Cool Drivers in the mix at Nationals
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
5th place for 12 year-old Damon Strongman
After a tough and torrid weekend of racing at the 49th National Sprint Kart Championships the five Fujitsu “Cool” Drivers contesting the coveted, annual event came away with strong results from an exciting weekend of racing.
Despite none of the youngsters leaving Western Australia’s Tiger Kart Club with the coveted green and gold plate that is awarded to each National champion, they were all well and truly in the mix throughout the entire weekend.
After a long weekend of racing and on one of the country’s longest tracks, local ace Jason Le Cocq enjoyed a stellar run to come home with a superb third place overall in the hugely competitive Junior Clubman field, and did so directly in front of fellow ‘Cool’ karters, Joey Mawson and Todd Hazelwood, who filled fourth and fifth places respectively.
It was a similar story in Junior National Heavy, with Mawson claiming the highest placed finish by claiming third place outright ahead of Hazelwood in fifth and Le Cocq in seventh.
The youngest member of the ‘Cool’ driver program, Melbourne’s Damon Strongman, endured a tough weekend. After dramas in qualifying the twelve-year-old charged through in the races and claimed a solid fifth spot – from 32 karts – in the Junior National Light class, having been placed as high as second late in the final race.
The biggest field at the event was the Clubman Light class and Northern Territory’s Royce Nott did well to clamber his way through to a mid-pack finish at weekend’s end, but enjoyed a much better run in the Leopard Light division, coming home in eighth place overall.
FUJITSU “COOL” DRIVER RESULTS
49th Australian Sprint Kart Championships, Cockburn International Raceway, WA
Junior National Light (32 karts) – Damon Strongman (VIC) 5th
Junior National Heavy (29 karts) – Joey Mawson (NSW) 3rd, Todd Hazelwood (SA) 5th, Jason Le Cocq (WA) 7th
Junior Clubman (25 karts) – Jason Le Cocq (WA) 3rd, Joey Mawson (NSW) 4th, Todd Hazelwood (SA) 5th
Clubman Light (41 karts) – Royce Nott (NT) 25th
Leopard Light (27 karts) – Royce Nott (NT) 8th
