Clean sweeps and late recoveries highlight finals at Pro Tour Lithgow

Adam Hunter continued his impeccable heat race performances from Saturday, transferring his success into the pre-final and final in the DD2 Masters category. In the same vein as Hunter, Todd Road round winner Daniel Richert claimed a pair of 2nd places across both of today’s races. Hamish Leighton was again in chase of Hunter and Richert, but couldn’t pull close enough to them by the completion of the pre-final. Danny Wright capitalised on his own strong efforts from Saturday to secure 4th in the pre-final, with the returning Brent Coghlan in 5th. The longer distance of the final race wasn’t enough to interrupt the incredible run by Adam Hunter securing an unstoppable victory ahead of Richert. A stunning run to the end by Brent Coghlan saw him take the final step on the podium, narrowly outrunning Hamish Leighton and Danny Wright who finished 4th and 5th.

Queensland’s Matthew Greenbury drove away with a strong victory after passing race favourite Brendan Nelson early in the 20 lap pre-final. The battle was on the minor placing’s throughout the event, with Benjamin Ritchie holding on for 2nd after his regular top five performances throughout the weekend. Following his pair of victories on Saturday afternoon, Nelson took 3rd in the pre-final while Jeremy Atkins and New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge round winner Lane Moore finished 5th. The results were inverted in the final as Brendan Nelson secured a comfortable victory over the longer distance. Benjamin Ritchie snared a close 2nd late in the race over the pre-final winner Matthew Greenbury, while Moore improved his position from the previous race to 4th and William Yarwood recovered to restore his early weekend pace to finish 5th.

Bryce Fullwood showed a clean set of heals in both the pre-final and final races of the event. After scoring two second places two races yesterday, Fullwood improved his position to snare the lead in the pre-final to take victory. Jack Black scored a strong 2nd place, setting him in a good position for the final race. Stephanie Stones was able to apply local track knowledge and score 3rd ahead of a recovering Zane Goddard and Chris Bregonje. With an unstoppable drive from Fullwood in the final, it was up to the rest of the field as to who would form the remainder of the podium. Unfortunate incidents for Goddard and Black saw them plunge down the order early in the race; however determination and shear pace saw the two storm back through the field, fending off a multitude of challenges to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. Jordan McGregor also recorded his own recovery after finishing 11th in the pre-final, the Queenslander came through to finish 4th with Stephanie Stones in 5th.

Tyler Greenbury took the next step from his strong showing in heat one and three on Saturday to record a pair of victories in both finals in Rotax Light. Daniel Rochford continued his top running form from the heats, scoring 2nd in the pre-final over a consistent Nathan Tigani. Victorian Thomas Randle continued his string of 4th places in the pre-final finishing ahead of Pierce Lehane who interrupted his run of wins. 14 laps into the final, an incident involving Anthony Hulm, Rory Symonds and Thomas Jeffery caused a red flag. The track medical team were in attendance, and Hulm was taken for observation. A late race battle between Greenbury, Rochford and Lehane engaged the crowd who were looking for the next move. Greenbury proved to be in the right place at the right time, taking the chequered flag ahead of Rochford and Lehane with Victorian Andrew Carey in 4th and Bret Mullavey in 5th.

Sydneysider James Abela capitalised on his heat win from Saturday, transferring his pace into the pre-final with victory in the 20 lap event. Victorian Jordan Boys improved from his race positions to claim 2nd, becoming acclimatised to his new Praga chassis that he debuted at Pro Tour Melbourne. Stefan Stankovic continued his form into the pre-final to finish 3rd from Joseph Burton-Harris in 4th on the back of his DNF in heat three, while Mitchell Griffin finished 5th. Burton-Harris subsequently improved from his result to secure victory in a Junior Max final that had to be seen to be believed, the continuous dicing between the top six Karts in the field created some impeccable viewing for those on the sidelines. Burton-Harris along with Liam McLellan, Jordan Boys, James Abela, Nicholas Andrews and Jayden Sharrad all vied for a podium position, with the final decision coming down to the closing laps as the English born driver took the win ahead of McLellan, Boys, Abela and Andrews for the top five.

Brendan Nelson looked set to continue his silverware collection in DD2 following his heat race success, and win in the pre-final. Queensland’s Troy Bretherton sat in behind Nelson across the line, setting up a close dice for the impending final. Heat three winner Michael Stewart held on for third in the penultimate race for the category of the day with Thomas MacDonald in 4th and Travis Millar in 5th. A strong start from Bretherton in the final meant he didn’t look back in taking the lead from turn 1. The Pacific Kartsport Arrow improved lap by lap in the lead, as Millar found his way to 2nd early in the race. A healthy recovery from 10th from Lucas Ward and the chance to make a last minute move saw him complete the podium narrowly ahead of Michael Stewart and Mathew Harris.

Final Results – All Classes – Top 10

DD2 Masters