After three rounds of perfect weather the typically unpredictable Tasmanian weather struck back and drivers were forced to break out the wet weather gear for the fourth and final round of the 2013 Tasmanian Statewide Series and North Western Kart Club Titles held on the 23rd and 24th of March at the Highclere Circuit. Although the track was wet for the majority of racing there were times when the track dried enough to return to slick tyres and the majority of the finals were held in these conditions. These conditions proved to be a help for some and a hindrance for others in their quest for one of the twelve Tasmanian Titles up for grabs. Mitchel Evans had an excellent series taking out two titles, TAG Light and Clubman Heavy. A truly outstanding achievement by the Hobartian and his number one pit crew, father Steve. There were also seven drivers who broke through to record their first Tasmanian Title which was a fantastic result.
The title in TAG Restricted Heavy looked to be a battle between Matthew Clark and Jason Close but a third combatant made a late charge for the title. Brodey Lovett put his Intrepid kart on pole position and proceeded to dominate proceedings over the weekend. The only blemish being a second placing in the final race to Andrew Wagner. Daniel Hinds had a solid weekend and he took home third on the day. Clark had a DNF in the first heat which put him behind the eight ball and he then had to fight his way back falling just short in third place in the series. Lovett’s big points haul meant he grabbed second place and fell just nine points shy of the title which meant Jason Close was the 2013 champion in this class. The Tax Centre sponsored Close winning his maiden title after twelve years of racing, a great team effort from both himself and his father Mark.
In the Cadets class Lachlan Dalton had a simple plan. He needed to take pole position and win all four races to have any chance of claiming the title after a DNF in a previous round put him at a disadvantage in the point’s standings. This he did in emphatic style aboard his Glass Supplies/Forty Seven Kart Tuning backed Kosmic. Unfortunately, his main rival in the series Brock Lamont suffered a weekend to forget with mechanical dramas but he fought back to take second in the final. Third on the day was Ethan Wyllie who diced with the top three all weekend. The final title standings saw Dalton take the series by 28 points from Lamont and young William Reeve made his father Paul very proud by taking third place in his first year of racing. Both Lamont and Dalton should be commended on the way they raced all series, they showed tremendous pace, skill, and respect and most importantly they had fun doing it.
On paper Clubman Heavy looked to be a race between Mitchel Evans and Troy Stone, however, Steven Wrigley had other ideas. The OK1 driver simply had too much pace in the wet and also the dry conditions and he took the Club Title in an impressive display. Following him home was Stone and Evans respectively. The points haul from the final allowed Evans to take his first title for the weekend by fifty two points over Stone in second. Alastair Lee only decided at the last minute to run the series in the Heavy class and his choice proved to be a good one with a third place trophy at the end.
Having just returned from the Victorian Open with a third placing, Jake Rice continued his good form by taking pole position in the TAG Light class. Heat wins were shared between Rice, Steven Wrigley and Mitchel Evans before Evans took out the final from Rice and Jade Waddington who rounded out the podium. In the end the 2013 title went to Evans who went one point better than he did in Clubman Heavy and won the series by fifty three points. Jade Waddington had a very consistent series in his Shayne Waddington Bodyworks Kosmic and he was rewarded with second place. Steven Wrigley brought his new Wrigley’s Karts and Parts OK1 chassis home in third for the series.
They say nice guys finish last but Murray Dadson proved to be the exception to the rule after he won his first state title in the Senior National Heavy class. Second on the day was enough to secure the trophy and the accompanying red plate. First on the day and second in the series was Johnathan Males who couldn’t recover the lost points from two DNF’s suffered in earlier rounds. Not renowned for his wet weather prowess Males surprised everyone (including himself) with wins in the wet races as well as the dry. Third on the day and also in the series went to James Pinfold who improved impressively throughout the series in his Terry Pinfold Photography sponsored Arrow.
Nathan Zuj proved that becoming a father to Layla after the third round hadn’t slowed him down by taking the win on the day and in turn another Statewide Series Title in Clubman Light. Brody Appleby and Shane Bray made the most of the opportunity of Nicky Richards missing the round and finished second and third respectively in the series. Bray got the better of Appleby to claim second on the day.
There was only one point separating Tayla Heath and Brock Evans at the start of the weekend in the Rookies class and there was little doubt that this title would go down to the wire. However both were upstaged early in the proceedings by Mitchell Kerrison who took pole position and the first race win aboard his Tasrail sponsored Kosmic chassis. Things went a bit pear shaped for Kerrison in the next two races but he recovered to take second in the final race. Evans however, put in a solid weekend and he didn’t finish lower than second during the racing which included the win in the final race and this enabled him to win the title by just nine points from Heath who finished third in the final. Third in the series went to Justin Murphy in one of his best results to date.
Her father Dion is a previous State Champion and now Gemma Wyllie is too after she proved simply too fast in Senior National Light. Wyllie secured all four pole positions during the series and drove with maturity well beyond her years during the racing. In fact it must be said that Wyllie, Kelsey Sapwell, Keenan Slater and Bodie Reading all put on some of the hardest and cleanest racing seen across all four rounds of the series. Second in the series was 2012 champion Kelsey Sapwell. Making it a Wyllie Tiles/Tony Kart trifecta was Keenan Slater who recovered from a roll over at the first round to take home third in the series. On the day it was Wyllie leading home Sapwell and Daniel Newman who had his best race meeting of the series.
