The
Shannons Nationals crept up on us quite stealthily, and in the end we had minimal
preparation. Again, my real job got in the way. Due to circumstances beyond the
scope of this report I had driven from Melbourne to Adelaide, flown to Sydney,
then flown back from Sydney to Adelaide to compete in the Nats.
Thanks
once again to Wild Digital for donating
some garage space. It was pole position, right behind the grassy knoll and, more
importantly, next to the kiosk. Sean Whitfield's pit looked resplendent with Wild
Digital's display material. He wasn't just gunning for the National Championship,
he was going to look good in the process. 
It's no secret I reckon Mallala is an excellent kart circuit. The only problem
with it is that the locals are very fast and well prepared. Unfortunately the
factory Hyper crew were absent for various reasons, not least of all J. Crooke's
ill health, so Sean Whitfield in juniors constituted the most formidable Hyper
challenge. Rookie and Britek Motorsport Manager Chris Jewell was debuting his
striking orange Hyper. His stated goal was simply "stay out of trouble and get
a signature on my licence." Sure.
Other
noteworthy Vics, apart from the Howard Equipment pair of Peter Howard and Rod
Clark, were new club Prez Rick Setterfield and the tragic Rotax enthusiast Craig
Taylor. Craig impressed many with his "jumping kart" tricks in the out-grid. With
Supertrucks on the support program we were looking forward to stones, dirt and
diesel everywhere. Actually it wasn''t too bad but I'm sure the bump going into
Hangar was getting bigger. Naturally the South Aussies topped the timesheets for
Quali 1 with Matt Bryant, Michael Neame and James Walker all in the 22's. Rod
Clark was the first Victorian offering up a big challenge in the low 23's, Colin
McIntyre likewise. SA's
big hitters Ron Goldfinch and David Prest had problems in the first session. So
did I. My nose was drooping again, so to speak. It was porpoising everywhere at
speed, making turn one dangerous so I cut the session short. Actually, the officials
had called me into pitlane anyway. Qualifying
2 with front fairing behaving itself but jetting all wrong again I posted a low
25, around 15th out of 21 heavies. It was, as usual, not pulling off the slow
corners and was losing bags of time at the Northern Hairpin and Esses. 
If
you're going to build a sports sedan, may as well be classy about it
The
main point of discussion was whether Juniors and Lights should be starting at
the same time as Heavies. One side said Juniors are slower than Heavies, others
said let 'em go with the Lights. With Sean Whitfield in the low 22's, faster than
all but one Heavy, and his rival Rhys Newman only two tenths behind, commonsense
prevailed and the Lights and Juniors would be starting up front, with Heavies
departing 15 secs later. SATURDAY-
RACE 1 The
word we got was that Heavies would start to the drop of Aussie flag 15 seconds
after the waify guys and kiddies. All I saw was a green flag waving and most,
but not all, of the heavies field take off. Oh well, close enough. A minor miscommunication,
considering the SWG had done a sterling job organising this big event and coordinating
with the Shannons people.
I was off the line slowly as usual and taken by Taylor, Jewell and Filliponi,
among others. I got past Craig Taylor and had a ringside view of Filliponi dispense
with Jewell, but Chris did not make it easy for him. With no bottom end power
I spent the race following Chris and SA's Michael Burton, with SA's sole Hyper
driver Jon Bartlett breathing down my neck. 16th in heavies. Up front it was Walker
(SA), Goldfinch (SA) and Colin McIntyre (Vic). 
With
the kart giving me no satisfaction I felt a Mick Jagger impersonation was in order
SUNDAY- RACE 2 Against
all advice I went leaner in the carby for Sunday. It worked, I found almost a
full second and as far as I could tell the rest of the field were no faster. The
start was better and I was able to keep the impressive rookie Chris Jewell at
bay and have a race long dice with Rick Setterfield, cathcing him through 1,2
and 3 but still losing out of the northern hairpin and esses. Filliponi was a
tenth or so faster than most of us but spun on turn 1 which gave us a leg up.
12th this time. Better. Up front, more of the same with Goldfinch-Walker-McIntyre.
RACE 3 My
start was indifferent and I spent the race chasing Filliponi, again faster by
a bee's whisker. The race was punctuated by a battle with Evan Fuller (Vic), with
overtaking limited by some curious yellow flags. I lead across the line almost
every lap except the one which counted- he pulled a beauty on me into the last
corner and crossed the line a tenth ahead. 11th. Up front, surprise surprise,
was Goldfinch, McIntyre this time getting into the low 22's, and then Walker.
FINAL
Better
still. Although my starts were going backwards again. It was spent chasing Evan
Fuller again, and we even hauled in the normally megafast Peter Howard who was
having some misfires. It became a four-way battle with Chris Jewell joining in,
giving me flashes of agent- orange to the side as I tried to keep up with Fuller.
In the process, Chris dropped into the 23's. Impressive. He, along with Michael
Treloar and Matt Palmer by being with Jason Bright's V8 Supercar team, constitute
the inaugural "Britek Cup" in Rotax Max. I
came home in 9th behind Fuller, with Jewell's orange breath down the back of my
neck, and Jon Bartlett's Welsh Dragon breathing down the back of his. Very enjoyable. 
Up front? You guessed it. Walker, Grinch, er, Goldfinch, and McIntyre. Meanwhile,
flying the Hyper flag in Juniors was the sensational Sean Whitfield. With three
wins and a second to SA's Youth Championship winner Rhys Newman, he scooped the
National Championship after only 5 months in Rotax. Sharing a pit garage with
Sean and Jon, it was a treat to see them at work. It was an exciting battle between
the two youngsters (Newman 14, Whitfield 12), in race 1 their times almost dipping
into the 21's. 
...blushing??
Surely not...
And
thanks go to Jon and Wild Digital for not only sponsoring us a garage (again),
but for Lagler's spectacular new display banner which was unfortunately on duty
at the Sydney Timber Flooring Expo at the time, and I couldn't fit it into my
hand luggage on the plane. Overall Nationals points for Heavies can be found
here 11th
out of 21 and 4th of the Victorians was a satisfying result, only the Howard Equipment
pair and the long time legend Colin McIntyre ahead of me. If nothing else, consistency
pays. I hope the same consistancy can be had next weekend for the final of the
VSKC Series. MORE
PHOTOS roll
mouse over to see which ones can be enlarged  \
Chatting
to jumping kart specialist Craig Taylor
With
250 Nationals legend Jason McIntyre, only days out of hospital
With
former Adelaide sprint karter Martin Taylor. No reason for the stupid hat...
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