AUS: Series Melbourne summery

KARTERS ETCH THEIR NAMES IN HISTORY

Matthew Wall (Sunbury, Vic), Cian Fothergill (Gladstone, QLD) and Pierce Lehane (Castle Hill, NSW) etched their names in Australian karting history during the final round of the 2010 CIK Stars of Karting Series in Melbourne across the weekend.

The trio now have their names alongside the likes of Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom, Michael Caruso, Tim Slade, Andrew Thompson and Ryan Briscoe after being crowned champions in the Pro Gearbox (KZ2), Pro Light (KF1) and Pro Junior (KF3) categories respectively.

Wall, who finished second behind series debutant David Sera in yesterday's final, entered this weekend 14 points adrift of championship leader Kel Treseder (Bundaberg, QLD) but a strong run on his home circuit saw him finish six points clear at the top of the standings.

"This is simply an amazing feeling," said an emotional Wall.

"I'm now 32 years old, so my time at the top of the sport is possibly running out and this championship is something that I wanted more than anything.

"The Pro Gearbox category and the CIK Stars of Karting Series this year has been great, we've got the best drivers racing against each other. So when you win a round, or a championship you certainly earn it."

Courtesy of his victory Wall claimed the John Pizarro trophy and will now line up on the grid at the SuperNats, one of the world's biggest karting events, in Las Vegas during November.

All throughout the weekend Treseder failed to make an impact on the front-runners on a track that is 2000km from his hometown of Bundaberg in Queensland before finishing seventh in the final race.

Local driver (Ivanhoe) Troy Woolston finished third in the Pro Gearbox championship while a victory in yesterday's opening race and third in the second 26-lap encounter was enough for Greensborough's Jordie Lindstrom the Victorian State Championship.

Fothergill has been the dominant driver in the Pro Light (KF1) division winning five of the eight main events contested throughout the 2010 series.

This weekend Fothergill was outpaced by local driver (Mentone, Vic) Adam Hughes who was making his debut in the series aboard a Kosmic kart, but it was the bigger picture that Fothergill had his sights on.

"I came into this year purely to test and prepare myself for an all out assault in 2011 so to come out and win the championship is a dream come true," said Fothergill.

"Adam was very fast this weekend, he had some great pace and I'm looking forward to hopefully having him as a part of the series next year when I defend my title."

Fothergill finished 50 points clear of defending champion Hayden McBride a top of the championship standings to add his name to the James Courtney trophy. As a part of his prize for winning his first CIK Stars of Karting title Fothergill will compete at the Asia Pacific Championships at Suzuka in Japan next year.

Three drivers were separated by a mere two points at the completion of the four-round series in third, fourth and fifth place on the standings with Joel and Grant Smith finishing equal third. Damien Radosevic claimed fifth place overall.

Lehane signed off his 2010 campaign the same way he started it -- with a victory.

When the CRG driver crossed the line second behind Aidan Wright (Cairns, QLD) in the opening final of the day Lehane had an unassailable lead in the chase for the title and the Jon Targett trophy.

Lehane went on to sign off his 2010 campaign in style with a strong performance to claim the victory in the final race ahead of Wright and James Macken (Gold Coast, QLD).

In the other categories third place by both Jason Hryniuk and Mitchell Gee during the final encounters in the Clubman and Junior National ranks was enough to secure them the East Coast Titles presented by Yamaha.

Hryniuk was upstaged by James Sera and Sarron Caddy in this weekend's round who claimed a one-two finish for the Azzurro chassis brand but his third placing was enough to secure the title victory.

The Sydneysider finished 20 points clear of Daniel Baker and Brendan Nelson who were equal in second place. Hryniuk will now represent Australia in the All Japan Championships later this year.

Gee battled with fellow title contenders Chris Corbett and Phillip Munnerley along with local driver Justin Francis across the weekend. In the end it was Francis who took the round win ahead of Corbett and Francis.

-source: kart au