Below is the race report and photos that were posted to the Karting Victoria Facebook page at the 1st Round of the 2016 Victorian Kart Championship at the Go-Kart Club of Victoria.
The 1st round of the 2016 Victorian Kart Championship was held at the Go-Kart Club of Victoria, Todd Road Port Melbourne on March 11 to 13.
175 entrants across 10 classes are competing across the weekend including many of last years defending Victorian Champions as well as a few Australian Champions, with Friday seeing the drivers practice and prepare for their qualifying runs Saturday morning and heat 1 and heat 2 was held on the Saturday after noon.
Saturday
On Saturday the sun was poking through the clouds during early morning practice and qualifying, but by lunch time and at the start of heat 1 there was complete cloud cover but still quite warm conditions.
TaG 125 Masters (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
The first class of the weekend was TaG 125 Masters and seen the #4 kart of Phil Smith take pole position from #24 Stephen Simpson and #50 Lucas Burt 3rd.
Smith went on to take the win in heat 1 from the #6 of Steven Riddell and #64 Glenn Riddell 3rd.
In heat 2 the #6 of Steven Riddell drove a great race to drive up the field and got to the lead but unfortunately his rear bumper became dislodged and forced him to the pits leaving Smith to take the win from Glenn Riddell and Burt 3rd.
KA4 Junior Light (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
A huge field of 20 drivers in KA4 Junior Light with the faster driver being #12 Joshua Smith from the #18 of Jay Hanson who did a great job after coming from Cadets last year, with #23 Jai Stephenson taking 3rd fastest.
Heat 1 seen Hanson take the win with Smith on his tail the whole race, #34 Cooper Webster having a great race to claim 3rd from his starting spot of 6th in qualifying.
Heat 2 again seen Hanson and Smith having a great scrap for the lead, with the lead swapping about 4 times during the race with Webster claiming 3rd.
Cadet 9 (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
Fastest driver in qualifying in the 10 kart field was #7 Brocklan Parker from #76 Fraser Carr and #3 Lachlan Brady third fastest.
Heat 1 seen Carr clear out to take the win from a great battle between 3 karts fighting for the remaining podium positions all race, Brady eventually claiming second from Sam Whiteford who came from 5th starting position.
#46 Ayrton Filippi was unlucky to suffer a dropped chain while racing at the pointy end of the field.
In heat 2 there was a crash down the main straight away heading into turn 1 on the opening lap but Carr was able to get a break from the pack and went on to take the win from the big fight for 2nd with Brady claiming 2nd from Whiteford.
KA3 Senior Heavy (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
12 drivers were competing in KA3 Senior Heavy with the fastest driver in qualifying being the #34 of Daniel Webster from the #14 of Leigh Nicolaou and #7 Christopher Thomas.
In heat 1 the top 3 driver had a a great battle throughout the race with a lot of passing moves, Webster taking the win from Nicolaou and #64 Glenn Riddell taking 3rd with Thomas suffering an unfortunate DNF.
Heat 2 again seen a scrap fight all race between the top 2 drivers with Nicolaou this time taking the win from Riddell and #20 Remo Luciani coming through to finish 3rd.
TaG 125 Light (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
The biggest class of the weekend with a massive 36 drivers competing but the fastest driver in qualifying was the #13 of Troy Alger, from #89 Wayne Bourke and #24 Bradley Marsh-Stepney.
Alger going on to win heat 1 from #4 Leigh Nicolaou and Bourke finishing 3rd.
Heat 2 again Alger going on to take the win from Bourke and Nicolaou in 3rd.
KA4 Junior Heavy (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
The fastest driver in qualifying was #66 Benjamin D’Alia from #18 Jack Martin and #13 Alexander Grutteria.
In Heat 1 the top 2 drivers D’alia and Martin got out ahead of the field with the remaining drivers battling and the #17 of Naomi Brady claiming 3rd.
