24th August 2015

Hughes Dominates Junior Max While Jenner Wins Rotax Light

Victorians Brad Jenner and Thomas Hughes have taken the outright round win in Rotax Light and Junior Max respectively after mechanical dramas plagued the series leaders in both classes, Pierce Lehane and Zane Morse resulting in the pair both recording a DNF, highlighting an action packed finals day at Pro Tour Puckapunyal.

Praga’s Jack Westbury drove away to a comfortable victory in Micro Max, picking up the Victorian State title on his way (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Micro Max
On the back of his win in heat one on Saturday afternoon, Oscar Targett broke through to take victory in the first of Sunday’s four races for the Micro Max class. After starting pole, Jack Westbury settled for second with Ryan Tomsett moving up to third after starting sixth while Adrian Haak and Cody Maynes-Rutty rounded out the top five. A five second post-race penalty for Westbury was added due to a driving infringement on circuit. Westbury broke through to take a comfortable victory in the last of the heat races, securing the win by 1.5 seconds over Maynes-Rutty who picked his way to second in the early stages before consolidating himself with a lead of 0.4 seconds over heat one and two winner Oscar Targett who would settle for third. Jack Childs picked up fourth while Adrian Haak finished fifth and Ryan Tomsett sixth.

A breakaway drive in the early stages from Jack Westbury in the Micro Max pre-final was enough for him to secure a comfortable race win, thus handing him pole position for the final with Jack Childs set to join Westbury on the front row. Adrian Haak and Oscar Targett will form the second row after finishing third and fourth respectively with Ryan Tomsett finishing fifth. An incident late in the race resulted in Cody Maynes-Rutty departing the circuit at turn one before re-joining to secure sixth. A post-race one place penalty for Targett relegated him to fifth place. Another strong performance from Westbury in the longer 16 lap final saw him open up an early lead, subsequently resulting in a clear race win. Contact between Jack Childs and Adrian Haak saw the pair drop down in the field after being amongst the top four early in the race. The incident therefore saw Cody Maynes-Rutty move into second which is where he would remain with Oscar Targett securing third from Ryan Tomsett and Sebastian Ruiz.

Victorian State Title – Micro Max
1st – Jack Westbury
2nd – Oscar Targett
3rd – Cody Maynes-Rutty

Bayley Douglas remained unstoppable in Mini Max, picking up another round win and a blue plate (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Mini Max
Bayley Douglas continued to assert himself as the key challenger amongst the Mini Max field in heat two, taking the win from Jaiden Pope. Gabriel Gasperak regularly set fast lap times throughout the race before settling for third from Jay Hanson in fourth and James Wharton in fifth. A post-race five second penalty was added to the time of Gasperak. Backing up from his strong start to the day in heat two, Douglas broke through to take victory again from Pope to the tune of 0.7 seconds with the Praga driver setting his fastest time on the final lap on his way to victory. Jay Hanson moved up a position from his heat two result to secure third ahead of Gabriel Gasperak and Kai Allen with James Wharton in sixth.

Another dominant performance for Bayley Douglas in the Mini Max pre-final saw the Praga pilot secure a 2.5 second win over his nearest challenger for many of the heat races, Jaiden Pope. The pair subsequently set up a good battle for the start of the final, sharing the front row. Jay Hanson and Kai Allen traded places during the race before settling for third and fourth respectively with Gabriel Gasperak holding on for fifth. The Mini Max capped off a faultless weekend for Bayley Douglas with the Queensland driver securing yet another victory, making it a clean sweep, with the result also handing him the Victorian State title. Kai Allen progressively worked his way through the order throughout the weekend to record second place, a mirror of his result from heat on Saturday afternoon, while Gabriel Gasperak continued to show good speed, coming away with third from Jaiden Pope while Sean Larkin stepped onto the final step of the podium in fifth.

