Hamilton Hosts VCS R5 – KartSportNews

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words – Andrew Hayes, AHR Media, for VCS
images – Brad McLaren, BPM Photography, for VCS

The Hamilton Karting Club has successfully hosted round 5 of the DPE Kart Superstore Victorian Country Series in unusually good weather conditions at it’s Buckley Park Raceway circuit over the weekend.

More than 170 competitors took to the 700m undulating track in near perfect conditions.

Damiano Muscariello two-wheels the LN Kart in TaG Light (pic – BPM)

The tiny Hamilton club put in a monster effort to get the meeting up and running, and were ably assisted by many volunteers to run the successful meeting.

Once again there was several top shelf performances, and some breakthrough VCS wins and podiums over the weekend.

full results on Speedhive HERE
more images by BPM Photography – Friday HERE, Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE

There’s always prize winners at VCS rounds! (pic – BPM)

VICTORIAN COMBINED MASTERS (17 Entries)

Wimmera’s Remo Luciani has dominated the 2025 series, his first in Masters, and he added another pole position (31.510) to his collection.

Luciani was again the class of the heat races, his victory margin getting bigger in each encounter.

As impressive as Luciani was in the heats, it was the final where he fully showcased his talents. He was simply unstoppable as he put his competition to the sword, taking a comprehensive 8.9 second victory. Phil Smith saved his best run of the weekend to claim second in the final, ahead of 2024 Hamilton round winner Mark Heemskerk in third. Ash Mitchell was Luciani’s biggest threat all weekend, but slipped from second to fourth at the end of the final. Mark Appleby had a really solid weekend to claim fifth.

1^st Remo Luciani (WIMM)
2^nd Phil Smith (GKCV)
3^rd Mark Heemskerk (MGKC)

The order after qualifying in Vic Masters, Remo Luciani (20) fastest ahead of Mark Appleby (28), Ash Mitchell (5) and Angelo D’Ettorre (8) (pic – BPM)

KA3 SENIOR MEDIUM (4 Entries)

Low numbers again in KA3 Senior Medium. Robbie Turmine took his first VCS pole (31.973), before Ryan Dealy swept the heats and final. Fletcher Shaw put in a much improved effort in the final to run second ahead of Sam Purnell in third. Turmine was out before the start with an exhaust issue.

1^st Ryan Dealy (GVKC)
2^nd Fletcher Shaw (OAK)
3^rd Sam Purnell (OAK)

Ryan Dealy, 1st KA3 Senior Medium (pic – BPM)

TAG RESTRICTED HEAVY (5 Entries)

Five drivers in five different brands of karts took on Restricted Heavy. Jett Rendell was the standout, claiming pole (32.514) and the opening two heat wins. A chaotic start to the third meant Brodie Worner claimed a strong heat win.

Worner led the early stages of the final, before Rendell took over and banked his second round win of 2025. Worner consolidated for second, ahead of the kerb loving Aaron Jackson in third. Mick Angwin and Brian Mason rounded out the top five.

Jett Rendell leads Brodie Worner and Michael Angwin (pic – BPM)

1^st Jett Rendell (BALL)
2^nd Brodie Worner (SHKC)
3^rd Aaron Jackson (ELKC)

KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT (18 Entries)

Ballarat’s former Cadet 12 National Champion Archie Bristow set the pace in qualifying, taking his first VCS Junior pole (31.058).

Bristow proved he had rediscovered his mojo in the heats, claiming comfortable victories in each encounter.

Bristow and Jai George lined up on the front row for the final, pitting the fastest man all weekend against the dominant force of the class in 2025. Bristow showed early that he wasn’t mucking around, punishing the field to claim a 3.6 second victory, his first VCS win in Juniors.

Archie Bristow leads the way (pic – BPM)

George was a very solid second, banking more points towards his VCS title defence. Third place went to the returning Blake Purvis, who fitted back in like he was never gone. Riley Gee and Oscar Corless both showed some good signs on their way to fourth and fifth.

1^st Archie Bristow (BALL)
2^nd Jai George (GKCV)
3^rd Blake Purvis (OAK)

TAG LIGHT (12 Entries)

The Zach Attack continued in Tag Light, as Findlay powered to his third pole (29.904) of the 2025 season.

