The revving of engines echoed through the hills of North Lismore last weekend as over 130 drivers came to stake their claim on the Lismore Young Guns Titles for 2012.
In stark contrast to 2011, the weather was perfect and provided the atmosphere to see lap records tumble, and new champions emerge.
In his final appearance at the Lismore Young Guns Titles, and on his home track, Chris Burley cemented his place as one of the best drivers in the competition. Burley repeated his performance in 2011 by taking out the Junior National Light and Junior National Midweight Titles in a near faultless performance. Burley was also awarded a driver development day with Anglo Australian Motorsport for his efforts.
In the Junior National Light class, Bryce Fullwood from Darwin, Russell Whittaker from Cooloola Coast, Gus Flynn from Tamworth, and Jamie Grohman from Ipswich took out the top five placings. Lachlan Feeney won the Sportsman Award. Joshua Bell won the Sportsman Award.
In Junior National Midweight, it was Brock Lannoy from Ipswich, Blake Brooks from Ipswich, Clayton Small from Tamworth, and Jake Gleeson from Newcastle who took the honours, with Flynn Adams from Lismore taking the Sportsman Award.
Also in his final showing in the Young Guns Titles Brock Plumb from Ipswich also put his name to two Titles, the Junior National Heavy and Junior Max Titles.
In Junior National Heavy Plumb dropped a chain while in a comfortable lead in the prefinal, relegating him to the back of the field for the final. In a near repeat of the 2011 final, an undeterred Plumb drove through the field to claim the title for 2012.
Taking the minor placings in JNH were Christopher Corbett from Coffs Harbour, Michael Dwyer from Lismore, Nicholas Andrews from Ipswich, and Dean Wiegman from Ipswich. Jayden Butler was awarded the Sportsman award.
Filling out the the top five in the Junior Max were, Lachlan McHugh from Ipswich, Christopher Corbett from Coffs Harbour, Nicholas Andrews from Ipswich, and Mitchell Maddren from Ipswich. Gus Flynn from Tamworth was awarded the sportsman award.
The number of karts lining up on the grid for the Cadet and Rookie classes is an encouraging sign for the future of karting, particularly for a regional area.
With a field of 19, the Cadet class provided some of the best racing of the meet, showing great promise for the future from the youngest drivers.
Harrison Hoey from Ipswich took home honours in the class followed by Benito Montalbano from North Shore who showed some classy passing moves in the final stages. Jay McGregor , Fraser Ruane from Lismore, and Zac Crichton from Newcastle made up the top five with Austin Wells from Ipswich taking the Sportsman award. Nathan Herne from Lismore was unlucky to crash off the final corner in the placings after running a competitive meet. Jack Doohan from the Gold Coast who was in the top two all weekend was relegated to sixteenth after a racing incident while battling for the lead. Jai Brown was another early casualty in the final who showed promise in the earlier races.
With 31 entries in the Rookies class, the drivers were split into three heats, with the fastest going through to battle for the trophies. At the end of the day it was Joshua Rogers from Gladstone who took the win after a clean sweep of all of his races. Rounding out the top five were, Harrison Oddie from Cooloola Coast, Zac Raddatz from Newcastle, Jack winter from North Shore, and Damon Ash from Ipswich. Jack Smith from Gold Coast took out the Sportsman award.
Fourteen Cadet P platers took to the track over the weekend, gaining valuable race experience in a premier event. Broc Feeney from Ipswich was victorious in his first appearance at the Lismore Young Guns Titles, followed by clubmate Lachlan Hughes, Zayd Tones from Lismore, Max Wilcox from Ipswich, and Sean Bolger from Ipswich. Jacinta Hoey from Ipswich was recognised for her sportsmanship.
Trophy presentation at the Italo Australian Club was attended by the majority of karters, all eager to win some of the fantastic prizes on offer from sponsors, including major sponsors St George Kart Centre, International Karting Distributors, LB Kart Supplies, and Anglo Australian Motorsport.
Along with Chris Burley from the Lismore Kart Club, Lachlan McHugh from Ipswich, and Chris Corbett from Coffs Harbour, were awarded driver development days from Anglo Australian Motorsport. Brock plumb graciously gave up his chance to repeat the experience (having won a drive last year), giving another driver the drive. A fantastic opportunity for the young drivers to take the next step in their driving careers.
The 2012 Lismore Young Guns Titles was a huge success due to the invaluable contributions made by Lismore kart Club members and by the many extremely valued sponsors. On behalf of the Lismore Kart Club, THANKYOU to all of the sponsors, officials, drivers, parents, grandparents, canteen staff, and everyone else who contributed to make this one of the best events of the year.
