Hot Start to VCS

words – Andrew Hayes, AHR Media
images – BPM Photography

The DPE Kart Superstore Victorian Country Series has gotten off to a hot start at the Ballarat Kart Club’s circuit in Haddon over Saturday and Sunday.

Once again the Ballarat Club made huge improvements to the facility and were duly rewarded with a well populated and run meeting.

Around 200 entries faced the starter in the opening round of the 2025 series, with racing fiercely contested as always.

There were some amazing performances, including a few clean sweeps! And of course no shortage of tension on and off the track.

• full results are on Speedhive HERE
• more photos by BPM Photography – Friday HERE, Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE

Read on for the AHR Media rundown of a hot weekend in the coldest place in Victoria:

TAG LIGHT (24 Entries)

Tag Light was well populated and super tight as always and saw 2024 frontrunner Dallas Greene claim a hard fought pole position (35.647).

Three heats and three different winners, as Dallas Greene, Jacob Dowson and Angus Hall all claimed a win in the battle for supremacy.

Dowson got away smartly in the final, and was chased all the way by Hall and Greene. Whilst Hall loomed as a challenge late, it was Dowson who claimed the victory in the opening round, just as he had done 12 months earlier in 2024. Hall claimed the fastest lap of the race on his way to second, with Greene starting his campaign with a third place finish. Zach Findlay and Ryan Morgan were speedy, and they finished fourth and fifth.

1^st Jacob Dowson (GKCSA)
2^nd Angus Hall (OAK)
3^rd Dallas Greene (GKCV)

TAG RESTRICTED MEDIUM (15 Entries)

Restricted Medium had plenty of fresh faces, and one of them was SA star Paul Pittam, who shook the establishment by taking pole by three tenths (37.759).

Pittam was in a league of his own in all three heats, taking each encounter with a comfortable margin.

Providing more of the same, it was again Pittam who took the reigns in the final, and used his speed and precision to dominate the final. Jeremy Kiensrod and Ella Dealy went toe to toe in an intense battle for second and third. Kiensrod put together his best weekend to finish a fine second, ahead of Dealy who was a valuable addition to the field in third. Matt Hensel had to roll with the punches over the weekend, and claimed fourth ahead of Ty Hall in fifth.

1^st Paul Pittam (SGKC)
2^nd Jeremy Kiensrod (WBOOL)
3^rd Ella Dealy (GVKC)

KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY (23 Entries)

Junior Heavy continued to grow in numbers, notching up 23 entries for Ballarat. In qualifying, there was three drivers within a tenth when the clock stopped, with Lucas Rickard backing up his Horsham 2024 pole with a time of 37.737.

Rickard was certainly on the march, tasting victory in all three of the heat races.

Rickard led the field away in the final, but it wasn’t long before the 2024 Series Champ Levi Jones came knocking, taking away the lead. Rickard also succumbing to Chelsea Humphrey the following lap. Jones and Humphrey, the title combatants of last year broke clear of the pack, with Jones ultimately adding another victory to his resume. Humphrey was a fine second, ahead of Rickard, who was once again so close to the breakthrough. Jake Ristell and Harrison Taintey were both solid competitors all weekend and finished fourth and fifth.

1^st Levi Jones (MGKC)
2^nd Chelsea Humphrey (ELKC)
3^rd Lucas Rickard (GKCV)

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT (18 Entries)

Restricted Light qualifying saw Ryan Dealy take pole position (37.247) in a tightly contested field, backing up his strong first up appearance in Hamilton last year.

Dealy was smooth and fast in the heats, keeping the challengers at bay to claim a trio of first place finishes.

Dealy saved his best drive for the final, as he took a commanding win, the margin of 5.6 seconds a testament to his speed. Josh White moved into the senior categories and looked comfortable, a second place to show for his efforts. Kain Armstrong mad his VCS start count, mixing it up at the front on his way to third. Jack Moloney and Jonny Sawyer nailed fourth and fifth positions.

1^st Ryan Dealy (GVKC)
2^nd Josh White (GKCV)
3^rd Kain Armstrong  (SGKC)

TAG HEAVY (18 Entries)

SA’s Leigh Harrison made a splash on his VCS arrival, upstaging the regulars to go fastest (36.689) in qualifying.