Findlay was fast and clean through the heats, taking the honours in each race.

Final time would prove to be no different, as Findlay was too good, marching to another round win on his way to the 2025 Series championship. Max Marriner was the best of the rest in the final, finishing second in a welcome return to the series.

Findlay leads Marriner, TaG Light (pic – BPM)

Curt Sera showed some strong pace across the weekend and landed the final podium spot in third. Dallas Greene missed the podium for the first time in 2025 by finishing in fourth, ahead of Trent Ashman, who had his best result of fifth.

1^st Zach Findlay (GKCV)
2^nd Max Marriner (BALL)
3^rd Curt Sera (GIPP)

TAG RESTRICTED MEDIUM (14 Entries)

Qualifying was super tight in Restricted Medium, with the top 7 drivers separated by less than a tenth of a second! Becoming just the second pole winner in five rounds, the Australasian champion Josh Godfrey (31.817) topped the timesheets.

Portland’s Kobe Trigg crossed the line first in both the first and second heats, however the second heat win would be taken away post race. Paul Pittam was promoted to the win in heat two in a race that featured a considerable number of penalties. Pittam went on to claim heat three as well.

Pittam and Jamo Park got away nicely from the front row of the final, not so lucky was the second row of Jeremy Kiensrod and Phil Hobbs who ended up locked together and out of contention at the turn one esses. Pittam built a handy buffer in the lead, them backed off and gave Park a sniff of an opportunity. In the end it was Pittam collecting his fifth consecutive round win, ahead of Park, who was impressive all weekend.

Paul Pittam, 1st TaG Restricted Medium (pic – BPM)

Matt Hensel had his share of dramas in the heats, but nailed the final to finish third. Godfrey found all the trouble in the heats before recovering to fourth ahead of Ella Dealy, who also had her share of setbacks on the way to fifth.

1^st Paul Pittam (SGKC)
2^nd Jamo Park (PORT)
3^rd Matt Hensel (MGKC)

KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY (19 Entries)

Pole Position in Junior Heavy went the way of Lucas Rickard (31.714), his second pole of the season, following on from round one at Ballarat.

Rickard got to work in the heats, winning the opening two, before Chelsea Humphrey struck back with a win in the third.

Rickard and Humphrey led the field to the start of the final, and it was Rickard getting the early ascendancy. From there Rickard steadily built a margin, and went on to finally break through for his first ever VCS win!

Lucas Rickard (27) on pole, Junior Heavy, alongside is Chelsea Humphrey (pic – BPM)

Humphrey went toe to toe with Aydan Warren for second, eventually getting the better of that battle to finish second. Warren added to the class on his way to third place. Levi Jones and Jake Ristell finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth place.

1^st Lucas Rickard (GKCV)
2^nd Chelsea Humphrey (ELKC)
3^rd Aydan Warren (ELKC)

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT (18 Entries)

Reigning VCS Champ Ben Kilsby snared his first pole position (31.241) since returning to the class at the previous round.

The history books will say that Kilsby won each of the three heats, but it won’t show that he had to earn each of them as his rivals kept him honest.

Kilsby again led the field away for the final, setting his sights on the round win. Pressure came from Josh White for the duration of the 16 lap final, but it was Kilsby prevailing and grabbing his first win of 2025. White showed some serious pace across the weekend to finish in second.

Benjamin Ramsay tries out the green stuff as Chelsea Jones (9) sweeps by in TaG R Light (pic – BPM)

Ryan Dealy had a turbulent weekend, suffering setback after setback, but dug deep when it counted to finish in third. Ash Johnston and Madi Bickerton were also speedy on their way to fourth and fifth.

1^st Ben Kilsby (PORT)
2^nd Josh White (GKCV)
3^rd Ryan Dealy (GVKC)

TAG HEAVY (17 Entries)

Qualifying in Tag Heavy was as competitive as ever, with the top four separated by less than a tenth. Super2 regular Jordyn Sinni put the cat amongst the pigeons to claim pole position (30.533).

Sinni won each of the heat races, dominant in the opener before having to work a bit harder in the second and third runs.

Sinni and Ben Mouritz led the field to the start, Sinni making the best of the first set of corners. Scott King managed to slip past Mouritz at the start, moving into second. Sinni would set a cracking pace as he edged away to a comprehensive 3.1 second victory.

