A DAY OF FIRSTS IN IPSWICH

It was a day of firsts during qualifying day at Round Three of the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE in Ipswich today.

In the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks Lee Mitchener and John Grother broke through for their maiden heat race victories during their debuts aboard new chassis makes – Formula K (Mitchener) and Energy (Grother) respectively.

Mitchener won the opening two 15-lap heat races, while Grother was victorious in this afternoon’s final encounter.

“The Formula K kart has been very strong all day long, we haven’t had to make any major changes from the base set-up, it’s more so been minor adjustments to suit the track conditions,” said Mitchener, who will start from pole position in tomorrow’s opening final.

“It was great to get the two wins today and I feel confident we can be there or therabouts again tomorrow.”

With championship leader Kyle Ensbey suffering a couple of mechanical failures during the day, Vodafone-backed Energy kart driver Chris Hays now leads the championship for the first time in his career.

In the Pro Junior (KF3) ranks Top Kart driver Cameron Hill has taken over the championship lead by a handful of points after a two wins throughout the day – and as a result he will start on pole position for tomorrow’s opening final.

“My Top Kart has been very strong, especially during the second half of the race which is a good sign for the longer races tomorrow,” said Hill.

“After winning last round I’m not putting any pressure on myself but more so just going into tomorrow with the confidence that I know I can get the job done.”

Joseph Burton-Harris, who secured his first pole position earlier in the day, will start from the outside of the front row, while former championship leader Jake Coleman will start from fifth after an issue with his accelerator cable dropped him to 12th in heat two.

2010 Pro Light (KF1) champion Cian Fothergill chased down Fujitsu Cool driver Joseph Mawson in each of the three races to remain undefeated throughout the day.

“Qualifying didn’t quite go the way that I would have liked, I was struggling a bit for pace.  Coming into the heat races we made some set-up changes which gave us some good speed late in the race and my Kosmic kart was very strong on old tyres.  I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” said Fothergill.

In the Challenge categories James Sera will start from pole position in the Australian Leopard Challenge while Brendan Nelson is the pacesetter aboard the new Arrow X-2 kart in the Heavy category.

Series leader James Greenwood won two of the three heat races in the Clubman category in the Yamaha Challenge.

The Stars of Karting Twitter (@starsofkarting) and Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/CIKStarsofKarting) will be updated regularly throughout the weekend.

Results will be posted as soon as possible after each race on the AKA results system and can be viewed by clicking here.

CIK STARS OF KARTING SERIES
presented by Castrol EDGE

Championship points after qualifying day at Round 3

PRO LIGHT (KF1)

1. Daniel Rochford 328
2. Adam Hughes 315
3. Cian Fothergill 312
4. Jake Spencer 292
5. Joseph Mawson 289
6. Brooke Topp 234
7. Jake Parsons 231
8. Tyler Greenbury 224
9. Jake Klarich 216
10. Jarryd Ebzery 194
11. Jordan Nicolaou 190
12. Luke Gabin 184
13. George Geranis 174
14. Peter Hollings 158
15. Damian Radosevic 103
16. Ben Edwards 98
17. Matthew Waters 97
18. Daniel Holihan 90
19. Hayden Jackson 45

PRO GEARBOX (KZ2)

1. Chris Hays 321
2. Jason Pringle 314
3. Kyle Ensbey 314
4. Tyler Greenbury 297
5. Lee Mitchener 264
6. Matthew Wall 251
7. Daniel Currey 239
8. Anthony Martin 212
9. Troy Bretherton 208
10. Jason Faint 175
11. John Grother 169
12. Hayden Patrizi 163
13. Leigh Nicolaou 158
14. Ricky Capo 154
15. Jordan Ford 149
16. Troy Woolston 147
17. Ben Van Ryt 133
18. Chris Pratt 122
19. Matthew Hunt 118
20. Matthew Erdmann 117
21. Daniel Price 93
22. Scott Taylor 74
23. Joshua Pontello 45
24. Kris Trotter 41
25. Michael Saller 31
26. Ben Hardinge 31
27. Paul Williams 30
28. Matthew Bode 28
29. Aaron Ivermee 28
30. Mark Domaschenz 15

PRO JUNIOR (KF3)

1. Cameron Hill 331
2. Jake Coleman 325
3. Joseph Burton-Harris 303
4. Brock Plumb 296
5. Thomas Randle 279
6. Lachlan McHugh 258
7. Joshua Smith 256
8. Kurt Kostecki 229
9. Dimitri Agathos 222
10. Callum Walker 216
11. Lachlan Gibbons 211
12. Jake Klein 206
13. James Abela 194
14. Patrick Martin 177
15. Sanae Meyland 150
16. Dalton Ellery 133
17. Tristan Ellery 99
18. Jaxon Evans 50

YAMAHA CHALLENGE – CLUBMAN

1. James Greenwood 200
2. Chris Farkas 160
3. Shay Mayes 140
4. Brenton Simonds 136
5. Daniel Nolan 133
6. Leon Mramor 132
7. Samantha Millar 130
8. Jordan Zammit 100
9. Gordon Wilson 85
10. Aaron Borg 75
11. Bryce Davidson 71
12. Jesse Batson 68
13. Alex Baker 67
14. Trent Rogers 60
15. Matthew Panella 60
16. Matthew Southwell 49
17. Michael Saller 48
18. Andrew Harpas 43
19. Wayne Bourke 35
20. Sam Lumsden 30
21. Richard Peasey 30
22. Brody Chardon 30
23. Adam Metcalfe 30
24. Joshua Lawson 30
25. Jason Burns 25
26. Luke Lane 25
27. Robert James 25
28. Sam Houston 25
29. Jarred Lane 15

AUSTRALIAN LEOPARD CHALLENGE
Leopard Light

1. Jedd Stojakovic 174
2. Adam Willison 140
3. Iain McDougall 139
4. Adam Mercer 130
5. Daniel Edmonds 126
6. Ben Stewart 126
7. James Sera 115
8. John Reynolds 103
9. Pierce Lehane 85
10. Sam Taylor 77
11. Mitchell Hewitt 73
12. Mathew Nipperess 69
13. Brett Fortainer 69
14. Ryan Rannard 63
15. George Gutierrez 60
16. Mitchell Tulich 51
17. Samuel Kelly 48
18. Scott Kissock 43
19. Patrick Carter 40
20. James Macken 30
21. Sam Taylor 30
22. Holly Patrizi 30
23. James Reid 30
24. Joshua Crossingham 30
25. Jeremy Landt 30
26. Peter Richards 30
27. John Tatnell 25
28. Robin Petersen 25

Leopard Heavy

1. Michael Griffiths 170
2. Gaven Whitmore 165
3. Travis Martin 161
4. Steven Lintott 136
5. Scott Goldman 135
6. Matthew Boylan 133
7. Michael Hazelton 110
8. Matthew Nicholson 81
9. Paul Pittam 70
10. Elle Brydon 62
11. Aaron Lawrence 54
12. Simon Layne 41
13. Brendan Nelson 30
14. Scott Howard 30
15. Luke Kersnovske 30
16. Patrick Mather 30
17. Michael Doherty 25
18. Klinton Hancey 25