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4th October 2015

Pro Tour Grand Final heats up ahead of Finals Day Decider

Tomas Gasperak and Zane Morse were amongst the winners in the Junior Max heat races (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Tomas Gasperak and Zane Morse were amongst the winners in the Junior Max heat races (Pic: Coopers Photography)

The grids are set in readiness for finals day at the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour Series, with plenty on the line still to be decided at the Ipswich Kart circuit. The Queensland State title winners will be awarded in addition to the series winners in their respective classes as well as Team Australia being formally announced in what is set to be a huge climax to the seven round racing season.

Micro Max
Marcos Flack has achieved a successful start to the final round of the 2015 season, after qualifying on pole position with a 54.389, he managed to pick up the win in the first two heat races of the day. Flack’s nearest challenger, Jack Westbury suffered a mechanical drama in heat one, resulting a DNF though he fought back to secure second in heat two before taking the win in heat three. The results for Flack were enough to place him on pole for the pre-final with the front row set to be a mirror from the heat races with Westbury starting second.

Cody Maynes-Rutty picked up second in the first heat race before settling for two fourth place finishes which has enough to hand him third for the first of the longer races alongside Ethan Feather who worked back from a DNF in heat one to pick up to third place finishes in the remaining two ten lap races. Series points leader Oscar Targett will start from fifth in the pre-final alongside Jack Childs in sixth after the pair both shared a mixed first day of racing.

Bayley Douglas continued his impressive season form taking pole position and three heat race wins in Mini Max (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Bayley Douglas continued his impressive season form taking pole position and three heat race wins in Mini Max (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Mini Max
It’s been another faultless day for Bayley Douglas in Mini Max with the Praga driver securing pole position with a 51.853 by just 0.05 seconds with his success then continuing through to the heat races, picking up the win in each of the three heat races. Douglas’ results have subsequently handed the Queenslander a pole position start for the pre-final as he looks to further extend his overall series points lead in an effort to claim the Rotax Max Australian Challenge Series win for the class in its first year. Jaiden Pope continued his consistent season form, after qualifying in third, the two-time round winner picked up second in each race, thus handing him a front row start alongside Douglas for the pre-final.

After qualifying second, Luke Pink managed to secure three results inside the top five, helping the Queenslander to ensure he would start the pre-final from the second row alongside James Wharton, who, as with Pink, finished all of Saturday’s shorter sprint races in the top five. Kai Allen continued his charge towards attempting to claim his first round win of the year by finishing as high as third in heat one, helping him to start fifth in the pre-final alongside Charlie Ploetz who will start sixth who managed to stun the field in heat two, stealing the lead before turn one from the second row before finishing third.

Junior Max Trophy
Junior Max Trophy proved to be a show of the New Zealanders with series regular Matthew Payne firstly picking up pole position with a 49.673 before going to pick up the win in all three heat races. On the back of his success throughout the season, the results were a healthy chance for Payne to boost his point score heading into the finals with him again starting from pole position. Series points leader Reece Cohen was Payne’s closest challenger throughout the day, qualifying second before going on to finish second in the first two heat races, though he had to settle for third in heat three with Eastern Creek round winner Lucas Lichtenberger stepping up to take the first of the minor placing’s.

West Australian Aaron Love’s three top five finishes in the heat races was enough to secure him a second row start for the pre-final after qualifying fifth. Following in the footsteps of Matthew Payne, fellow Kiwi Jayden Ransley showed a good performance on debut in the category, qualifying third before doing enough to earn himself another second row start in the pre-final.

Junior Max
Canberra’s Zane Morse started his weekend in the best way possible, picking up the outright pole position in the oversubscribed field of 52 with a 47.923 before going on to take two wins from three starts, handing him a start from pole position in the pre-final. Queensland’s Tomas Gasperak backed up his second place overall
qualifying by picking up two-heat race wins in addition to a second place result in heat one, earning him a front row start alongside Morse. Aaron Cameron’s heat race win in the third ten lap event along with a second and third in heat one and two was enough to secure him third for the start of the pre-final with Joshua Fife set to start fourth as he looks to begin his charge towards claiming the final seat for Team Australia in Junior Max.

Alec Morse continued to show his developing form in the Junior Max category as he prepares to fifth, being joined on the third row by teammate, Cameron Longmore. For Morse, three fourth place finishes were enough to earn him the start towards the front end of the field, while Longmore managed to secure his first heat race win since joining the Pro Tour followed by an eighth place and fifth place finish in the second and third race respectively.