Morgan Jakobovski had a slight point’s advantage over Wade McLean going into the final round in Junior National Heavy and he managed to extend it to sixteen by the end of the final which was enough to see him crowned the 2013 title holder in this class. McLean finished in second for the series and he finished well clear of LKC Top Kart driver Jairus Holmes. The club title however went to McLean who led home Jacob Morris with Jakobovski in third.
Junior National Light was another class that had more than one contender for the series win. Going into the fourth round only thirty four points separated the top four drivers and by the end it was only forty points between the leading quartet. Lachlan Newman fired the first shot by taking pole position. Race wins were then shared by Brodie Evans and Xavier Todman who seemed to have the faster kart of the four. However, the final was held on a drying track and Todman gambled on slicks which probably cost him third in the series and whilst ultimately it was the faster choice the leaders had already gotten too far away. The finishing order on the day and fittingly the series was Evans taking the win in his Omega chassis from Johnah Slater and Lachlan Newman who scraped in by three points over Todman in fourth.
It was just as well that Troy Sheehan took pole position and won the first race in Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy because this ensured he won the title even though he failed to score points in the next three races! Darren Williams did enough to grab second in the series from Greg Wood who recovered well after missing the first round. Wood also took home the club title from Williams in second and Rick Davies used his local knowledge to finish third.
After the first round not many people (including himself) thought that winning the title in Senior National Over 40’s Pro would be possible, but Tim Hinds turned his fortunes around at his home track with a maximum points haul and from there on he never looked back. Driving with a new level of confidence Hinds scored enough points to see him take out the 2013 title by a massive thirty seven points. This made him the first driver from the CHKC to win a title for quite some time. Second in the title race went to Anthony “Butsy” Butler who was competing in his first full series for a few years and Andrew Kuc having a great series taking third. On the day though, Warren “Wazza” Smith lived up to his full potential after coming off P plates to take the club title. Smith is making a return to the sport along side his son Jordan after a few years sabbatical. Hinds and Butler followed him home in second and third respectively.
Once again thanks to all the competitors who supported the series and to the four clubs who held excellent race meetings. Jade Stone was yet again a great asset in helping to collate the series points after each round. Thanks to Mark Sergeant and Jo Sapwell as clerk of course and chief steward and all the other officials who ensured the meetings ran as smoothly as they did. Janine Evers and Steph Peters once again were on top of the tyre marking duties throughout the series. The series trophies were a photo montage of the individual driver which were a nice touch and thanks must go to Brad Segda of Seggie’s Snaps for these as well as supplying the photos for the Kartsportnews articles. Finally congratulations to all those involved with Karting Tas for organising yet another well organised and well patronised series. I’m sure there will be twelve shiny new red plates at a track near you soon.
Cadets NWKC Titles Placings
1st Lachlan Dalton
2nd Brock Lamont
3rd Ethan Wyllie
Cadets Final Series Standings
1st Lachlan Dalton
2nd Brock Lamont
3rd William Reeve
Rookies NWKC Titles Placings
1st Tayla Heath
2nd Brock Evans
3rd Mitchell Kerrison
Rookies Final Series Standings
1st Brock Evans
2nd Tayla Heath
3rd Justin Murphy
Junior National Light NWKC Titles Placings
1st Brodie Evans
2nd Johnah Slater
3rd Lachlan Newman
Junior National Light Final Series Standings
1st Brodie Evans
2nd Johnah Slater
3rd Lachlan Newman
Junior National Heavy NWKC Titles Placings
1st Wade McLean
2nd Jacob Morris
3rd Morgan Jakobovski
Junior National Heavy Final Series Standings
1st Morgan Jakobovski
2nd Wade McLean
3rd Jairus Holmes
Senior National Light NWKC Titles Placings
1st Gemma Wyllie
2nd Kelsey Sapwell
3rd Daniel Newman
Senior National Light Final Series Standings
1st Gemma Wyllie
2nd Kelsey Sapwell
3rd Keenan Slater
Senior National Heavy NWKC Titles Placings
1st Johnathan Males
2nd Murray Dadson
3rd James Pinfold
Senior National Heavy Final Series Standings
1st Murray Dadson
2nd Johnathan Males
3rd James Pinfold
Senior National Over 40’s Pro NWKC Titles Placings
1st Warren Smith
2nd Tim Hinds
3rd Anthony Butler
Senior National Over 40’s Pro Final Series Standings
1st Tim Hinds
2nd Anthony Butler
3rd Andrew Kuc
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy NWKC Titles Placings
1st Greg Wood
2nd Darren Williams
3rd Rick Davies
Senior National Over 40’s Super Heavy Final Series Standings
1st Troy Sheehan
2nd Darren Williams
3rd Greg Wood
Clubman Light NWKC Titles Placings
1st Nathan Zuj
2nd Shane Bray
3rd Brodie Appleby
Clubman Light Final Series Standings
1st Nathan Zuj
2nd Brodie Appleby
3rd Shane Bray
Clubman Heavy NWKC Titles Placings
1st Steven Wrigley
2nd Troy Stone
3rd Mitchel Evans
Clubman Heavy Final Series Standings
1st Mitchel Evans
2nd Troy Stone
3rd Alastair Lee
TAG Restricted Heavy NWKC Titles Placings
1st Andrew Wagner
2nd Brodey Lovett
3rd Matthew Clark
TAG Restricted Heavy Final Series Standings
1st Jason Close
2nd Brodey Lovett
3rd Matthew Clark
TAG Light NWKC Titles Placings
1st Mitchel Evans
2nd Jake Rice
3rd Jade Waddington
TAG Light Final Series Standings
1st Mitchel Evans
2nd Jade Waddington
3rd Steven Wrigley
