Cooper Jones in action at Whyalla
On Saturday June 8th Whyalla Kart Club held round four of its 2013 championship season.
This round seen several drivers either in their first race meeting or their first visit to the Whyalla Track in preparation for the upcoming Festival Cup Round in July
The first group of drivers for the day were the cadets. First time visitor to Whyalla Domenic Caminiti lead from start to finish in the first race however some close clean racing from the boys behind set up the day for what I believe to be the racing class of the meeting. Local first time driver Aiden Stephens held his own with a strong 5th place overall holding off regular to Whyalla driver Bond Brady from Adelaide.
All day the 6 drivers in this class drove close with some brave over taking maneuvers and some near misses keeping the crowd on its toes. Third overall for the day was decided by count back thus showing how close these young drivers were. Local Cadet Cooper Jones yet again showed that he has what it takes and finished in first place for the weekend.
Next class to leave the pits was the combined 125 Restricted Heavy and Light Classes. The day did not start well for local 125 light driver Chris Reid whose clutch failed him on his 125 kart during warm-up. So Chris was changing rims and tyres between races on his clubman kart as he was also racing in a separate class. This class had a few ups and downs with drivers not being able to start their karts and a huge crash where local driver Aiden Sossa looked across his body after being hit by another kart to see the tyre of this kart level with his shoulder as both karts and drivers entered the gravel trap on the front straight. Fortunately both drivers and karts were fine. The day’s racing was a close fight between first and second with Neil Schmidt taking first place for the weekend.
The 125 Heavy Class seen Port Pirie driver Craig Marshall return to the sport of Karting after a time away from the sport. The hi-light of the days racing in this class was the battle that is developing between two drivers’ local driver Brian Sampson and regular driver from Adelaide Stephen Oliver. These two drivers race close to each other all weekend and they are getting more and more competitive as the season develops. It is going to be a close finish to the year between these guys as to who will take out the overall class for the year. However on this occasion it was Brian Sampson that took out first place.
The junior national class this meeting was a little disappointing with only two drivers entered. However the upside was both drivers were female and showed the crowd that girls definitely have fun. Even to the point of both drivers swapping karts for a bit of fun once the day was over. Local driver Isabella Cumerlato did the club proud however was just edged out of first place by regular Boolaroo driver Bethany Simpson.
The final class for the weekend was Sportsman SA. The regular guys lined up with two new guys. Club president Dennis Cumerlato and local 125 driver Chris Reid both purchased Clubman Karts to join the ranks of this competitive class. Both of these guys soon learnt that the unforgiving SL1 tyre takes some getting used to. Close bumper to bumper racing occurred as per usual in this class with a couple of highlights being local driver Jeremy Head gaining his first race win. The win could have ended messy as he fist pumper the air and nearly missed the turn into the chicane. Darrol Jones came through with strong finishes from rear of grid and new driver to the sport of karting this year Robert Butt ended the day with his first podium finish.
Next race will be July 20th and 21st this will be a two day event with hopefully 80-100 drivers from around the state attending.
Race Results
Sportsman SA
1st Darrol Jones
2nd Jeremy Head
3rd Robert Butt
Junior National
1st Bethany Simpson
2nd Isabella Cumerlato
Sportsman 125 restricted heavy
1st Brian Sampson
2nd Stephen Oliver
3rd Craig Marshall
Sportsman 125 restricted light
1st Neil Schmidt
2nd Dennis Cumerlato
3rd Ellen Shipard
Cadets
1st Cooper Jones
2nd Aaron Oliver
3rd Troy Fortanier
