Sponsors Challenge 13/09/2019
Good evening and welcome back to Kingston Park Raceway for our Sponsors Challenge. What a night we had out here at the raceway with perfect track and weather conditions. Our sponsors took off showing their vast track experience early on with almost half the grid of 18 down into 60 second lap times and even lower! The stage was set for a very fast and competitive night. Well let’s not waste any more time and dive right on in to heat number one.
As our drivers roll on out for heat number one it’s anyone’s game as the pace kart peels in and the green lights come alive! As everyone scrambles off the line there is a fair bit of contact into turns one and two but the field makes it through in one piece. Damien Conlan gets away out in front off of pole position but he quickly begins to lose ground as Josh Mcleod, Lindsay Hobbs and Lindsay Barrie all start carving through the field from the back and make good progress lap after lap. Damien Conlan loses the lead through turn 8 to Callum Harty with Lindsay Hobbs and Josh Mcleod not too far off. The battle for 4th heats up with Matthew Barrie, Lindsay Barrie, James Mclaren swapping back and forth around the track tussling for position. The first caution lights of the race come out at turn one with Jack Fulham and Daniel Andeson battling a little too hard and both of them looping it around. Daniel managed to make a quick recovery and pull himself back into 12th position. Jack found himself finishing down the back. Lindsay Hobbs takes the lead from Callum Harty through turn 6 and runs away for a heat one victory. Josh Mcleod scrapes his way past on the final lap through turn 2 for a second and Callum Harty comes across in third.
Heat two now and as the green lights flare John Carter takes off from the front row but not for long as James Mclaren makes a move through turn three to take the lead. Further back in the field Daniel Ray has a rough start and finds himself down the back of the grid with a lot of work ahead of him now. As the grid starts to settle down four drivers start to train out front and make a break from the grid. James Mclaren, Lindsay Barrie, Matthew Barrie and Lindsay Hobbs begin the battle for first. The first move is thrown by Lindsay Hobbs as he runs side by side with Matthew Barrie into turn one and comes out on top for third position. James Mclaren finds the tyre wall at turn seven while pushing a touch to hard in first and drops back two spots losing out to both Lindsay Hobbs and Lindsay Barrie. James fires back through quickly getting second back from Lindsay Barrie through turn three and the battle is on for the lead once again. Coming around for the last time and Lindsay Hobbs manages to hold on to take another win. James Mclaren comes across in second and Lindsay Barrie takes third in heat number two.
Into heat three we see the clash of titans with our top point scorers so far starting up the front of the grid. It’s now time to get serious and push for the win. Right into the first lap and the grid keeps it relatively clean up until turn 5 and a half where our drivers try to go four wide in the middle of the pack and John Carter finds himself buried in the tyre wall with a lot of work to do now. Back at the front we see an epic battle between Lindsay Hobbs and James Mclaren once again mirroring the previous race with Lindsay leading the way and James trying to find a way through. But they weren’t to be alone for long as Josh Mcleod on the charge gets into the mix making it a three way battle for the lead. As Josh clears James through turn 6 and makes a big dive into turn one for the lead and makes it stick. Side by side go Lindsay and Josh through turn two and three where Lindsay manages to get the lead back for now. James Mclaren is still in it though as he makes a final push as the leaders split lap traffic. Side by side with Josh Mcleod for second place through turn three and he slams the door shut pushing Josh right into the tyre wall which will receive James a post race penalty of 60 seconds for dangerous racing and forcing another driver into tyres putting him back to 10th place. Lindsay Hobbs comes across clean once again to take home his third win of the night. Josh Mcleod recovers and due to the post race penalty manages to hold onto second and Callum Harty comes across the line in third.
With only the final left to go it’s a familiar sight with Lindsay Hobbs, Josh Mcleod, James Mclaren, Callum Harty and Lindsay Barrie off the front of the grid. Green lights come alive for the final time tonight and Josh Mcleod got a great start off the line and took the lead right out of the gate from Lindsay Hobbs. James Mclaren holds third but is under heavy fire from Callum Harty as they go side by side through turns three and four, a very risky play. The main event is happening out the front however with Lindsay Hobbs and Josh Mcleod now swapping back and forth as Lindsay has found his groove once again. Under cut through 5 by Lindsay for the lead, swap back through seven and eight by Josh. Under again by Lindsay in one and defended by Josh through two. Back and forth they go with no end in sight. The battle for third is just as hot with Callum Harty putting no end of pressure on the back of James Mclaren and Lindsay Barrie is still in the mix as well. Coming around to the close now and Lindsay Hobbs makes one final move into turn seven and makes it stick taking home is fourth win of the night for a clean sweep! Not only that but doing it in style with the fastest lap time so far this year of a blinding 58.969 second lap time. Josh Mcleod comes across in second place and Callum Harty with a big dive into turn one on the final lap takes third and holds off James Mclaren to bring it home.
Top three point scorers for the night:
1st – Lindsay Hobbs – JJ Richards 240pts (4 from 4 and a clean sweep)
2nd – Josh Mcleod – JJ Richards 224pts
3rd – Callum Harty Techpath 220pts
Fastest lap time:
Lindsay Hobbs – 58.969 JJ Richards (Fastest of the Night)
Overall score standing after this round:
R&J Batteries – 2258pts
Techpath – 2234pts
Logan Community Bank – 2200pts
Coca Cola – 1990pts
Hit 105 – 1738
JJ Richards – 1606
And that wraps up Round 4 of our Sponsors Challenge. One more round for the year left to go till we have our Champion team and it is very close up the top order so it is anyone’s game. Can’t wait to see your best out here next round for the grand final!
