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19th June 2011

FOTHERGILL CHARGES TO VICTORY IN MELBOURNE (inc. video)

Heartbreaking end for Hays as Lehane and Sera take another win

Cian Fothergill on his victory lap after charging to the Pro Light (KF1) win. Pic: AF Images

Defending Series Champion Cian Fothergill charged his way to victory in the Pro Light (KF1) category during round three of the CIK Stars of Karting presented by Castrol EDGE at Port Melbourne, Victoria at the weekend.

The Gladstone driver was involved in a lap one incident with Tony Kart driver Joel Smith (Patterson Lakes, Vic) and pole sitter Jake Spencer (Wantirna South, Vic) in the second final.

Despite dropping well behind the entire field, Fothergill showed superior speed around the 960-metre Todd Road circuit to chase down early race leader James Macken (Gold Coast, QLD) for the victory.

“We had a bit of a hiccup at the start, came back on the track and was sitting 18th on lap one, however, I never doubted that I could make it back towards the front,” said Fothergill.

“The next two rounds are at venues where I was very strong at last year, so I’m full of confidence heading into the final part of the series and hopefully I can bridge that gap to the championship leader.

“Every round the competition is getting harder in this series, coming into this round there was realistically no less than ten drivers that could have won here.”

After finishing seventh in the opening final, Macken made the most of his opportunities aboard his Oakley-backed Exprit kart to lead for the majority of the second 27-lap final and secure a career-best finish in second place.

Like his championship rival, Spencer charged back through the field following the lap one fracas to finish third and maintain the lead in the chase for the James Courtney trophy.

New Zealand Champion Arie Hutton (Auckland, NZ) endured a troublesome run in qualifying on Saturday and as a result started from the rear of the grid for all three heat races.  Despite this setback Hutton maneuvered his Tony Kart towards the front and looked set for a podium finish in the final race, only to edged out by Spencer.

As a result of a first and a third in the two finals, Spencer secured the Victorian State Championship for the category.

David Sera

David Sera was victorious in Pro Gearbox (KZ2) Pic: AF Images

A pair of 16 year-olds nearly stole the show in the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks with Macauley Jones (Albury, NSW) and Chris Hays (Gold Coast, QLD) showing superior speed over the field.

Jones chased down and passed round two winner David Sera (Narre Warren, Vic) in the opening final of the day.  Then in the second encounter it was Hays’ turn to shine as he replicated Jones’ feat, however, there was heartache to come for the Vodafone-backed Tony Kart pilot.

Holding a commanding lead over Sera and Jones, who had recovered from a sluggish start that dropped him from first to ninth, a brake issue forced Hays to drop well down the order.

The demise of Hays allowed Sera to claim his second straight round win in his Monster Energy-backed Arrow ahead of Jones in his Top Kart and DR Kart’s Scott Taylor (Athelstone, SA).

Sera was full of praise for the youngsters on the podium.

“Chris Hays had a lot of speed in the final, it was unlucky for him that he had some brake issues and I was fortunate enough to end up with the win,” said Sera.

“Macauley (Jones) has certainly improved his game since last round and was very fast here in a test day the other week.  He’s a young kid of the future and there is no doubt that we’ll see him on the top step of the podium in the near future.”

Taylor’s third placing was enough to elevate him into the championship lead by a mere one point over Kel Treseder (Bundaberg, QLD) with Jason Pringle (Essendon, Vic) a further nine points back.  Despite missing the opening round due to commitments in America, Sera has rocketed up the order to now be in fourth place, defending series champion Matthew Wall is fifth, one point adrift of Sera.

While the results show that Pierce Lehane (Castle Hill, NSW) claimed his second round win of the 2011 series, this weekend’s victory was far from a domination by the CRG pilot.

Pierce Lehane

Pierce Lehane on his way to his second victory of 2011 Pic: AF Images

Lehane was challenged by surprise packet Joseph Burton-Harris (Rousehill, NSW) during the early running of today’s second final.  While Lehane eventually pulled clear of the Smart Device-backed driver, it was Joseph Mawson (Hinchenbrook, NSW) who was the late race charger.

Mawson showed great speed to pass Burton-Harris in the late stages of the 27-lap affair before closing in on his archrival.  Unfortunately, for Mawson he couldn’t quite make the pass for the win on the final lap and was forced to settle for second.

