Jake Klarich Wins WA KZ Series Opener
| press release | 29 January 2015 |
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Stanley Motorsport driver Jake Klarich (TB Kart) netted pole at the opening round of WAKZ in convincing fashion with a time of 41.77, which is a good result straight out of the box for a new team in the WAKZ scene. He was followed by FMA Motorsport's Darren Burke (Formlua K) in a time of 41.99 and Amrit Kandola (Luxor) 3rd with 42.2.
The next 15 drivers were all split by less than 3 tenths which was looking to provide some close action.
Race 1 had alot of tension in the air. With 11 rookies in the field and alot of expections from the experienced drivers, every gap was looked at as a passing opportunity. Unfortunately though the race was red flagged after after a turn 7 accident on lap 1. Simon Gwilliam (Formula K) got a dream start but missed a gear which caused the field the compress in the tight section. Jesse Elliott (FA Kart) was flung from his kart but recieved no injuries. Rookie Jason Betts (DR) however was not so lucky and was taken to hospital for X-Rays which later confirmed a broken wrist.
Above: The race 1 accident that was red flagged. Jesse Elliott on the ground and Jason Betts (77) with a broken wrist. Fothergill, Currey and Klarich piled up.
pic - Brad Mitchell
10 Drivers where unable to make the restart which got under way and was a more straight forward race. Darren Burke skipped out to an early 5 kart lead from Amrit Kandola (Luxor) and Thomas Howe (FA Kart). Kandola then fought back to grab the race from Burke with 5 to go and drive away with the win. Burke 2nd and Howe 3rd. Deepal Kandola (Luxor) also had a good race to come through to 4th from 16th and Jake Kostecki (CRG) 5th.
Jake Klarich took the early lead in race 2 with the fresh tyres and quickly gave himself a handy gap. Amrit Kandola continued his impressive form and followed him out maintaining the gap. Thomas Howe also showing he has what it takes was able to make the pace of the front two. Queenslander Cian Fothergill (Luxor) was making huge in roads and was working his way forward. Simon Gwilliam also started rear because of a tyre change and was coming through with just as much pace. He was lucky enough have have another blinding start and made his way to 10th by lap 1. Fothergill passed Kandola with 5 laps to go and set his sights on Klarich who was now suffering a broken air box bracket. Gwilliam made his final pass to 4th on lap 4 and that was how the top 5 stayed for the finish. Klarich takes the win from Fothergill, Kandola, Gwilliam and Thomas Howe still producing strong results.
Above: Jake Kostecki leads Thomas Howe and Daniel Currey
pic - Brad Mitchell
This set up pre final grid which had Kandola from pole, Howe, Burke, Klarich and Mickler.
Kandola got off to a perfect start and quickly put a gap between himself and Thomas Howe. Disaster stuck Amrit Kandola on the back sweeper when his engine failed, gifting the lead to Howe who was now under pressure from Burke and Deepal Kandola. Howe Maintained the lead for 5 laps eventually giving the lead up to Deepal Kandola who had also passed Burke a few laps earlier. Burke then drifted back in the pack and eventually had engine failure at turn 1 which cause a collision between himself and Daniel Currey (Birel) who was making a charge from the rear of the field.
Above: Daniel Currey on top of Darren Burke after Burke's engine failed
pic - Brad Mitchell
Currey lost a few spots but managed to keep going and finish 8th. Deepal Kandola's time at the front was short lived as Klarich by now had come back from his bad start to take the lead once again. He was followed through by Fothergill and Howe but both were unable to make inroads on the lead. Klarich took the win ahead of Queenslander Fothergill, Howe, Deepal Kandola and Gwilliam.
The Final was set up for 25 grueling laps around the Albany City Kart Club track. By now a lot of the drivers had sore bodies from the bumps and some even pulled out with bruised ribs.
The start was finally a good one for Kalrich who had skipped away to a 5 kart lead by turn 3. This was not going to plan for Fothergill who was certain he had pace to match Klarich but was going to make things hard to chase him down. This didn’t stop the Queenslander trying as he set about trying to real him in. it was all in vein though as Fothergill’s plug lead had fallen off and he was unable to locate and put it back on in time.
On that same lap Daniel Currey had once again made his way through the field and passed Simon Gwilliam into 2nd. He set his sights on Klarich and reduced the gap marginally, however the Stanley Motorsport package was not to be beaten.
