2008 Speedway Karts StateTitle

The 2008 NSW Speedway Kart Titles sponsored by Angel’s Roofing Accessories was held on the 26th-27th July at the superb Nepean Motorsports complex and despite rain earlier in the week the two day meeting produced sensational racing and a few new NSW Title holders.

The weekend organised by the New South Wales Speedway Kart Club featured a different format with the Midgets, Rookies, Juniors (Light & Heavy) and the sensationally fast Formula 100’s on Saturday while the other senior divisions KT Modified (Light & Heavy) and the Clubman (Light & Heavy) were racing on Sunday and the new format worked exceptionally well.

Saturday dawned cold but with the Nepean track bathed in brilliant sunshine everything was set for a fantastic weekend of speedway karting action. The program was four rounds of 10 lap heats followed at 20 lap final race to determine the new 2008 NSW Title holders.

The Midgets final was simply sensational as both young Corey Foyle and Luke Sayer battled for the entire 20 laps. Corey who has been racing just over 12 months and has been a real standout this year, picked up the Midget crown in what was one of the best races of the weekend. Third placed Kyle Angel was also impressive as was James Peters who took out a great win in the opening Midget heat. Others who raced hard included Rhys Tuohy, Jackson McNamara, Andrew Beattie and Brittany Hickey.

Regan Angel son of the Title sponsors Brad and Michelle Angel took out a superb victory in the Rookies title shootout. He was fast all day and held out Nathan Camillari and a very impressive Nikki Britton to win the final. Other standouts on the day were Jake Baines and Sean Richards who both put in 100% but finished down the order in the final.

The 2007 NSWSKC Club Champion Michael Jordan was entered in both the Junior Light and Heavy divisions and while sensational fast and competitive in both, it was only the Heavy class that Michael took out the 2008 NSW crown. Michael was impressive in defeating an equally impressive Brad Giffen, with Ashleigh Britton continuing on the Britton speedway family name with third placing.

Bronson Butcher travelled all the way from Holbrook and certainly showed that he meant business right from the opening heat in the Junior Light. His Arrow kart was quick and after picking up a couple of heat victories he proved too quick effortlessly winning the final over Michael Jordan with Matthew Pescod home in third.

The only senior class racing on Saturday was Formula 100, with Wayne Baines & Sean Mayo joining the cast of the fast. David Hopping who had been the dominate racer earlier in the year continued his recent bad luck and engine problems saw him retiring early in the day. In the final the 2007 NSW Champ Jonathan Bright had to settle for second and follow Brent Coghlan home with a hard charging Nathan Bailey third. Sean Mayo suffering from a football injury was fast in his F100 debut but got caught up in a number of incidents while Wayne Baines having a guest drive in the Keats Racing machine also struck a few problems during the day. Jason Freer, Matt Goff and Donald Steven were all fast early but had to settle out of podium places in the final.

Sunday wasn’t as bright as Saturday but the rain held off all day with light drizzle falling at presentation time. It was another busy day for a number of racers with Wayne Baines, Sean Mayo, Nathan Bailey (2 classes) and David Hopping (2 classes) returning after competing on Saturday. Fields, like Saturday were big and with the Nepean track still in great shape the racing was superb.

Nathan Bailey proved too quick and defeated 2007 NSW Champ David Hopping to claim the KT Modified Light title with Nathan Randell after a great battle with Alana Baines finished third. Alana was in third for most of the race but after holding Nathan Randell out for many laps, ran wide in turn 1 allowing Nathan to forge by with Alana finishing back in fourth.

A Strong 20 kart field assembled for the Clubman Heavy division with 2007 Champion Wayne Baines looking to defend his crown picking up the first two heat races. In the final Steven Mitchell just demolished the stellar field to claim his first title with Daniel Selmes second and Wayne Baines third. Standouts earlier in the day were Gary Slarke and Les Green as was Michael Lahiff and Cameron Coghlan but the day belonged to Steven Mitchell.

John Watton the sprintcar team crew chief moved into the speedway karts last year and with just a handful of meetings proved to be the guy to beat in the KT Heavy class. John was impressive in the heats picking up a victory but in the final his #2 machine was too quick beating home an impressive Jason Freer and Lean Coleman. Craig Banks was expected to be one of the guns but after impressive drives in the heats fowled a plug before the start of the final.

David Hopping like Nathan Bailey, competed in three divisions on the weekend but it was Clubman Light which saw him claiming a State crown. David was too strong winning the final over Jonathan Bright and Tim Loveday. Brent Coughlin showed the same form that saw him bag the formula 100 title on Saturday, qualifying on the front row for the final, however a fowled plug in rollups ended his opportunity for a 2nd title on the weekend.

Some of the standouts were Natalie Genner, Sean Mayo and Nathan Bailey in what was a hotly contested division. With 25 entries the class had to be split in two for the heat racing, with the top 20 pointscores combining for the 20 lap final.

Presentations were held at the end of each day and with near record nominations, sensational track conditions and rain holding out all weekend the Angel’s Roofing Accessories NSW Speedway Kart Titles was certainly a success.