Victorian State Title – Mini Max
1st – Bayley Douglas
2nd – Jaiden Pope
3rd – Gabriel Gasperak

Reece Cohen took a comfortable victory in Junior Max Trophy, adding to his tally of round wins for season 2015 (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Junior Max Trophy
Lucas Lichtenberger responded in fine style in heat two for Junior Max Trophy, engaging in a close battle throughout the ten lap race with heat one winner Reece Cohen, clinching the victory by 0.07 seconds with Cohen taking second. Aaron Love slotted himself into third early in the race which is where he would remain, while Kiwi Matthew Payne made considerable ground in fourth on eventual fifth place recipient Lewis Hodgson with Mitchell Kerrison taking sixth. A reversal of the top two finishing positions in heat three took place with Cohen snaring a comfortable 1.5 second win over Lichtenberger while Aaron Love held on to take yet another secure third place finish over Lewis Hodgson while Jace Matthews stepped up into the top five for the first time of the weekend with Mitchell Kerrison securing sixth.

West Australian Aaron Love held the lead for much of the first half of the pre-final for Junior Max Trophy with pole sitter Reece Cohen following close behind, within 0.1 seconds for the majority of laps. A pass by Cohen in the first complex of corners progressed him into the lead which is where he would remain through to the completion of the race, taking the win ahead of Love with Lucas Lichtenberger closing in towards the end of the race before settling for third over Jace Matthews, Mitchell Kerrison and Lewis Hodgson. Following the momentum gained from his win in the pre-final, Reece Cohen managed to break through and take a convincing 3.4 second victory in the longer final, securing him the overall round win. It was a battle for the remaining places on the podium with Aaron Love eventually holding for second over Jace Matthews and Lucas Lichtenberger while Matthew Payne drove through from the rear of the grid following a DNF to take fifth.

The battle for the minor placings in Junior Max provided great entertainment for the crowd at the fence. In the end it was Joshua Fife and Aaron Cameron who were able to make the steps on the Podium (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Junior Max
On the back of his pole position from qualifying and win in heat one, Victorian Thomas Hughes moved through to take a comfortable 1.7 second victory in heat two in Junior Max. Despite Hughes’ smooth win, the battle for positions behind the eventual winner remained undecided, with Zane Morse eventually securing second from Joshua Fife, Aaron Cameron and Timothy Colombrita. The third and final heat race for Junior Max would see Hughes take his first clean sweep of heat race wins in the Pro Tour with the Tony Kart driver managing to edge out Zane Morse yet again who claimed second. Multiple changes in position in the end saw Reece Sidebottom pick up third from Liam Ford in fourth who recorded the fastest lap of the race while Cody Brewczynski and Alec Morse rounded out the top six.

A red flag incident on the opening lap following a rollover for Lachlan Hughes brought an early stoppage to the race with a full restart following. Upon the restart, Thomas Hughes broke away to an early lead from pole position which is where he would remain, opening up a gap of 2.3 seconds by the completion of the race, cementing himself in pole position for the final. After working his way to second, Canberra’s Joshua Fife opened up a gap of 2.2 seconds to the eventual third place Kart of Aaron Cameron. Joshua Car made his way to fourth amongst a chaotic final lap with Zane Morse, Reece Sidebottom, Liam Ford, Jordyn Sinni and Cody Brewczynski all forming part of a nail-biting 16th lap.

The final proved to be another impeccable drive from Thomas Hughes, leading from start to finish in his Tony Kart, making it a clean sweep through from qualifying and into the heat races and finals, with the result becoming his first ever round win at the Pro Tour. An ongoing battle for position throughout the race for the remaining podium positions carried on for much of the race before Aaron Cameron broke through to take second, his best result of the weekend, over Joshua Fife in third with Liam Ford taking fourth ahead of Joshua Car in fifth.

Victorian State Title – Junior Max
1st – Reece Sidebottom
2nd – Thomas Hughes
3rd – Aaron Cameron

Nathan Tigani backed up from his strong performance in Albury/Wodonga to claim the Victorian State title for Rotax Light (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Rotax 125 Light
In another unstoppable performance from former National Champion Pierce Lehane, the Sydneysider broke through in the pre-final to secure victory by 3.2 seconds over reigning Australian title holder Brad Jenner. The Victorian finished just ahead of BirelART Australia team mate Nicholas Andrews who worked his way through to third after regular battles with Thomas Prascevic throughout the race while Cody Gillis held on for fifth following a dice throughout the race with Daniel Rochford who took sixth.

