NSW Southern Star Series – Round 4
| 12 September 2013 |
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Round 4 of the M.I.A Powder Coating Southern Star Series was hosted by the Grenfell Kart Club at the Bogolong Raceway on August 24 and 25.
155 entrants braved the winter chill and made the trek to Grenfell to enjoy a great weekends racing at the picturesque country track. Most even chose to camp at the track and enjoy the fabulous country cooking on Friday and Saturday nights, then tell a few tales around the camp fire.
Early drizzle on Saturday morning made practice a bit of a challenge but this soon cleared to allow for dry racing for the rest of the weekend.
First class out the gate was Tag 125 Heavy where John McCabe took the first points but the round win went to Robert Hogan, followed by Nick Commins and Tony Woodward in third.
Junior National Lights as always saw some extremely close racing, a DNF put paid to Alex Waters weekend and even the hard charging Zane Morse could not stop Jarrod Whitty claiming the top spot with Cody Boulding coming home in a tight finish for third.
Clubman Heavy was an all Grenfell affair with Richard Drooger taking the number 1 spot in front of Lachlan Schneider and Richard King who both helped Drooger to the top step with DNF’s. Grenfell’s veteran racer George Thompson also enjoyed a solid weekend.
Beck Connell once again showed she was a force to be reckoned with, taking out first place in Tag 125 Light after some solid and consistent drives beating home the Commins brothers of Nick and Andrew.
Grenfell’s Eddie Ruiz shone in Tag 125 Super Heavy, even after some intense battles and solid finishes from Michael Hannaford, Greg Williams and Peter Beeten the points overall round saw Ruiz come out on top. Canberra’s Nathan Jess put up a huge challenge despite nursing a rib injury but a DNF finally put paid to his weekend.
In Sportsman Restricted Light Daniel Smith’s consistency rewarded him with a first in front of Michael Seiders and Alexander Milward, while Grenfell’s newest member Brendon Martin put in a solid performance watching the action unfold in front of him.
Old sparing partners Phillip Middleton and Phil Curran continued with their long time on track battles providing great entertainment in Sportsman Restricted Heavy, with Middleton coming out on top and Mathew Whale in third. Middleton capturing every opportunity over the weekend to remind Curran who was first over the line.
The ongoing battle between Dubbo’s Luke Wrigley and Canberra’s Josh Fife in Junior National Light stepped up another notch over the five races with Zane Morse and Stewart Weigand adding to the mix. This along with the newly arrived from Rookies Tyler Everingham had the crowd packed along the fences and glued to the action. Finally finishing on tied points a count back had to be used to separate Wrigley from Fife with Morse closely behind in third.
Grenfell always has strong fields of Cadets and this weekend was no different with 18 of the youngsters showing how it should be done particularly the starts. Series leader Cody Burcher was again unstoppable coming home ahead of Theodore Livanes and Grenfell’s Joshua Sargent.
Mitchell Croke took the top step ahead of Chris Thomas and James O’Malley in Clubman Light, while in the Super Heavies Bruce Otter lead home Wesley Croft and Grenfell’s seasoned campaigner Peter (Reg) O’Meley who edged out Darren Miller for third on a count back.
Orange’s Terry Selwood once again showed he is the “J” master leading home Kieran Doran and Warren Hodder in Senior National Light. With Combined Districts Phillip Middleton showing the Orange duo of Kurtis Dickson and Ian Sadler just how hard a “J” can be pushed around the Grenfell circuit.
Rookie and local Grenfell driver Thomas Sargent again showed he knows his way around the tight Grenfell track, locked in a weekend long battle with Dubbo’s Blake Fardell. Wins in all of the heats gave Sargent enough points to claim victory for the weekend after a flat rear tyre in the final saw him limp home behind Fardell but ahead of Tayla Harness who finished third.
The hotly contested J Max class saw Josh Hemphill put in some solid drives but a DNF in the final robbed him of a podium, leaving Gus Flynn to lead home Zane Morse and Josh Fife after a weekend of intense racing.
Crowd favourites, Open Performance again put on a great spectacle with Stephen Hampson taking out first place in front of Martin Villari and Brent Logan in the Light division. Meanwhile in the Heavy’s despite a DNF in the final, Canberra’s Bruce Otter edged out the twin engine beast of Steve Martin in second, and even after numerous recounts Bob Harness somehow finished ahead of Eddie Ruiz in forth.
The series now moves to Griffith for the fifth and final round which promises to again show the great racing that is on offer with the added bonus of a night race under lights on Saturday night.
As well as the drawing of the MONACO chassis which will go to a lucky winner who has competed in all of the rounds, there will also be plenty of other great prizes on offer thanks to MIA Powder Coating, DPE Kart Technology and the competitors of the Southern Star Series.
