The Benson Racing Karts SKAA Australian Title was held at Maryborough Speedway a month ago. Class round-ups and photos courtesy Speedway Karting Association of Australia/FB/CH Images.
Sub Juniors
The weekend kicked off with Cooper Marks and Jack Moreau trading fastest laps in practice with Moreau firing the first shot with Quick Time.
Round 1 saw Jack Moreau get the win over Cooper Marks with Jakobi Mullens home for 3rd. Hedi Barnes rounded out the top 4 followed by Victorian champion Emmett Barnden with Mark’s setting the fastest lap the battle was well and truly on for the weekend. Round 2 was a role reversal with Mark’s taking the win over Moreau with Moreau setting quick time for the Heat. Mullens was again snapping at their heals in 3rd with Barnden home in 4th place. Round 4 it was Moreau again taking the victory over Marks with Barnden edging out Mullens for 3rd and a much improved Rydah Page home in 5th. The final Round and it was Marks who got to fire the final shot before the title race taking the victory over Moreau with Barnden again finishing ahead of Mullens for 3rd.
With the grids set for the final it would be Moreau to lead them away with Marks out of P2 from Mullens, Barnden, Barnes and Page to round out the field.
As the field took the green light it would be Moreau to lead them into turn 1 followed by Marks, Mullens and Barnden. As the race unfolded it would be Moreau and Mark’s who would battle for the lead side by side for the opening laps. With the top 4 all running laps under the previous lap record the pace was certainly on.
As the laps wound down Moreau would start to edge away from Marks who would slowly start falling back into the clutches of Mullens who had in turn opened up a small gap over Barnden.
Moreau would take the checkered flag after leading all 15 laps with Marks 2.3 seconds behind in 2nd. Mullens would cross the line in 3rd challenge for 2nd after leaving nothing on the table and setting a new lap record (17.431) in the process and only missed 2nd place by .1 of a second. Barnden was a further 6 seconds behind in 4th with a vastly improved Page home in 5th place and Heidi Barns a well deserved 6th place.
Moreau would stand on the top step as the New Australia #1 in what would be memorable podium celebration.
1st Jack Moreau
2nd Cooper Marks
3rd Jakobi Mullens
4th Emmett Barnden
Juniors
Practice was a mixed bag with Seth Reed surprising the more favored competitors with quick time ahead of Brodie Debono and the defending national champ Cody Malley back in 5th place.
Round 1 saw some fast and furious action with Jobe Sims, Baxter Attard and Sam Nuciforia all taking wins. Round 2 would see almost the same winners with Nucifora, Attard and Cooper Partridge all taking wins with Malley settling for 2nd again. Round 3 finished with Marli Sims, Seth Reed and Sam Nuciforia making it the perfect start to his title challenge with 3 wins from 3 starts. The surprise was that the reigning National champion was winless after night 1. The final round would see Nuciforia finish with a perfect record and secure pole position for the title race. Partridge would get his 2nd win while Malley would finally break his duck with a final round heat win.
7 karts would line up for the B Main with only 4 spots available into the title race. Tyriani Wood would drive a faultless race to join her brother in the A main along with Brodie Debono, Jai Lawson-Chapman and Lillian Marks.
The A main would line up with Nucifora and Partridge on the front row, Malley and Jobe Sims on row 2, Attard and Nate Wood rounding out the top 6. As the flag dropped it would be Nuciforia who lead the field into turn 1 with Malley on his hammer with 8 karts battling for 3rd place. Nuciforia and Malley would check out leaving Attard, Jobe Sims, Partridge, Wood and a host of others running 2 and 3 wide until Wood would bring on the yellows when his nose cone came adrift. The order would be Nucifora, Malley, Jobe Sims, Attard, Marli Sims, Partridge and Mergard on the restart with 13 laps remaining. Nuciforia would lead them away in what would become a 3 way battle with Jobe Sims and Malley swapping positions. Malley would continue to pressure Nuciforia who seemed to loose some speed with 5 laps remaining. Seeth Reed would spin with 4 laps to go to bunch the field up and setup a dash to the flag. Nuciforia would lead from Malley, Jobe Sims, Marli Sims and Partridge who rounded out the top 5. On the restart Malley would sweep to the outside of Nucifora in turns 3 and 4 to take the lead and would be quickly followed by both the Jobe and Marli Sims and Partridge. It would be a blanket finish with Malley taking the win from a hard charging Marli Sims who came from 12th on the grid to take 2nd from her brother Jobe followed by Partridge who rounded out the podium. Nucifora would just hold onto 5th in a photo finish with Mergard who came home in 6th, Attard would finish 7th Braxton Kotsano in 8th with Brodie Debono and Harrison Stace rounding out the top 10.
