlay Derry and Liam Cummings. Dan Hutchinson was the Heat 2 winner ahead of Derry and Spencer. Spencer won Heat 3 from Cummings and Derry and in the closest race of the day Spencer just held out Derry for the win in the Final with Hutchinson and Cummings close behind.
Defending TAG Light and Graham Acreman Memorial winner Jace Matthews set the pace in Qualifying ahead of Brodie Norris and a fantastic lap from Felix Kajewski. Norris got the best of the start in Heat 1 to lead Matthews and Bryce Lane and these 3 ran in that order all through until Kayden Thompson grabbed 3rd on the last lap. Norris winning by half a second from Matthews with Thompson a good 6 seconds back in 3rd. Matthews led Norris all the way in Heat 2 with Thompson again moving forward to take 3rd. Matthews led the first 4 laps in Heat 3 before Norris found a way past and edged out just a small gap for a convincing win. Josh Miller got the best of the battle between himself, Kajewski and Lane to finish 3rd. Matthews showed his class in the Final though, going straight to the lead on lap 1 from Norris and then just progressively building a gap on each of the 14 laps to win by almost 5 seconds over Norris. Thompson after a 3rd Heat DNF had to work his way forward and was the best of the rest with a great drive up to 3rd.
Tyler Greenbury was making a rare on track appearance and set the fast time in Qualifying for TAG Heavy, by a significant margin over Josh Dagg and Christopher Williams. Dagg initially led Heat 1 from Greenbury and Club Championship leader Brock Plumb, before Greenbury went to the front on lap 6 and then pulled out a small margin to win from Dagg and Plumb. Greenbury led from the go in Heat 2 and was able to pull away for a convincing 4 second win. Dagg, Plumb, Williams and Brendan Nelson were engaged in a good battle for the minors throughout, with Williams eventually 2nd and Nelson 3rd. Greenbury again went unchallenged in Heat 3 whilst Plumb, Williams and Nelson battled for the minor placings, Plumb just holding out Nelson for 2nd. Plumb got the best of the start in the Final and led the first 3 laps before Greenbury found a way past to take the race lead, whilst Nelson, Jared Neinert and Williams were all close behind in a train. Greenbury then started to build a nice buffer at the front and was 2 seconds clear by lap 10 of the 14 lap Final. Plumb was being challenged by Nelson, whilst Williams and Neinert had fallen back. Greenbury eased away to a comfortable win from Plumb who was able to hold out the challenge from Nelson.
The Ipswich Kart Club, Clubday Challenge Program winners were:
- Cadet 9 Group 3 – Oskar Kozak
- Cadet 9 Group 2 – Olivia Walton
- Cadet 12 Group 3 – Brodie Rose
- Cadet 12 Group 2 – Monty Jamieson
- KA3 Junior Light Group 3 – Jaxon Duong
- KA3 Junior Light Group 2 – Chad Rissman
- KA3 Junior Heavy Group 2 – Kaiser Goetz
- TAG Restricted Light Group 2 – Matthew Price
- TAG Restricted Medium Group 2 – Justin Voight
- TAG Restricted Masters Group 2 – Michael Mitrovic
Next race meeting at Ipswich Kart Club will be a massive affair. “Ipswich Speedweek” starts on Wednesday the 27th of September with a Karting Australia Junior Sprockets day, followed by the Rotax National Cup starting on Thursday the 28th of September and continuing on Friday the 29th of September and Saturday the 30th of September. Alongside this will also be the 2023 Queensland State Cup starting on Friday the 29th and continuing on Saturday the 30th and concluding on Sunday the 1st of October.
Rotax National Cup activities will be on each evening under lights, whilst the State Cup activity will be during the days. Entries for both events are already open on KOMP and well over 300 entries are expected across the 2 events.
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