November means Class Titles time at Oakleigh and a number of determined souls gathered on a mild Saturday morning to see who would take the spoils. The report is brief because I was also busy looking after flags and I should also note that all results here are provisional – they are the order the karts crossed the finish line, but are to be confirmed.
TAG 125 Light / TAG 125 Heavy
Michael Carless took all before him in the Heats of Light, winning both, with Jack Scanlan and Daniel Griffin sharing a pair of seconds. In Heavy Richard Matera had an easy time of it with Anthony Lantouris suffering a DNF in Heat 1 and not starting Heat 2.
In the Pre Final it was Carless yet again, Griffin then Rory Spencer and Scanlan behind him, James Barnes going out with a DNF.
Carless completed a clean sweep, winning the Final, Griffin in 2nd and Scanlan and Spencer putting on the best dice in this class – Scanlan eventually coming out on top. Matera had no trouble winning the one horse race that was the Heavy Final, Lantouris not starting.
KA4 Junior Light
A good field and potentially some good racing as Matthew Hillyer puts it on Pole with Joshua Hocking beside him, then Callum Potter and Bradley James. Hillyer crosses the line first in Heat 1 but is hit with a 10 second penalty for a starting infringement, so Hocking elevated to the win, Potter and James behind him, then Hamish Allan. Heat 2 sees Hillyer take the win ahead of Hocking, Potter dropped way back after a touch at JSKC early in the race, so Allan and James fill positions 3 and 4.
Pre Final and Hocking this time victorious as Hillyer gets to 2nd, James drops from 2nd back to 3rd by the end and Potter gets through to 4th ahead of Allan.
For the Final the front row is Hocking and Hillyer and disaster at Tony Kart Lap 1 as the two of them tangle exiting the corner and both end up out of the race. This allows James, Allan and Potter then Joel McPherson, Flynn Cooper and Marty Wright through. At the flag it is James followed by Potter and Allan.
Cadet 9
Toby Dvorak and Thomas Patching, then Grady Woods, Giancarlo Artho, Nate Young and Hayley Zammit the whole field of Cadet 9 today. Dvorak wins heat 1 by a small margin over Patching who is a mile ahead of Woods and Artho, Zammit getting around Young with 4 to go. Heat 2 and no Dvorak – a DNS, so Patching does it easy ahead of Woods and Artho, Young a DNF and Zammit 4th.
Pre Final sees Patching go away with it, Woods and Artho behind him, no appearance from Dvorak – another DNS registered for him. Then Dvorak reappears for the Final and starts off the back, but soon works his way through the field to lead Woods, Patching and Artho and that’s how they wind up.
KA3 Senior Heavy / Super Heavy
Not much in the way of entries here: Adam Corbett and Matthew Duncan the 2 Heavys, with David Martin, Nicholas Drew and Darren Kemp the Supers and they qualified in that order – and then went on to finish both Heats in the same order. Might need a pillow for the Final!
Pre Final sees Corbett again victorious in Heavy but a change in Super Heavy with Drew getting through ahead of Martin to take the win.
So to the Final and Corbett continues his run of wins, while Drew also makes good, leading Kemp and Martin home.
KA3 Senior Light
James Sera on Pole and Michael Carless beside him, then Jack Bell and Mark Appleby, Jake Congdon and Angelo D’Ettorre and Heat 1 gets going at a cracking pace with Sera out front and Carless close behind, then Appleby, Congdon and D’Ettorre as Bell dropped well back at the start and now has to work to recover lost ground. All is going well for Carless until he breaks both a chain and the lap record – not in that order – and finds himself out of the race, and Sera finds himself under a lot less pressure. So Sera goes on to win ahead of Appleby and Congdon. Heat 2 and things are a bit more normal; Sera still the winner but Carless and Bell in 2 and 3 with a gap back to Appleby and Congdon.