Ben Peverill under attack from Jackson Ohayon, TaG Heavy (pic – BPM)

King finally found his rhythm to claim second after chasing speed all weekend, while Moritz settled for third after being Sinn’s biggest challenger all weekend. Peter Hollings and Adam King finished fourth and fifth respectively.

1^st Jordyn Sinni (GKCV)
2^nd Scott King (PORT)
3^rd Ben Mouritz (BALL)

TaG Heavy podium (well, two out of three…) (pic – BPM)

CADET 12 (15 Entries)

Fresh of claiming the Ladies Trophy in the AKC, Alana Gurney arrived in Hamilton in a hurry, claiming a dominant pole position (33.050) by 2.5 tenths of a second.

Gurney was again speedy in the heats, withstanding pressure to win the opener, before coming out all guns blazing to win the second and third heats comfortably.

Gurney put in one of the absolute top shelf performances of the weekend in the final. She was on the job from the very first corner, burning the opposition to claim a commanding 8.6 second victory, her second of 2025.

Cadet 12ers rustling the leaves (pic – BPM)

Beau Chambers and Jack Zourkas waged an entertaining battle for second, with Chambers getting the upper hand, Zourkas grabbing his first VCS podium in third. Emmanuel Mistriotis sealed fourth place, ahead of Sam Barling, who finished fifth after being set back by a carby issue in the heats.

1^st Alana Gurney (OAK)
2^nd Beau Chambers (PORT)
3rd Jack Zourkas (OAK)

KA3 SENIOR LIGHT (19 Entries)

Zach Findlay kept his Horsham momentum going in KA3 Light, claiming his second pole position (31.059) in a row, also his second of the day.

Findlay was again the man to beat in the heats, claiming each of the three, although his competitors didn’t give him much rope this time around, running him hard to the finish line each time.

The final again started with Findlay leading and was going nicely until a full course yellow on lap 12 after a crash for Ryder Dahler. The field was bunched up behind Findlay for a one lap shootout to the chequers. Inevitably places never changed, Findlay claiming his fifth consecutive round win, again proving to be the benchmark.

Ari Seidel was very impressive all weekend and was a real threat to Findlay, he claimed his first VCS podium with second place. Dallas Greene nabbed third place after being a little off his usual pace. Lachlan Cutting crossed the line in fourth, but was subject to a post race penalty, which elevated Brocklan Parker and Ryder Vukusic to fourth and fifth.

1^st Zach Findlay (GKCV)
2^nd Ari Seidel (GKCV)
3^rd Dallas Greene (GKCV)

CADET 9 (12 Entries)

Zac Duynhoven had a point to prove in Hamilton, after a disastrous Horsham round, and made the perfect statement by taking a hard fought pole position (34.032).

Duynhoven had to work for his heat wins, and looked composed as he executed perfectly each time.

Leading away again in the final, Duynhoven was again in control, until a full course yellow bunched the field up again. Duynhoven again motored away after the restart, but a mistake on the penultimate lap made things interesting. Ben Henman was given a sniff of victory, and attempted a last corner pass on Duynhoven. They drag raced to the line in a great battle, Duynhoven taking the win by the skin of his teeth.

So close! Cadet 9 over the line, Duynhoven (63) pipping Henman by 0.085s (pic – BPM)

Henman was second and proved his first win isn’t far away. Jax Wortley was consistent, landing the final spot on the podium in third. Alfi Lucchetti was fourth across the line, but was penalised post race, moving Horsham winner Jonathon Testa to fourth and James Henman to fifth after a trying weekend.

1^st Zac Duynhoven (SWEST)
2^nd Ben Henman (ELKC)
3^rd Jax Wortley (ELKC)

THOMAS7 MOTORSPORT ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD WINNERS:

CADET 9 – Levi Duynhoven
CADET 12 – Gemma Phillips
KA3 JUNIOR LIGHT – Lewis Kucina
KA3 JUNIOR HEAVY – Harry Ristell

DPE KART SUPERSTORE Victorian Country Series competition is set to culminate in a thrilling final round at South West Kart Club’s Cobden circuit on October 25/26 2025.

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THANKS TO THE 2025 SERIES SPONSORS: