Crowds Witness Unbelievable Finals Action at 2014 Rotax Nationals

Three new Australian Rotax Champions have been crowned in the first ever National Championships held under the day/night format with two-time World Champion Bas Lammers adding to the excitement of the event taking victory in DD2 in his first ever appearance on Australian soil.

DD2 Masters – Proudly sponsored by Lucky Bling
Adam Hunter continued his dominance of the DD2 Masters class through both heat two and three, taking victories and setting himself up for pole position in the pre-final. Klinton Hancey moved forward from his first heat result of third to take second in the final two heat races, while Hamish Leighton was rewarded by his consistent top five results in the heats with the Victorian set to start the pre-final from third. After bouncing back from eighth in heat one, Scott Howard delivered two fourth place finishes in Saturday’s heats progressing him to start fourth in the pre-final ahead of reigning Nationals winner Daniel Richert and Danny Wright.

Hunter remained the man to catch in the pre-final, taking the win over Klinton Hancey setting the pair up for an all Tony Kart front row in the 20 lap final. Hancey appeared to be the only one able to challenge Hunter for victory, with DD2 Masters debutant John Grother making his way to third in the longer race. Queensland local Steve Ellery recorded his first top four result of the weekend in the pre-final, with Hamish Leighton replicating his heat three result in fifth and Danny Wright sixth.

A strong start from Grother in the final was the only foreseeable challenge to a win by Adam Hunter in the final. The Sydney driver continued his dominant performance from the Pro Tour season, taking his first ever win at a Rotax Nationals, subsequently affirming his position in Team Australia at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. Grother hung on for a strong second place finish by less than a second with Tony Bregonje working his way to third for only his second podium in Rotax racing. Hamish Leighton and Danny Wright rounded out the top five podium with Klinton Hancey recovering from a first lap incident which saw him drop outside the top fifteen to finish sixth.

Above: Adam Hunter took his first ever Rotax Nationals win in DD2 Masters - Coopers Photography

Rotax Heavy – Proudly sponsored by IPKarting
Gold Coast’s Brendan Nelson continued his strong performance in the Rotax Heavy class through the final two heats, taking the victory, handing him pole position for the pre-final. Backing up from his second place finish in heat one, Clem O’Mara repeated his result in heat two before taking fourth in heat three, though the opening two race results helped him to share the front row with Nelson for the 16 lap race. Kel Treseder stepped up with fourth in heat two and third in heat three as he began his charge towards the front, with Victorian Rick Pringle sharing the second row with Treseder. Mason Barbera showed strong form in the final heat race taking second setting up a third row start alongside Chris Farkas.

The battle between Brendan Nelson and Kel Treseder rose in intensity in the pre-final with the Bundaberg driver taking the win over Nelson who settled for second for the first time of the weekend. Mason Barbera continued his rise up the order, showing strong pace to finish third, matching times with the race leaders throughout the event. Clem O’Mara finished fourth, leading home the second battle pack of the recovering Shay Mayes with Rick Pringle in sixth.

In what was described by many as one of the most exciting Kart races in Australian history, the battle and constant changes of the lead between Brendan Nelson and Kel Treseder drew a capacity crowd to the fence awaiting the next pass for the lead.

The pair looked to gain an advantage in each and every corner on the track before an incident on the final lap with just two corners to go ended the two driver’s race. Mason Barbera continued to display his impressive pace, being in the right place at the right time, taking the lead and his first ever Australian Championship win. The entire top five podium would be comprised of Queensland drivers with Scott Simpson taking second ahead Clem O’Mara, with Sam Houston and Regan Payne rounding out the top five.

Above: Mason Barbera recorded his Australian Karting Championship win in Rotax Heavy - Coopers Photography

Junior Max Trophy Class – Proudly sponsored by Karting World
West Australian Brooke Redden backed up from his win in heat one in the Junior Max Trophy Class to take victory in the second twelve lap race before finishing second in heat three, placing him on pole for the pre-final. Glen Ormerod’s consistency rewarded him with a front row start from second in the longer race with debutant Harrison Hoey bouncing back from a second race DNF to take the win in heat three and start from the second row alongside Newcastle’s Jordan Pike. Lithgow Pro Tour round winner Samuel Dicker would start from fifth with South Australian Tyler Morrison in sixth.

Harrison Hoey continued his improvement into the pre-final, taking the win ahead of series regular front runner Glen Ormerod. The pair would start the final on the front row, while Brooke Redden’s third place finish handed the West Australian a second row start alongside Jordan Pike. After his two top three results in the final heats, Tyler Morrison finished fifth in a close battle for the top placing’s with Samuel Dicker taking sixth.

Despite only setting the third fastest time of the final, Harrison Hoey broke away to an early lead and would remain unchallenged, taking victory in just his first event in the class. The battle for the final podium places remained constant across the 20 lap event with Tyler Morrison working his way to third mid-way through the race before a move to second in the latter stages placing him ahead of Glen Ormerod in third, Samuel Dicker in fourth and Brooke Redden in fifth.

Above: On debut in the Junior Trophy Class, Harrison Hoey took victory at the Rotax Nationals - Coopers Photography

Rotax Light – Proudly sponsored by KartSportNews.com
The split grid heat system for Rotax Light saw Victorian Brad Jenner take a clean sweep of his three ten lap races. Jenner’s strong form was all but matched by Tyler Greenbury who took a win in heat two before taking second in heat three. The pair would share the front row of the 44 kart grid for the pre-final with heat three winner Cian Fothergill starting third and New Zealand’s Daniel Kinsman from fourth. Consistency across the three races for Liam McLellan and a recovery in the third heat for Ryan Kennedy handed the pair a third row start. The remainder of the top ten on the grid for the pre-final would be made up Nicholas Andrews, James Abela, David Sera and Mathew Kinsman.

