|
The
track certainly feels gripper in places but being Goulburn,
the temperature was pretty much zero all morning so
we weren't as fast as the last
time we were here. The morning practice lasted oh...
about one lap, just enough to get used to what bumps
remained post-resurfacing.
Qualifying
was a bit longer and I hooked on to former World Rotax
Masters Champion Mark Wicks for a few laps, posting
a best of 1.08.3, good enough for third. Dean Crooke
was in the 7's with a 1.07.7, Wicks a breath behind
on 1.07.8. The first of the locals was the perennial
Alan Dodge in fourth, and David Brand in the Brands
Bobcats & Tipper Hire Arrow. Then came Graeme Taplin,
Mark Vickers, Drew Parkes, Hyper's Sean Trounson, Wayne
Horswell, and Chris Jewell enjoying his first look at
Wakefield.
A
very, very notable Rotax runner in this meeting was
Matthew Blair. "Maddy" lost both legs in a
car accident some time ago and runs in a specially modified
Rotax Max. As they say in the UK- "respect, innit".
It's a testament not only to the spirit of this guy,
but of the wide appeal of non gearbox superkarting.
Channel 10's RPM were there covering this worthy story.
We
were informed at drivers' briefing that there would
be rolling starts, which was a relief since that puts
me in with a fighting chance. Standing starts just aren't
my thing.
RACE
1
The
NSW club's first rolling start was a little tardy with
the leading gearbox karts taking off at the last corner
then slowing down before the lights, causing a little
drama behind me. Chris Jewell spun to avoid shunting
Shaun Trounson, which pretty much spoiled his day. Graeme
Taplin nailed me by turn 1 so I spent two laps following
him, while up front Wicksy and Dean went at it hammer
and tongs.
Lap
1 turn 1 and Alan Dodge tries it sideways
I
sailed past Graeme down the straight after he got a
slow exit from the final turn, and caught up to the
leading Hyper pair by the "fishhook". Here
I had a ringside seat of the Rotax Master and the 2006
Vic Club Champion battling it out. Normally I would
see this kind of thing half a mile up the road at Phillip
Island. Keeping up with them is something I wouldn't
mind getting used to.
Wicksy
won by 6/100ths of a second from Dean, yours truly less
than half a second behind with fastest race lap in the
bag. Hyper 1-2-3. Yeah. Shaun Trounson was 7th behind
Brand, while Chris Jewell came from a long, long way
behind to claw back 11th.
RACE
2
I
hate it when you stay up to watch an F1 race, and the
start gets delayed. Turns out it's even worse when it
actually happens
to you! After two roll-arounds the starters weren't
happy with some dead karts trackside. On the second
roll around lap I heard Dean's kart pop and bang with
an oiled plug. By the time we got back to the pits,
Wicksy had the same problem. Dean had parked trackside
out of the fishhook.
But
a reprieve came for both of them, and the other hapless
trackside victims, with a complete new start. It didn't
turn out to be so good for me though. Having
squeezed past Dean I chased Wicksy for the lead. Going
into the fishhook the leading 250's banged into eachother
and escorted me off track, where I subsequently got
clobbered by Graeme Taplin, retiring with a broken trailing
arm and some new expletives.
before
disaster
Moment
of impact. Wicksy rejoins successfully, while Graeme
Taplin can be seen jumping over my left front
Dean
Crooke won by a Goulburn country mile from Alan Dodge,
David Brand, then Mark Wicks.
RACE
3
With
some quick help from Deano and Hyper's parts bin I was
back in action. Jason Laker had succumbed to the bumps
in race 2 and retired with a cracked rib. Since I was
the only other sucker to retire, my starting spot for
the trophy race was stone motherless last (if anyone
knows the origin of that expression please write in).
That meant a lot of funny gearbox karts to get through
as well as the Maxes.
CJ,
sporting new sponsor McLaughlin Freight Lines, was behind
the eight-ball all day with a poor start to race 1.
On
lap 1 I got past Maddy Blair, Wayno Horswell, Dennis
Torenson and Jeff Hanley. Chris Jewell magnanamously
waved me past down the hill on lap 2 to give me a shot
at Shaun Trounson and Graeme Taplin. Next lap it was
Drew Parkes, and the lap after that David Brand. I was
closing on Mark Vickers, but the recovering 125 gearbox
kart of Jeremy Shelton baulked my exit onto the straight
and David Brand nabbed me by a whisker.
Still,
from last to 6th and staying on the road was a fair
effort. I've been doing that a lot lately. I'd really
rather not have to..!
 Pic
courtesy Gary Trounson
So,
with darkness descending on beautiful Wakefield Park
we packed our gear and headed off for the long drive,
looking forward to a junky pig-out at the Tuckerbox
on the way. Well, Sam was certainly looking forward
to it.
A
big thanks to Clinton, Pelly, Wayno, Shauna and the
rest of the NSW club for a well-run meeting and more
friendly banter than you could poke a bent axle at.
We weren't at all surprised at Deano scooping the pool
but, being the fine competitor that he is, Deano was
more happy that we ran with him most of the day.
That's
the thing about Hyper Racer- they don't care whether
you're in an ex-sprintkart, full time road racing Max,
or one of their machines. They just want to race.
 |
|
Ripper
on-board footage with Dean Crooke at Wakefield HERE
|
More
Pics
(idea
by Gary Trounson!)
 |
Seriously
baby you said you had an extra tenth in you. What?
People are staring? I don't care.... |
Dean
attempts to explain the concept of slam dunk to Jon.
Jon still doesn't get it.
|
