13th March 2011

DAY OF DOUBLES AT VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

It was a ‘Day of Doubles’ on Finals Day at the Victorian Open Karting Championships at Melbourne’s Port Melbourne Karting Complex today.

With 16 categories being contested, it was the likes of junior star Joseph Mawson, 11-time Australian champion David Sera, Queenslander Brendan Nelson and Nicholas Ellen who dominated proceedings in their respective categories.

Mawson cemented his place as one of the country’s top junior drivers on his way to the 11th and 12th state championship of his eight-year career.

Driving an Australian-made Arrow kart, the New South Wales driver dominated the Junior Clubman final, however, his run to victory in the Junior Rotax category was far from easy.

The 15 year-old chased down and passed local teenager Liam Morey with a handful of laps remaining, only to have Morey fight back shortly after. The pair raced hard, and fair, over the closing couple of laps before Mawson held on for the victory by one kart length.

“In Junior Clubman I had enough pace to pull away from the field which made life a little bit easier, however, the same can’t be said about the Junior Rotax Final,” said Mawson, who won his first state championship at the Port Melbourne venue in 2006.

“The Junior Rotax race was a really tough one, I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold on for the win until after I came out of the final corner.”

Competing in three classes, Clubman Light, Leopard Light and Rotax Light, Sera dominated two of them and finished runner-up in the third.

His performance in the Rotax Light category was another dominant one as he cruised to his third successive Victorian title in a row aboard his Arrow kart. His cousin James pressured him during the Leopard Light final but was unable to topple the younger Sera, however, James got the better of David in the chase for the Clubman Light crown.

“Coming into this weekend I knew it was going to be very tough – and busy – running three classes, so to finish on the podium in all three is very rewarding,” said David Sera.

“We’ve been working on finding a sweet spot in the set up of the new Arrow kart and with Arrow finishing one-two (Sera’s Arrow team-mate Luke Rochford finished second) in Rotax Light it is a good feeling.”

For Nelson it is the first time that he has won two state championships at the one event. The Toowoomba-born Gold Coast university student upstaged his more fancied rivals in the highly competitive Clubman Heavy field that included reigning National Champion Shayne Piper, ten-time Australian Champion Matt Wall and many other highly credentialed competitors.

Nelson got the jump from the outside of the front row at the start of the 20-lap final to lead the way over the early laps. Two of the front-runners, pole sitter Zeke Edwards and Lee Mitchener, crashed out exiting turn two on lap two when Mitchener made a move up the inside of Edwards.

As the race continued Nelson slowly edged away before going on to take the win ahead of Wall and Glenn Riddell, who passed Richard Muscat for the final spot on the podium in his Silhouette kart.

Nelson was almost untouchable in the Rotax Heavy division. After running third during the early laps behind Zeke Edwards and Rick Pringle the Arrow pilot showed superior speed to carve his way to the front of the field.

“If someone told me after practice on Thursday that I would finish on the podium I probably would have laughed because I was very much off the pace,” said Nelson.

“I’d been struggling to find a fast set-up in the new Arrow kart but we got on top of it and have come away with two state titles, which really exceeded my expectations.”

Ellen was the dominant drive in both of today’s Senior National categories, Light and Heavy, to claim dual state championships.

All weekend the Clubman Light racing was dominated by the Sera pair and the 20-lap championship final proved to be no different – although the fickle Melbourne weather really spiced the racing up.

James Sera led the way ahead of Jordan Sanderson and Macauley Jones for the opening few laps before the rain started to fall at just after half race distance.

Shortly after it started to drizzle, David Sera made a move on the inside of Jones for third place which resulted in Jones spinning in front of the entire field. He was then collected by a number of karts while stationary but appeared to emerge uninjured.

With seven laps remaining the rain started to fall heavily soaking the track sending karts spearing off in all directions as they tested the limits of adhesion. The Sera cousins exchanged the front running on a number of occasions and Sanderson also found his way to the front, albeit briefly before running wide on the final turn.

In the end it was James Sera who held on to claim the 21st state championship of his illustrious career in his FA (Fernando Alonso) Kart.

Other victories went to Jordan Caruso (Midgets), Reece Sidebottom (Midgets), Liam McLellan (Junior National Light), Anton de Pasquale (Junior National Heavy), Ben McKinlay (Clubman Super Heavy), Remo Luciani (Clubman Over 40s) and Matthew Wall (Leopard Heavy).

