TIGHT TUSSLES IN STARS OF KARTING AT EASTERN CREEK

Matthew Wall claimed a second career pole position in Pro Gearbox (KZ2) (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

Qualifying day is complete at Sydney’s Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway for Round Four of the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE.

Three heat wins has Pro Junior (KF3) Championship leader Cameron Hill set to start from pole position in tomorrow morning’s opening final ahead of Arrow driver Brock Plumb. Lachlan McHugh and Joseph Burton-Harris will occupy the second row.

Cameron Hill secured his first pole position in Pro Junior (KF3) (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

“It’s a good way to start tomorrow’s first final, hopefully I can get ahead of Cameron and win the State Championship (which is awarded to the winner of Final One). The new Arrow X2 is really working well, it’s a big improvement on the older model and I’m confident heading into tomorrow,” said Plumb.

“The track condition is really weird, it’s grippy in some parts and very slippery in others which makes it hard to set-up, however, I think we’re going into tomorrow tomorrow.”

The action came thick and fast in the Pro Light (KF1) category with Championship leader Daniel Rochford dicing it out with JAM Racing’s Jake

Spencer and Adam Hughes, along with Kosmic Racing Australia’s Cian Fothergill. A mechanical issue in heat two was the only thing that stopped Fothergill from completing a clean sweep of the day, as a result Rochford will start from pole position with Hughes on his outside.

“It was a pretty good day and I’m off the front row for the opening final, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” said Hughes.

The view that Pro Light (KF1) polesitter Jake Spencer is hoping his opposition will see this weekend.

“It’s extremely tough out there, physically it’s quite hard because it’s a very fast track and the close competition makes it very challenging.”

It was a similar case in the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks with an overheated clutch sidelining Matthew Wall in the opening 15-lap heat race. He went on to win the remaining two races but consistency will see Kyle Ensbey start from pole position in tomorrow’s opening heat, he has also regained the championship lead by a mere three points over Chris Hays and Jason Pringle.

“It’s been an up and down year, but I’ve been fairly consistent. If you continue to be inside the top three and four all year it will eventually pay off in the championship standings,” said Pringle.

“The track conditions have been quite tricky today, I qualified on pole but then couldn’t get the temperatures up in the tyres during the shootout which dropped me to fifth. Today was a good indication of what we can expect to see tomorrow, I think it’s going to very close at the front.”

Pole sitters in the Challenge categories for tomorrow’s pre-finals are William Hawkes (Junior National Light), Nicholas Rowe (Junior National Heavy), Jason Burns (Clubman), Pierce Lehane (Leopard Light) and Kris Walton (Leopard Heavy).

The full results can be found on the AKA results system by clicking here.

Updates all across the weekend will be available on the Stars of Karting website www.starsofkarting.com.au, Twitter Feed (twitter.com/starsofkarting) and Facebook page (facebook.com/cikstarsofkarting)

The Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway is located on Peter Brock Drive, Eastern Creek.

Admission is free for spectators.

2012 CIK Stars of Karting Series
presented by Castrol EDGE

Round 4 of 5 – Eastern Creek, NSW

RESULTS: Top Five Shootout

Pro Light (KF1)
1. Jake Spencer 39.330
2. Adam Hughes 39.418
3. Daniel Rochford 39.553
4. Cian Fothergill 39.569
5. Peter Hollings 40.314

Pro Gearbox (KZ2)
1. Matthew Wall 38.937
2. Kyle Ensbey 38.951
3. Lee Mitchener 39.069
4. Anthony Martin 39.076
5. Jason Pringle 39.168

Pro Junior (KF3)
1. Cameron Hill 39.894
2. Joseph Burton-Harris 39.897
3. Brock Plumb 40.100
4. Dimitri Agathos 40.200
5. James Abela 40.277

RESULTS: Qualifying (Top Five)

Pro Gearbox (KZ2)
1. Jason Pringle 38.570
2. Matthew Wall 38.646
3. Kyle Ensbey 38.815
4. Anthony Martin 38.840
5. Lee Mitchener 38.858

Pro Light (KF1)
1. Jake Spencer 39.051
2. Cian Fothergill 39.071
3. Peter Hollings 39.098
4. Daniel Rochford 39.103
5. Adam Hughes 39.169

Pro Junior (KF3)
1. Cameron Hill 39.505
2. Joseph Burton-Harris 39.701
3. Brock Plumb 39.732
4. James Abela 39.797
5. Dimitri Agathos 39.803

YAMAHA CHALLENGE
Clubman
1. Jason Burns 42.144
2. Nathan Tigani 42.424
3. Brody Chardon 42.455
4. Aaron Borg 42.521
5. Matthew Lopino 42.538

Junior National Light
1. William Hawkes 46.027
2. Jayden Ojeda 46.052
3. Russell Whittaker 46.306
4. Glen Ormerod 46.553
5. Justin Ford 46.572

Junior National Heavy
1. James Duckworth 46.920
2. Reece Davidson 46.954
3. Mitchell Kennedy 46.988
4. Nicholas Rowe 46.991
5. Torey Blanch 47.030

AUSTRALIAN LEOPARD CHALLENGE
Leopard Light
1. Pierce Lehane 39.746
2. Adam Willison 40.101
3. Mitchell Hewitt 40.122
4. Adam Mercer 40.176
5. Jedd Stojakovic 40.201

Leopard Heavy
1. Kris Walton 40.492
2. Michael Griffiths 40.929
3. Michael Hazelton 40.947
4. Matthew Boylan 41.035
5. Gaven Whitmore 41.414