Tasmanian State Wide Series Round 2
| by Johnathan Males | 7 March 2014 |
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North Western Kart Club Titles And Round 2 Of The 2014 Tasmanian Statewide Series
Another typically beautiful North West Tasmanian summer day greeted the ninety five competitors and pit crew for Round 2 of the Tasmanian Statewide Series, and the North Western Kart Club Titles on Sunday March 2nd. The racing was fast and furious as usual with the National classes providing the biggest fields and the closest racing.
It was good to see North Western Kart Club President Warren Smith back on deck after a recent health issue. The fact that he’s considering competing at the next round at Hobart is a testament to his competitive nature and the skills of the First Aid officers at the recent CHKC race meeting.
Above: Nathan Zuj leads Shane Bray in Clubman Light
pic - Jacob Morris
Not even a dropped chain in heat three could stop Nathan Zuj in Clubman Light with the Kosmic pilot taking wins in the other three races which included the final. Having said that, Brad Hobden slightly narrowed the point margin in the championship fight from thirty eight points to twenty six points with a consistent days racing aboard his JGE Kart Tuning Haase kart. He took second in the final behind Zuj and slightly ahead of Shane Bray in third place.
Jonathan McDonald saved the best for last and took the win in the final of Clubman Heavy. Up until that point his best result for the day was a third placing in both early heats. Brody Appleby had another solid day, he took second in the final and banked a solid haul of one hundred and ten points towards the red plate. Evan Livingston had his best result for some time taking third in the final and had the pace to take a win and a second placing in the heats. This result has put him within striking distance of McDonald in the title chase, there is now only five points separating them going into both drivers home track round at STKC.
Above: Stuart Wells (45), Michael Jack (28) and Adrian Harper (21), SN Over 40s
pic - Jacob Morris
Three wins and a third placing on the day saw Jairus Holmes wrestle the lead in the series away from Keenan Slater in TAG Restricted Light. He turned a thirteen point deficit into a nine point advantage in his Topkart X30 package. Holmes took the win in the final to clinch the club title that was also on offer ahead of the much improved Jordan Smith aboard his Omega Wasp and Slater narrowly edged out Joel Toon for third after a race long battle.
The two standouts in TAG Restricted Heavy were Matthew Clark and Brodey Lovett. These two shared first and second place finishes all day with Clark scoring three wins to Lovett’s one. In the end it was Clark who took the final win and the club title that went with it from Lovett in second. Daniel Hinds scored the final spot on the podium with third in the final. A difficult days racing saw Tom Walter tumble from second in the points all the way down to sixth.
Above: Matthew Clark TaG Restricted Heavy leads Renee Chettle TaG Restricted Light
pic - Jacob Morris
Tate Frost had another strong weekend in the Rookies class extending his championship lead from twenty points over Lachlan Dalton to forty points. However it was Tony Kart pilot Callum Bishop who was the big improver after a disappointing first round. He jumped from sixth to third in the chase for the title with three wins and a fourth on the day. He won the final ahead of Frost and William Reeve came home in third aboard his Praga kart.
It was an interesting day for the frontrunners in Senior National Heavy, not only did they have to deal with each other but also had to try and avoid the carnage that befell numerous drivers in the Light class. Johnathan Males survived the best and took wins in the three heats. James Pinfold wasn’t so lucky, after a first race collision be was forced to sit out the rest of the day on medical advice with a sore rib. Jake Rice elected to swap his fire breathing 200cc Super for a J and he proved to be the closest challenger to Males. He got to the lead on more than one occasion in the final race but Males had just enough speed to steal the win from Rice in second and Daniel Newman came home in third. The point score sees Males going into the Hobart round with a handy sixty two point gap to second place.
On paper Senior National Light is the toughest class to win with the majority of the drivers in the class being capable of winning. Unfortunately the racing wasn’t as clean as it could’ve been and there were several incidents throughout the day that saw several title frontrunners suffer DNF’s, and a red flag stoppage when Bree Hobden’s day of racing ended in the first heat. At the front though Kelsey Sapwell was making the most of her return to racing and she took two seconds and two wins, one of which was the final. Behind her local Keenan Slater took second on the day ahead of seasoned veteran Tim McMaster.