Updates were posted on the AKA Twitter (click here) and Facebook (click here) accounts throughout the day.

To read about some of the behind the scenes action please Click Here to view Sunday’s notebook.

2011 VICTORIAN KARTING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Top Five

MIDGETS
1. Jordan Caruso
2. Thomas Bennett
3. Chase Wooley
4. Dylan Hollis
5. Brock Kenny

Race Notes:
Wright Karts driver Jordan Caruso dominated the Midgets Final to cross the line well clear of Thomas Bennett.

The battle behind the leading duo was intense between local driver Dylan Hollis, South Australian Chase Wooley and Western Australian Brock Kenny. Wooley’s charge to third place was impressive given that he started well down the order and he was also involved in an early race incident.

ROOKIES
1. Reece Sidebottom
2. Thomas Schou
3. Nikola Mitic
4. Jayden Ojeda
5. Cody Gillis

Race Notes:
All weekend it has been a battle between Rhys Wooley and Reece Sidebottom and the final at this weekend’s Victorian Championships was no different.

The battle for third was a hard fought one between Jayden Ojeda, Nikola Mitic and Thomas Schou – this soon turned into a battle for second when Wooley encountered an engine issue that ended his race four laps from the finish.

With Wooley on the sidelines Sidebottom cruised to victory ahead of Schou.

JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
1. Liam McLellan
2. James Golding
3. Jake Klein
4. Luke Marquis
5. William Hawkes

Race Notes:
Local driver Jake Klein led the field away but on lap three Liam McLellan made a pass for the lead on the main straight. The pair had a slight gap over third placed runner James Golding with South Australian Luke Marquis holding down fourth place.

As the race continued it became a four-way battle at the front with the above mentioned drivers exchanging places on regular occurrences.

After a great late race battle McLellan crossed the line 0.006 of a second ahead of Golding.

JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
1. Anton de Pasquale
2. Todd Hazelwood
3. Matthew McLellan
4. Nicholas Rowe
5. Luke Walker

Race Notes:
The top three runners were running within close proximity during the opening half of the race before South Australian Arrow driver Todd Hazelwood opened a handy gap.

Hazelwood appeared on track for victory, however, Anton de Pasquale had other ideas. The local driver made a late race charge to pass Hazelwood for the win.

JUNIOR CLUBMAN
1. Joseph Mawson
2. Liam Morey
3. Anthony Martin
4. Todd Hazelwood
5. James Hughes

Race Notes:
National Champion Joseph Mawson got the jump from pole position aboard his Arrow Kart to leave the likes of Liam Morey, South Australian Todd Hazelwood, Anton de Pasquale and Western Australian Anthony Martin to battle for the minor positions.

De Pasquale’s charge came to an end mid race with a radiator issue and with Mawson well clear out in front Morey had to settle for second place. A late race charge by Martin allowed him to pass Hazelwood for third place and round out an all Arrow podium.

JUNIOR ROTAX
1. Joseph Mawson
2. Liam Morey
3. Pierce Lehane
4. Michael Stewart
5. Matthew McLellan

Race Notes:
The top four competitors in the Junior Max raced wheel to wheel during the opening laps with Joseph Mawson and Liam Morey leading the way. The pair swapped the front running on a couple of occasions per lap in the first few laps before running nose to tail for the majority of the race.

Morey opened a slender gap mid-race only to have Mawson close in and then retake the lead. The pair raced hard, and fair, over the closing couple of laps before Mawson held on for the victory by one kart length.

SENIOR NATIONAL LIGHT
1. Nicholas Ellen
2. Jarryd Ebzery
3. Luke Caputo
4. Darsey Kondopirakis
5. Thomas Allen

Race Notes:
Once again Nicholas Ellen proved superior on his way to victory in the Senior National Light category to claim his second state championship of the day.

While Jarryd Ebzery was comfortable in second the battle for third place was intense with Luke Caputo eventually holding to claim the final spot on the podium.

SENIOR NATIONAL HEAVY
1. Nicholas Ellen
2. Glenn Riddell
3. Brett Dillon
4. Todd Stevens
5. Jaryd Ebzery

Race Notes:
In a processional affair it was Nicholas Ellen who reigned supreme to take the victory ahead of Glenn Riddell, who secured his second podium finish of the day.

CLUBMAN LIGHT
1. James Sera
2. David Sera
3. Mitchell Wilmot
4. Jordan Nicolaou
5. Cian Fothergill

Race Notes:
Reigning Australian Champion James Sera got the jump as a number of competitors behind him had a chaotic start, including his cousin David who dropped back to sixth place.

