25th March 2015

BirelART Australia take a record five podiums in Dubbo Pro Tour

DD2 Masters driver Scott Howard took his first ever round win at a Pro Tour in a BirelART Kart (Pic: Coopers Photography)

The second round of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour has seen BirelART Australia achieve some of their best results since joining the National series.

Reigning Australian Rotax Light Champion Brad Jenner took second behind G-Force Karting’s BirelART driver Nicholas Andrews while Scott Howard took his first Pro Tour win in DD2 Masters and Junior Max’s Hunter McElrea secured his first podium in the Pro Tour series.

Competing for Pacific Kartsport, Scott Howard qualified second in his BirelART DD2 Kart with a 48.835, just 0.1 seconds behind pole position. The momentum gained from starting from the front row helped to secure Howard two first place finishes and a second in the three heat races. The results helped to ensure the Queenslander would start from pole position for the pre-final.

Howard’s success continued into the weekend’s two longer races with victory in both, including the fastest lap in the final with a 48.711. The round win was Scott’s first in the Rotax Pro Tour. Joining Howard in the DD2 Masters category was Dean Wanless. In his first Pro Tour event, Wanless qualified 24th before progressing through to take 21st in the first two heat races and 22nd in heat three, with further improvements in the pre-final where Dean took 19th. Unfortunately a DNF on lap two of the final ended his weekend early.

On the back of his round winning success in Melbourne, Brad Jenner backed up to take three heat race wins from three starts in Rotax Light. The results were on the back of qualifying fourth in a very tight eight minute session with his time of 49.101 being just 0.1 seconds from pole position. Jenner subsequently started the pre-final from first which is where he would remain to the end, taking victory by 2.2 seconds and setting the fastest lap of the race with a 49.112. A strong start in the final saw Brad maintain second throughout the 22 lap event with the Victorian extending his lead in the series points.

Nicholas Andrews began his Dubbo weekend in fine style with the G-Force Karting driver taking pole position in Rotax Light with a 48.962. Andrews then went on to take two second place finishes and a victory in the three heat races, placing his BirelART in third for the pre-final. A fourth place finish in the 18 lap race maintained Nicholas’ consistent strong performances before a breakout start in the final saw him rise to the lead on lap one, setting the fastest lap along the way with a 49.397, claiming his first ever Rotax Light round victory at the Pro Tour.

A learning weekend for Mitch Maddren as he continues to become acquainted with Rotax Light saw him qualify 23rd, with a strengthening performance in the heat races in the oversubscribed format which saw Maddren take 15th and two eighth place results. Mitch then showed further progress after finishing the pre-final in 19th, he went on to take 12th in the final reflecting his growing transition to the senior class. BirelART Australia’s fourth driver in the Rotax Light class, Dane Smith qualified 38th before finishing 21st, 17th and 18th in the heats however his results placed him outside the top 40 for the finals.

In just his second event in DD2 in the Pro Tour, 2014 Team Australia driver Ryan Kennedy managed to place his BirelART prepared by G-Force Karting on the overall podium. A close qualifying session saw Kennedy take seventh, 0.2 seconds off pole position before taking 12th, 11th and 17th in the three heat races. The results placed Ryan in 12th for the start of the pre-final and his progress subsequently took a large step forward, finishing sixth before making a strong start in the final to mix it with the leaders before securing third.

As with Kennedy, Jack Smith had just his second meeting in DD2. The Queensland driver had a mixed start to the weekend, qualifying 20th and two DNF race finishes from three heat races in addition to 16th in heat two placed him in 24th for the pre-final. A large leap forward saw Smith claim 13th with the former Junior Max racer then moving forward to eighth by the completion of the final, his best finish since joining the class at the start of 2015.

The Dubbo Pro Tour event was the second for Mini Max in Australia and for the first for Lachlan Toole as part of the BirelART Australia team. The Sydney youngster qualified 20th, with a DNF in heat one, his determination showed through as he rose to 13th and 14th in heat two and three respectively. Starting from 16th in the pre-final, Toole showed consistency to maintain his position through to the end, however his weekend unfortunately ended on lap one of the final as he now looks ahead to the remainder of the season.

Hunter McElrea would record the best results of the seven Junior Max drivers in the BirelART Australia team. Qualifying seventh with a 49.152, only 0.1 seconds behind pole position, Hunter went on to take second, fifth and fourth in the three heat races in the oversubscribed format with a field of 65 Junior Max karts overall. Starting from sixth in the pre-final, McElrea took seventh before making an impressive beginning to the final which saw him lead in the early stages in addition to taking the fastest lap of the race overall with a 49.265 on his way to third outright and his first ever Pro Tour podium.

On the back of his round win at Pro Tour Melbourne, Joshua Car qualified eleventh in his RK Kart with a 49.194 with his time only being 0.1 seconds from pole position, reflecting the closeness within the field. Setting the field alight throughout the heat races with his blistering lap times, Car took third, sixth and second in the three heat races. Starting from seventh, Joshua moved forward convincingly to take third in the pre-final, placing him on the second row for the final though a DNF on lap four ended his weekend prematurely, however he still scored critical series points from his pre-final result.

West Australian Henry Lake’s qualifying time of 49.275 placed him in 16th, only 0.2 seconds from the fastest lap displaying the closeness in the field. Lake then went on to take 13th and seventh in heat one and two respectively before a DNF in heat three which, combined with the first two results, placed him in 32nd for the pre-final. After finishing 35th in the pre-final, a DNF on lap 13 of the final forced Henry out of action earlier than planned. In his second event in the open Junior Max category, Jye Hopkins qualified with a 49.771 with his heat race results of 17th, 27th and 30th placing him outside the top 40 drivers for the finals.

Luke Wanless’ first Pro Tour event saw the Sydneysider set a fastest time of 50.266 in the sole eight minute session, backed up by a 26th and 31st place finish in heat two and three, though a DNF in heat contributed to his inability to qualify for the finals. Karla Curtis set her fastest time of a 50.359 on lap six of ten in qualifying as she went on to finish 29th, 24th and 28th in the three heat races, however the results would not take her into Sunday’s two finals. Nicholas Toole showed mid-session pace in Saturday’s qualifying session for Junior Max with a quickest lap of 50.709. In the oversubscribed heat race format, Toole secured 27th, 28th and 29th, however the points acquired would force him out of contention for the finals.

Round three of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour takes place at Albury/Wodonga from 1-3 May.