Ethan Wyllie took all four wins on offer in the Cadets class to regain the lead in the chase for the title. Following him home closely all day was Jesse Keeling who took four second placing’s. Xavier Renshaw had a successful first open race meeting taking home third placing in every race closely followed by Stevie Smith.
Above: Ethan Wyllie, Cadets
pic - Jacob Morris
Local hotshot Johnah Slater used his home track advantage to extend his Junior National Heavy points lead from two points to nineteen points over Lachlan Newman. Slater nearly took maximum points from the weekend with three wins and a second placing. He easily won the final ahead of Justin Murphy and Samuel Jackson. No doubt Newman will be looking to reverse the trend at the next round at his home track in Hobart.
Above: Lachlan Cruse Junior National Heavy
pic - Jacob Morris
Jackson Callow was keen to make amends for a DNF at the last round in Junior National Light and recoup the lost ground in the point score. This he did, winning all four races aboard his Crossroads Civil Construction/47 Kart Tuning Kosmic by a healthy margin. Andrew Lee once again had a solid day proving to have the pace to mix it at the front of this class with his second placing on the day. Kurtis Love’s debut in juniors was a successful one taking his new Deadly kart to a third place finish.
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy was once again a battle between the Sheahan brothers, Allan and Troy. On this occasion Troy won out taking two heat wins and the final. Allan had a very consistent day taking home four second placings. Shane Toon had another good weekend with some strong finishes including third in the final. The battle for the red plate in this class is a nail biter with a solitary point separating the brothers in Troy’s favour.
It was just like watching a Junior National race from 1989 in Senior National Over 40’s Pro, with recent graduate to the class Adrian Harper being joined by debutant Stuart Wells. These two have been around for a little while and they certainly put on a show of close, clean and exciting racing. Fred Cocca, Andrew Walter, Tim Hinds and Wayne Fisher showed glimpses of the pace required to mix it with the front two but a third heat DNF for Walter and Cocca put them too far back in the pack for the final race. Wells led for the first lap but Harper soon moved to the lead, a few laps later and Wells retook the lead which he held for the majority of the race. However with a handful of laps remaining Harper decided it was his turn to lead and he made his way to the front. He held on to win from Wells and Walter recovered for third.
With some drivers licking their wounds after this round it’s time to regroup and get set to tackle the last two rounds of the series at Hobart and then Launceston. With the Clubman and TAG drivers now eligible to take their second set of slicks this might change the dynamics of the series. Likewise the National classes must now start to deal with tyres that are a few meetings old. Whoever deals with this best may yet emerge as favourite to take home this years red plate.
Above: Jairus Holmes, TaG Restricted Light
pic - Jacob Morris
Cadets
1st Ethan Wyllie
2nd Jesse Keeling
3rd Xavier Renshaw
Rookies
1st Callum Bishop
2nd Tate Frost
3rd William Reeve
Above: Rookies action - Callum Bishop lifts a wheel ahead of Mitchell Kerrison
pic - Jacob Morris
Junior National Light
1st Jackson Callow
2nd Andrew Lee
3rd Kurtis Love
Junior National Heavy
1st Johnah Slater
2nd Justin Murphy
3rd Samuel Jackson
Senior National Light
1st Kelsey Sapwell
2nd Keenan Slater
3rd Tim McMaster
Above: Kelsey Sapwell, Senior National Light
pic - Jacob Morris
Senior National Heavy
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Jake Rice
3rd Daniel Newman
Senior National Over 40’s Pro
1st Adrian Harper
2nd Stuart Wells
3rd Andrew Walter
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy
1st Troy Sheahan
2nd Allan Sheahan
3rd Shane Toon
Above: John Lee, Over 40s Super Heavy
pic - Jacob Morris
Clubman Light
1st Nathan Zuj
2nd Brad Hobden
3rd Shane Bray
Clubman Heavy
1st Jonathan McDonald
2nd Brody Appleby
3rd Evan Livingston
Above: Clubman capers - Jonathan McDonald (76) and Evan Livingston (91) running Clubman Heavy with Clubman Light driver Tabatha Badger (99) giving chase
pic - Jacob Morris
TAG Restricted Light
1st Jairus Holmes
2nd Jordan Smith
3rd Keenan Slater
TAG Restricted Heavy
1st Matthew Clark
2nd Brodey Lovett
3rd Daniel Hinds
Above: Bradley Hobden, Clubman Light
pic - Jacob Morris