“It was an extremely tough race, I had my head down trying to break away but I just couldn’t shake them, it was a long 27 laps,” said Lehane.

“The competition level has been raised immensely this year with new additions on the grid.  It’s getting tougher with every round.”

Burton-Harris secured his maiden podium finish by crossing the line third ahead of Brock Plumb (Forest Lake, QLD) and CRG driver Jake Coleman (Glenmore Park, NSW).

In the Yamaha Challenge categories the action came thick and fast.  Jordan Ford led for a significant period in the Clubman final, only to have Leigh Nicolaou make a last lap pass for the win.  The move by Nicolaou mixed up the top four, which were later altered again following a post-race stewards hearing.

When the dust settled, Ford was credited with second place ahead of Sarron Caddy, Jordan Nicolaou and series leader Lydon Dodge.

Junior National was another hard fought affair with local drivers Jake Klein and Damon Strongman mixing it with South Australian Luke Marquis at the front of the field.  In the end it was Strongman who claimed the win ahead of Klein and Marquis.

In the Restricted TaG 125 support category it was Jake Meyland who took the overall honours ahead of Scott Cole and Mikhali Triantafillidis.

The next round of the five round series will be hosted by the North Shore Kart Club at the Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway in Sydney, NSW on July 30/31.

2011 CIK STARS OF KARTING SERIES
presented by Castrol EDGE
Round 3 of 5 – Port Melbourne, VIC

Round Results – Top Five

Pro Light (KF1)
1. Cian Fothergill (Gladstone, QLD) – Kosmic/IAME
2. James Macken (Gold Coast, QLD) – Exprit/IAME
3. Jake Spencer (Wantima South, Vic) – Kosmic/IAME
4. Arie Hutton (Auckland, NZ) – Tony Kart/IAME
5. Daniel Rochford (Narre Warren South, Vic) – Gillard/IAME

Pro Gearbox (KZ2)
1. David Sera (Narre Warren, Vic) – Arrow/IAME
2. Macauley Jones (Albury, NSW) – Top Kart/TM
3. Scott Taylor (Athelstone, SA) – DR Kart/TM
4. Jason Pringle (Essendon, Vic) – CRG/Maxter
5. Lee Mitchener (Greensborough, Vic) – DR Kart/TM

Pro Junior (KF3)
1. Pierce Lehane (Castle Hill, NSW) – CRG/Vortex
2. Joseph Mawson (Hinchinbrook, NSW) – Top Kart/Vortex
3. Joseph Burton-Harris (Rousehill, NSW) – Exprit/Vortex
4. Brock Plumb (Forrest Lake, QLD) – Tony Kart/Vortex
5. Jake Coleman (Glenmore Park, NSW) – CRG/Vortex

Yamaha Challenge Clubman
1. Leigh Nicolaou
2. Jordan Ford
3. Sarron Caddy
4. Jordan Nicolaou
5. Lydon Dodge

Yamaha Challenge Junior National
1. Damon Strongman
2. Jake Klein
3. Luke Marquis
4. Justin Ford
5. William Hawkes

TaG Restricted 125
1. Jake Meyland
2. Scott Cole
3. Mikhali Triantafillidis
4. Brett Ozimek
5. Stelios Triantafillidis

The full results can be viewed by clicking here and then selecting Victoria followed by the Go-Kart Club of Victoria.

CIK STARS OF KARTING SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
Top Five after Round 3 of 5

Pro Light (KF1)
1. Jake Spencer – 211
2. Cian Fothergill – 180
3. Grant Smith – 164
4. Adam Hughes – 163
5. James Macken -160

Pro Gearbox (KZ2)
1. Scott Taylor – 180
2. Kel Treseder – 179
3. Jason Pringle – 169
4. David Sera – 160
5. Matthew Wall    159

Pro Junior (KF3)
1. Pierce Lehane – 231
2. Joseph Mawson – 201
3. Jake Klarich – 194
4. Jake Coleman – 177
5. Brock Plumb – 169

YAMAHA CHALLENGE

Clubman
1. Lydon Dodge – 208
2. Aaron Borg – 158
3. Brett Robinson – 150
4. Nathan Tigani – 144
5. Brenton Simonds – 130

Junior National
1. James Abela – 180
2. Stefan Stankovic – 174
3. James Duckworth – 151
4. Callum Walker – 148
5. Mitchell Kennedy – 141

To view the full championship points please click here.