Hossack Dominates Round 1 of 2012 Australian Superkart Championship

Hossack had to work his way forward in each of the three races, but the team got ample reward for their work in landing and developing a 2012 model Anderson Maverick with their in-house developed Safe Evolutions engine. In the final race Hossack was pushed hard by Russell Jamieson in the Coach Design Anderson-DEA until the young Queenslander pulled over at Honda Corner on lap 4, leaving Hossack untouched as he went on to win Race 4 and the round win.

"We did what we had to do with the championship in mind," said Hossack, who had a challenging weekend racing the Audi Sports Sedan as well as the Anderson. "It's a credit to Scott Ellis and the Safe Evolutions team. We had a few hiccups, but we made steps with the engine. It was good to get three wins."

Hossack holds a healthy 18 point lead heading to Queensland Raceway for the series finale.

Jason Smith had a career best weekend in the Fuji Xerox/Zahl 1 Karting Anderson-DEA finishing in the top three in three of the four races. Smith lost second place in the last race to Warren McIlveen by just 0.009 of a second. Smith has only had the 2012 Anderson-DEA for four weeks and not been able to test.

"All went well for our first time in the new Anderson," said Smith. "We've got a few things to sort out with both the chassis and the engine. The main thing was to finish every race and have good points for Queensland Raceway. Finishing second was really good. It was good the rain held off today although the track was still cold and greasy. Great fight with Warren in the last race."

Gary Pegoraro had a consistent run to third place for the round in the Dunlop Kartsport Anderson-BRC, finishing top four in three races.

"It ended up to be a good weekend," said Pegoraro. "I made a few mistakes and we're not happy with the balance of kart, but we had good engine performance. That last race was loose handling but we just had to play with what we had. Thanks to Dunlop Kartsport and RMR Superkarts. I can't thank Riley Will and BRC Engines enough for their help."

Defending champion Warren McIlveen (Stockman Superkarts/Mac's Marine Stockman-Honda) finished fourth for the round, equal on points with Brett Purdie (Martelco Equipment Hire PVP-Yamaha). McIlveen won Race 1 on Saturday, but was slightly off the pace on Sunday and dropped out of Race 3, losing points. Purdie ran just behind the leaders, between sixth and fourth all weekend. He fought with Dean McGinty (Lofty Coaches PVP-Yamaha) and Martin Latta (MJR Bricklaying Anderson-FPE) early in the meeting but by the end of the weekend was well ahead of the rest.

Russell Jamieson, for all of his pace in the Coach Design Anderson-DEA, collected just 36 points and is 44 behind Hossack. A series of electrical problems plagued the young Queenslander, and a DNF in the bonus points final race has given him a huge mountain to climb at his home track in August. Similarly Kristian Stebbing was fast in the Suburban Accounting Stockman MR2-Yamaha, but tyre failures in races 1 and 3, at the two of the faster corners in Australia at Luke Heights and the corner onto Gardner Straight gave Stebbing too much of a penalty to overcome for a top order result. The kart was fast though, match at different times the pace of Hossack, Smith and running faster than Pegoraro. McIlveen was fast as well, the only driver to take a win away from Hossack, but a Race 3 DNF and a slow run in Race 2 impacted his points haul.

The 125cc class had breathtaking racing all weekend. The battles between the top four, Jeff Reed (The Chrome Factory Stockman-Honda), Tim Philp (Floth Sustainable Building Consultants Avoig-Honda), Matt Bass (Top Torque Engines Stockman-Honda) and Garry Haywood (Water Tunnel Car Wash Bakker-Honda) was exemplary. The battle in the fourth race expanded to a seven kart free-for-all with Lindsay Jamieson and Drene Jamieson in their Linra Properties Stockman-Hondas and Anthony Lappas (Foodland IGA Supermarkets Stockman-BRC) joining the fight.

Reed and Philp dropped away as the race went on and Drene Jamieson spun off at turn 1. In a final three-abreast lunge, Bass took the win ahead of Haywood and Lappas with Jamieson just behind. That win gave the young Victorian the round win. It was his first race and round win at the Australian Championships. Reed and Philp had enough points from the earlier races to secure second and third for the round with Haywood and Jamieson snapping at their heels in the points chase.

"It could have been anybodies win," said Bass. "It was so close between the top five. It was three wide everywhere, it was like a non-gearbox race. We each had advantages at different parts of the track and we just got there in the end. I want to thank everyone who has helped us this weekend, especially Stockman Superkarts and Top Torque Engines."

In the depleted 250 National division, Brendan Luneman was the class of the field in the Autobarn Dandenong/Soma Building Services Anderson-Yamaha. Dalton Rowell (DLR Racing Stockman-Honda) tried as hard as he could, closing the points gap down after the third race when Luneman developed clutch problems, but in the end did not have enough speed.

"Very happy," said a smiling Luneman. "Disappointed in Race 3 with the clutch problem, but that's motor racing. We needed the points lead at our home track. We need more speed before heading the Queensland Raceway. Hopefully we'll get better numbers with a bunch of Queensland competitors. The kart was pretty much faultless. Thanks to Gary Pegoraro who repaired the clutch after Race 3."

Joe Tyrrell impressed on his debut at national level in the Angel Blue Marketing Anderson-Honda and sits eleven points behind Luneman heading to his home track at Queensland Raceway. Both Bernie Walsh (Anderson-Yamaha) and Mick Ward (Austcoat Anderson-GasGas) had troubled weekends and fell some way behind the top three, although when running Walsh pushed Tyrrell hard.

Points 250 International: Darren Hossack 80, Jason Smith 62, Gary Pegoraro 59, Warren McIlveen 49, Brett Purdie 49, Russell Jamieson 36, Martin Latta 33, Kristian Stebbing 29, Steve Murray 24, Charles Maddern 22, Jason Laker 22, Dean McGinty 13, Josh Barnett 12, Sam Zavaglia 10, Stuart Kostera 6, Carlo Chermaz 6, Darren Kitchen 5, Todd Johnson 4

250 National: Brendan Luneman 78, Dalton Rowell 76, Joe Tyrrell 67, Mick Ward 29, Bernie Walsh 28

125cc: Matt Bass 68, Jeff Reed 65, Tim Philp 54, Garry Haywood 52, Lindsay Jamieson 51, Doug Amiss 42, Paul Campbell 41, Phil Silcock 36, Robert Xerri 29, Tony Lappas 27, Tracey Crawford 22, Brian Wild 20, Drene Jamieson 10

The 2012 Australian Superkart Championship take place as part of the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils. For more information vist Superkarts Australia at their website: http://www.superkartsaustralia.org/ and the Shannons Nationals page: http://www.thenationals.com.au/

You can keep up to date with the Australian Championships at Superkarts Australia's facebook page as well as @SuperkartsAus on twitter.

The final round of the 2012 Australian Superkart Championship will be held at Queensland Raceway on August 10-12.