Heat 2 seen D’alia take the win with Brady up to 2nd in the early stages but lost a position to finish 3rd to the #18 of Martin claiming 2nd.
Cadet 12 (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
Qualifying on pole in the huge 23 kart field was the #94 of Kobi Williams, from the #26 of Kai Allen and #13 of Jame Wharton.
In heat 1 there was a great fight between the leading drivers but Williams held strong to go on to take the win from #55 Fletcher Harris and Wharton.
In heat 2 Williams and Allen cleared out ahead of the field with Harris claiming 3rd.
KA3 Junior (Saturday heats 1 & 2)
The fastest driver in the 18 kart field during qualifying was #97 Benjamin Bargwanna, from #12 Domenic Romeo and #43 Taine Venables.
Heat 1 seen a great battle Bargwanna taking the lead with 5 laps to go and taking the win from Romeo and Mouzouris.
Heat 2 again seen a great battle between the leading drivers with Bargwanna having a huge moment on the grass on the back straight while fighting for the podium in the final laps having to settle for 3rd while Romeo took the win from the #5 of Jordyn Sinni.
KA3 Senior Light
The fastest of the 19 drivers in qualifying was #27 Simon Fallon, from the #3 of Justin Francis and the #60 Cody Donald who qualified magnificently for one of his first senior races coming from juniors last year.
In heat 1 Fallon cleared out ahead of the field to take the win from a big battle for the remaining places with Francis taking second and a big move by #19 Spencer Ackermann making a big move on the 3rd last lap to take 3rd position.
At the start of heat 2 Fallon was extremely unlucky dropping a chain while warming up his tyres on the first warm up lap forcing him to DNF and will be one driver to keep an eye on coming through the field on Sunday. Donald going on to take the win from Francis and the #94 of James Sera finishing 3rd.
TaG 125 Heavy
Qualifying on pole #54 Aaron Hindle from #17 Max Carter and #42 Justin Carless.
20 drivers faced the starter in Heat 1 Hindle dropped a few positions at the start and fought hard with #4 Scott King having to take to the grass in one moment during the battle.
Hindle taking out the win in Heat 1 and 2 from King and Carter.
Sunday
A cooler day greeted the drivers on the Sunday at round 1 of the 2016 Victorian Kart Championship at the Go-Kart Club of Victoria, Todd Road Port Melbourne. A great day of racing was conducted in both the Pre-Final and Final with some great drives by many of the competitors and a lot of the drivers that have gone up to the next age group this year performing well and giving the established competitors some great competition in 2016.
TaG 125 Masters (Sunday)
In the final, Phil Smith and Glenn Riddell started on the front row and it was Riddell who gained the lead at the start, along with the #18 of Vern Kranz also getting a great start making up a few positions on the opening lap. It was a great 3 way battle for the lead throughout the 18 lap final between Phil Smith, Steven Riddell and Glenn Riddell with the #6 of Steven Riddell taking over the lead from Smith at the back hairpin only to have Smith reclaim the lead yet again a lap later and held on to take the win from Steven Riddell with Glenn Riddell third from the #50 kart of Lucas Burt and #24 of Stephen Simpson 5th.
1st Phil SMITH
2nd Steven RIDDELL
3rd Glenn RIDDELL
4th Lucas BURT
5th Stephen SIMPSON
6th Vern KRANZ
7th Mark POOLE
8th Matt PARKER (DNS)
9th Frank FALLA (DNS)
TaG 125 Heavy (Sunday)
The final would see the #54 of Aaron Hindle who had swept the weekend so far start from pole with the #17 of Max Cater along side. Hindle got out to a good start closely followed by Carter and the #65 of Joseph Pasquale, the #80 of Bjorn Schultheiss made a good start but was unlucky to touch wheels at the wrong angle with the #4 of Scott King coming out of the first turn getting Schultheiss a little airborne and forcing him heavily into the tire barrier for an unlucky DNF.
