MOUNT Gambier Karting Club has held its final race meeting of 2017 recently with the Glenburnie-based fraternity hosting the inaugural 2017 South Australian State Cup.
The prestigious event showcased some of the best interstate and South Australian drivers within the sport and the on track action was fast and furious.
Sunshine, blue skies and plenty of rubber provided some of the best kart racing the region has seen for some time.
A large number of local drivers took the opportunity to compete on their home track in hope to secure the State Cup Title.
The Cadet9 class showcased the youngest of the competitors with drivers starting from the age of seven years old.
From the 10 entrants, three of those were Mount Gambier locals who took on the challenge.
Charlie Evans was the standout early in the weekend with a top five finish in the opening heat, followed by a couple of sixth place finishes before rounding out the event with a good recovery drive after kart contact to eventually finish eighth.
Following him across the line was Xavier Cain and Hayley Fewins.
Cain and Fewins both provided entertaining racing amongst themselves over both days to round out the field.
The top step of the podium was awarded to Toby Dvorak with Adelaide duo Leo Iannella and Ben Holliday rounding out the placings.
Cadet 12 showcased some tough racing with any one of four drivers capable of dominating the competition.
However, it was Geelong driving ace Matthew Domaschenz who ended up victorious, taking all four heat wins in a fine display of talent.
Adelaide duo Jimmy Piszcyk and Christian Cowie all took turns at the front of the field throughout the racing, but could not hold off a dominant Domaschenz to finish second and third respectively.
Parker Scott, Brock Fewins and regular Portland resident Brocklan Parker also drove well despite not finishing on the podium.
Scott did well to qualify in fifth and had two fourth placings, before finishing the weekend in fifth.
Fewins battled hard back in the pack to defend his position before crossing the line in ninth, while Parker showed good speed early, but two separate incidents resulting in contact during the final saw him come home in eighth.
Local drivers were fairing amongst the quickest in the KA4 Light class over the two day event.
Kai Allen – after qualifying third – went on to win three from four heats, to claim another “black plate” accolade amongst a strong field of talent.
He finished ahead of Victorian Kobi Williams who took the challenge to Allen, but had to settle for runner-up.
Two second placings and two thirds was enough to for Mount Gambier resident Jobe Stewart to earn the final step on the podium.
He finished ahead of two other Mount Gambier Kart Club drivers in Bronson Boult and Troy Moreland.
The final results saw four local drivers finish inside the top five placings.
KA4 Junior Heavy was won by Adelaide’s’ Aaron Oliver, with Victorian Nathan Williams placing second.
The final podium spot was left to be fought out between Mount Gambier youngsters Keean Ferguson and Lauren Ferguson.
Despite sharing the same surname, all bets and niceties were off once the racing started.
Lauren took and early upper-hand placing ahead of Keean in the first three heat races, but tyre management proved to be the difference in the final allowing Keean to snare third place at the conclusion of the event.
KA3 Junior was full of spirited driving with Portland member Corey Herbertson continuing his stellar 2017 racing campaign in fine form.
Fresh off an impressive performance at the Gold Coast’s “Race Of The Stars” last month, Herbertson was clearly in control as he went on to sweep all the heats to win and finish the weekend with a perfect record.
Former national champion and local driver Allen, competing in his second class during the event qualified fifth on Saturday morning before finding more speed as the weekend continued to cross the line in second.
He was followed by Nathan Williams who recovered well from a slow start to be awarded third place.
TAG125 Restricted Light was entertaining as ever with Daniel Boorman leading the charge to the chequered flag.
Fastest in qualifying, he did not look back, going on to win all heat wins and be the first cross the finish line.
Matthew Petherick rounded out the meeting with three second placings including during the 18-lap final to finish ahead of Mark Lunn.
The top three placings in TAG125 Restricted Medium all went to visiting drivers with Adelaide’s John Ellis and Mario Storti finishing first and third respectively.
They were separated on track by Hamilton’s Andrew Stubbs who drove consistently to finish the weekend with a strong string of results.
Portland Stalwart Kevin Hitchcock, despite carrying an injury to his hand finished fourth ahead of Gary Owen.
Tag125 Heavy again saw another Victorian take home the top award in the class.
Portland member, Scott King showed his dominance late on the Sunday afternoon going on to win the last three races.
He was pushed hard by Adelaide’s Blake Mooney and Andrew Cash, but had an answer for everything they threw at him, to go on and win another “black plate” to add to his trophy cabinet.
Mooney finished his final by finishing ahead of Cash in the highly competitive class.
Mount Gambier driver Kelvin Moreland missed out by a small margin on a top five placing to end the weekend in sixth.
The final class on offer for the weekend was also the largest and arguably the most competitive.
TAG 125 Light is renound for producing some outstanding racing and this weekend was to be no different.
From the 18 drivers to grid up, five were locals, all hoping the home-track would give them the advantage.
Unfortunately for Callan Belmonte his weekend was over before it even really began, with a severe mechanical failure forcing him out of the event during qualifying.
There were no such dramas for Morgan Feast.
Feast qualified on the second row of the grid and despite dropping a few places throughout the weekend, still managed to stay in touch with the leaders when it mattered most.
A third placing was his highlight during the heat races before recovering in spectacular fashion to end his 2017 campaign in the best possible way.
On lap 10 of the final Feast made his move, took the lead and control of the race and pulled clear of his challengers in Jordan Nicolau and Paul Pittam.
Nicolau led from the start of the final before relinquishing the lead to hold off a fast finishing Pittam.
Kirby Hillyer also had a memorable weekend after qualifying ninth he drove well to find himself in sixth at the conclusion of the event.
Jack Ryan also secured a top 10 result by finishing in ninth, while Shane Moreland only a few spots behind in 12th Moreland drove well during the final after kart contact on lap 12 caused him to drop seven positions back to 14th.
The final event for Mount Gambier Karting Club will be held this weekend with the 2017 Club Championship presentation dinner scheduled.
After 10 long months of completion the drivers standings for each class looks like it could be awarded to a number of different recipients along with aggregate accolades.
