Tonight welcomed back to Kingston Park Raceway the teams of Hit 105 who were the winners for round 1of the 2017 series followed by the team from JJ Richards who were a close second in the round 1 of the series and with the returning teams of Loan Community Bank, R&J Batteries, Honda, Coca-Cola who are all revved up to get their team the points they need to move up the rankings in round 2 of the series.
Before the race night commenced we had our teams spend a bit of time networking with the other drivers as they enjoyed a few pre-race nibbles and then with all of the pleasantries’ out of the way it was time to go racing.
Heat 1
With all the drivers briefed up and ready to race they headed out on their formation lap behind the pace kart in a two by two formation and as the pace kart peeled back into pit lane it was game on a look of steely determination took over the drivers faces as they passed the start line.
On the first lap we had L.Silvio (Logan Bank), J.Vincent (Hit 105), H.Nigel (Logan Bank) involved in an a small altercation at turn 3 dropping them to the back of the grid, while up in front we had J.Carter (Hit 105) opened up a 0.4.23 gap lead over G.Hartshorne (JJ Richards) who was hot on his exhaust while the other drivers were in single file in pursuit of our leaders
Lap 2 saw A.Matterson (Coca-Cola) who was in last place at race start making his move from the rear of the pack and moving up to the forward field with a lot of great manoeuvring and tactics on his part while up in front we had G.Hartshorne and K.Beard closing in on John Carter with both achieving lap times in the 63.4 area with John Carter driving tight lines and attempting to maintain his lead
Onto lap 5 and G.Hartshorne is now in striking distance of J.Carter and as the exit Cnr 3 he made his move and overtook J.Carter who now had K.Beard and A.Matterson right on his his heels, Lap 5 also saw the fastest lap for this race of a 61.781 by Coca-Cola’s A.Matterson
Coming up the closing stages of the race G.Hartshorne was now holding a solid defence with A.Matterson who moved up to second position, pushing J.Carter who was now battling over third position with K.Beard who was all over J.Carter.
On the final lap and on the way to the flag the pack was tight and as they exited turn 8 Hartshorne took the wide line and crossed the finish line with A.Matterson 0.700sec behind closely followed by J.Carter, K.Beard and P.Bloomfield.
Heat 2
The drivers returned after having a 15-minute break before going out in heat 2 for the reverse grid formation and with no messing about it was out and track and in formation for race 2. The race began with Nathan H. (R&J) pulling some great racing tactics passing A.Matterson, J.Vincent, P.Bloomfield who were the lead 3 at race start.
We have Nathan H. claiming in front after posting a PB of 61.813 and still holding a solid lead defence not allowing A. Matterson or P. Bloomfield to pass him and in the rear of the pack we had J. Carter and G. Hartshorne making their way up to mid-field but could not find and opportunity to pass J. Vincent and M. Baur who were defending their positions against them at all cost.
A very clean race and all drivers came to the final line with the pedal flat to the boards. We had Nathan H., still holding the first position and A.Matterson 1.458 sec behind closely followed by P. Bloomfield (R&J) and Jason C.(Honda) as they crossed the line for the checker.
Heat 3
After a short break and our drivers reviewed their results via our Kingston Park Raceway App and keeping themselves hydrated we moved on to start the Semi-Final/Heat 3 race of Round 2 of the Sponsors Challenge Series.
With all the hard work from the previous two heats the drivers were placed into their points order in the briefing area with at the end of Heat 2 saw taking out the top 3 points were A.Matterson with 116pts, P.Bloomfield with 108pts and both Nathan H. and G. Hartshorne tied on 106pts
With the night at its half-way point for Round 2 we had our drivers eager to move up in the rankings and as the lights went green they were all turbo charged in as the race begun and the battle begins, we saw a lot of great lines thru the corners and a lot of race contact as the drivers spread their elbows a little in an attempt defend their ground in this heat.
In the early laps we had A.Matterson holding a solid lead over Nathan H. And P. Bloomfield who had G. Hartshorne and J. Carter hot in pursuit with J. Vincent closing in on Hartshorne
By mid race we saw our drivers getting into the very quick 62.5 second laps with Nathan H. Getting a 62.029 on lap 5 which ended up the fastest in this heat
Just 2 laps to go and we had A. Matterson still holding a solid defence followed by Nathan H. and P. Bloomfield. Lap 7 how ever saw A. Matterson passed by Nathan H. with some great manoevering and line taking coming out of turn 8 and A. Matterson who held a solid defence for 6->7 laps was now bumped to second and as they excited turn 8 once more towards the checker flag P. Bloomfield made a final move while A. Matterson attempted to not let him pass but where there is a will there is a way and Bloomfield claimed second while A. Matterson crossed in third closely followed by Hartshorne and Carter.
Final
It has now come down to the moment of truth to see who will be the Round 2 winners in the 2017 Sponsors Challenge and as they headed out on their formation lap behind the pace kart in a two by two formation for the final race of the night there was a tenseness in the air.
As the lights went green we had Hartshorne take the lead followed by Nathan H. and A. Matterson closely followed by P. Bloomfield and J. Vincent and B.Vincent. as we started lap 2 tragedy hit while defending his position A. Matterson was dropped back to the mid-field
The pace was hotting up know and Nathan H., G. Hartshorne, P. Bloomfield now form into the top 3 defenders who were closely followed by B. Vincent and Nick H. and with A. Matterson retiring from this final with mechanical difficulties after a hard fought night.
By mid race we had B. Vincent make his move from 5th position and pass Bloomfield and Hartshorne making his way to second position we also saw H.Nigel and Y.Justin go off track up on the back straight leading into turn 6 after what could be called a miscalculation they found themselves at the rear of the field.
But the race went on and in the closing laps B. Vincent lays down a blistering 60.921 lap time while defending 2nd place from Hartshorne and Bloomfield with Nathan H. and J Carter all in hot pursuit.
The flag was in sight and as the leaders rocket out of turn 8 Nathan H. flying lead the pack down the straight with B. Vincent 0.100 sec behind and as Hartshorne and Bloomfield battled neck and neck to the wire Hartshorne manages to claim 3rd place with Bloomfield in 4th.
What a close and very competitive race and the spectators applauded the drivers as they returned to the pits and the conclusion of another fantastic Sponsors Challenge race night
In what has been one hell of a night out karting for all of the drivers in this round of the 2017 Sponsors Challenge Series it was now time to see who will be the champions of the night and have the bragging rights for round 3 of the 2017 Series.
Winners of the Night
1st Place – Nathan Heuschele (R&J Batteries) 226pts
2nd Place – Paul Bloomfield (R&J Batteries) 220pts
3rd Place – Graham Hartshorne (JJ Richards) 216pts
Fastest Lap of the Night – Ben Vincent with a 60.921
Team of the Night
1st Place – R&J Batteries with 624 Points
2nd Place – Hit 105 with 592 Points
3rd Place – JJ Richards with 544 Points
To enquire about getting your company on the grid in 2017 please call our event sales team on 3826 2255