Hindle and Carter were able to build a gap on Pasquale, King and the #86 of Bradley Anderson, with Carter sitting right on the bumper of Hindle all race waiting patiently and took his chance on the final laps into turn 1 to briefly take the lead as Hindle was able to do a classic cut back to retake the
lead as Carter went in deep and was able to hold on for the win from Carter with Pasquale 3rd.
1st Aaron HINDLE
2nd Max CARTER
3rd Joseph PASQUALE
4th Scott KING
5th Bradley ANDERSON
6th Justin CARLESS
7th Michael BRENNAN
8th George MICHAELIDES
9th Daniel RETHUS
10th Pieter FAULKNER
11th Dylan SLITS
12th Vern KRANZ
13th Samuel MORROW
14th Matt SLAVIN
15th Anthony CICCONE
16th Andrew QUINN
17th Christopher SZYSZ (DNF)
18th Mitchell BRANSON(DNF)
19th Brad TROTT (DNF)
20th Bjorn SCHULTHEISS (DNF)
KA4 Junior Light (Sunday)
In the final the #18 kart of Jay Hanson started from pole with the #12 of Joshua Smith sharing the front row. Hanson was able to hold his lead at the start with the #34 of Cooper Webster climbing all over the back of him. Hanson showed great speed and steadily increased his lead over a pack of 3 karts including Webster, the #25 of Beau Harris and #12 Joshua Smith who were battling each other allowing Hanson to get away. In the closing stages Harris made a move up the inside of Webster at the hairpin leading onto the back straight with contact being made and Webster ending up in the gravel trap.
Hanson taking the win from Smith and the #64 of Kacey Mann claiming third who had a great battle with the #94 of Finn Cassidy 4th and #97 Rhys Kemp 5th for the entire race, Harris ending up in 6th.
Note: After the race Jay Hanson was DSQ, awarding the Round victory to Joshua Smith.
1st Joshua SMITH
2nd Kacey MANN
3rd Finn CASSIDY
4th Rhys KEMP
5th Beau HARRIS
6th Jack PENNACCHIA
7th Jaxson COX
8th Corey HERBERTSON
9th Emerson HARVEY
10th Nicholas TREBILCOCK
11th Nicholas SCHEMBRI
12th Callum POTTER
13th Kai UPITER
14th Coady GORRINGE
15th Tiana PATERSON
16th Max GREEN
17th Cooper WEBSTER (DNF)
18th Jai STEPHENSON (DNF)
19th Hamish ALLAN (DNF)
20th Jay HANSON 
Cadet 9 (Sunday)
The start of the Cadet 9 final seen many drivers changing positions heading into turn 1, the front row of #18 Sam Whiteford and #76 Fraser Carr being shuffled back in the pack in the open laps, while the karts of #46 Ayrton Filippi took the lead and #34 of Ruby Gibson also making a good start getting up to 4th. Fraser Carr had a great drive charging his way back up through the pack to 2nd position behind Filippi when a red flag was brought out in the closing stages after a crash on the back straight involving the #73 of Liam O’Donnell and another kart, forcing an early end to the final.
Filippi taking the win from the #76 of Fraser Carr 2nd and #8 Lachlan Brady 3rd.
1st Ayrton FILIPPI
2nd Fraser CARR
3rd Lachlan BRADY
4th Toby DVORAK
5th Aiva ANAGNOSTIADIS
6th Jesse LACEY
7th Ruby GIBSON
8th Sam WHITEFORD
9th Brocklan PARKER
10th Liam O’DONNELL (DNF)
KA3 Senior Heavy (Sunday)
In the final the #14 of Leigh Nicolaou started from pole along side the #34 of Daniel Webster.
