2010 AIDKA Western Australian Titles

[John]

The dust has settled at "Ditchfield Park" in Wellard W.A. after the successful conclusion of the WA Titles.

Well done to all the drivers on the exciting racing. Congratulations to those that managed a podium position at the end of the weekend.

I haven't seen the official results yet but believe that the visiting drivers would be well represented. It definitely adds to the status of the NT, SA and WA Titles with an increased number of visiting drivers entering.

I spoke to some of the visitors and the general consensus was that when they visit the other States or Territory they are always made to feel very welcome.

Like any meeting the Stewards had some work but I don't think that there was anything too demanding.

The track was in great condition all weekend which was a credit to the track preparation and maintenance team.

Congratulations to the many officials and helpers for volunteering their time. I know it only takes one or two ungrateful drivers in the heat of the moment to make you wonder why you bothered but remember the other 200 plus drivers and spectators that really appreciate your help. Thanks...

[DTKC Presidnet]

Thanks John and nice to catch up with you,

wowww what a great weekend, thank you to the exec Brendon,Bear and a massive thanks to Karen and Kylie, these ladies had it all under control ,,, even us men !
Well done to all the place getters and Im sure there are plenty of hard luck stories but hey better luck next time. A huge thanks to all our class sponsors and a huge thank you to PC from Kart X for covering the weekend. The track guys done a wonderful job and the complete show was a success. This was a title of all titles and Im sure that everyone would agree with that, from the National anthem, Speedway chaplin and cutting of the ribbon in the opening ceramony to the nice dinner and presentation we had held, all was good.
Thank you to everyone !!!!!

[BCM Bear]

Please find the 2010 WA title points & results on the DTKC website.

• Also please note positions 3 to 6 in the 125 heavy class are provisional only awaiting on AIDKA clarification

In DTKC Club News:
There is a General Club Meeting Next Tuesday October 5th @ the DTKC clubrooms from 7.00pm Sharp,
Please send any agenda items to [e-mail] come & have your say on the WA title wrap up.

Regards
BCM 0419 199 125
[e-mail]

[BCM Bear]

2010 WA Dirt Karting Titles, The Way I Saw It: BCM

Well the 2010 WA Dirt Kart Titles has been run & won, many highs & a lot of lows, I thought I would put into words the way I saw this past weekend pan out from the start through to the finish.

One thing I will say from the get go, a state title preparation is hard work, days & nights of calls, e mails, disagreements, confusion, conflicts, and most of all excitement.

But in a nut shell I would do it all again tomorrow.

The biggest thrill of all this was the outcome from people at the end of Sunday nights proceedings, a few of us on the Executive committee were hoping for a reaction like “Those guys gave it a red hot go” but some of the comments we received were humbling to say the least like awesome, Best ever, had a blast, do it again next year, love this place, that’s more than we could ever have asked for.

One of the biggest tasks was how were we going to transform the 20 year old Dirt Trackers Kart Club venue in to a show piece for one weekend, a lot of hard grueling man hours went into transforming the whole facility into something we could be very proud off, and I think we all achieved that.

The time & effort that went into the race track was amazing, we realized we had a problem on the August 29th club day when the track broke up after bad weather & rain leading up to that event, a Monday morning SOS call to Ken Ditchfield helped put our minds at ease, he met 3 of the committee at the track on the Wednesday & devised a plan, that following weekend saw a transformation like no other, Ken Ditchfield, Dave Macintyre, Kim Grover, Brendon Bryden turned what was a very average race surface into something that wowed race drivers & showed speeds like the old days.

We can’t thank Stu Inglis enough for the loan of the Grader & Bobcat throughout the whole process, those tools made the job so much easier. Also big thanks to Peter Hackett & the team from Class 1 auto electrics for all the support with machinery & track lighting as well as Tony Filear from Tru Blue Hire for the use of track lighting, water pump, ditch witch & the many other items we were able to use leading up to the big event.

The facilities also received a transformation, the newly finished medical room had the final fit out by Troy Dudak & his team from Complete Ceilings & Property Maintenance with new walls & tiled floor, Troy followed that up with Peter Hubeck & 300 liters of white paint to turn the track tyres in to a white wall barrier, Troy donated all these services to the DTKC club & I thank him for that.

