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30th April 2012

Rochford claims second Pro Tour win at emotional final day of JR Memorial

Kyle Ensbey and Jason Pringle battled hard all weekend in DD2. Ensbey taking out the Final and the Jason Richards Cup (Pic: IKD)

The final day of racing at the Jason Richards Memorial, round four of the Rotax Pro Tour was greeted with high expectation for great racing and the six classes that participated did not disappoint. In between the Pre-Final and Finals, all drivers gathered on the front straight to pay their respects to the late Jason Richards, for which this meeting is named in his honour. The inaugural winner of the Jason Richards Memorial Award, awarded to the driver that carries the same ‘never give up’ attitude as Jason, was then unveiled with CC Racing’s Troy Woolston becoming inaugural recipient of the perpetual award.

DD2 Masters began proceedings with Kiwi driver Niki Urwin leading the field in the Pre-Final, whilst regular frontrunners Brent Coghlan, Hamish Leighton and Tony Prendergast had to fight their way through from sixth, seventh and eleventh respectively. Urwin held his nerve for a number of laps from John Bailey, but it was the Kiwi-born Leighton who charged through to the front by half distance to take the Pre-Final from Urwin, who was struggling by race end with fatigue in his hands and Bailey in third. Coghlan worked through to fourth and Prendergast fifth. Dramas then emerged just before the start of the Final when Urwin headed to the pits with steering issues. He had the dramas sorted just in time to make the start of race, but would start from the rear of grid. Leighton took full advantage of Urwin’s misfortune to lead from start to finish and take his third Pro Tour round of the season with Bailey in second and Coghlan coming through to claim third place after a mid-race battle with Prendergast, whilst Urwin cane through from the rear the field to finish the Final in sixth place.

Rotax Heavy was the most competitive the class has been so far this season and the racing today was living proof of how strong the field was. The Pre-Final saw Troy Woolston start from his accustomed pole position and take an early command from Tony Kart’s Adam Hunter and Exprit’s William Yarwood. Yarwood would eventually claim second during the race and stake his claim for a front row start in the Final. Woolston would go on to the Pre-Final with Yarwood in second and Hunter in third. Arrow’s Brendan Nelson also showed strong pace to claim fourth and Energy Kart’s Aaron Rintoul in fifth. But following the completion of the Pre-Final, Rintoul was excluded for an infringement and sent to the rear of gird for the Final. However, that wasn’t the end of the chaos that ensued. As the field headed out to form up for the Final, the Arrow of Nelson failed to fire and after many attempts to get the kart started, Nelson would take no part in the Final and bringing a strong weekend to a disappointing end. Woolston again took command of the race with Yarwood quickly slotting in behind the CC Racing/Intrepid driver and hounding him throughout the entire 30-lap distance. Hunter was keeping within range of Woolston and Yarwood, until he retired at half distance with mechanical failure. This allowed fellow Intrepid driver Lane Moore to fill the void and claim third place, but nothing could stop Woolston, who claimed his fourth Pro Tour round in a row from Yarwood and Moore, with Todd Davey fourth and Aaron Rintoul driving out of his skin from 27th to fifth.

Rotax Over 40s was an interesting affair. With Dean Penrose starting from pole position, many expected the CRG driver to continue his domination that he carried through the heats. This wasn’t the case. On lap one, Penrose spun out and fell back to the rear of field, whilst Arrow’s Steven Johnson also spun, but he failed to resume the race and retired, allowing Shane Karandrews to take the lead unchallenged. Behind them, the likes of Mark Poole, Julian Watts and Peter Jackman battled fiercely for the minor positions with Jackman eventually claiming second by three quarter distance. Karandrews led to win the Pre-Final from Jackman, Poole, Watts and Mark Newman. In the Final, the attrition rate was fairly high with Penrose the first casualty after three laps and ending a strong weekend on a disappointing note. The next to retire was Watts, who was sitting strongly in the top five until he pulled out on lap 13, followed two laps later by Andrew Fife. The retirements didn’t affect Karandrews as he stormed to the front and led throughout the 30 laps, despite the constant pressure from Jackman. Karandrews took his second Pro Tour round win from Jackman and Johnson, who was just happy to make it on the podium and claim more points towards the Rotax Rankings. Poole and Newman finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Rotax Light was a great opportunity for Pierce Lehane to capitalise on his winning form through the heat races and make Albury-Wodonga his maiden round win in the class. But he had to contend with Kosmic’s Daniel Rochford. The Pre-Final saw Rochford take the win from Lehane, with Joey Mawson putting behind Saturday’s dramas with third place ahead of Tony Kart’s Joel Smith for fourth and CC Racing’s Brad Jenner in fifth. The 30-lap Final was an exciting affair. Rochford took the lead from the get go ahead of Lehane, but it was the battle between Mawson and Smith for third place that kept the crowd entertained right throughout the race. Things came to a head on the last as the pair went side by side around the Rotax Sweeperand spun out together, allowing Geoff Connell to come through from fifth and pick up third place. Rochford meanwhile claimed his second Pro Tour from Lehane and Connell, who was not expecting to finish on the podium but happy to take it. Behind Rochford, Lehane and Connell, Joel Smith recovered to claim fourth and Jenner claimed fifth.

The crowds also witness plenty of exciting racing in Junior Max, beginning in the Pre-Final. Having started third, Exprit’s Joseph Burton-Harris spun out at the first corner and sustained enough damage preventing him to continue. Also suffering dramas were Sanae Meyland, who lost the front nosecone and Jordan Boys, who suffered mechanical dramas whilst in the top ten. Tony Kart’s Andrew Kahl drove a clean race to take the Pre-Final from Thomas Randle and Cam Hill, with Todd Road winner Liam McLellan fourth and Zac Phillips fifth. The 30-lap final saw Randle come out of the blocks and take the early lead as he aimed to stamp his authority in the class. Behind Randle, Kahl was struggling to keep with the frantic pace, especially from the likes of McLellan, Hill and James Golding who was driving a smart race to claim second by one-third distance. Meanwhile, Burton-Harris dug deep and went from 31st to ninth by race end, putting a positive spin to what could’ve been a disaster to his Rotax Rankings. Randle would go on to win his second consecutive Pro Tour round from Golding and McLellan, with Hill and Kahl rounding the top five.

The DD2 field would fight it out for the inaugural Jason Richards Cup and every driver that contested has their eyes firmly set to put their name on the perpetual trophy. The Pre-Final saw Top Kart’s Kyle Ensbey stake an early claim to the Cup, as he claimed the Pre-Final win from CRG’s Jason Pringle, Troy Woolston and Exprit’s Thomas Macdonald. Travis Millar would settle for fifth. Lucas Ward was an early retiree and had work to do from the rear of field. The Final was a guessing game throughout the 30 laps, with Ensbey, Pringle, Woolston and Macdonald all in close proximity of one another, all waiting to pounce on an opportunity should one driver make a mistake. For Ensbey however, this was never going to happen as he drove a well-calculated race to become the inaugural winner of the Jason Richards Cup from Pringle and Woolston. Macdonald would finish fourth and Mark Flood would claim fifth overall.

The next round of the Rotax Pro Tour will be held at the Griffith Kart Club on June 1-3, 2012.

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