The Victorian state cup champ, Portland’s Scott King was in a real hurry in the heats, making all the right moves to clean sweep all three encounters.

King and Ben Mouritz occupied the front row of the final, and it was Mouritz who paced the field after a remarkable start. King threw the kitchen sink at Mouritz, but the KA3 graduate had the mettle to hold him off, claiming a first up victory in Tag VCS competition. King was a frustrated second, but would be pleased with his points haul. Mitch Sutej showed he is finding his feet in the class by taking third place. Peter Hollings and Kyle Pettenhofer rounded out the top five.

1^st Ben Mouritz (BALL)
2^nd Scott King (PORT)
3^rd Mitch Sutej (WBOOL)

CADET 12 (18 Entries)

Rising up as the Cadet 9 reigning champ, Beau Chambers proved that not even a change of colours could get between him and pole position (40.607). The pole coming with the incredible margin of four thousandths of a second.

The heats all fell the way of Chambers, two having greeted the flag, but the first only after Ethan Turnbull was disqualified post race for a technical infringement.

The early laps of the final were led by Chambers, but the challengers were coming. Kurtis Polkinghorne stepped up to the lead on lap five and then began a race long battle for the lead. Polkinghorne led the start of the final lap, but Chambers found a way past to take his first Cadet 12 win. Emmanuel Mistriotis also pounced on the opportunity when Chambers passed, sneaking through for a hard fought second. Polkinghorne was left wondering what might have been, but drove very well for third. Sam Barling was in the mix most of the weekend, ending up fourth, ahead of the recovering Turnbull in fifth.

1^st Beau Chambers (PORT)
2^nd Emmanuel Mistriotis (OAK)
3^rd Kurtis Polkinghorne (BALL)

KA3 SENIOR LIGHT (22 Entries)

Dallas Greene was running hot in KA3 Senior Light qualifying, taking his second pole position (36.917) of the day, with another super tight margin.

Greene mastered the first heat, before taking the honours again in the third. Zach Findlay was in the light class after previously running medium, and he would make heat two his own.

Greene and Findlay, along with SA’s Mitch Burgemeister led the field away and ran in that order for the early stages. A skirmish on lap ten saw Burgemeister move from third to take the lead, but only briefly before Findlay pounced. Findlay was never headed from there, overcoming a small weight disadvantage to claim the win a the big trophy. Greene snuck back by Burgemeister in the closing laps, the pair finishing second and third. SA’s Nikki Watson raced home to fourth, ahead of Imran Aly, who was strong in fifth.

1^st Zach Findlay (GKCV)
2^nd Dallas Greene (GKCV)
3^rd Mitch Burgemeister (SGKC)

CADET 9 (16 Entries)

A Fresh batch of the sport’s youngest competitors lined up in Cadet 9, with none of them having tasted the ultimate success in VCS competition. Zac Duynhoven was a massive improver in 2024, and he continued to hit his straps by taking pole position ( 41.125).

Duynhoven was a winner in each of the heat races, as he controlled the pace to perfection despite his rivals pressure.

Saving his signature performance for the main event, Duynhoven was supreme in the final, as he led from start to finish, to claim his maiden VCS win by just under five seconds. Jonathon Testa also posted his best run of the weekend, adding a second place finish to his multiple podiums from 2024. Second generation driver Jax Wortley completed the podium in third, and looks set for a breakout year in 2025 after this performance. Jett Gobourne and Daniel Hall rounded out the top five.

1^st Zac Duynhoven (SWEST)
2^nd Jonathon Testa (GKCV)
3^rd Jax Wortley (ELKC)

VICTORIAN COMBINED MASTERS (14 Entries)

The arrival of Remo Luciani to the master’s class was welcomed at Ballarat, as the most successful over 40’s driver of all time moved into the veteran’s class for VCS. Wasting no time in getting to work, Luciani took a hard fought pole position (37.698) in qualifying.

Luciani was clinical in the heats, edging to a slightly bigger margin each time out. He took the honours in all three, despite the constant threat of Ash Mitchell.

The lap speed between Luciani and Mitchell leading into the final was minimal, and the two set up beautifully for a duel from the front row. Luciani made the best of the start, but shadowing him was Mitchell for lap after lap. As the race wore on, the consistency and late race pace of Luciani proved decisive, as he added a VCS Masters win to his never ending list of accolades. Mitchell was a fine second, and will go home knowing he was right on it, giving his a hunger for future rounds. Paul Creevey was another addition to the class, and he also made a great impression to finish third. John ‘The Missile’ Page finished fourth on his home track, ahead of a fast finishing Barry Golightly in fifth.

1^st Remo Luciani (WIMM)
2^nd Ash Mitchell (MILD)
3^rd Paul Creevey (PORT)

KA3 SENIOR MEDIUM (4 Entries)

An extremely small field of KA3 Senior Medium gathered, a far cry from the strong fields of 2024. Thomas Patching struck the first blow by taking pole position (38.283).

Patching was right at the front during the heats, taking the first and third encounters, with Spiros Anagnostopoulos collected the win in the second.

Patching and Anagnostopoulos squared off in the decider and were never separated through the early stages, with Robbie Turmine finding his groove in third. The race was turned on its head on lap thirteen as Patching and Anagnostopoulos clashed at turn one, allowing Turmine to sweep through into the lead. From there Turmine had to be perfect, and perfect he was, taking his first ever VCS win in a popular result. Patching managed to recover for second, leading home Kye Belton, another great result in third. Anagnostopoulos was left to rue what might have been as he limped home in fourth.

1^st Robbie Turmine (WIMM)
2^nd Thomas Patching (OAK)
3^rd Kye Belton (SHKC)

TAG RESTRICTED HEAVY (4 Entries)

Tag Restricted Heavy was also very low on numbers, despite a big plea to the heavier drivers across the state. Jett Rendell enjoyed being at competition weight, as he stormed to a pole position (39.132).

Rendell was made to work in the heats, but managed to cross the line first in all three editions.

Once again in the final it was all about Rendell, as he cruised to a four second victory, also his first in VCS. Brodie Worner and Logan Burton had an entertaining battle for the minors, with Worner prevailing for second, Burton home in third.

1^st Jett Rendell (BALL)
2^nd Brodie Worner (SHKC)
3^rd Logan Burton (OAK)

KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT (22 Entries)

A deep field of KA3 Junior Light’s took to the Haddon circuit, and it was 2024 series champ Jai George taking a decisive pole position (36.884).

George was a rocket in the opening two heats, showing his trademark hunger for supremacy. The third heat was the race of the weekend in this class, as reigning Cadet 12 National Champion Archie Bristow capitalised on opportunity to claim a heat win on his home track.

George and Bristow shared the front row of the final, and George came out swinging after missing the third heat win. George added another lights to flag win to his rapidly increasing tally after a beautiful weekend of driving. The results sheet shows that Bristow finished second, but that was only after he spent a couple of the early laps in sixth after a tough start. Hudson Hughes also signalled himself as a series contender on the way to third. Fourth and fifth were no less contested than the podium positions, and they landed with Christian Bua Giancarro and Austin McPherson filling the spots.

1^st Jai George (BEN)
2^nd Archie Bristow (BALL)
3^rd Hudson Hughes (OAK)

THOMAS7 MOTORSPORT ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD WINNERS

• CADET 9: Leo Waters
• CADET 12: Lawson Effingham
• KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT: Ethan Majdis
• KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY: Troy Hollingworth

LATERAL PLAINS RACING DRIVER OF THE DAY: RYAN DEALY (Restricted Light)

DPE KART SUPERSTORE Victorian Country Series competition now moves back to the seaside at Portland’s Yarraman Park circuit on April 12/13 2025.

THANKS TO THE 2025 SERIES SPONSORS:

• DPE KART SUPERSTORE
• REMO RACING / IAME ENGINES
• KFC
• KARTING AUSTRALIA
• ACCELERATE MOTORSPORT
• MILDURA FORKLIFTS
• LATERAL PLAINS PTY LTD / LPR
• THOMAS 7 MOTORSPORT
• CENTRAL VIC KARTS & PARTS / CVRE
• DJM RACE ENGINEERING
• VITAL KARTING
• CANNIE RIDGE ELECTRICAL
• ALL STAR GRAPHICS
• TECNO KART RACING SA
• EKS KART AUSTRALIA
• BPM PHOTOGRAPHY
• AHR MEDIA
• RP & LJ DOWLIN PTY LTD