Three Big Days at Ipswich

from Russell Innes, IKC

The inaugural Ipswich Race of Champions (IROC) was conducted over Friday the 9th, Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th of May and was a huge success with some fantastic racing on offer. The final list of 244 entries included many visitors from interstate who took the opportunity to practice and race at Ipswich one last time before the upcoming AKC Round in late July.

  • full results on Speedhive HERE
  • some photos by Kip Colling HERE
  • video of the Finals, below
  • Heat races can be viewed on the club’s YouTube channel HERE

Felix Sim was fastest in Qualifying for Cadet 9 ahead of Luke Robinson and Ryder Xiong and Sim backed it up with the Heat 1 win from Robinson and Hudson Kelly. Sim and Robinson again filled the first 2 placings in Heat 2 with Ziong 3rd. Robinson and Milan Sami had a fabulous duel in Heat 3 with Robinson just finishing narrowly ahead at the finish, with Ari Djemil 3rd. The Final was a very interesting affair with a fantastic battle at the front involving Robinson, Sami, Sim, Xiong and Bellbowen, with Robinson, Sami and Sim all leading at multiple stages in the 16 Lap Final until on Lap 14 Xiong and Robinson came together and went off track and out of the race. This left Sim and Sami battling at the front with Bellbowen just behind. On the 2nd last lap Sami and Sim then came together with Sami retiring and Sim loosing ground and Bellbowen going through into a comfortable lead and eventually the win. Sim recovered to 2nd with Djemil completing the podium.

Cadet 9 Podium. 2nd Felix Sim, 1st RJ Bellbowen, 3rd Ari Djemil

The massive Cadet 12 field was oversubscribed and would run the ABCD Heat Format. Local Jeremy Broadbent pulled out a fast lap right at the end of Qualifying to score Pole from Alan Gurney having her 1st visit to Ipswich and another local in Riccardo Johnston. Oliver Williamson was the star through the 6 Heats with 3 wins, Brock Nolan also impressing with 2 wins and Knox Black taking the other Heat win. Amongst the placings during the Heats were Carter Grother, Oscar Ray, Aston Mills, Alana Gurney, Jack Musico, Jensen Damaschino and Toby Henderson. Williamson would start the Final from Pole with Nolan, Black, Damaschino, Henderson and Broadbent behind. Broadbent was out on the 1st lap of the Final as a victim of a hit from behind which also severely disrupted many others around him including Grother, Lukas Loeskow and Gurney. Williamson though was comfortable in front with Black and Nolan following. On lap 6 Knox briefly took the lead but Williamson took it back next lap with Nolan following him through. Mills who had started the Final on the 6th Row was the big mover and by lap 10 had moved to 3rd displacing Knox. Williamson and Nolan were engaging in a very tight battle at the front with Mills and Black behind as they approached the end of the 16 laps, but Williamson hung on to win from Nolan with Mills 3rd.

Cadet 12 Podium, 2nd Brock Nolan, 1st Oliver Williamson, 3rd Aston Mills

KA3 Junior was the other Class that was oversubscribed and ran the ABCD Heat Format. Locals dominated Qualifying with Jett Saraghi setting fastest time from Jye Flynn and Lana Flack. Saraghi would dominate through the Heats with 3 wins, Flynn, Flack and Cruz Patroni also scoring Heat wins. Luke Nolan, Zach Tucker, Riley Harrison, Zander Watts and Zain Shmeissem were all amongst the placings in the Heats. Saraghi, Flynn, Flack, Tucker, Harrison and Braxton Regan would be the front 3 rows for the Final, but Saraghi got to the front early from Flynn and built a small margin in front. Harrison was putting the pressure on Flynn and got by into 2nd on Lap 6 and set off after Saraghi. Whilst Saraghi was driving a superb race, Harrison was able to slowly reel him in but ran out of laps, with Saraghi winning by a small margin and then Flynn not too far behind.

KA3 Junior Podium. 2nd Riley Harrison, 1st Jett Saraghi, 3rd Jye Flynn

Liam Carr set the fast time in qualifying for KA2 Junior, ahead of Chad Rissman and Cooper Folley and these 3 filled the placings in that order in Heat 1, Carr again won Heat 2 comfortably, but Tyson McGill and Jye Flynn were now starting to show some pace to get in the placings. Carr again won Heat 3 with a comfortable margin from Flynn, with Hamish Campbell now starting to find pace. In the Final Carr led early from Folley and Flynn. Campbell started to move forward though with good pace and he followed Flynn through as they both passed Folley on Lap 4. Campbell was quick though and soon relegated Flynn a spot on Lap 6 and then set off in pursuit of Carr. He was quick to reel him in and assumed the race lead on lap 8. By lap 12, Campbell comfortably led Carr, Folley now back in 3rd, Maxim Kirwan and McGill. Carr wasn’t finished though and regained some ground on Campbell over the closing laps, but Campbell just had enough to hold on to win from Carr and Folley.

KA2 Junior Podium. 2nd Liam Car, 1st Hamish Campbell, 3rd Cooper Folley

Hamish Campbell was one of several Juniors running 2 classes and he pretty well dominated Junior Rotax all weekend, setting the fast time in Qualifying and winning 2 of the 3 Heats and leading the Final all the way. Riley Harrison was the other Heat winner, whilst others to get amongst the placings were Gabriel Elkayam and Monty Jamieson. Dima Micale had been consistent in the 1st 2 Heats but then had a DNF in Heat 3, but recovered well to finish 2nd in the Final behind Campbell, with Elkayam putting in a great drive to 3rd after starting 8th.