1st Cody Malley
2nd Marli Sims
3rd Jobe Sims
4th Cooper Partridge
Junior Standard
Practice started with Australian Champion setting quick time from Georgie Moller and Tayla Stothard setting the bar high for the weekend.
Round 1 saw Georgie Moller surprise the field by taking heat 1 and setting a blistering lap record of 14.448 seconds to show her intentions. Malley took victory in heat 2 finish round 1. Round 2 saw much of the same with both Malley and Moller dominating their heat race to take easy wins, while the field battled behind them for the minor placings. Round 3 and it was Brodie Debono who would take the win in heat 5 with Malley making it 3 from 3 by taking the win in heat 6 which would be the race of the day from the Junior Standards. Round 4 and it was Malley again to make it a perfect weekend with another heat win and cementing pole position for the final. Ruby Attard would take the final heat race win as the field would be set for the Title race.
Malley would start from pole with Debono from position 2 and Stothard and Kallan Manning to line up behind them on row 2, with Sam Nuciforia in 5th and Moller to round out the top 6. Malley would take the lead into turn 1 followed by Debono, Manning, Stothard, Marli Sims with Moller in 6th. An incident on lap 4 would see Emery taken to the infield on the quad. The field would take the restart with Moller in 5th and Sims in 6th the only change at the front of the field. after the restart Sims and Moller would pass Stothard on lap 7 to move up behind Manning. Sims would pass Manning on lap 10 to take 3rd with Moller passing Manning on the outside on lap 13 to take 4th place. Stothard and Manning would fall back with Jack Eddie and Nucifora moving into 5th and 6th respectively. Nothing would change until the penultimate lap when Nuciforia would collide with Moller ending both their races on the infield. It would be a green white checker and 2 laps to run. The Restart would see Malley from Debono, Sims and Eddie. Nothing would change over the last 2 laps with Malley taking the flag for another Junior Standard Australian Title with Debono finishing 2nd, Sims in 3rd and Eddie to round out the podium in 4th.
1st Cody Malley
2nd Brodie Debono
3rd Marlie Sims
4th Jack Eddie
Standard Light
Kai Malley staked his claim early with quick time in practice following by Natalie Wright and Steve Mergard.
Round 1 saw Scott Kelly and Malley take the wins from Kaleb Sims and Jackson Olling respectively. Round 2 would see Dakota Laverty take the win in heat 1 from Calem Saxby with Jackson reversing the order by taking the win in heat 2 from Kai Malley. Round 3 would see another new winner with Saxby securing victory in heat 1 from Sims and Olling rounding out the top 3. Malley would take his 2nd win in heat 2 from Laverty and Kelly. Round 4 would see another 2 new heat winners with Steve Mergard and Natalie Wright taking the wins from Sims and Armani Harders. Malley could only manage 4th in his heat.
With the heats done and dusted and Malley the only repeat winner the title race looked set to be a close race. It would be Malley to lead them away from Sims the defending champion off the outside of the front row Kelly, Olling, Laverty and Jay Hobson to round out the top 6.
After a false start Sims would sweep around the outside to take the lead into then 1. They would skip away from the field and win side by side until lap 5 when Malley would assume the lead with Sims close behind and a gap back to Kelly and Olling in 4th. Places would remain the same as the top 5 would spread out until Olling would bring the yellows out when his engine would expire. Malley would lead them away on the restart from Sims, Kelly, Laverty and Andrew Mattschoss with 6 laps to run. The top 3 would remain the same to the checkers with the only change being Mattschoss passing Laverty for the final podium position.
1st Kai Malley
2nd Kaleb Sims
3rd Scott Kelly
4th Andrew Mattschoss
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Standard Medium
Liam Niblock would take bragging rights from practice with quick time from Liam Aunger and Reece Evans.
Round 1 would see Aunger take the win Niblock 2nd and Shane Manning finishing 3rd. Round 2 and it would be Niblock from a fast finishing Tony Williams with Charlie Gutch-Berry in 3rd. Round 3 would see our 3rd different winner with Cooper Eddie taking the win from Gustch-Berry and Niblock in 3rd. Round 4 and Aunger would take his 2nd win from Niblock with Tim Auton completing the top 3 places. The final heat and it would be Aunger for his 3rd win securing him pole position for the title race. Shane Manning and Cooper Eddie would round out he top 3 from the final qualifying race.
