4SS State Trophy

words by Andrew Hayes, AHR Media
pics by ‘friend of the club’ Doug Allen

The Ballarat Kart Club has hosted the 4SS State Trophy at it’s Haddon facility over the weekend. 66 entries were received for the event, with most in the featured 4SS classes.

The revamped Ballarat track proved to be suited to the 4-stroke engines, with the racing being close and hard fought all weekend.

Conditions were overcast, but mild, proving to be perfect for the relaxed meeting.

• scroll to bottom for photo gallery
• full results on Speedhive HERE
• Ballarat club’s Facebook and Instagram may have more photos in the coming days.

CADET 9

Oakleigh’s Jordan Butters was the driver to beat in Cadet 9, taking pole position and the opening two heats. Ballarat’s Xander Reynen edged Butters to win the third heat, before Butters claimed the fourth. Butters turned on the after burners in the final, to streak away to a comfortable win. Reynen finished second ahead of Enzo Pugliese, who improved all weekend.

1^st Jordan Butters (OAK)
2^nd Xander Reynen (BALL)
3^rd Enzo Pugliese (GIPP)

CADET 12

Ballarat driver Elliott Thomas was the standout in Cadet 12. Thomas clean swept the whole weekend, from qualifying to the final, showing that he is ready to step up to some more competitive racing. Jett O’Leary was consistent in second place all weekend, whilst Ayman Zaidi banked some good experience, despite not starting heat two and three.

1^st Elliott Thomas (BALL)
2^nd Jett O’Leary (OAK)
3^rd Ayman Zaidi (ELKC)

4SS SENIOR LIGHT

Edward Bourke from the Oakleigh Kart Club fired the first shot by taking pole position in 4SS Senior Light. But from there the defending Orange plate champ, Will Burfitt took over proceedings, claiming all four heat races. Burfitt and Bourke duelled early on in the final before a mistake at turn two set Bourke back significantly. Burfitt went on to win comfortably from Bourke, who had to fight back to second. Matt Stringer was at the front most of the weekend and took home third.

1^st Will Burfitt (OAK)
2^nd Edward Bourke (OAK)
3^rd Matt Stringer (OAK)

4SS SENIOR MEDIUM

Defending Orange plate champion Brayden Slama was made a red hot start to his title defence by claiming pole position and the opening three heats. Will Wade made the most of his opportunity to snare the win in the fourth heat. The final of 4SS Medium was a cracker, as Wade, Jackson Lee and Slama waged an epic battle. Late in the race Lee ascended to the race lead, however he went ultra defensive, which allowed Slama to blow past on the outside on the straight for the decisive move. Slama had to withstand some pressure, but did so to defend his title. Lee had to settle for second ahead of Wade in third.

1^st Brayden Slama (GIPP)
2^nd Jackson Lee (ELKC)
3^rd Will Wade (OAK)

4SS SENIOR HEAVY

Oakleigh’s Jake Holland opened the Heavy account with a very hard fought pole position. However it was the defending champ, Nathan Daley, who took the opening heat. From there Holland wrestled back the front running to claim the remaining three heats. The final saw Holland and Daley go toe to toe, with Andrew Hall chasing closely. Holland led the early stages before Daley hit the front for a couple of laps. Holland got back to the front on lap 7, and never relinquished the lead, going on to win. Daley was second in his title defence, just ahead of Hall, who was the only driver close to the leaders.

1^st Jake Holland (OAK)
2^nd Nathan Daley (OAK)
3^rd Andrew Hall (GIPP)

KA3 JUNIOR

Ballarat’s Lewis Kucina was too strong in KA3 Junior, as he clean swept every session in convincing fashion. Kucina’s clubmate, Cooper Dellaca was second in each of the events, and showed some glimpses of impressive pace. Oakleigh’s Seren Hughes showed her pace to claim the hard fought final spot on the podium in third.

1^st Lewis Kucina (BALL)
2^nd Cooper Dellaca (BALL)
3^rd Seren Hughes (OAK)

TAG 125 SENIOR

One of Kartings good guys, Mitch Arrow, hit his straps in the championship weighted Tag class on his home circuit. Arrow took pole position and all four heat races in an ominous showing. However it was Peter Hollings who got the jump at the start and led the early laps of the final. Arrow wasn’t done though, retaking the lead and pacing the field through the middle of the race. But Hollings found another gear late in the race, taking the lead and racing to the win. Arrow was a very solid second, ahead of another of the good guys, Daniel Findlay in third.

1^st Peter Hollings (BALL)
2^nd Mitch Arrow (BALL)
3^rd Daniel Findlay (BALL)

KA3 SENIOR LIGHT

Just the two entrants in this class, with recent senior graduate Troy Hollingworth taking the chocolates all weekend. Domenic Kucina couldn’t match Hollingworth, but did take the second Kucina podium of the weekend.

1^st Troy Hollingworth (BALL)
2^nd Domenic Kucina (BALL)

TAG RESTRICTED LIGHT

Bendigo’s Archie Patterson defied some of the bad luck he has had in 2025 to come out swinging in Restricted Light. Patterson was smooth and fast as he clean swept all of the weekends events. Phil Hobbs and Hugh Dalton battled eachother hard all weekend and it was no surprise they fought out the remaining spots on the podium. Dalton eventually getting the better of Hobbs.

VIC COMBINED MASTERS

Ballarat’s Ben Derby got things moving his way first up by taking pole position in Masters. Not to be outdone, John ‘The Missile’ Page rocketed to the first three heat race wins. Derby consolidated to notch up the win in the fourth heat. Derby got the better of the start in the final, and led with pressure from Page. Page’s challenge dropped off with a mistake on lap 13, allowing Derby a trouble free run to the chequered flag. Greg Smith was improving each race,  and did  enough to hold Page off for second. Page would settle for third.

1^st Ben Derby (BALL)
2^nd Greg Smith (BALL)
3^rd John Page (BALL)

THE BALLARAT KART CLUB WISHES TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE MEETING:

• TORINI KART ENGINES
• SP TOOLS
• PIRTEK BALLARAT & BACCHUS MARSH
• KART READY – BALLARAT
• MAXXIS TYRES
• AHR MEDIA