WA KZ Series wraps up in Kalgoorlie

Peter Newland on his way to victory in Kalgoorlie

The Prestigious ‘Dash for Cash’ meeting in Kalgoorlie was home for the 5^th round of the WA KZ Series.

Daniel Currey had all but sealed up the Championship win before the event. But the battle for the minor placings meant it would still be a fiercely contested event. Of course the $3500 on offer also helped.

Reigning Champion Jake Klarich had returned to the KZ field taking a break from his Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge campaign. It was business as usual for the champ, taking out Pole ahead of Simon Gwilliam. Both Klarich and Gwilliam traded heat wins during the day before Klarich took out the Pre Final. Local Kalgoorlie Driver Peter Newland had been working his way through the field during the day and managed to cross the line 2^nd for the Pre Final. Gwilliam pushed back to 3^rd.

Once the Sun had gone down and the newly resurfaced Kalgoorlie track was lit up the finals got underway. Newland got the jump and drove the perfect race with no mistakes. Taking a popular win in front of the home crowd. Klarich Struggled off the line and was pushed back along with Gwilliam. This allowed Currey to push up into the mix. Gwilliam showed his solid and consistent form he has carried through much of his 5 years in the WA KZ Series. Some great passing moves into the famous ‘Patrizi’s Elbow’ ensured he would go home in 2^nd place. Klarich was unable to make up for the poor start and was pushed back to 4^th by the new Champion Currey in 3^rd.

WA KZ Series Committee and Drivers would like to thanks the Eastern Goldfields Kart club and the Volunteers for the efforts put in over the weekend. It’s always a memorable event and made that much sweeter with the massive money prizes on offer.

Simon Gwilliam
“I started the final from 3rd and was confident as I had a quick kart all day and had looked after my tyres. Against me was the fact I just jumped straight out of my 15 lap Tag final and I’m not the fittest bloke out there. Jake was on pole and I was worried he might get away but we both had a lot of wheel spin off the dirty side of the track, I slotted into 4th in the early laps. It was so even between the 4 of us at the front, I managed to make passes on Klarich and Currey at patrizi’s elbow which were hard to pull off as the inside line is dusty. I caught Pete and looked for an opportunity to pass but then mid race I put a wheel off the track and Jake passed me back, I managed to quickly re pass him but Pete then had a good cushion. My kart was really fast and again I caught Pete but he was so fast off the corners I never had a good enough opportunity to make a move on him. He never made a mistake and he deserved to win. Just wanted to thank my awesome team FMA Motorsport and my mechanic Steve Gras for all their help this year plus all my fellow competitors and series sponsors for a blast.”

Peter Newland
“I was excited to be racing the Dash again and to be back on home turf after a reasonable season racing away for the WAKZ Championship series. I do most of my testing at Kalgoorlie and I was quietly confident that I could take it to the top guys if I got in a good qualifying session. I managed P3 from qualifying, however I dropped back to 4^th in heat 1 in what was an uneventful race. After making some changes to the chassis for Heat 2, I got a great start and slotted straight in behind Klarich and we were able to pull a gap on Gumby and Currey and I finished in P2. Heat 3 was under lights and the conditions had cooled off quite a bit from earlier in the day, I managed another great start and when Gumby ran wide at turn one I slotted the kart underneath him at turn 2. I didn’t have the pace to go with Klarich, however, I was able to hold off Gumby to take P2 and start the final from the from row. I had a ripper of a start in the final and launched the kart off the line to lead into turn 1, from then on I put my head down and pushed hard whilst Klarich, Currey and Gumby jostled for position behind me, the kart felt great and although the racing was close I knew by half race distance that I could take the win. It was awesome to achieve my first KZ Final victory and to do it at the Dash with great prize money was even more special. thanks to my Sponsors – Newland Associates, Currey Enterprises, Westland Autos and Primepower Engineering.

CURREY TAKES THE TITLE

Daniel Currey has claimed the 2016 WAKZ Series Title

Daniel Currey is the newly crowned WA KZ Series champion. Currey had such a great season that he basically had the series wrapped up before the 5th and final round on the weekend in Kalgoorlie.

The fight for the minor placings was well alive and hotly costed between Simon Gwilliam, Tyler Peel and Peter Newland. Unfortunately for Peel he had a horror weekend on the track and was unable to get up to speed on the newly resurfaced Kalgoorlie track. This cost him any chance of a top 3 as he slipped down the order. Gwilliam and Newland however made sure the fight was alive and any DNF would mean certain death for the championship. Newland won the meeting however was unable to get the points needed as the ever consistent Gwilliam kept the points ticking over. Gwilliam finishing 2nd and Newland 3rd.

Mitchell Peralla had his biggest points haul of the season to stamp authority on his Rookie of the year title. Mitch winning the Ricciardo Rookie award coming home in 7th place and joining some big names to have previously won.

Daniel Currey
“Great year for me taking home the championship. Have been trying to win this one for about 5year now and very happy with the result. Even better racing with a bunch of great guys. The Series had four different winners from five rounds and just goes to show how competitive it is. Moving from the Birel chassis to the Maranello kart we found good pace and from round 2 we never looked back winning a number of races. The weather this year through some curveballs at us with 3 of the rounds being wet conditions. At the Cockburn round we had to cancel Saturday’s racing because of storms and winds tearing pits apart so it’s definitely been an interesting year of racing. I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully we have the success we had this year and can go back to back. Thanks to everyone that is part of the series, drivers, sponsors, mechanics, clubs. Bring on 2017.”

Mitchell Perrella
“My Kalgoorlie weekend didn’t go too well being off the pace in the final and having trouble in the other races but it was good to show good speed during practice friday. 2016 overall was pretty good, we made good progress with the package and hopefully be at the pointy end next year. To win the rookie of the year is amazing, but I’m looking forward to next years season to get back out there and do it again with all the guys and have some fun.”

If you’re interested in running in the Series Next year please email wakzseries@gmail.com or hit us up on facebook.