The final would see Aunger and Niblock on the front row with Gustch-Berry and Manning on row 2 and Eddie and Williams to round out the top 6. At the green it would be Aunger to take the lead into the first corner with Niblock falling back to 6th. Gustch-Berry, Eddie and Manning would fill out the top 4 will Williams in 5th as they would compete lap 1. The order would remain the same until lap 6 when Williams would make a move on the inside of Manning to take 4th. It would be a race in 2 for the remaining 14 laps with Aunger and Gustch-Berry running nose to tail and side by side for the entire race, but it would be Aunger who would taker the flag and the first Australian Title for Standard Medium closely followed by Gustch-Berry with Eddie a distant 3rd and Williams home for 4th place.
1st Liam Aunger
2nd Charlie Gustch-Berry
3rd Cooper Eddie
4th Tony Williams
Standard Heavy
Practice got underway with the defending champion Glen Trelor setting quick time from Jamie Partridge, Rhion King and Sam Webb.
Round 1 kicked off with Darren Holt taking the win from Jamie Partridge and Jeff Redjepi. Round 2 and it was the reigning champion Trelor who would lead home Jayden Barnes with Lachlan Barbary home for 3rd. Round 3 would see Trelor take his 2nd win from Partridge and Barnes rounding out the top 3 positions. Round 4 would produce our 3rd different winner with Barbary greeting the checkered flag for the win with Redjepi and Rhion King making for the first time for the weekend. Round 5 and it would be another different winner from a fast finishing Barnes and Troy Dudgell in 3rd.
With the field set for the title race it would be Trelor and Barnes on the front row from Brayden Whiting and Barbary on row 2 with Redjepi out of P5 and Partridge from 6th. Trelor would lead the field into turn 1 when everything went pear shaped behind him with 4 karts into the fence. After a short delay. Trelor would once again lead them away from Whiting who got the jump on Barnes. Lap 3 would see the defending champions title defence after a coming together with Whiting would see Trelor end up on the infield with a flat tyre. Barnes would lead the field away after Whiting was penalised 2 positions for the incident with Trelor. Whiting would pass Barns on the resumption as they ran 4 wide into turn 3 with Holt and Barbary. Whiting would lead from Holt and Barnes. Redjepi would take 4th on lap 6and then pass Barnes for 3rd on lap 12. Positions would remain the same to the finish with Whiting taking the title from Holt, Redjepi and Barns in 4th.
1st Brayden Whiting
2nd Darren Holt
3rd Jeffrey Redjepi
4th Jarden Barnes
Ladies
Kierah Hawkins would throw the gauntlet down to the rest of the ladies by setting QuickTime from Reigning Champ Ashleigh Moller and Iesha Swan.
Round 1 and it would be Moller to give the competitors something to chase by winning the first heat from Alice Litzow with Larissa Manning in 3rd. Round 2 would turn out to be the race of the weekend with a furious start that saw Moller go upside down on lap 1 and an incident on lap 2 after the restart that saw 7 karts involved with 4 into the wall including Moller for the 2nd time in as many laps. Taylor Knight would be the only driver not to continue with a damaged chassis. Imogen McCallum would lead all the remaining laps to take the win from Litzow and Hawkins in 3rd. Round 3 would be a repeat of Round 1 with Moller taking the win from Litzow, Manning and Swan in 4th. Round 4 and it would be Moller again to take the win and cement pole position for the title race. Swan would finish 2nd with Hawkins home for 3rd.
With the grid set for the title race Moller would head the field with an impressive Litzow to start beside her on the front row. Row 2 would be an all Victorian affair with Swam and McCallum in P4 and P4. Row 3 would consist of Hawkins and Bek Donavan. Disappointment would strike Hawkins who would roll to the infield before the green flag. At the drop of the green Moller would lead them into turn 1 closely followed by Swan and a battle for 3 that consisted of the rest of the field. Unfortunately lap 2 would see an incident that would take McCallum, Marks and Donavan out of the race leaving only 5 karts remaining in what was fast becoming survival of the fittest. Moller would lead away Swan, Litzow, Manning and Knight on the restart and never be headed. Moller would drive away from Swan to win by 3 seconds and break the lap record in the process setting the new mark at 14.489 seconds. Litzow would finish 3rd with Manning home for 4th and Knight 5th. Moller would win back to back titles in what was an emotional win in front of her home crowd.