Pre Final is Sera, Carless and Bell so nothing looks like changing here – but as the Final starts Carless goes away with Sera and for a number of laps they are right on the same frantic pace at the front, both drawing clear of Bell and then another big gap to Congdon, Appleby and Adam Pasek. Carless hangs tough right on the back of Sera for most of the 18 laps of the Final but eventually Sera draws ever so slightly clear and goes on to greet the finisher, a big gap back to Bell in 3rd.
KA3 Junior
Only the 5 of them but we usually see some good racing in KA3 Junior, so here’s hoping. Heat 1 and Jordan Dudfield moves through from 3rd to take the win ahead of pole sitter Jack Martin then David Huezo, Pearson Grant and Hamish Allan. In Heat 2 it was Martin who takes the flag, then Dudfield, Allan and Pearson; Huezo a DNF.
The Pre Final and Martin again the victor, Dudfield also 2nd again, then Allan and Pearson with Huezo another DNF. So Martin leads the Final away and leads it comfortably by lap 3, with Dudfield and Huezo engaged in a great battle for 2nd and 3rd while Allan and Pearson drop back. In the end that’s how they finish, the Dudfield / Huezo battle going on for most of the race.
TAG Masters
Long time competitor Mick Fisher the fastest Qualifier here, behind him Timothy Martin, Richard Matera, Robert Barnes and David Dvorak. While Fisher gets away well it is Martin who comes through for the win, Barnes 3rd and Matera and Dvorak behind him. Heat 2 and Fisher gets a good early lead which he holds onto, to lead Martin across the line then Barnes and Matera – Dvorak a DNF.
Pre Final and they finish as they start: Fisher, who built a big early lead only to see Martin reel him back in, then Martin, Barnes and Matera; Dvorak another DNF though. So defibrillators on standby for an 18 lap final of TAG Masters and Fisher again gets away well and builds a great lead, but we watch Martin to see if he can erode it – Barnes and Matera following him around at a distance. With about 5 to go the lead to Fisher is about a second, but Martin looks like he will threaten – one lap he gains a few tenths but the next Fisher gets some back, then Martin gains some more, but Fisher triumphs in the end and with a flurry of fist pumps greets the finisher.
Cadet 12
Steven Tsesmelis, Samuel Gibson, Damon Woods, Joshua D’Ambrosio, Jett Wilson and Jack Lawson the front 6 in Cadet 12 and Heat 1 sees Woods come through from 3rd to take the win ahead of D’Ambrosio while in Heat 2 Tsesmelis sticks with Woods and D’Ambrosio to form a great 3 way battle but eventually D’Ambrosio gets to the front and leads home Woods and Tsesmelis, a gap back to Gibson.
Pre Final and Woods and D’Ambrosio off the front row and away they go with a great show of passing and dicing, while further back Gibson and Liam O’Donnell are also having a duel. Eventually D’Ambrosio and Woods pull clear of the rest but put on a great fight in 2, D’Ambrosio home in the end by 0.07.
Finals time and the usual suspects find the front; D’Ambrosio, Woods, Gibson, O’Donnell and Lawson and despite lots of dicing, especially from the front pair, that’s the way they finished.
Restricted 125 Light / Restricted 125 Heavy
Front rows of Kyle King and Ben Marshall in Light and Andrew Tabaczynski and Gavin Dorning in Heavy as we go green for TAG Restricted Heats, both of them finishing with King the Light winner and Dorning his Heavy counterpart.
The Pre Final sees King win Light while Tabaczynski takes the flag in Heavy. So to the last Final and King and Stephen Marshall get away well in Light, but the rest of the filed gets in a poo fight at JSKC on Lap 1 and this brings the Heavy field right onto them, Tabaczynski and Dorning in the thick of it. Once they settle King finds himself with a huge lead which he carries through to the flag, David Hutchinson eventually getting through to 2nd, while in Heavy Tabaczynski leads Tristan Fusinato and Dorning home.
So we come to the end of another year of Club Day racing at Oakleigh. Thanks to president David Bell, the Committee and all the volunteers who turn up to make these meetings run; thanks to Sam Sera and all the crew in the canteen for the work they do keeping us fed and watered, hope you’ve all enjoyed the year’s racing – see you at Junior Top guns in 2017!