Pierce Lehane_Rotax Light_Coopers Photography[3]_600wideRotax 125 Light
2015 Euro Rotax Challenge Champion Pierce Lehane began his Pro Tour Grand Final weekend in fine style by picking up Pole Position in Rotax Light with a 47.944. Lehane remained unstoppable throughout the three heat races, opening up leads of up to two seconds in the twelve lap races before taking the win in each start. The results have subsequently earnt the Sydney driver pole position for the pre-final with the front row of the grid for the first of the longer races being a mirror of the heats. Queensland’s Nicholas Dalton showed good form on home soil, qualifying second before picking up two third place finishes and a second on his way to his front row start alongside Lehane.

Victorian Daniel Rochford managed to work his way from eighth in each of the heat races to pick up two fourth placed finishes and a fifth on his way to starting from third in the pre-final as he looks to now assert himself amongst Team Australia for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals during Sunday’s two final races. Nicholas Andrews will start the 16 lap race from fourth, making the highest placed driver of the four that are vying for the
third and final seat in the Senior Max class for this year’s World Finals event. Dutchman Marijn Kremers made an impressionable beginning to his first Pro Tour appearance, qualifying third he then managed to finish second in heat one before settling for ninth and tenth in heat two and three respectively, delivering him a fifth place start for the pre-final alongside reigning Australian Champion Brad Jenner who finished two of Saturday’s three races inside the top five.

Rotax 125 Heavy
Rotax Heavy would be seen as a battle of the Queenslander’s entering this weekend with Regan Payne managing to take the wood over his fellow statesman in the first day of racing. Payne secured pole position with a 49.089, 0.1 seconds ahead of series points leader Chris Farkas before going on to take comfortable victories in all three heat races. The day’s results would also see Farkas return to his front row start in the pre-final as he
achieved for the heats, following his second place qualifying result, the NSW and Victorian State Champion took two second placed results in addition to fifth in heat two to hand him the favourable starting position.

Brendan Nelson’s return to Rotax Heavy at the Pro Tour started in fine style, picking up fifth, second and third in the three heat races respectively after starting fourth. Nelson will start the pre-final from third alongside Lane Moore who remains focussed on picking up the Queensland State Title for Rotax Heavy following his win at Warwick in June. Moore managed to finish all three races inside the top four on his way to earning his second
row start.

Ryan Kennedy has launched into the Pro Tour Grand Final by securing victory in all of the DD2 heat races after taking pole position (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Ryan Kennedy has launched into the Pro Tour Grand Final by securing victory in all of the DD2 heat races after taking pole position (Pic: Coopers Photography)

DD2
The DD2 category proved to be the Ryan Kennedy show as he quickly adapted to a change in chassis brand prior to the Ipswich event, securing pole position by over 0.2 seconds with a 47.214. Kennedy then continued his charge in the two-speed gearbox category, picking up the win in all three heat races though the Queenslander didn’t have it all his own way in the third and final race with Victorian Troy Woolston, who will start alongside Kennedy in the pre-final, making a considerable charge, coming within 0.2 seconds of the lead before settling for second. Woolston displayed a strong showing throughout the day, picking up another second place result in heat one in addition to third in heat two. Australian V8 Ute Racing Series regular Kris Walton will start the prefinal
from third after again showing a good level of consistent form in the heats, earning him a second row start in the first of the longer races.

For both Troy Bretherton and Brock Plumb, their return to DD2 has proved successful with Bretherton set to start the pre-final from fourth after securing three race finishes inside the top five, highlighted by a third place result in heat three. Plumb’s weekend began in style, securing a second place result in qualifying before finishing as high as third in heat one with the Queenslander now preparing to start the pre-final from fifth
alongside Victorian Adam Lindstrom who worked his way to as high as fifth in heat three.

DD2 Masters
After qualifying on pole position with a 47.991, Albury’s Danny Wright converted his early weekend form into a win in heat one though a post-race ten second penalty due to an infringement forced him back to seventh. Wright then returned fire in heat two, picking up the win before settling for third in heat three, helping to ensure he will start from third in the pre-final. Scott Howard used his local track knowledge to his advantage, working
his way to a win in heat three on the back of two second place finishes in the first two races. The results now place Howard on pole position for the pre-final alongside points leader Daniel Richert who picked up a pair of third place results in addition to second in the three races.

Consistent form throughout the day for Jason Hryniuk and Klinton Hancey have earnt the Sydney and Queensland based drivers respectively fourth and fifth for the pre-final. Neither Hryniuk, nor Hancey slipped outside the top six in the heat races, with the pair being rewarded for their early weekend form. Adam Hunter’s first day of racing ended on a sour note, on the back of being awarded the victory in heat one and fourth in heat two, Hunter will start from sixth in the pre-final following a DNF in the last of the minor races.

Round 7 of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour, the Grand Final at the Ipswich Kart circuit concludes tomorrow from 8am QLD time.