Phil Goss Memorial

words – Louise Sterling
majority of pics – Ben Cunningham, Focused on photos

The IGA Cressy Phil Goss Memorial has been run and won for the 18th year running. Once again, Launceston Kart Club delivered what this meeting is all about; hard racing, comebacks, good mateship, stories shared, and the spirit of Continuing the Chase, with officials and volunteers keeping a huge program flowing on the shortest day of the year so every competitor had every lap possible to make their move.

• full results on Speedhive HERE

Cadet 12

Would see one of the closest fields of the day, only tenths separating the drivers and opportunities close at every lights out.

At the front, Eli White and Wil Cairns would push each other to the limit, with both drivers taking turns at setting the pace through the heats. Heat 3 showed just how tight the class was, with Eli crossing the line only 0.198 seconds ahead of Wil.

Behind the lead battle, Harry Ralph, Harry Page and Ethan Youd would keep the chase pack alive. Youd had a tough run early with a DNF, but fought back into the mix and moved into second, only to come under attack in the closing stages. Ralph seen the gap in the final corners and made it count, with Page also right there as they raced to the line.

Beechey was tapping on the door of the chase pack, while Smith and Ryan were coming through as well, building pace and keeping their own battle alive.

In the final it would be Wil Cairns taking the chequered flag ahead of Eli White, with Harry Ralph completing the podium.

KA3 Juniors Light

Casper Anderson set the benchmark early in qualifying, stopping the clock at 36.960, only 0.057 seconds clear of Harry Warmsley. Noah McDougall would line up third, with Cooper Lockett and Elenah Rankin rounding out the top five.

Once racing began, Anderson and Warmsley off the front row set the pace, but the class was far from settled behind them. McDougall was right in the fight across the heats, and one of the standout drives came after an incident in Heat 3 saw him drop back to 11th. From there, McDougall put his head down and charged back through the field to finish 5th, a strong recovery drive in a very competitive Junior field.

The final would see at lap 9 Casper Anderson setting a new lap record 35.414, then taking the win marginally ahead of Harry Warmsley, with Elenah Rankin completing a strong drive to finish third.

Further back, Arlen Tapp, Dakota Brown, Matilda Warmsley, Amelia Robertson and Henry Murphy all had their own races to run. Murphy, debuting racing at Launceston Kart Club, he kept in the fight all weekend amongst a very experienced field of drivers.

KA3 Senior Light 

Baylin Pease was the driver under chase, with the field pushing hard to find a way through. Gemma Wyllie charged hard in the final and finished just 0.401 seconds behind Pease, while Jonty Rowbottom was right on her tail, with less than a second covering the top three at the flag. Making this final one of the best finishes of the day, with all three drivers pushing right to the line.

Joel Howe was in the top-five fight right through the final, keeping pressure on the lead group and making sure the battle did not stop at the podium spots. Kaleb Sims and Lewis Turnbull kept the midfield alive, while Liam Coulson and Boyd McCarthy kept the pressure on the field.

At the line, it would be Baylin Pease taking the win, with Gemma Wyllie second and Jonty Rowbottom third.

KA3 Senior Medium

The Mediums shared the track with the Senior Light field, giving the class plenty of traffic, pressure and combined racing to work through.

Tyson Slater stood out, mixing it with the light drivers while keeping control of his own class battle. Behind him, Christopher Pithouse and Byron Lee continued to chase and kept the action going through the heats and final. In the end, Slater would take the class win, with Pithouse second and Lee third.            

TaG 125 Restricted Medium 

TaG R Medium would see one of the best head-to-head fights of the day between Marcus Howe and Nigel Sheahen.

The pair traded wins through the heats and kept pushing each other every time they hit the track. In the final, the battle went right to the end, with Howe crossing the line just 0.235 seconds ahead of Sheahen.

Behind the front two, Sam Crack was one of the stories of the class. New to the track, Crack settled in quickly and delivered a podium finish, a great way to start his journey.

The midfield was also alive, with Brady Tyler, Josh Gadsby, Braeden Wolfe and Nick Price all having moments through the heats and final.

When the flag fell, it would be Marcus Howe taking the win, with Nigel Sheahen second and Sam Crack third.

TaG 125 Restricted Heavy 

This class would unfortunately lose its direct class battle after Kurt Tyler suffered engine troubles after Heat 2.

Leaving Dave Fidler without a direct Heavy class challenger, but he still had plenty of racing to do inside the combined TaG field. Fidler kept himself involved in the pack, mixing it with the Medium drivers and making the most of the racing around him.

It was not the Heavy class battle everyone hoped for, but Fidler still had to bring it home.

Open Performance 

Open Performance brings horsepower, speed and noise, with each driver having their hands full with the different machines underneath them.

Nathan Zuj stamped his authority on the class early, topping qualifying and carrying that form through the heats. In a class built around outright pace, Zuj was on song all day.

Behind him, Scott Hildyard and Luke Sapwell would keep the fight alive for the remaining podium spots, while Riley Newick challenging as the day went on. Nigel Hildyard also kept pushing in what was a small but serious field.

The final would see Nathan Zuj take the chequered flag with a best lap of 33.053, ahead of Scott Hildyard and Luke Sapwell.

KA3 Tas Masters 

The Masters would be the feature class for ‘Continue the Chase’, and this field showed exactly what experienced drivers bring to the table.

There was no driver who was simply going to clear this field. Zane Wyatt was setting the tone, but Clint Pease, Jason White, Matthew Mayne and Shane Stonehouse made sure every result had to be earned.

The Masters final would see Wyatt take the win, with Pease in second and Stonehouse in third.

Then came The Chase – the 21 Lap Memorial, a race carrying plenty of emotion and meaning. Zane Wyatt would take the chequered flag in the feature dedicated to his close friend Phil, followed by White second while also setting a new KA3 Tas Masters lap record with a 36.000 flat, closely followed by Pease rounding the podium.

The 18th running of the Phil Goss Memorial was a fitting tribute to Phil. It was built on good racing, good people, great mateship and the stories that keep people remembered. The event had everything a race meeting should have , close racing, hard chargers, new drivers stepping up, midfield battles,comebacks, and lap records falling.