Portland’s Slip-N-Slide VCS Round

words by Andrew Hayes, AHR Media
images supplied by Darren Isaac, Darren’s Sportography

The Portland District Kart Club hosted the penultimate round of the DPE Kart Superstore Victorian Country Series at a soggy Yarraman Park Circuit last weekend.

150 entries ran over the two days, with most events marred by different levels of moisture on the wet track. Only some of the finals were completed in full dry conditions, which changed the outlook of several classes.

Senior Medium take the start, Corey Herbertson and Dallas Greene on the front row, Andrew Hollis looking up the middle *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

The club ran the event with confidence, and the grounds looked great given the challenge of the muddy surrounds.

Some dominant performances, some big improvers and some drivers getting close to wrapping up the pointscore, all made for an interesting weekend of racing by the coast.

full results on speedhive HERE
scroll to the bottom for extra pics
more images on Darren’s Sportography FB HERE

The story goes like this….

TAG RESTRICTED MEDIUM (16 Entries)

The first pole position of the weekend was up for grabs in Restricted Medium and it would be SA driver Grady Hutchesson who clocked the fastest time (37.538) by an incredibly small margin.

Beau Humphrey took home the opening heat, before local driver Kobe Trigg escalated to the top to win heats two and three.

Trigg and fellow Portland driver Adam Holt lead the field away for the 16 lap final, and it was Trigg who took the upper hand. Trigg claimed the fastest lap of the race as he led from start to finish to add the victory to his Round 2 win at Hamilton. Hutchesson was gallant in the final as he gave chase, but settled for second after a solid weekend. Darryl Henman was third after showing flashes of his Horsham pace, finishing ahead of Max Lumsden and Jeremy Kiensrod in fourth and fifth.

1^st Kobe Trigg (PORT)
2^nd Grady Hutchesson (MGKC)
3^rd Darryl Henman (BALL)

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT (11 Entries)

Ballarat’s Max Marriner continued to emerge in Restricted Light, and added his second pole of 2023 (36.861) to his growing list of achievements.

Never to be underestimated, it was Spiros Anagnostopoulos who resumed his spot at the head of the queue to clean sweep the heat races.

Spiros made a good start in the final and looked likely to sneak away with the lead, but what he didn’t see coming was the outright pace of Jacob Dowlin. After being thereabouts all weekend, Dowlin lit up in the final, getting to the lead in a hurry on lap four. Dowlin looked sharp, until his spectacular demise with brake failure on lap 10 ended his hopes. Spiros inherited the lead back and went on to bank a fourth round win for 2023. Mitch Sires was a welcome returnee to the podium, after working his way up to second place. Marriner held on for third ahead of Dion Antipas and Daniel Golightly.

TaG R Light winner Spiros Anagnostopoulos (56) leads the field to the start *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Spiros Anagnostopoulos (ELKC)
2^nd Mitch Sires (BALL)
3^rd Max Marriner (BALL)

KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY (8 Entries)

Mathew Basso looked to pick up where he left off from a spectacular run at Horsham by taking the KA3 Junior Heavy Pole Position (38.583).

Whilst Basso claimed the opening heat, he would have to share the other two events, as Chelsea Humphrey and Harrison Duske also took turns greeting the chequers first.

Tasmania’s Duske made a fast start to the final to occupy the top spot, and never relinquished it as he claimed a fine victory, his second of 2023. Humphrey again showed she was a contender, finishing second ahead of a visually frustrated Basso in third. Mia Mifsud ran strongly for the duration of the weekend to finish fourth ahead of Sam Spiteri in fifth.

Samuel Spiteri ahead of Mia Mifsud, Junior Heavy *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Harrison Duske (STKC)
2^nd Chelsea Humphrey (ELKC)
3^rd Mathew Basso (OAK)

TAG HEAVY (12 Entries)

Despite missing the opening round of 2023, Ryan Cook has certainly cemented his spot as the qualifying specialist in Tag Heavy, claiming his third pole (39.469) out of four attempts.

The heats saw the emergence of Adam King, who made a clean sweep of the heats on his home soil return to VCS.

Adam King would prove too good in the final, leading from start to finish in a comprehensive display. Scott King made it a King 1-2, after overcoming Cook in the middle of the race, the fastest qualifier home in third. Nik Schmidt and Aidan Solomon had plenty of breathing room as they finished fourth and fifth.

Adam King leads Ryan Cook and Scott King, TaG 125 Heavy *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Adam King (PORT)
2^nd Scott King (PORT)
3^rd Ryan Cook (WBOOL)

KA3 SENIOR MEDIUM (10 Entries)

Seth Burton became the fifth driver in five rounds to claim a KA3 Senior Medium pole position, topping the charts with his 44.851 second lap.

Ben Mouritz was the star of the heat races, especially after failing to lay down a qualifying time. He went from last on the grid to win the opener, and then banked solid wins in heat two and three.

Mouritz didn’t disappoint in the final, using skill and a beautifully set up kart to drive a seemingly effortless race to win by 4.4 seconds. Horsham round winner Zach Findlay had some setbacks across the weekend, but put it all together for a convincing second place. Matthew Nietz was seemingly off the ball in the wet races, but come on strong in the final to finish third. Adam Henriksen showed flashes of brilliance over the weekend to finish fourth, ahead of local Daniel Storer who kept it on the island for fifth.

1^st Ben Mouritz (OAK)
2^nd Zach Findlay (GKCV)
3^rd Matthew Nietz (GKCSA)

CADET 12 (16 Entries)

Bryce Felmingham made a big statement in Cadet 12 qualifying, taking a maiden pole position (45.052) by just under two tenths of a second.

