Top Gun Driver Training took on the opening round of the Australian Kart Championship at the Ipswich Kart Club. With a team of 17 drivers competing across seven classes the team was looking to make a strong start to the 2019 season.
In Ka3 senior the team had four drivers in Oscar Priest, Jayden Jin, Keelan Edwards. Oscar Priest the former Australian Kart Championship put in a strong performance to take out a podium result in position three grabbing great points to his vital championship assault. Jayden Jin was the next best coming home in position 19 in the final. This was a great recovery drive after qualifying in position 35. Keelan Edwards had a mediocre final coming home in position 26 while Kurtis Read had a DNF result, a disappointing finish after making his way inside the top fifteen for the heat races.
Cadet 12 was a tough affair for the team with drivers Macka Hazard, Marshall Atayan and Logan Eveleigh having to compete in 73 kart over subscribed field. After some tough fast racing Macka Hazard was the only one of three drivers to make the Cadet 12 final with Marshall Atayan and Logan Hazard finishing down the order in the points in position 46 and 70. Macka Hazard had a terrific final making his way into the twenty finishing in position 19 to round out the weekend in a positive way.
Oceane Colangelo was the only driver represent in Cadet 9 and had a good showing coming home in position 14 just outside the top ten of the highly competitive field. Colangelo qualified in position 12 but after a DNF in heat 1 was always hovering around the top fifteen in what was a high class field.
In tag 125 the four driver representatives Cody Brewcynski, Reece Cohen, Taylor Hazard and Toby Webb was led by the ultra impressive Brewcynski coming home in position two. Brewcynski after nearly pinching the Australian Title last year was able to come home in position 2 behind reigning AUS champion Brendan Nelson. Reece Cohen also had a strong weekend to start his season finishing a creditable eighth place in the final with stable mates Toby Webb and Taylor Hazard finishing inside the top fifteen in position 12 and 13.
The ultra competitive x30 class only had one representative in Jayden Jin. After qualifying in a disappointing position 39. Jin had heat result finishes of position 25, 19, 15 and 19 in the oversubscribed class. Jin had an unfortunate end to his weekend after starting in position 29 in the final the young charger had a DNF result ending his weekend.
In Ka2 Junior there was two representatives in Bailey Hazard and Annabelle Rolfo. Rolfo had a good qualifying session coming inside the top fifteen in position 13 while Hazard was a little down the order in position 29. Hazard was able to make his way into the top twenty by the final coming home in a respectful position 19 while luck didn’t go Rolfo way in the final concluding with a DNF finish.
The teams final two drivers were in kz2 with Zac Zamprogno and Aron Shields. Zamprogno qualified inside the top ten in position 10 while Shields made his way into the top twenty in position 19. After both drivers moving forward throughout the heat races Shield was able to come home a creditable position 11 in the final while Zamprogno charged come to end with a DNF in the final.
Team manager Troy Hunt had mixed emotions after the weekend. “It was an okay fun weekend” Hunt noted. “Oscar was terrific in getting us on the podium with just a few things not going our way in the finals but I am super proud of all my drivers”. The Top Gun driving training team will be at the track at the next round of the Rotax Pro Tour.