Above: The final gets underway, Cian Fothergill #20, Jake Klarich #95 and Deepal Kandola #73
pic - Brad Mitchell
Jake Klarich took Round 1 Honours and the $1500 prize money that goes with it, from Daniel Currey and Simon Gwilliam. Deepal Kandola and Bayley Mickler (Formula K) both had the best final finish since racing KZ to take 4th and 5th respectively. Mickler had a bad qualifying but consistently drove through the field to take the Hard Charger Award.
Big Thank you to the Albany City Kart Club for putting on a great meeting, Karting WA for the support and our Round Sponsor TaskTrakka.
- Round 2 of the FMA Motorsports WA KZ Series will be at Bunbury City Kart Club on April 11 and 12. If you’re interested in competing or want more information please email wakzseries@gmail.com or follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wakzseries
Above: Cian Fothergill
pic - Brad Mitchell
Words from the drivers:
Daniel Currey
"Yes, Well what a weekend. Great to be back on the podium again. I had good pace all weekend just not quite close enough to the front in for the start of the final.
We qualified 7th for the weekend, first race got a great start up to 5th in first couple of corners then mid-way through the first Lap Klarich and Gumby had and coming together resulting in Klarich spinning in front of me causing in a multiple kart pile up and a DNF for me.
Race 2 we had even worse luck when we were involved in a first corner crash resulting in another DNF. For the pre final we started at back of the grid in 21st and raced my way through to 5th when Burke had an engine failure right in front of me, resulting in a collision which put me back to 10th. Got back on track and raced my way back to 8th.
In the final I started out of 8th got a great start and just worked my way through the field to move into 2nd but just not enough to get to the leader. All up it was a great weekend considering we had 1 day of practice at Bunbury since the final round of last year. Thanks to all the guys that helped out.
Have to regroup for the next round order some new parts and rebuild karts due to a lot of damage over the weekend."
Above: Daniel Currey, here ahead of Joshua Wood and Pavan Kandola
pic - Brad Mitchell
Jake Klarich
"Heat 1 was the worst part of the weekend for me, started on pole but I dropped back on the start, through the midsection I was caught up in a crash where I had nowhere to go, bent a lot of components but had all the spares we needed.
Heat 2 I had to make up some ground work after a DNF in heat 1. I had a good launch on the start into the lead but halfway through the opening lap my air box mount broke, so I had a dangling air box for the whole race but just managed to hold on for the win. I found it funny when people were asking why I was choking a KZ through the corners!!
In the pre final I started in 4th, dropped back to 7th after a bad start, ended up making my way back to 1st and holding on for the win.
In the final I finally had a good launch off of the line to hold on to 1st through the first few corners, I ended up making a bit of a gap to the others and held it there for the rest of the race.
This weekend was really good for us. We were very happy with the new team, Stanley Motorsport, that I'm racing for this season, and the TB Kart and HRE engine package was perfect for its first KZ race!
Over the next couple of months I will be doing some testing at Bunbury to get my eye in for the race, while also preparing for the first Australian Championship race at Todd Road in early April! Really looking forward to working with the TB Kart and hopefully having a good result at the two race meetings coming up!"
Above: Jake Klarich
pic - Brad Mitchell
Simon Gwilliam
"We didn’t pick the track very well in qualifying it was still ok but not to our normal standards.
The first heat was chaos, firstly missed a gear on lap 1 and came together with Klarich, leaving him stranded on the track which turned into a big pile up and the race was red flagged. unfortunately a driver was injured but he will be ok.
My kart had a bent axle and after debating with my team we decided to participate in the restart. It was a horrible 10 or so laps I did, losing several positions until I came together with another kart that finally ended my race.
We were under the pump to repair my kart for heat 2, we got it up to the grid only to notice we had a punctured tyre. We had to use a spare and start from the rear. I had a lucky and trouble free run in this heat and managed to get up to 4th.
For the pre final I was very cautious and lost positions early before coming through late to finish 5th.
The final I went as hard as I could. Unfortunately Jake got out to a big lead early and couldn’t be caught. Had a great race with Currey and Fothergil and happy to make the podium.
Above: Darren Burke leads Simon Gwilliam
pic - Brad Mitchell
Above: Amrit Kandola leads the pack
pic - Brad Mitchell
Above: Round 1 results & points
Above: Deepal Kandola #73, Daniel Currey #3, Jake Kostecki #56
pic - Brad Mitchell
Above: AJ Nash
pic - Brad Mitchell
Above: Burkie after engine failure
pic - Brad Mitchell
Above: Series points after opening round
Above: Rookies points after opening round