The September 18th busy bee saw a record attendance of people (47+) wishing to help out & improve the facilities leading up to the state title, the work done on that day by the people in attendance was unbelievable & again thanks go out to you all. That was followed by a practice session on the new track and simply WOW was the look on most people’s faces, it went off perfect, handled the traffic, no bumps, no problems.

Greg Curtis from Curtis Powerline & Electrical jumped on board for the weekend as naming rights sponsor & the best part of that for us is Greg wanted nothing in return for that, we all know what Greg has done for WA Dirt Karting we cannot thank Greg & Gail enough for their help & support.

As the race weekend got closer, we (DTKC Exec) decided on sending out a nomination list with grid draws for racers to check on names & numbers, this proved to be a good process as some names, numbers & AIDKA license numbers were wrong this allowing us time to fix numbers in time for the program to be printed. Travis Southwell can be given credit for a job well done on the program & thanks to his mum for keeping him in line.

Well speaking of Karen Southwell & here partner in crime Kylie Thompson what a job by these two ladies of the dirt, if you saw it happen on the weekend they were more than likely responsible for it on one way or another, those two women are a credit & a major asset to the club. The dinner was no easy exercise to arrange & we thought it was all done & dusted but while Karen was away in Bali & Kylie at the Knoxville nationals the 3 guys at home discovered we had a problem, too many people and no venue to cater for the size, so it was on the phone & in the car looking for a new venue that would cater for 300+ people, thank god we did & it was a smooth transition for when the girls returned home, otherwise I think we may have been in trouble.

Well what about that opening ceremony, what a blast that was to see peoples reaction on their faces when John Day, Terry Dorrington & Rebecca De Bruin put on a showcase, to top it off how appropriate to have two of the greatest guys that have been around dirt Karting the whole time Ken Ditchfield & John Day cutting the ribbon to officially opened the meeting, I think that even surprised a lot of people & I reckon I saw people leaving the infield walking ten feet tall. (Not an easy task if you’re next to big John Hunter)

One thing that made me personally feel great was the amount of visiting teams from across the border, a record 25+ nominations from visiting teams in multiple classes BRK race team Ben Brown, Lisa Walker, Jake Tranter, Peter Cates, Lachlan Cates and the man (DC) David Caruthers, The lightning boys consisting of Mark Burford & the ever forgettable school teacher Sam Putland, Lucindale pair Amy & Jordan Rayner, Damien Lewis stepping in as a late nomination, Alice Springs father & son duo of Tony & Brad Connor. To those people, thanks for helping make this a title to remember.

With all the formalities out of the way & people itching to get on with the racing as our track commentator said “Gentlemen start your engines” the outlaws made their way out for the first heat.

All classes were represented during the title weekend & as above the Carey Mining mighty Outlaws kicked off proceedings, 8 of the big boys made it out for the weekend & a highlight as usual is that boy Australia #1 James Inglis, he is without a doubt inspiring to watch as he muscles that big beast around the race track, even with some of his title time wheel stands. The weekend was taken out by James Inglis, Craig Nelson from Busselton 2nd & Stu Inglis from Great Southern in 3rd, Mark Kirkham from Busselton in 4th & Corey Hunter from Busselton in 5th.

The BMR Engineering 125 lights were next out on the track & this was a full field of 19 competitors and if that wasn’t enough with 5 interstaters in the field, the racing in this class was close, exciting & the final proving that with a few restarts as the guys & gals were eager to get it under way. End result Ben Brown Angus 1st, Lisa Walker Angus 2nd, Larry Baker from Dirt Trackers 3rd, Bryden Chalmers Busselton 4th & Adelaide’s own Sam Putland 5th.

Brown Racing Karts KT Mediums made it out after the 125s and again a huge field of 18 with two current Australian plate holders in the field as well as 3 South Australians; this would mark the first of David Caruthers from the Angus club hat trick on the weekend with hitting the top step of the podium in 1st place, followed by Joel Ettridge from Busselton in 2nd, 3rd place getter from the Great Southern Kart Club Neil Morrell, the weekend KT Medium surprise packet in 4th was Dirt Trackers own Heartbreak Kid Hayden Thorpe and rounding out the top 5 was Luke Robertson.