SA Driver Dominic Mercuri was the dominator of the heat races, crossing the line first in each encounter, however the second would be taken away due to a starting infringement, handing Blake Purvis the win.

Purvis got the jump at the start of the final, as Mercuri dropped down the order to sixth. Whilst Purvis paced the field, Mercuri clawed his way back into contention, eventually running down Purvis to take the lead on the penultimate lap. Mercuri the winner after a strong weekend, finishing just ahead of his championship rival Purvis in second. Oscar Corless had some setbacks during the weekend, but responded by claiming the final spot on the podium. Michael Lampasi had his strongest showing of the year, running second before settling for fourth ahead of Kurtis Polkinghorne in fifth.

1^st Dominic Mercuri (SGKC)
2^nd Blake Purvis (OAK)
3^rd Oscar Corless (ELKC)

KA3 SENIOR LIGHT (16 Entries)

Making his first VCS start of 2023, it was Portland’s Corey Herbertson who set the standard in qualifying, taking pole (40.200) from fellow local Brocklan Parker.

Herbertson was untouchable in the heats, claiming each event by just over 2 seconds in a commanding performance.

There was simply no stopping Herbertson on the Yarraman Park circuit, and he once again prevailed in the main event, winning by a comfortable 4.6 seconds. Coming off his Horsham round win, Riley George had to scrap to claim his second place, continuing his run of 6 consecutive VCS podiums. Andrew Hollis, the veteran of this very youthful class, added another third place to equal his season best result from Cobden. Dallas Greene and James Snaith were unlucky to miss the podium as they finished fourth and fifth.

Senior Medium, Dallas Greene (86) inside Andrew Hollis (7) with Riley George (33) next *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Corey Herbertson (PORT)
2^nd Riley George (ELKC)
3^rd Andrew Hollis (GKCV)

VIC COMBINED MASTERS (17 Entries)

After the opening four pole positions being claimed by the same driver, Heath Jelbart broke the momentum to claim his first pole position of 2023 (40.967). Jelbart showed his pole was no flash in the pan, as he converted to win heats one and two, before the class benchmark Anthony Pethebridge emerged to win the third heat.

Ash Mitchell was the big benefactor of a hectic first lap of the final, emerging as the leader. Mitchell would lead until the half way point of the race, until Pethebridge made the decisive move that led him to fourth round win in 2023. Mitchell was rock solid in his return to VCS and capitalised with second place, ahead of Mark Heemskerk who timed his best run of the weekend beautifully to snare third place. Jelbart was deserving of a podium spot, but faded when the heat was on, finishing fourth, ahead of the missile John Page in fifth.

Masters go green, class winner Anthony Pethebridge on the far left *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Anthony Pethebridge (ELKC)
2^nd Ash Mitchell (MILD)
3^rd Mark Heemskerk (MGKC)

CADET 9 (8 Entries)

Another of the local drivers to shine, was Beau Chambers, who took his first ever VCS pole on his home deck (44.351).

When the racing started, it was the in form Alana Gurney who took control of proceedings, claiming the top spot in all three encounters.

Gurney was the one to beat in the final, and despite being challenged, she added a second win to her 2023 campaign. Lawson Effingham was having an outstanding weekend until mechanical gremlins saw him drift out of second place and podium contention. Jarvis Hindle was amongst the frontrunners as usual, and gave chase to Gurney, however second was his end result. Chambers put the heartache of not starting the opening heat when he was on pole to finish third and salvage something from the weekend. Fellow Portland driver Logan Rethus continued to improve for fourth, ahead of Jaxon Boyle in fifth.

Alana Gurney (34) enjoyed another win in Cadet 9 *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Alana Gurney (OAK)
2^nd Jarvis Hindle (ELKC)
3^rd Beau Chambers (PORT)

KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT (17 Entries)

For the third time in 2023, it was Noah Enright on top of the timesheets (40.366) when the clock stopped in KA3 Junior Light qualifying.

After dominating the previous round at Horsham, it was Mathew Basso raising the stakes in the heats, greeting the chequers first on each occasion.

Basso led the early stages of the final, picking up where he left off in the heats. But Enright had the 35 wound up, and made his move on lap six. He would run from there to the flag to square up his three poles with a third round win. Basso would have to see off a spirited challenge from the much improved Riley Gee, those two claiming the silverware for second and third. Portland’s Ewan Anderson cut a determined figure, and he finished his home round in fourth, ahead of Cooper Frith who mixed it up with the leaders all weekend.

Justin Yuen (77) and Joshua White (92) battle inside the top ten of Junior Light *(pic – Darren’s Sportography)*

1^st Noah Enright (SGKC)
2^nd Mathew Basso (OAK)
3^rd Riley Gee (WBOOL)

TAG LIGHT (16 Entries)

The defending champion, Max Fahey finally got going after an interrupted season to claim pole position (39.204), in a sign his fortunes could be changing.

Fahey was dominant in the opening heat, executing a perfect run to the win. SA’s Jacob Chandler took over the front running to win the second and third heats on a track he won at as a junior.

Chandler was untouchable in the main event, claiming the fastest lap and a 4.2 second victory, to only add to his affection for the Yarraman Park circuit. Max Torcasio and Jaxon Johnstone used their momentum to surge forward at the right time to claim second and third on a hotly contested podium. Fahey couldn’t quite sneak on the podium, and had to settle for fourth, ahead of Andrew Rae, who had a solid weekend in fifth.

1^st Jacob Chandler (SGKC)
2^nd Max Torcasio (GKCV)
3^rd Jaxon Johnstone (WBOOL)

The DPE Kart Superstore Victorian Country Series is set to conclude on the reconfigured Ballarat Kart Club circuit for the sixth and final round on November 18 & 19.