Wet & Wintery Start To Pro Tour Lithgow
| press release | 2 March 2013 |
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A wet and wintery day faced the 139 strong Pro Tour Lithgow field in the central west of NSW. A healthy line-up for the track overlooking the Blue Mountains, as the tight and twisty layout provided some enthralling racing.
It was an all Tony Kart front row for the heats in DD2 Masters with Adam Hunter and Hamish Leighton locking out 1st and 2nd. Todd Road round winner Daniel Richert again looked imposing in qualifying starting from 3rd alongside Tony Bregonje and Steve Ellery starting from 5th. Adam Hunter set the benchmark throughout the heats, regularly challenged by his Tony Kart counterpart in Hamish Leighton and Daniel Richert. Hunter took the win in heat 1 ahead of Richert and Danny Wright with Leighton and Jason Grant completing the top five. The top two were mirrored through heat two and three as Hunter and Richert led home Leighton, Michael Robson and the returning Brent Coghlan in heat two. The pairing again finished ahead of Hamish Leighton in the final heat with Robson holding out Ellery for the top five.
Above: Adam Hunter claimed pole in a strong DD2 Masters field
pic - IKD
Onboard his new Tony Kart, Michael Saller was looking strong for a maiden pole position, holding the fastest time for a majority of the Rotax Heavy qualifying session. It was to be Exprit driver William Yarwood though who would snatch away pole position in the closing stages alongside Ben Ritchie, with Saller settling for 3rd and Pro Tour regulars Brendan Nelson and Troy Woolston. Starting from pole position, William Yarwood struggled to defend a hard charging Michael Saller who sprinted away to the lead early in the race. The multiple National Champion used his experience to hold on to 2nd ahead of Grant Donley, Brendan Nelson and Benjamin Ritchie. Nelson capitalised on his own experience in the two remaining heats in Rotax Heavy in challenging conditions, taking victories in both. Saller settled for 2nd in heat two ahead of Ritchie, Woolston and Donley. In the start of the final heat, Victoria’s Luke Andaloro was involved in a first corner accident which caused a red flag. Luke was transferred to hospital for assessment on his left shoulder. In the re-run of the final heat, Nelson led home a hard charging Matt Greenbury with Mason Barbera, Jeremy Atkins and Lane Moore rounding out the top five.
Above: William Yarwood leads a healthy Rotax Heavy field which provided some enthralling racing across the day
pic - IKD
The return to the Pro Tour for Bryce Fullwood brought with it a pole position in the damp eight minute qualifying session. Though Queenslander William Brown looked strong early, the Darwin driver managed to snatch the position late in the session to sit alongside Brown on the front row for the heat races. Chris Bregonje showed a clean set of heals to start from 3rd alongside Jordan McGregor, with local driver Stephanie Stones starting from fifth.
Two victories from three races for Queenslander Jordan McGregor has boosted his confidence from his overall 2nd place result in Melbourne. Bryce Fullwood on return managed to score a pair of 2nd places in heat one and two, while local track knowledge played into the hands of Stephanie Stones taking 3rd in heat one and two. Jack Black and Matthew Byrne rounded out the top five in heat one. Black improved his position to 3rd in heat two behind McGregor and Fullwood as Kyle Angel and Shane Kubacki completed the top five. Chris Bregonje took his first win of the weekend in heat three ahead of Pro Tour newcomer William Brown, with Stephanie Stones finishing 3rd ahead of McGregor and Fullwood in 4th and 5th.
Local track knowledge was in the hands of Pierce Lehane in qualifying as he propelled his Exprit Kart to pole position. Todd Road round winner Daniel Rochford was looking strong to join him on the front row, but had to settle for 4th behind Nathan Tigani and Jaxon Evans, Chris Farkas rounded out the top 5. Capitalising from his qualifying effort, Lehane returned with a vengeance from Melbourne to take a clean sweep of wins through all the heat races. Queenslander Tyler Greenbury setup a strong finals day for himself with two 2nd placing’s in heat one and three. Daniel Rochford maintained his good performance from Melbourne, claiming two 2nd’s and a 3rd across the day’s events, while Thomas Randle scored a trio of 4th’s and Jaxon Evans finished 5th in the opening race. Lehane and Rochford took the top two positions in heat two ahead of Nathan Tigani in 3rd, Thomas Randle and Mitchell Hewitt. Tyler Greenbury returned to 2nd place behind Lehane in heat three, with Rochford in 3rd, Randle in 4th and Bret Mullavey in 5th.
