Yellowtail Cup 2011

 2011 Yellowtail Cup –  30^th April - 1^st May

The Griffith Kart Club hosted the 5^th Annual Casella Wines, Yellowtail Cup Kart Race, on Saturday 30^th April and Sunday 1^st May 2011. There were 150 karters from across NSW, Victoria and ACT, who descended onto the Griffith Kart Track to compete for a share of the $14,000 Prize Money.

This race format of the Yellowtail Cup challenges drivers to extract the most from themselves and their equipment over the technical 850m circuit. Firstly, drivers were put through a 5 min Qualifying session to determine their starting position for the heat races. Heats 1 and 2 were completed on Saturday afternoon as the sun set over the Griffith Kart Track. After nightfall, the lights were switched on to illuminate the track, and the Pre-Finals were run in the cool, crisp, night conditions. Drivers then returned on Sunday morning for payday, where the “final only counts” format decided the winner of the event, and who would take home the prize money.

Racing on the track was close and competitive all weekend, with passing maneuvers occurring multiple times per lap, full fields being covered by mere fractions of a second, and many races coming down to the wire. This was pure racing at its best. There was a lot of talent on display in each class, as the best drivers worked their way to the front. However, there was also some luck involved to determine who greeted the chequered flag first.

 Junior National Light

Junior National Light was definitely the feature class of the event. With many of the top junior drivers from across the country competing, this class was guaranteed to excite. Joshua Buggy drove a dominating race all weekend to take a convincing win. However, behind him it was anyone’s game. It was not uncommon to see a driver gain 2 and 3 positions in one corner, or to see 3 karts wide coming into corners. These drivers were making use of every millimeter of the racing circuit. On the final lap, any driver in the top ten still had a good possibility of making it on the podium. These young racers drove extremely well, and proved they have the talent to progress in their racing careers.

1st - Joshua Buggy

2nd - Andrew Kahl

3rd - Andreas Chronis

4^th – James Abela

5^th – Joshua Dean

Clubman Light 

Racing was tight at the front of the Clubman Light field. The final looked set to be an intense battle between Warren White from Canberra Karting, and Ian Beeraz from Combined District Kart Club. White lead the field away from turn one, with Beeraz hot on his tail. However, after a mistake on lap 5, Beeraz dropped to 6 tenths behind White. He worked merticulously over the preceding 10 laps to gradually peg the gap back down to just 2 tenths on the final lap. With 2 corners to go, Beeraz made a pass on White. The two karts were slow exiting the corner, which allowed Steven Gawne through to take a lucky win.

1st - Steven Gawne

2nd - Ian Beeraz

3rd - Warren White

Midgets 

1st - Thomas Bennett

2nd - Benito Montalbano

3rd - Kyle Bonser

Rookies 

1st - Jayden Ojeda

2nd - Isaac Vaccarella

3rd  - Shane Kubacki

Junior National Heavy

1st - Nicklaus Lichtenberger

2nd - Michael Potter

3rd - Christopher Anthony

Junior Clubman

1st - Christopher Anthony

2nd - Nicklaus Lichtenberger

Senior Naitional Light

1st - Logan Reiter

2nd - Daniel Cheney

3rd - Robert Amess

Senior National Heavy

1st - Matthew Piper

2nd Terry Selwood

3rd - Tony Anthony

Clubman Heavy

1st - Greg Turner

2nd - Hayden Dodman

3rd - Matt Cappello

Clubman Super Heavy

1st - David Endres

2nd - Adrian Bianchini

3rd - Peter Sloan

TAG Restricted Light

1st - Chris Evans

2nd - Ian Geltch

3rd - Greg Woolner

TAG Restricted Heavy

1st - Michael Osmond

2nd - Stephen Hampson

3rd - Brad Fisher

Sportsman 125 Light

1st - Gordon Wilson

2nd - Scott Willoughby

3rd - Robert Amess

Sportsman 125 Heavy

1st - Danny Wright

2nd - Michael Hazelton

3rd - Matthew Endres

Special thanks must go out to our major sponsor, Casella Wines, as without their fantastic support, this event would not be possible. I would also like to thank all the competitors who made the trek to Griffith to compete in the 2011 Yellowtail Cup. The Griffith Kart Club is now preparing to host the NSW Closed State Championships on July 8th, 9th & 10^th.