EXCITING ACTION ON QUALIFYING DAY IN EMERALD

The Cadet 12 field racing into turn one on the Emerald circuit (Pic: Coopers Photography)

The Australian Kart Championship’s first visit to Central Queensland has got off to a phenomenal start in Emerald on Saturday.

Throughout opening day of the penultimate Championship round presented by Jayco and Castrol EDGE the circuit assisted to produce some of the best racing ever seen in Australian karting.

In KZ2 Joshua Fife has started the protection of his slender Championship lead in style. After qualifying on the outside front row, he made two perfect starts which converted to race wins – whilst key combatants Daniel Price (CRG) and Troy Loeskow (Ricciardo) battled for minor placings – in Loeskow’s case after a lowly qualification.

The battle between Gold Coasters Lachlan Hughes and Broc Feeney in the elite Junior KA2 category continues. Feeney has again elevated himself above Hughes narrowly in the pointscores when Hughes was forced into a DNF situation in heat three, meantime Feeney has scored the maximum 36 points on offer from today’s three heats.

In KA1, the day came to a premature end following an incident involving local drivers Sam Battye and Hayden Schneider. After Championship contenders Scott Sorensen and Jace Matthews were sidelined with mechanical issues it opened it up for last round winner Kyle Henry-Smith to claw back points and he was up to third when a red flag was flown for the incident with Battye and Schneider, the latter of which endured a high speed collision with the main straight tyre wall.

Local Emerald driver, Schneider was attended to by paramedics before being taken to hospital for treatment on a dislocated knee.

KA3 has been an enthralling battle between the three Championship aspirants – defending Title holder, Matthew McLean, James Sera and Leigh Nicolaou with young New South Welshman, Oscar Priest – who set the pole time in qualifying.

McLean bookended the day with heat race wins, with Sera taking the other, however it is a close battle.

Close as well is KA4 Junior, which never disappoints. Kai Allen has taken two of the heat race wins, with the other falling the way of Zac Crichton – who pulled the move of the year to get around two competitors to take the lead heading into the final lap of the first heat.

Jay Hanson and defending Champion, Cooper Webster have continued their rivalry, occupying the second and third places throughout the day, while Zak Varley got himself into fourth placing at the completion of a wild third heat, whilst Crichton was dropped to 19th position.

CRG’s Kody Garland has taken the PRD Galaxy engine to two heat race wins in the TAG 125 category, with the other falling the way of last round winner, Cody Gills. The racing Kody/Cody’s have been at the head of the field all day, with others including Josh Rogers – second in the Championship – being among the frontrunners.

It has been a tough day for runaway Championship leader Brendan Nelson who finished with results of fourth, seventh and 10th.

Ricciardo Kart’s Marc Tulloch’s Championship fightback is looking strong in X30, having secured the perfect score throughout the day. He’s been backed up ably by his Patrizicorse team-mate Dylan Drysdale – the Kiwi scoring two second places.

Lewis Francis took his first AKC heat race win in a crazy final heat of Cadet 9 this afternoon. Harry Arnett had won both heat races earlier in the day, however connected with SP Tools Junior Sprocketeer, Cadel Ambrose in the mid part of the race. The collision dropped both through the field with Arnett finishing sixth behind Francis.

Despite qualifying fourth, runaway Championship leader in Cadet 12 – James Wharton has been peerless in that category today. The Shamick Racing driver got to the front and quickly established his advantage over the field. He survived a scare in the third heat from closest Title rival Fletcher Harris who pushed him right to the chequered flag.

Tomorrow, action begins with KZ2’s third heat race, then the fourth round of heats will commence with the finals to round out what has been a thrilling penultimate round of the Series thus far.

Livestream of every race will be carried free on www.karting.net.au and entry to the Emerald Karting facility is free to spectators. The Emerald kart circuit is located behind the AgGrow Fields on Capricorn Highway.