HARD FOUGHT ACTION ON QUALIFYING DAY IN NEWCASTLE

Jason Faint leads the way in a pack during a heat race in the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

Video highlights of some of today’s action can be found below.

The action came thick and fast during in qualifying day at round two of the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE in Newcastle today.

Along with the usual suspects up the front of the fields in the Pro Light (KF1), Pro Gearbox (KZ2) and Pro Junior (KF3) categories, there were also a number of surprises.

In the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks it was Western Australian Anthony Martin and Queenslander Jason Faint who mixed it with their more fancied rivals.

The pair both made their maiden top five shootout in the category before Martin crossed the line second behind Kyle Ensbey in the opening 15-lap encounter. He then claimed a 7th and 12th placing and as a result will start from position six in tomorrow’s opening final.

Only a mechanical issue in heat two stopped Faint from securing a top three start in tomorrow’s pre-final. A fifth and third, where he held out a hard-charging Matthew Wall in the final heat, in the other two heat races will see him line up eighth tomorrow morning.

Cian Fothergill leading Tyler Greenbury and Jake Spencer in Pro Light (KF1) (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

In the Pro Light (KF1) ranks 2010 champion Cian Fothergill claimed the win in two of the three 15-lap races – but his victories were far from easy. The Kosmic driver was pressured by the like of Joseph Mawson, polesitter Daniel Rochford, Jake Spencer and Adam Hughes at different stages throughout the day.

Gold Coaster Lachlan McHugh showed the field a clean pair of heels during the top five shootout to claim his maiden pole position. Unfortunately, his day got a lot tougher from then on with the Intrepid driver suffering a broken chain in race one. He was then forced to start from the rear of the field when his kart wouldn’t fire on the grid in heat two before failing to finish due to another mechanical issue. He then enjoyed a trouble free run in heat three to finish third.

One place behind McHugh in heat three was an impressive Dalton Ellery.

Tomorrow’s action will see Cameron Hill, Joseph Burton-Harris, Jake Coleman and Brock Plumb line up in the top four places on the grid for the opening final.

In the Challenge categories, Pierce Lehane has been in a class of his own in the Leopard Light category. Lehane has led home Ben Stewart throughout the day in the Australian Leopard Challenge. Former CIK Stars of Karting Series Champion Michael Hazelton led the way in the Leopard Heavy category.

In the Yamaha Challenge round one winner James Greenwood, 2011 series winner Aaron Borg and Bryce Davidson have been the pacesetters with Davidson’s consistency earning him pole position for tomorrow’s pre-final.

Victorian William Hawkes leads the way in Junior National Light while Mitchell Kennedy is the best in Junior National Heavy.

Tomorrow’s action will kick off at 9:00am with the final heat of the Junior National category followed by the pre-finals and finals.

The results have been uploaded to the AKA’s CM:S series at the completion of every race and are available by clicking here (link: https://app.austkarting.com.au/aka/results/view/NSW/NKRC/2012-04-20/)

Snippets of news from trackside will be updated throughout the weekend on the Stars of Karting Series Twitter Feed (www.twitter.com/starsofkarting) Facebook page ((www.facebook.com/CIKStarsofKarting)

Daniel Rochford - Fastest Qualifier in the Pro Light (KF1) category (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

Chris Hays secured pole position in the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) ranks (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

In only his second round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series, Lachlan McHugh claimed pole position in Pro Junior (KF3) (Pic: AF Images/Budd)