Rain or Shine - CRG Drivers Fast In All Conditions

Pierce Lehane took victory in the TaG 125 class

It was a weekend of wet racing in Round Two of the State Titles held in Newcastle, with rain prevailing half the day on Saturday and torrential downpours right through the day on Sunday proving a huge challenge for all drivers.

Driving and mechanical skills as well as mental endurance were put to the test lap after lap as the weather conspired to defeat any driver who wasn’t in top form.

CRG Team heroes rose to the challenge, securing major victories in Tag125 Light, Tag125 Heavy and KA4 Junior Heavy classes. Several of the Team CRG Juniors went on to deliver their best ever performances in the KA3 and KA4 Light classes.

In TaG125 light, Pierce Lehane took victory in the finals with an 11.1 second lead in his CRG KT2 chassis and PRD Galaxy engine combination. Qualifying was highly competitive in this class and he qualified 4th, took 2nd place in heats 1 and 2, then 7th in heat 3. After fine-tuning the karting set-up he claimed first place despite ever-changing weather conditions.

Thomas McDonald came home in 5th place in TaG 125 Light. It was his first time racing on wet tyres. It was another first for Matt Southwell who raced his first ever comp at State Level in extremely competitive conditions and still cracked a top 10 placing.

Brett Robinson proved too good for his opposition in the TaG 125 Heavy class

Brett Robinson delivered a stellar performance in his PRD Galaxy engine scoring a 6.9 second lead in the TaG 125 Heavy class to take first place.

Manufactured by Team CRG Australia, the PRD Galaxy has undergone extensive refinements and this weekend the engine really proved itself in both TaG classes. Brett really upped his driving catapulting into first place this time from third place in the last round of the State titles.

In Cadet 9 Marshall Crofts qualified 4th and continued at this placing throughout the heats but could not finish in the end due to contact with another kart.

Team member Robert McTighe raced in his first ever State Titles, qualifying 9th and charging home to secure 5th place in the finals, a remarkable result given the atrocious weather conditions during this race.

Adrian Haak in action at Newcastle

Adrian Haak in Cadet 12 delivered first place in qualifying and throughout all heats to finish 3rd in the finals which was red-flagged due to weather conditions. Haak displayed steel determination during the race dealing with an engine misfire issue and still keeping up with the lead group throughout the race.

Also in Cadet 12, Thomas McTighe was unable to finish. He and Christian Mansell gave it their best, valiantly pushing on against extremely difficult conditions, with Christian finishing 19th.

In the KA3 Heavy class Brett Robinson made an excellent comeback from the back line to finish at 6th place.

It was the same for Jeffrey Rahaley who was running under the Runaway Motorsport banner, finishing 6th in the KA3 Light after starting at the rear.

Also in the KA3 Light, Katherine Wilson delivered a personal best in the series to date almost cracking a top 10 coming 11th in the finals.

Daniel Seraglio triumphed over challenging rain conditions to finish in the top 5 in the Tag 125 restricted Heavy.

KA4 Junior Light driver Zach Crichton

KA4 Junior Light driver Zach Crichton qualified pole and won the opening two heats. Crichton went on to lead the final in atrocious conditions until he was passed with 4 laps to go, then the race was red-flagged at 2 laps to go due to weather, so its anyone’s guess how it might have finished had the race run its course.

Braydon Everett experienced the highs and lows of karting with his best ever qualifying and running in a comfortable third in the finals until he hit a puddle and did not finish.

In the KA4 Junior Heavy Zac Zamprogno who drives for Top Gun Driving Academy finished at a stunning 11.7 second lead after placing pole throughout qualifying and most of the heats.

Team CRG manager Darren King commended his team on their tenacity and professionalism delivering stellar performances in extremely difficult driving conditions:

“The weather was challenging and required constant adjustments to achieve optimal set-up and the team did their best doing whatever was needed at the time” said Mr King.

The next major event for Team CRG Australia will be the fourth round of the Australian National Kart Championships in Ipswich over the first weekend of July (1st to 3rd).

TOP FIVE RESULTS NEW SOUTH WALES
TaG Light – 1st Pierce Lehane
TaG Heavy – 1st Brett Robinson
TaG Restricted Heavy – 5th Phillip Borg
KA4 Junior Light – 2nd Zac Crichton
KA4 Junior Heavy – 1st Zac Zamprogno
Cadet 12 – 3rd Adrian Haak