The #20 of Remo Luciani getting a great start jumping from 4th to 2nd, but was soon joined by the karts of Webster, #64 of Glenn Riddell and #99 of Peter Gigis. Webster and Riddell getting by Remo and headed out to chase down Nicolaou who was 5 kart lengths ahead. At the half way point Webster took the lead and for the remainder of the race the 3 karts of Webster, Nicolaou and Riddell would be nose to tail with Remo a few kart lengths back, with Webster holding his nerve to hold on for a great win from the #64 of Riddell who had a great drive after starting 5th beating out Nicolaou 3rd.
1st Daniel WEBSTER
2nd Glenn RIDDELL
3rd Leigh NICOLAOU
4th Remo LUCIANI
5th Peter GIGIS
6th Christopher THOMAS
7th Dale CARPENTER
8th Aaron JACKSON
9th John REYNOLDS
10th Justin BONACCI
11th Matthew DE STEFANO
12th Heath JELBART
TaG 125 Light (Sunday)
The #13 kart of Troy Alger had swept the weekend so far and would see him start from pole alongside the #89 of Wayne Bourke but it was the pole sitter getting shuffled back at the start with Bourke taking the lead from the #4 kart of Nicolaou. With such a big field of karts there was constant battles throughout the field with standout drives from #1 Bradley Jenner fighting his way to finish 4th after starting 13th and the #6 of Michael Ambelas driving through to finish 8th after starting 14th. Nicolaou going on to take the win 5 kart lengths from Alger 2nd and Bourke 3rd.
1st Leigh NICOLAOU
2nd Troy ALGER
3rd Wayne BOURKE
4th Bradley JENNER
5th Morgan FEAST
6th Zac SOUTAR
7th Bradley STEWART
8th Michael AMBELAS 6
9th Bradley MARSH-STEPNEY
10th Matthew BENINCA
11th Nikolaj THOMAS
12th Thomas MCCULLOCH
13th Jarrod SPENCER-HARPER
14th Nathan GROVER
15th Mark HATTON
16th Paul GLOWACKI
17th James CORNFOOT
18th Mitchell SUTEJ
19th Daniel GRIFFIN
20th Elly MORROW
21st Jarryd VEALE
22nd Matthew IREDALE
23rd Jordan RAE
24th Aaron HINDLE
25th Jack SCANLAN
26th Jamie WESTAWAY
27th Joshua THOMAS
28th Rory SPENCER
29th Andrew SOTIROPOULOS
30th Steve RYAN
31st Alan HAYNES
32nd Ayrton CREAGH
33rd William HAWKES
34th Jaymi MACKAY (DNF)
35th Olivia DALLA-ZUANNA (DNF)
36th Barbara ANAGNOSTIADIS (DNS)
KA4 Junior Heavy (Sunday)
In the final of KA4 Junior Heavy the #18 of Jack Martin was able to get the jump of the #66 of Banjamin D’Alia and it was these 2 drivers who got out clear of the field nose to tail the entire race constantly changing positions mid race. In the final stages contact was made between the drivers at the hairpin onto the back straight with D’Alia losing some ground and Martin holding on to take the win, D’alia 2nd and #17 Naomi Brady finishing in 3rd position.
1st Jack MARTIN
2nd Benjamin D’ALIA
3rd Naomi BRADY
4th Jaylyn ROBOTHAM
5th Jackson RICE
6th Lukas JANEV
7th Jasmine CAMPBELL (DNF)
8th Alexander GRUTTERIA (DSQ)
Cadet 12 (Sunday)
The #94 of Kobi Williams would start from pole with the #26 of Kai Allen sharing the front row. At the start of the race a train of 3 karts including Williams, Allen and #55 of Fletcher Harris hooked up running nose to tail closley followed by a second train of drivers including #47 Angus Giffin, #13 James Wharton, #68 Hugh Barter and #81 Tex Starr-McKoy. At the half way point Allen seized on an opportunity to take the lead but could not shake Williams, with both drivers constantly swapping the lead in the final stages it was Williams who came out on top from Allen and Harris finishing 3rd. The #82 of Corbin Bailey had a great drive finishing 6th after starting the final in 14th.