James Sera led the way ahead of Jordan Sanderson and Macauley Jones for the opening few laps before the rain started to fall at just after half race distance.

Shortly after it started to drizzle, David Sera made a move on the inside of Jones for third place which resulted in Jones spinning in front of the entire field. He was then collected by a number of karts while stationary but appeared to emerge uninjured.

With seven laps remaining the rain started to fall heavily soaking the track sending karts spearing off in all directions as they tested the limits of adhesion. The Sera cousins exchanged the front running on a number of occasions and Sanderson also found his way to the front, albeit briefly before running wide on the final turn.

In the end it was James Sera who held on to claim the 21st state championship of his illustrious career.

CLUBMAN HEAVY
1. Brendan Nelson
2. Matthew Wall
3. Glenn Riddell
4. Richard Muscat
5. Remo Luciani

Race Notes:
Queenslander Brendan Nelson got the jump from the outside of the front row in the final of Clubman Heavy.

Two of the front-runners Zeke Edwards and Lee Mitchener crashed out exiting turn two on lap two when Mitchener made a move up the inside of Edwards.

As the race continued Nelson slowly edged away before going on to take the win ahead of Matthew Wall and Glenn Riddell, who passed Richard Muscat for the final spot on the podium.

CLUBMAN SUPER HEAVY
1. Ben McKinlay
2. Scott Simpson
3. Nathan van Hulst
4. Scott Feguson
5. Ben Kirkbride

Race Notes:
As has come to be expected in the Clubman Super Heavy ranks over the past two years, the OTK team of Ben McKinlay and Scott Simpson showed the way. At mid race McKinlay started to open a slender gap aboard his Tony Kart over the FA Kart of Simpson.

The battle for third was intense with Nathan Van Hulst and Scott Ferguson. Despite a last corner effort by Ferguson, it was Van Hulst who held on for the final spot on the podium.

CLUBMAN OVER 40s
1. Remo Luciani
2. Chris Sanderson
3. Phil Smith
4. John Pringle
5. Leon Forrest

Race Notes:
While Remo Luciani drove off into the distance Chris Sanderson cemented himself into second place.

Phil Smith and John Pringle had a great battle for third place before Pringle ran wide on the final corner allowing Smith to sneak onto the podium.

LEOPARD LIGHT
1. David Sera
2. James Sera
3. Scott Kissock
4. Adam Willison
5. Richard Muscat

Race Notes:
FA Kart pilot James Sera led the field through turn one but it wasn’t long before David Sera showed his cards and found his way to the lead.

After lap two Sera stretched his legs behind the wheel of his Australian-made Arrow kart to take his second comprehensive victory of the weekend.

James Sera finished a comfortable second while South Australian Scott Kissock and Adam Willison had a great battle for third place, which was eventually won by Kissock.

LEOPARD HEAVY
1. Matthew Wall
2. Lee Mitchener
3. Michael Griffiths
4. Shane Price
5. Daniel Stein

Race Notes:
Ten-time Australian Champion Matthew Wall got the jump at the start and was never headed. Wall consistently lapped up to half a second faster than his rivals to cross the line half a straight length ahead of second place.

Lee Mitchener and Michael Griffiths had a tight battle for second and third place before Mitchener held on for the runner-up spot. Shane Price charged his way through the field after not finishing the pre-final to claim fourth place.

ROTAX LIGHT
1. David Sera
2. Luke Rochford
3. Brad Jenner
4. Josh De Maio
5. Michael Robson

Race Notes:
The Rotax Light final was a case of David Sera domination with the reigning National and Victorian Champion taking a comprehensive victory ahead of his Arrow Karts team-mate Luke Rochford.

Brad Jenner had a spirited battle with Josh de Maio for third and fourth.

ROTAX HEAVY
1. Brendan Nelson
2. Paul Rodgers
3. Zeke Edwards
4. Rick Pringle
5. Ben McKinlay

Race Notes:
Local driver Zeke Edwards won the start in the final of Rotax Heavy but it wasn’t long before Queenslander Brendan Nelson found his way to the front.

After running third during the early laps behind Zeke Edwards and Rick Pringle the Arrow pilot showed superior speed to carve his way to the front of the field.

The full results have been posted under the CM:S system. Click Here and then select Victoria and the Go kart Club of Victoria.