17th July 2016

EXCITEMENT BUILDS FOR FINALS DAY IN BOLIVAR

The heat race wins have been shared between multiple drivers across the classes during a ‘Super Saturday’ of racing in the Pro Tour’s maiden appearance in South Australia, amassing to an exciting composition for the grid positions for the pre‐finals at a sunny Bolivar Kart Raceway.

Micro MAX
Series points leader Sebastian Ruiz continued his strong season form by claiming pole position in Micro Max from Queenslander Lachlan Platten with South Australian debutant Rock Han setting the third fastest time. Two wins from three starts for Ruiz will see him share the front row in the pre‐final with New Zealand’s Emerson Vincent who took the win in heat two. Three finishes inside the top five for Harry Arnett in the heats will see him start alongside Platten in the first of the longer races.

The wins were shared in Mini Max between Victorians James Wharton and Hugh Barter. (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Mini MAX
Victorian Hugh Barter broke through for his first pole position in Mini Max, carrying the momentum through the first two heat races, taking the win in both. Series points leaders James Wharton and Kai Allen engaged in multiple battles across the day with Wharton securing victory in heat three, enough to earn him a second row start for the pre‐final behind Barter with Allen to start from second after two second place finishes in the heats.

Junior MAX Trophy
Junior Max Trophy saw total dominance from Travis Worton across qualifying and the three heat races. The margin in the qualifying session to Jaiden Pope in second was minimal although Worton managed to continue his strong momentum throughout the day. Zayd Tones will start the pre‐final alongside Worton on the front row after he secured a pair of second place finishes with Pope to start from third followed by Kiwi Samuel Wright and Taylah Agius.

Cameron Longmore and Cody Brewczynski were the pacesetters across the day in Junior Max. (PIc: Coopers Photography)

Junior MAX
Qualifying and the opening two heat races proved to be dominated by Cameron Longmore and Cody Brewczysnki with Longmore taking pole and two second place finishes with Brewczynski securing the two wins. The pair however would have an unfortunate end to their Saturday with both recording a DNF following an incident on the opening lap at turn one. Kyle Bonser gradually worked his way up the order during the day, finishing fourth and third in heat one and two before securing the win in the final sprint race of the weekend. Bonser will share the front row for the start of the pre‐final with Dylan Hollis who recorded a consistent trio of top five finishes in the heat races.

Rotax Light
The victories in Rotax 125 Light were shared between team mates Cody Gillis and Joshua Fife at Bolivar. With Gillis taking pole position by 0.03 seconds, the Wollongong driver secured the win in heat one, however it was Fife who scored superb starts from the green light to come away with the win in heat two and three. A third for Matthew Lopino in heat three helped to move him forward in the standings and he will start from third in the pre‐final alongside Pierce Lehane who started from the rear in all three races due to a mechanical drama in qualifying. After not having recorded a time, Lehane finished as high as fourth in heat one and three.

Rotax Heavy
A win in heat two supported by two second place finishes in heat one and three has been enough to secure Shay Mayes pole position for the Rotax 125 Heavy pre‐final. Mayes shared the wins in the class with Lane Moore and heat‐race pole sitter Joshua Davey across the day, therefore comprising a mixed grid for the 24 lap race on Sunday morning. Mayes will be joined by Moore on the front row after the Queenslander took three results in the top four, while Queenslander Clem O’Mara will start from the second row alongside Davey.

Nathan Tigani secured pole position and two heat race wins in DD2. (Pic: Coopers Photography)

DD2
An almost perfect day for Sydney’s Nathan Tigani has earnt him pole position in DD2 for the pre‐final. Tigani secured pole position for the heats by just over 0.1 seconds before a second place finish in heat one was improved upon with two wins from heat two and three. Multiple battles for position behind Tigani throughout the day between Joshua Car, Troy Woolston, Ryan Kennedy and Lee Mitchener will see the four drivers comprise the remainder of the top five for the start of the pre‐final with a mixed bag of results, including a victory for Kennedy in heat one.

DD2 Masters
A front row start for the heat races was the start of a strong day for Queensland’s Kris Walton in DD2 Masters, coming away with two victories from three starts, helping to secure him pole position for Sunday’s pre‐final. Walton will be joined on the front row by the returning Daniel Richert with Ipswich podium sitter Mark Flood to start from third following a consistent day of results inside the top six. Pole sitter Troy Bretherton will start from fifth behind series points leader Lee Mitchener, with a DNF in heat one for Bretherton hampering the start to his race weekend, though he returned to secure second and fourth in the following two races.