Next off the grid were the FTK Junior Lights with 13 kids out in this field & things are looking bright for the future of WA Dirt Karting, racing was fast & furious & it was good to see Kaiden Manders put all his bad luck aside & finish his 5 races to get on the podium, Final results Tim Ryan DTKC 1st, Kaiden Manders DTKC 2nd, “The Queen of the Scene” Taylor Ryan DTKC 3rd, the weekend stand out from my point of view in 4th Aaron Chalmers from Busselton & rounding out the top 5 with much found confidence Mathew Dean from DTKC in 5th place.

The start of the high power classes was next with Kartmart Welshpool 100cc opens out on the track, again the SA & NT states were well represented with 4 in a field of 14 definitely giving the WA boys & gals something to think about, Final placings and it was becoming a habit with DC David Caruthers from Angus on the top step on the podium with a 1st place finish, 2nd home was Angus hotshot Lisa Walker, next was “son of a gun” Daniel Keen from Busselton in 3rd place, 4th home was Brad Connor from Alice Springs & rounding out the top 5 Joel Ettridge from Busselton, so an all visiting & Busselton top 5 result sheet.

The big boys were out next & I don’t mean motor size in the Xpress Mining KT Heavy class, 15 KTs took the green light with one lonely visitor in the field in Kart constructor Damien Lewis from the Angus club. That would be enough motivation for him taking on 14 West Australian’s & finishing with a 1st place, 2nd from DTKC was Josh Dale, 3rd “GT” Glen Treloar from DTKC, Busselton member Glenn Chinnery finished in 4th position & rounding out the top 5 was Todd Bywaters from the Jenna Kart Club.

A field of 15 Statesman drivers took the field in the Action Karts & Parts Statesman’s class with a mixed field from all over the state as well as Tony Connor from Alice Springs. This was a hotly contested class with DTKC own Larry Baker taking the 1st place prize, followed by DTKC Mr Favorite Peter Hubeck in 2nd, 3rd place was filled by Neil Morrell from the Great Southern club topping off a personal best weekend for Team Krazy. In 4th position from the DTKC club was Shane Austin & 5th from the Jenna Kart Club was Robert Miller.

A Small field of 9 karts were on hand for the KT Twin Class and that was proudly supported by a large group of combined sponsors in Belray Oils, Rockingham Milk Supply, True Blu Hire, and Kingchrome Tools & Curtis Powerline & electrical This was a hotly contested class and taking home the main prize from the Great Southern Kart Club was Adrian “Hollywood” Haywood, 2nd home from DTKC Josh Dale, Visiting driver 17yo Lachlan Cates from the Port Pirie club finished in 3rd, Rob McDougall from GSKC was 4th & in 5th place from GSKC Brad pages.

The second lot of stars of the future in the Class 1 Auto Electrics Junior Heavy class had 13 kids from around WA ready to go to war, this was a good result for a second year junior & finishing in 1st place was Carl Aylett from the DTKC, second home from DTKC Brent Hackett, 3rd place went to one of the most improved drivers in the class in Clayton Tilley from the DTKC club, 4th was Daniel Carleton from GSKC & Rounding out the bookend was the second of the Aylett boys in Lee finishing 5th position.

The only class oversubscribed on the weekend was the Lightning Karts of Adelaide KT Lights with 25 nominations and 4 SA visitors looking to take home the bacon. So that set it up for a SA quinella with that man again DC David Caruthers taking away yet another 1st place prize and closely followed home by Jake Tranter from the Lucindale club in 2nd place. 3rd home was Great Southern Kart Club member James Inglis and 4th place home from DTKC Brendon Wedge & rounding out the top 5 from the DTKC club was Ben Butcher.

Heading into race 11 were the Kart Magic Rockingham 125 heavy class, a maxed out field of 20 karts were in this class with Australia #1 Mark Buford in the field from the Adelaide club. This final was one of the most exciting of the weekend with Mark Burford & Busselton driver Joel Ettridge putting on a clinic on how to give each other racing room; it was a treat to watch. Final Placings were Joel Ettridge Busselton kart Club 1st, 2nd from the Adelaide Kart Club mark Burford, 3rd home on provisional placings Shane Austin from DTKC, Brendon Wedge from DTKC in 4th position & rounding out the top 5 from the busselton Kart Club was Robert Marvay.