1st Kobi WILLIAMS
2nd Kai ALLEN
3rd Fletcher HARRIS
4th Angus GIFFIN
5th Tex STARR-MCKOY
6th Corbin BAILEY
7th Hugh BARTER
8th Hugo SIMPSON
9th Joshua HOCKING
10th James WHARTON
11th Matthew DOMASCHENZ
12th Jobe STEWART
13th Nicholas SACCO
14th Will HARPER
15th Joshua D’AMBROSIO
16th Matthew HILLYER
17th Samuel GIBSON
18th Jaxon JOHNSTONE
19th Jack LAWSON
20th Chloe POTTER
21st Aythyn ROBOTHAM
22nd Damon WOODS (DNF)
23rd Beau RUSSELL (DNF)
KA3 Junior (Sunday)
The final would see the #12 of Domenic Romeo from pole with the #97 of Benjamin Bargwanna along side. The start took a number of tries to get under way but then was forced to do a complete restart. Once racing Bargwanna was badly shuffled back into the mid pack into turn 1, while the #43 of Tain Venables took the lead from Romeo, #24 Marcus Fraser, #95 Nathan Williams and #5 Jordyn Sinni all getting a good start. At the midway point it was Romeo and Venables out front with Romeo recapturing the lead, while Bargwanna was fighting hard making his way back through the pack eventually getting all the way back up to claim 3rd place after a great drive along with the #85 of Angel Mouzouris finishing in 4th after starting in 8th. Back at the front is was Venables who got the upper hand taking the win from Romeo 2nd after a great battle between the drivers, the #15 of David Huezo also putting a great display after starting in last (18th) and fighting through to finish in 10th spot.
1st Taine VENABLES
2nd Domenic ROMEO
3rd Benjamin BARGWANNA
4th Angelo MOUZOURIS
5th Marcus FRASER
6th Christian PANCIONE
7th Nathan WILLIAMS
8th Jordyn SINNI
9th Dylan HOLLIS
10th David HUEZO
11th Thomas SMITH
12th Henry JOHNSTONE
13th Jack HAVERLAND
14th Benjamin D’ALIA
15th Jay COUL
16th Elijah D’CRUZ
17th Jaylyn ROBOTHAM (DNF)
18th Alex BAKER (DNF)
KA3 Senior Light (Sunday)
In the final of KA3 Senior Light #60 Cody Donald would start from 1st sharing the front row with #3 Justin Francis, but it was Francis would got the jump to lead Donald, #41 Michael Carless, #73 Harrison Carr, #19 Spencer Ackermann and #1 James Sera. Donald put a move on Francis to take the lead at the backside hairpin with Francis dropping back in the pack after fighting for 2nd with Ackermann with Sera working his way up to 3rd position. Donald would hold on to take the victory from Ackermann but the fight for 3rd would go right to the end, with early weekend pace setter #27 Simon Fallon fighting his way up the pack during the final after starting 7th and put a move on Sera on the last lap at the top of the hill to get by Sera, with Sera not being appreciative of the move.
1st Cody DONALD
2nd Spencer ACKERMANN
3rd Simon FALLON
4th James SERA
5th Harrison CARR
6th Benjamin MOURITZ
7th Matthew MCLEAN
8th Justin FRANCIS
9th Michael CARLESS
10th Andy SIMPSON
11th Cameron MCLEAN
12th Jack BELL
13th Mark APPLEBY
14th Angelo D’ETTORRE
15th Chris BURKE
16th Clayton RICHARDS
17th James DI VENERE
18th Jake CONGDON
19th Jordan NICOLAO (DNF)
The next round of the series moves onto the Geelong Kart Club on the 29th, 30th of April and 1st of May, we hope to see everyone there for another exciting round of the 2016 Victorian Kart Championship.
See the Karting Victoria (results page) or Karting Australia website CMS section for full detailed results and points table is also now available for the series from the Karting Victoria website.