Brad Jenner was again able to display why he held such a commanding lead in the Rotax Light series standings in the pre-final, taking the win, fending off challenges throughout the race from Cian Fothergill. A hard charging Tyler Greenbury finished third, subsequently setting himself up to start the final on the second row alongside Liam McLellan. In only his third event in senior Karting, Nicholas Andrews worked his way up to fifth ahead of Daniel Kinsman who continued his hunt for his third podium in three appearances at the Rotax Nationals.

An early lead for Brad Jenner helped his charge towards his first ever National Championship in Australian Karting. Contact between David Sera and Tyler Greenbury on lap two put the Queenslander out of contention after he started as one Jenner’s key challengers for the green plate. A strong charge from Nicholas Andrews saw him pick his way through to second, fighting for position he managed to cross the finish line behind Jenner with Daniel Kinsman taking third. In his first appearance of the season in Rotax, Cian Fothergill took fourth with Liam McLellan completing the podium in fifth.

Above: Brad Jenner took a comfortable win in Rotax Light on his way to his first Australian Karting title - Coopers Photography

Junior Max – Proudly sponsored by Troy Farley Race Engines
The victories in the Junior Max heats were shared across four different drivers throughout the weekend, though two wins and a second in the final heat for Sydney’s Jayden Ojeda handed him pole position for the pre-final. Ojeda would be joined on the front row by Canberra’s Zane Morse who also took two wins from his three races. West Australian Jake Kostecki progressed up the order through the heats to eventually take the win in his third race, starting on the second row alongside Zane Goddard.

Aaron Cameron’s win in heat one, backed up by two fourth place finishes in the last two races placed him fifth starting next to Darwin’s Bryce Fullwood. Callum Walker, Thomas Hughes, Jordan McGregor and Hunter McElrea would make the remainder of the top ten.

On the back of his success in Saturday’s two heat races, Zane Morse continued his winning feeling in the Junior Max pre-final, taking the victory over Zane Goddard. The pair would therefore start the final from the front row with Bryce Fullwood recording his third top three finish from the weekend’s four races while Victorian Thomas Hughes finished fourth. Aaron Cameron and series leader Jayden Ojeda finished fifth and sixth respectively.

In a battle for the podium that all but mirrored that of the Rotax Heavy final, Zane Morse made a last lap pass for the lead to take his first ever National Championship win. With the lead changing on countless occasions throughout the race, it came down to last lap dice between Morse, Zane Goddard, Jayden Ojeda and Aaron Cameron which was only decided out of the final corner. Morse crossed the line just 0.1 seconds ahead of Goddard with Ojeda recording his fastest time of the race on the penultimate lap to finish third. Bryce Fullwood crossed the line in fourth just 0.05 seconds behind Ojeda with Cameron a further 0.09 seconds behind Fullwood. Toowoomba’s William Brown started the final from 16^th, taking the quickest lap of the race to finish sixth.

Above: Zane Morse made a last lap pass to take victory in Junior Max - Coopers Photography

DD2 – Proudly sponsored by Pacific Kartsport
Bas Lammers continued his strong form in the final two heat races in DD2, though an extraordinary effort from Gold Coast’s Jaxon Evans saw him take second in the two races on the back of his DNF in heat one. Evans appeared one of very few who could challenge Lammers, though a sixth place finish in heat three for Adam Lindstrom set up an all Formula K front row for the pre-final. Consistency for Michael Fabri proved one of his key benefits in starting third in the pre-final with New Zealand’s Joshua Drysdale starting from fourth. Albury’s Jordan Boys continued his charge towards a seat at the Rotax Grand Finals, starting from fifth with Kyle Ensbey from sixth.

After preparing to start alongside his team mate, Bas Lammers would go on to take victory in the DD2 pre-final, although a mechanical drama in the formation laps for Adam Lindstrom who was set to start second ended his chances of achieving a strong result in the 16 lap event. Jordan Boys continued his strong improvements, working his way to second by the fall of the chequered flag ahead of Joshua Drysdale in third while Kyle Ensbey fought back to record his first top five result of the weekend, finishing fourth, likewise with Jason Pringle who finished fifth after not having recorded a race result inside the top ten for the weekend. Reigning DD2 Rotax Nationals winner Kel Treseder finished sixth after spending much of the race in fourth.

Starting from pole position, Bas Lammers slipped to eighth in the opening lap of the final, allowing Jordan Boys to break away to an early lead. Boys was followed by Joshua Drysdale with Jaxon Evans sitting third. A move by Evans to second saw him begin to close in on the lead of the Albury driver with the pair subsequently battling for the lead before an incident on lap ten took the two out of contention. Lammers fought his way back to third by lap six before taking the lead following the incident between Boys and Evans.

Kel Treseder worked his way up the order through the race to finish second behind the Dutchman with Michael Stewart taking third. Mason Barbera finished the event with two pieces of silverware, finishing fourth with DD2 debutant Andrew Kahl rounding out the top five podium.

Above: In his first event in Australia, two-time World Champion Bas Lammers took the win in DD2 - Coopers Photography

Above: 2014 Rotax Nationals winners – From L-R (Brad Jenner – Rotax Light, Bas Lammers – DD2, Harrison Hoey – Junior Trophy Class, Adam Hunter – DD2 Masters, Zane Morse – Junior Max, Mason Barbera – Rotax Heavy) - Coopers Photography

Above: The 2014 Manufacturers Cup winners – Tony Kart Australia - Coopers Photography

Team Australia – 2014 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals – Valencia, Spain

Official Race Results Click Here