A mechanical drama for Pierce Lehane, starting from pole position, forced a DNF on lap two of the final for the former National Champion, thus allowing Brad Jenner through to the lead which he then opened up to over 1.5 seconds across the twenty lap race. Cody Gillis fought hard through the traffic to come through and take second behind Jenner with Gillis’ team mate Nathan Tigani picking up third. Nicholas Andrews and Mitchell Maddren rounded out the top five, making it four BirelART Karts inside the top five for the final.

Victorian State Title – Rotax Light
1st – Nathan Tigani
2nd – Nicholas Andrews
3rd – Pierce Lehane

Clem O’Mara took a clear win in Rotax Heavy, adding to his healthy series points standings (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Rotax 125 Heavy
Queensland’s Chris Farkas broke through to return to his form that has placed him amongst the leaders on a regular basis in season 2015, securing the win by 1.3 seconds. Lane Moore broke through mid-race to get by Clem O’Mara with the pair continually being within 0.1 seconds throughout the race. Moore went on to take second from O’Mara in third with Regan Payne and Mitchell Mackay completing the top five. Matthew McNeill was within the top four early in the race before losing a wheel, causing a DNF for the Praga driver.

An incident on the opening lap of the Rotax Heavy final ruled both Chris Farkas and Lane Moore out of contention after starting on the front row due to contact, seeing the pair both go towards the back of the field, with Moore eventually pitting shortly after the incident. As a result, Clem O’Mara broke through to the lead which is where he would remain, opening a gap of over seven seconds before securing the win from Regan Payne with Mitchell Mackay taking third ahead of Alexander Milward and Scott Simpson.

Victorian State Title – Rotax Heavy
1st – Chris Farkas
2nd – Regan Payne
3rd – Alexander Milward

Victorian Jason Pringle came through the field in DD2 to take the round win and the Victorian State title (Pic: Coopers Photography)

DD2An enthralling battle for the lead throughout the 16 lap journey between Lee Mitchener and Jordan Boys saw the pair have their share of the lead, though it was Mitchener who came away with the win by 0.4 seconds ahead of Boys with Adam Lindstrom setting the fastest lap of the race with a 42.576 on his way to taking third in his Formula K kart. Starting outside the top ten, Jason Pringle worked his way up to claim fourth with Kyle Henry-Smith and Ryan Kennedy finishing fifth and sixth, subsequently forming the third row for the start of the final.

Another trademark hard fought race for DD2 throughout the 20 lap final displayed multiple lead changes and battles for position throughout the field. Both Kyle Henry-Smith and Adam Lindstrom had their time at the front of the field across the course of the longest race of the weekend, though an incident late in the race dashed Lindstrom’s hopes with Henry-Smith going through to the lead and the win, with Jason Pringle taking second from Lee Mitchener and Jordan Boys while Nicklaus Lichtenberger finished fifth. However, due to an on track incident, a post-race infringement allocated to Kyle Henry-Smith saw the PCR pilot disqualified from the Final, elevating Jason Pringle to be classified as the official winner.

Victorian State Title – DD2
1st – Jason Pringle
2nd – Jordan Boys
3rd – Ryan Kennedy

Daniel Richert secured back to back State titles in DD2 Masters, adding the Victorian blue plate to his NSW achievement (Pic: Coopers Photography)

DD2 Masters
An early lead for Praga driver Daniel Richert in the pre-final eventually broke out to over three seconds throughout the course of the 16 lap race, though a hard charging Adam Hunter who picked his way through to second in the early stages, decreased the gap to 2.3 seconds by the completion of the race while Scott Howard settled in for third ahead of Mark Flood who secured fourth on the last lap with Klinton Hancey in fifth.

Another stirring victory for Daniel Richert was delivered in the final, with the Victorian securing the win by 3.5 seconds over a hard charging Mark Flood who managed to get by Adam Hunter throughout the race with the Tony Kart driver settling for third. Scott Howard sat in second during the early stages of the race before taking fourth with Jason Hryniuk finishing a close fifth.

Victorian State Title – DD2 Masters
1st – Daniel Richert
2nd – Jason Hryniuk
3rd – Scott Howard

Round 7, the Grand Final of 2015 Rotax Pro Tour takes place at Ipswich, Queensland from 2-4 October.