30th November 2012

MIXED DAY FOR AUSTRALIAN TEAM AT THE ROTAX GRAND FINALS

Pierce Lehane will start from pole position for tomorrow's Senior Max Pre-Final (Pic: Babel Photos)

It has been a mixed day for the Australian contingent in wet, windy and sometimes wild conditions at the 2012 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Final at Portimao, Portugal on Friday.

Pierce Lehane has secured pole position for tomorrow’s Senior Max pre-final with three heat race victories while Joseph Mawson will start from 14th position.  Unfortunately, Daniel Rochford was forced to try and qualify through the last chance qualifier race.  While in a transfer position with one and a half laps remaining, he had a coming together with another competitor ending his run.

In the junior ranks, James Golding has enjoyed a consistent week and as a result will start from seventh position in tomorrow’s pre-final.  Both Joseph Burton-Harris and Thomas Randle were forced to attempt to qualify through the last chance qualifier race from fourth and 12th place on the grid.  An incident on lap two dropped Randle down the order, he would fight back for 13th placing, while Burton-Harris crossed the line third to snare a place in the 34-kart field tomorrow.

James Golding is leading the charge for the Australians in Junior Max (Pic: Babel Photos)

Kyle Ensbey is the best placed Australian in the DD2 category, set to start from 16th place in tomorrow’s pre-final.  Jason Pringle has charged hard to earn a 25th place start in tomorrow’s pre-final while Troy Woolston missed a transfer through the last chance qualifier race by a mere two places.

Victorian Hamish Leighton will start tomorrow’s DD2 Masters pre-final from 11th place following a strong run in each of his heat races.  Brent Coghlan was 25th in the standings while a DNF in the final heat race left Jose Ruiz to attempt to qualify through the last chance qualifier race.  Unfortunately for Ruiz, he fell two places short in that event in eighth place.

Tomorrow’s action will consist of the pre-final and final for each of the three categories as Australia attempts to retain the Nations Cup title.

To view videos about the Australian contingent please visit the Karting.net.au’s You Tube page here.  For images of the Australian drivers in action please click here.

To view the official website for the event, which includes links to live video (direct link: http://rgf-2012.kart-data.com/) and live timing (direct link: http://lt2012.kart-data.com/RGF/) throughout the event, please click here.

The Australian Karting Association’s Facebook page (facebook.com/AustralianKartingAssociation) and Twitter Feed (twitter.com/karting_net_au) will be regularly updated throughout the week.

AUSSIE RACE RESULTS
Junior Max

#118 – Joseph Burton-Harris
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 15th – Finished 8th
Heat 2 (A vs C) Started 15th – Finished 17th
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 15th – Finished 26th
Position after the heats – 32nd (Grid #4 for second chance race)
Second Chance Race – 3rd (Grid #31 for the pre-final)

#157 – Thomas Randle
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 8th – Finished 10th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 12th – Finished 28th (relegated to 30th by a 3 sec post race penalty)
Heat 3 (B vs C) Started 7th – Finished 5th
Position after the heats – 7th (Grid #7 for Pre-Final)
Second Chance Race – 13th (Top Six made the transfer to the pre-final)

#133 – James Golding
Heat 1 (C vs D) Started 12th – Finished 9th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 12th – Finished 7th (elevated to 6th following a post race penalty)
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 12th – Finished 5th
Position after the heats – 7th (Grid #7 for pre-final)

Senior Max
#241 – Pierce Lehane
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 1st – Finished 1st
Heat 2 (A vs C) Started 1st – Finished 1st
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 1st – Finished 1st
Position after the heats – 1st (Grid #1 for Pre-Final) 

#246 – Joseph Mawson
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 16th – Finished 14th (Elevated to 13th following a post race penalty)
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 15th – Finished 9th
Heat 3 (B vs C) Started 15th – Finished 12th
Position after the heats – 14th (Grid #14 for Pre-Final)

#258 – Daniel Rochford
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 28th – Finished 27th (Elevated to 26th following post race penalties)
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 27th – Finished 13th
Heat 3 (B vs C) Started 17th – Finished 14th
Position after the heats – 31st (Grid #3 for second chance race)
Second Chance Race – DNF (25th)

DD2 Masters
#434 – Hamish Leighton
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 3rd – Finished 5th
Heat 2 (A vs C) Started 3rd – Finished 8th
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 3rd – Finished 6th
Position after the heats – 11th (Grid #11 for Pre-Final)

#418 – Brent Coghlan
Heat 1 (C vs D) Started 13th – Finished 13th
Heat 2 (A vs C) Started 14th – Finished 16th
Heat 3 (B vs C) Started 14th – Finished 12th
Position after the heats – 25th (Grid #25 for Pre-Final)

#449 – Jose Ruiz
Heat 1 (C vs D) Started 18th – Finished 15th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 18th – Finished 17th
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 18th – Finished 31st
Position after the heats – 43rd (Grid #15 for second chance race)
Second Chance Race – 8th (Top Six made the transfer to the pre-final)

DD2
#323 – Kyle Ensbey
Heat 1 (C vs D) Started 8th – Finished 8th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 8th – Finished 5th (Relegated to 11th due to a six second post race penalty)
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 8th – Finished 13th
Position after the heats – 16th (Grid #16 for Pre-Final)

#345 – Jason Pringle
Heat 1 (C vs D) Started 32nd – Finished 20th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 32nd – Finished 15th
Heat 3 (A vs D) Started 32nd – Finished 10th
Position after the heats – 25th (Grid #25 for Pre-Final)

#368 – Troy Woolston
Heat 1 (A vs B) Started 26th – Finished 19th
Heat 2 (B vs D) Started 25th – Finished 31st
Heat 3 (B vs C) Started 25th – Finished 17th
Position after the heats – 42nd (Grid #14 for second chance race)
Second Chance Race – 8th (Top Six made the transfer to the pre-final)

2012 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals
Event Timetable