Junior Rotax Podium. 2nd Dima Micale, 1st Hamish Campbell, 3rd Gabriel Elkayam

KA3 Senior had an impressive field lineup and Zac Heard was fastest in Qualifying from Annabel Kennedy and Dominic Penman. Jett Adamson won 2 Heats, with Heard winning the other and Kennedy and Penman in amongst the placings. In the Final Adamson led early before Heard took over at the front on Lap 7, with Penman, Christian Sasso and Kennedy battling for the minor placings. Adamson retook the lead on lap 11 and then Heard became a DNF leaving Adamson with a small but comfortable margin in front of Kennedy who had took over 2nd spot, whilst Penman was fending off Christian Estasy and Sasso. On lap 15, Estatsy got the best of that battle and moved to 3rd. Adamson crossed the line after 20 laps with almost ½ second margin over Kennedy and Estatsy a few seconds further back.



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KA3 Senior Podium. 2nd Annabel Kennedy, 1st Jett Adamson, 3rd Christian Estasy

Jace Matthews, Toby Spinks and Jack Wells were the fast 3 in Rotax Light Qualifying and along with Marc Tulloch would be the frontrunners during the Heats. Matthews winning 2 Heats and Spinks the other, but it would be Matthews and Wells on the front row for the Final. In a hectic start to the race though, the front row came together and the whole field was scattered eliminating several of the frontrunners. Upon the restart Matthews took the lead with Charlotte Page and Wells following. Wells moved up to 2nd on Lap 6 with Zack Thompson following through into 3rd. Wells slowly reeled Matthews in over the next 10 laps and almost got to him but Matthews increased his lead late in the race to win comfortably from Wells, with Thompson 3rd and Logan Lalas a good way back in 4th. Unfortunately for Matthews his front fairing had been dislodged in the 1st lap incident and he would receive a 2 place penalty. Along with a DQ for Wells for the 1st lap incident, Thompson ended up the winner with Lalas 2nd and Matthews 3rd.

Harrison Hoey was fastest Qualifier in Rotax Heavy, but due to work commitments would miss Heat 1 which Brent Reading won from Zane Morrison and Sam Houston. Hoey then won Heats 2 and 3 comfortably from Houston, with Morrison and Jack Black 3rd in each Heat. In the Final Hoey was never challenged and built a good lead over Reading and Houston who had got the better of an early race battle with Black and Tyler Budden. Reading became a DNF on lap 16 which elevated Houston to 2nd but 14 seconds behind Hoey which stretched to 16 seconds by the end of the 20 Lap Final. Budden finished 3rd after fending off a challenge from Black.

Rotax Heavy Podium. 2nd Sam Houston, 1st Harrison Hoey, 3rd Tyler Budden

Jackson Souslin-Harlow would end up having a fantastic race meeting in TAG, firstly fastest in Qualifying, then winning all 3 Heats and the Final. His only real challenge coming from Mika LeMasurier who qualified way back in 21st but put in some fantastic drives through the pack in the early Heats to finish 2nd, 4th and 2nd. Trent Newton was very consistent with 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in the Heats. In the Final Souslin-Harlow led all the way, from LeMasurier with Newton a little further back, but these 3 well clear of the rest of the field led by Josh Dagg who got the better of a battle with Zack Thompson.

TAG Podium. 2nd Mika LeMasurier, 1st Jackson Souslin-Harlow, 3rd Trent Newton

Isaac McNeill was fastest in Qualifying for X30 ahead of Brodie Whitmore and Brodie Norris.  McNeill won Heat 1 just from Whitmore with Norris 3rd. Whitmore was successful in Heat 2 with the win over McNiell and Norris again 3rd. Whitmore repeated the does in Heat 3 again in front of McNeill and then Keegan Fraser. In the Final Whitmore led all the way and steadily built an impressive advantage to win by over 4 seconds from McNeill and Norris following him closely.

DD2 and DD2 Masters ran as a Group on track, fastest Qualifiers being Harrison Hoey and Troy Bretherton respectively. With Hoey missing Heat 1, Toby Spinks got his 1st win in a DD2 over Bailey Sagaidak and Brock Plumb, whilst in Masters Bretherton won from Scott Cleveland and Adam Wood. Hoey returned for Heat 2 and led home Spinks and Sagaidak, Bretherton again winning Masters from Cleveland and Wood. Spinks led all the way in Heat 3 with Hoey having to come from the back of the pack to work his way to 2nd and Josh Goddard getting 3rd. Bretherton again winning Masters from Wood and Scott Gray. The Final turned out to be a gruelling affair with Bretherton not starting and Plumb and Goddard out early, then Cleveland retiring mid race and Wood getting a mechanical flag, only a small field was left running. Hoey dominant out front winning convincingly from Sagaidak and then Spinks. The Masters win going to Angus Mathers who survived the carnage to win from Gray, these 2 the only Masters going the distance.

A small KZ2 field was led in Qualifying by Bailey Sagaidak from Jac Preston and Brett Wells. Preston though dominated the Heats winning all 3 from Sagaidak who was very close behind on each occasion. Thomas Hunter got a couple of 3rd with Jordan Ensbey filling 3rd in the other Heat. In the Final Preston led all the way with Sagaidak close behind but never really getting a chance to challenge for the lead. Ensbey put in his best drive of the day to finish 3rd.

Next race meeting at IKC will be the KA100 Titles on the 7th of June and entries will open this Monday.



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