1st Ashleigh Moller
2nd Iesha Swan
3rd Alice Litzow
4th Larissa Manning
Modified
Ashleigh Moller would set the bar in practice with Quick time for Kai Malley and Charlie Gustch-Berry.
Round 1 would see Kaleb Sims and Kai Malley take the heat wins from Moller and Gustch-Berry. Round 2 and it would be much of the same with both Sims and Malley taking the wins with Tim Auton, Luke Sapwell and Gustch-Berry, Moller filling the minors. Round 3 would see Malley take the win from Auton and Sims with Brad Canneen taking victory from Sapwell and Larissa Manning. The final round would see a repeat of night 1 will Malley and Sims taking the win in the final round of heats.
Malley would take pole position with a perfect score from the heats with Sims sharing the front row. Auton and Moller would make up row 2 with Gustch-Berry and Jayden Bryan rounding out the top 6. As the green flagged dropped Moller would miss the start and head into turn 1 at the rear with Malley leading Sims and Auton in 3rd. Lap 2 would see and end to Malley’s title defence with a broken engine. Sims would assume the lead from Auton and Gustch-Berry in 3rd. Gustch-Berry would take 2nd on lap 4 and then pass Sims for the lead on lap 6. Canneen would make his way to 4 and pass Auton on lap 11 to take 3rd place. The race would be for 4th place with Gustch-Berry a clear leader and Sims and Canneen clearly in 2nd and 3rd. Auton would battle Sapwell for the final podium position which would go down to the wire with Moller joining the battle on the final lap. But it would be Gutsch-Berry who would take the win from Sims, Canneen and Auton to cross the line in 4th.
1st Charlie Gutsch-Berry
2nd Kaleb Sims
3rd Brad Canneen
4th Tim Auton
Outlaw
Liam Niblock would open the weekend with quick time in practice with Kai Malley and Ryan Wood 3rd quickest.
Round 1 and it would be Niblock to take the win from Malley and Darren Holt. Round 2 would see Niblock again take the win from Malley with Liam Aunger home for 3rd position. Round 3 and it would be Declan Robinson to lead home Niblock and Wood for the final heat of the night. Round 4 would see Niblock take his 3rd win and secure pole position for the title race. Aunger would come home 2nd from Ryan Wood in 3rd.
Niblock would take pole position from Malley on the front row. Aunger and Robinson would fill out row 2 with Darren Holt and Noel Petersen completing the top 6. Niblock would lead the field to the green flag and lead lap 1 from Malley and Aunger. Niblock’s lead would be short lived with Malley taking the lead on lap 2. The only other mover would be Holt who would move into 4th on the same lap. It would become a lonely race for the top 4 as the field would spread out for the remaining 18 laps. Malley would lead the field to the checkers for the win with Niblock in 2nd from Aunger and Holt filling out the podium.
1st Kai Malley
2nd Liam Niblock
3rd Liam Aunger
4th Darren Holt
125cc Non Gear Box
Practice saw the defending champion Liam Niblock set QuickTime from Chad Sampson and Jamie Partridge.
Round 1 and it was Keirah Hawkins, Kai Malley and Niblock all taking heat wins. Round 2 would see Darren Holt, Jack Lumsden both take wins and Niblock who would take his 2nd heat win for the night. Round 3 and it would be Luke Sapwell, Glen Tye and Holt who would take his 2nd win all take the checkered flag first in the final round of the night. Round 4 would see Sapwell and Malley both take their 2nd wins and Niblock would take his 3rd victory.
Sapwell would pip Niblock for pole position and relegate Niblock to 2nd on the grid. Hawkins and Malley would fill row 2 with Andrew Walkerden and Lumsden filling out the top 6. Sapwell would get the jump and lead Niblock and Hawkins into turn 1. Hawkins would pass Niblock on Lap 3 and while challenging for the lead a lap later Hawkins and Sapwell would make contact in turn 1 which would result with Sapwell in the wall and out of the race. Hawkins would lead Niblock and Peter McKenzie away at the restart. Hawkins would lead until lap 14 when Niblock would make a pass as a result of Hawkins running wide down the front straight. Hawkins would manage to hold 2nd from McKenzie until lap 18 when she would be passed by McKenzie and Malley. McKenzie would be passed by Malley a lap later for 2nd. Lumsden would make a last lap pass on Hawkins who was fading fast to finish 4th. At the checkered flag it would be the reigning champion Niblock to take his 3rd consecutive title from Malley, McKenzie and Lumsden in 4th.
1st Liam Niblock
2nd Kai Malley
3rd Peter Mckenzie
4th Jack Lumsden
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