Above: Pierce Lehane #1 took a Satruday clean sweep in Rotax Light in Lithgow
pic - IKD
A swarm of new front runners made up the front rows of the Junior Max field in qualifying. Track positioning proved crucial for Stefan Stankovic as he held on for pole position ahead of Joseph Burton-Harris. It was then a battle beyond the front row as to who would make up the top placing’s. Drew Ridge, Mitchell Koval and Daniel Sayre completed the top five, while Queenslander Mitchell Griffin and Todd Road round winner Liam McLellan were only slight behind in the battle for positions. A mixture of winners took success throughout the heats in Junior Max.
Drew Ridge claimed the first heat ahead of a hard charging Joseph Burton-Harris, while Jayden Ojeda, Michael Fabri and James Abela completed the top five. Abela then improved his position in heat two to take victory, ahead of pole sitter Stefan Stankovic in 2nd, with Burton-Harris finishing 3rd, with Victorian duo Jordan Boys and Jake Klein rounded out the top five. Opening lap action saw Gold Coast teenager Mitchell Griffin storm to the lead in his new Exprit Kart which is where he would remain for the entire race, taking the win over Klein, McLellan, Abela and Zac Soutar.
A gamble that proved to pay off for the eventual top five in DD2 was to run slick tyres on a drying Lithgow track, and it paid off as Queenslander Brendan Nelson took pole position. Michael Stewart joined him on the front row for the start of the heat races, while DD2 newcomer Adam Lindstrom started from 3rd alongside Troy Bretherton and Clem O’Mara. Reigning National Champion Lucas Ward and local specialist Thomas MacDonald were amongst those who opted to pull in early and conserve their wet tyres for the remainder of the weekend. After his strong performances through Rotax Heavy, Brendan Nelson was able to transfer his success into DD2, securing a win in the opening heat. Starting from 10th, Daniel Nolan managed to work his way through the field and battle with Nelson before settling for 2nd. Troy Bretherton, Michael Stewart and Mathew Harris closed out the top five in the opening race. Bretherton improved in heat two to take a win in his Pacific Kartsport entry ahead of heat one winner Nelson, with Adam Lindstrom, David Colton and Clem O’Mara completing the front runners. Michael Stewart drove away with a comfortable victory in the final race of the day, finishing ahead of local favourite Thomas MacDonald, while Brendan Nelson continued his strong form to finish 3rd ahead of Bretherton and Lindstrom.
Pre-Final Grid – All Classes – Top 10
DD2 Masters
Adam Hunter
Daniel Richert
Hamish Leighton
Danny Wright
Michael Robson
Brent Coghlan
Steve Ellery
Darren Foley
Trevor Whitby
Jason Grant
Rotax Heavy
Brendan Nelson
Michael Saller
Benjamin Ritchie
Grant Donley
Lane Moore
Dylan Collett
Matthew Greenbury
William Yarwood
Troy Woolston
Jeremy Atkins
Junior Max Trophy Class
Jordan McGregor
Bryce Fullwood
Jack Black
Stephanie Stones
Chris Bregonje
Kyle Angel
Shane Kubacki
Liam Ford
Matthew Byrne
William Brown
Rotax Light
Pierce Lehane
Daniel Rochford
Thomas Randle
Tyler Greenbury
Nathan Tigani
Bret Mullavey
Jaxon Evans
Daniel Connor (NZ)
Andrew Carey
Chris Farkas
Junior Max
James Abela
Stefan Stankovic
Jayden Ojeda
Liam McLellan
Drew Ridge
Zac Soutar
Jake Klein
William Hawkes
Joseph Burton-Harris
Mitchell Griffin
DD2
Brendan Nelson
Troy Bretherton
Michael Stewart
Adam Lindstrom
Clem O’Mara
Thomas MacDonald
David Colton
Mathew Harris
Shannon McLaine
Daniel Nolan
All results and full pre-final grids are available on AKA CMS.
Round 3 of the 2013 Rotax Pro Tour continue at the Lithgow City Raceway, Lithgow, NSW tomorrow from 9am AEDST. To follow the event throughout the weekend, like Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook, follow Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter and tune into the audio commentary via Ustream at www.ustream.tv/user/internationalkarting.