Les Sawyers Transcoat Engineering J Opens were out next & a large field also took the grid in this class, Final places 1st from the Busselton Kart Club Michael Keen, DTKC member in 2nd Tyson Bryden, 3rd home from DTKC Australia #2 Ben Butcher, finishing in 4th position Cameron McKenzie from the Busselton Kart Club and in 5th Emily Hubeck from the DTKC club.

The Keens Truck Driving School 200 opens provided some of the final rounds best entertainment, the place was electric as the full field of 17 took to the grid in what was the penultimate race of the weekend, it took a few starts to get them going and the first causality was superman Luke Jones who took a very big spill going into turn 1, this was a massive crash & to have Luke walk away unhurt was a credit to the gear & his kart. Second to go out was another Luke in Luke Hughes, he was on the wrong end of an accident in pits bend & suffered some chest bruising, but again it could have been a lot worse. The boys were sent back to the pits to cool down before a full restart of sorts, Mark Burford from the Adelaide club took away a comfortable win and was followed home in 2nd place by Johnno Thompson from the DTKC club, 3rd home was Josh Dale also from the DTKC club and in 4th from the Great Southern club was Brock Zonka & rounding out the top 5 Matt Morton from Jenna Kart Club.

Lets not forget our awesome rookies; they were all on hand on Sunday as the support class & showed the big boys some serious racing. Thanks to Tom Callaghan, Melisa Roberts, Ashleigh Dean, Jye McKenzie, Lachie Horton, Mathew Carleton, Courtney Burton, Jack Farmer, Kristie Lawson & Dylan Sutherland. Thanks kids & parents for being a part of the 2010 title.

That concluded a torrid days finals & it was onto the Navy Club in Rockingham for a huge turnout for dinner & presentations. Over 300 people make the journey to Point Perron for what was the closing ceremony to a great weekend & few special awards were handed out on behalf of the stewards board The Ken Ditchfield Sportsmanship awards went to Adrian Haywood & Mark Burford from KT Mediums, Senior Encouragement award to Trent Alers KT Lights, Junior Encourage Award Slade Harkness Junior Lights, Junior Heavy most improved AJ Nash, Junior Light Most improved award went to Aaron Chalmers.
A great night was had at the presentation dinner & that was the icing on the cake for a great weekend to all the officials & support staff on the weekend from the Executive committee, tower girls, canteen staff, drivers reps, in & out grid officials, scales officials, engine measuring officials & support staff, track crew, dinner crew & anybody I have forgotten your efforts and hard work will never be forgotten, you all help make the 2010 WA Dirt Kart Titles an event to remember & I personally thanks you all for that.
Also a huge thanks to our sponsors for the weekend Greg Curtis from Curtis Powerline & Electrical, Kylie from KCM Interior Boat Detailing, Will at Full Throttle Karting, Peter from Class 1 Auto Electrics, Les at Transcoat Engineering, Mark & Michael from Lightning Karts in Adelaide, Ben, Allan & Denise Brown from BRK in Adelaide, Adam Lockhart Xpress Mining Services, Belray oils, Rockingham Milk Supply, Tony Filear from True Blu Hire, Frank at Kingchrome tools, Geoff & Malcolm from Action Karts & Parts, Grant Bevan from BMR Engineering, Shane @ Kart magic Rockingham, Mega & Harvey from Kartmart Welshpool, John & Heather Keen from Keens Truck Driving School, Stu Inglis from Carey Mining, Steve & Kristy Doyle from Shakerz Bakerz, Dean @ Perth Tree Service, Sue Ritches from Sanitarium, Craig Vosbergen from R2C Filters To each & every one of you thanks for the support & I hoped you enjoyed the weekend.

In closing this past weekend is what Dirt Karting is all about, the fun of the event, the competition, the support & morale received by others, the camaraderie by everyone, the getting together of state V state, the togetherness of all clubs. Remember we all got into Karting for the fun & hobby of the sport & this past weekend showed again why we do this, plain out for the love if it.

And Johnny I know you will never let me live the scorecard down but one thing is for sure each & every event we attend you might have more but here in the west we still are the loudest!

Where we from ………………………………………………………..WA

BCM

• Views & expressions in this article are that of my own & no one else’s.

[tom]

Great write-up. Thanks for sharing that! Well done to everyone involved with the club.

[John]

Excellent write up Brian.

Congratulations to the club, everybody involved and to the drivers for some spectacular racing.