20th November 2010

ROTAX GRAND FINAL HEAT RACE SUMMARY - WHO RAN OVER THE CHINAMAN???

Luck did not seem to go in the way of the Aussies in La Conca today as racing got underway for the 2010 Rotax World Finals.

The day started off well with Kyle Ensby and James Macken setting the 2nd quickest times in the morning warm up in their respective classes and Troy Bretherton set the 8th quickest time out of the 72 drivers in Senior Max. This meant that everyone went into the heats feeling confident, even those who had not qualified as well as they would have liked. Once racing started however it seemed like the Australian team had no luck at all. Racing incidents seemed to be constantly happening right in front of the Aussie drivers and costing them valuable track position through no fault of their own.

There were some moments of glory though. Pierce Lehane set equal fastest lap in Heat 1 showing again that he will be a force as the weekend progresses. James Macken had two barnstorming drives from deep in the pack to lock in two solid heat results for the day.

The other very promising outcome of the day was in the DD2 class, both Jason Pringle and Damian Ward lead races and Damian finished 2nd in his heat late in the day. Travis Millar is also right on the pace so all 3 drivers are within reach of a great result as the weekend progresses.

Tomorrow (Saturday) will see the third heat in the morning followed by the last chance qualifiers races in the afternoon. Then the scene will be set for the finals on Sunday.

Senior Max – Heat 1
Kyle Ensby Started 21st Finished DNF
Troy Bretherton Started 30th Finished DNF

Race Summary
First lap pile up involving both Kyle and Troy

Senior Max – Heat 1
Steven Scoble Started 31st Finished 31st

Race Summary
Another first corner crash once again involving the Aussie drivers, Steven got going again but brakes were damaged in the crash.

Senior Max – Heat 2
Kyle Ensby Started 21st Finished 11th
Steven Scoble Started 30th Finished 21st

Race Summary
Both drivers benefit from the 1st lap carnage and then run a solid race to the end in what is a very competitive field, action everywhere.

Senior Max – Heat 1
Troy Bretherton Started 30th Finished 13th

Race Summary
Had a great start to the race and was up to 19th by the end of the first lap, continued with good track speed and was 11th by mid race, finished a very solid 13th

Junior Max – Heat 1
Pierce Lehane Started 3rd Finished 18th (prior to penalty)
Jonathon Venter Started 7th Finished 5th
James Macken Started 22nd Finished 7th

Race Summary
All 3 Australians are grouped together in the one heat, huge pile up at the first corner, James Macken up to 8th on the first lap, Pierce Lehane taken out on Lap 2 and lost quite a few places, solid race by Venter. Pierce Lehane called to the stewards after the race because when he was punted off the track he ended up behind a tyre barrier and had to drive what was effectively against the usual track direction to get back onto the track, Pierce was issued a 10 second penalty.

Junior Max – Heat 2
Pierce Lehane Started 4th Finished 7th
Jonathon Venter Started 8th Finished 12th
James Macken Started 24th Finished 13th

Race Summary
Very eventful race, Pierce Lehane’s engine stopped on the first lap causing him to lose a lot of places dropping well back into the pack, James Macken made a lot of progress again with very good track speed getting as high as 6th before an incident with a lapped kart and a number of other competitors blocking the track and costing him some places. Jonathon Venter shuffled back a few places whilst dicing in some very heavy traffic

DD2 – Heat 1
Damian Ward Started 5th Finished 7th
Travis Millar Started 12th Finished 6th

Race Summary
Damian Ward got to 3rd on the first lap and Travis Millar was up to 7th, Damian Ward hit the lead on lap 2 while Travis Millar moved up to 5th, plenty of hectic action throughout the whole race

DD2 – Heat 1
Jason Pringle Started 1st Finished 7th

Race Summary
Jason got a solid start and lead the first few laps, dropped back to 3rd but was still right on the tail of the lead karts, with 2 laps to go the 2nd place driver almost loses control of his kart and Jason clips his tyre trying to avoid him, lost a few spots and finished 7th

DD2 – Heat 2
Jason Pringle Started 2nd Finished 14th
Damian Ward Started 5th Finished 2nd

Race Summary
Good start, by end of first lap Damian Ward up to 3rd but Jason has lost a couple of spots and is sitting in 4th, once again Jason Pringle ends up involved in someone else’s accident and drops back to 12th through no fault of his own whilst in the same incident Damian Ward benefits and hits the lead of the race, leads about 4 or 5 laps before finishing 2nd at race end.

DD2 – Heat 2a
Travis Millar Started 11th Finished 10th

Race Summary
More first lap carnage, front 12 karts nose to tail for entire race and Travis Millar involved in the thick of the action for most of the race, an awesome race and Travis showed very good track speed remaining in touch with the lead pack

DD2 Masters – Heat 1
Tony Prendergast Started 20th Finished 33rd

Race Summary
Turned around on Lap 4, got restarted but was given the mechanical defect flag and had to pull in to fix rear bumper.

DD2 Masters – Heat 2
Tony Prendergast Started 20th Finished 15th

Race Summary
Good start, ran as high as 13th during the race, very good race up front