STORM CLOUDS
Photos by Gary Trounson - Story by Jon Crooke

Round 3 - Phillip Island
26th April 2008

Race 4 was a close thing until the rain came down. Then Dean Crooke (light) and Colin McIntyre (heavy) proceeded to 'Jim Clark' the field.

Round 3 of the Hyper Racer 2008 Australian 'Manufacturers' Championship was held in conjunction with the Victorian Superkart Club Series at Phillip Island was a mixed bag of results for the Hyper driver's.
The race meeting finished controversially, with the club not counting the 4th heat results due to the race being red flagged after 3 laps. Subsequent reading of the rules confirmed that in fact that the 4th heat should have been counted, but at the time of writing, this error has not been corrected by the club. More here.

The light division Hyper drivers were
Dean Crooke, Mark Wicks, Russ Occhipinti, and Shaun Trounson.
The heavy division Hyper drivers were;
Chris Jewell, Patrick Atherton and John Bartlett from South Australia.
The junior division Hyper driver was;
Sean Whitfield from the ACT.

With carnage aplenty, Bartlett and Trounson suffered panel damage, Crooke and Jewell got caught up in other peoples mistakes, Occhipinti had persistent clutch dramas. Mark Wicks, Patrick Atherton and Sean Whitfield were the only ones to escape relatively unscathed.
At the end of the day, Dean Crooke took the Light Division with 2 wins a second and a 5th, only to have his 4th heat win declared invalid. This then gave the lights win to Peter Gazzolla

Qualifying
Lights- Occhipinti on pole, Crooke 2nd.
Heavy - Jewell on pole. Clarke 2nd.

Race 1.
Lights
Crooke a victim of the carnage at Honda on the first lap. Missed every one. No damage. Rejoins in last place.
Wicks, Occhipinti and Colin Moore get through the carnage unscathed and fight it out at the front.
Crooke works his way into 5th, passing 22 drivers in 2 laps. Later he is heard to say that it was like playing Super Mario on the Nintendo.
Wicks threw it down the inside of Moore under brakes into MG on the last lap. “I knew if he led, there was no way I could stay with him, even in the tow, in a straight line, such was his engine pace, so the only possibility of a win was to lead onto the straight and hope he didn’t catch me before the line – and he didn’t!”
Wicks wins from Moore and Aaron Gazzola.
Heavy
McIntyre in front of Cavallin and Jewell

Race 2.
Lights
Crooke drives off into the distance for a runaway win. Peter Gazzola second. Moore third. Trounson was having his best day so far and had a great battle with Stebbing and Wicks, just nabbing Steebing for 6th on the line. Wicks 4th.
Heavy
McIntyre again in front Luneman. Atherton and Clarke crossed the line together, with Atherton a bee's dick in front for 3rd

Race 3.
Lights
Wicks on pole but finishes 5th. Crooke has a great dice with Peter Gazzolla, with Gazzolla taking a fine win by half a kart length. Moore third
Heavy
Atherton and Clarke battle for first. On the last lap, Atherton spins his kart to avoid another at MG. Clarke wins, Michael Smith second, John Bartlett 3rd.

Race 4.
Lights
Close race for the first lap. Then it rains and hails. Crooke drives away. Wicks a strong second. Stebbing third.
Heavy
Atherton hangs onto McIntyre until the rain comes down. McIntyre disappears into the mist for the win. Atherton 2nd.
Junior
Sean Whitfield finished the day with some very satisfactory testing results under his belt.

Hyper Racer 2008 Australian 'Manufacturers' Championship Standings CLICK HERE

Lights division winner, Dean Crooke, leads Mark Wicks, Peter Gazzolla and Brad Sebbing exit Southern Loop..

The incredible Mark Wicks, running heavy weight in the light division, won heat 1, ran at the pointy end of the lights all day and finished light years in front of the wining heavy drivers. Why does he choose to compete in the light division, even though he's a heavy division driver ? Because World Champions can !!!

Chris Jewell puts it on pole. It was all down hill from then on.

Patrick Atherton leads the heavies at Southern loop.

Shaun Trounson had his best day yet.

Full throttle over Lukey Heights. Dean Crooke takes the opportunity to admire the view over Bass Straight.

Wild driver and current Australian Junior Champion, Sean Whitfield, had his second look at the Island.

The VSKC president wrote;
On 04/05/2008, at 10:39 AM, Rick Setterfield wrote:

Dear Competitor

There have been a number of queries regarding whether heat 4 of our recent club round at Phillip Island counted towards the overall points for the day. It was agreed earlier in the day that the extra heat would have ordinarily counted towards the final results however the last heat was unfortunately red flagged by the clerk of course at the completion of lap 3. As less than 75% of the scheduled race distance was completed and there was no further opportunity to restart the race, the original start was declared null and void. This is detailed in the 2008 CAMS Superkart Racing Standing Regulations (item 6) read in conjunction with the 2008 CAMS Race Meeting Standing Regulations (item 6). Therefore the results of the 4th heat were not counted toward the overall results of the round.

However there was an error in the calculation of the overall points. This has been corrected and attached are the revised results. This has not affected any of the top 3 trophy positions however it has altered a few overall placings in the 125 Rotax Heavies. We apologize for the oversight and any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at the Vic Gearbox Titles 17th & 18th May or otherwise at the next club round at Phillip Island Sat. May 31st.

Yours sincerely

Rick Setterfield
President

2008 CAMS Superkart Racing Standing Regulations (item 6) read in conjunction with the 2008 CAMS Race Meeting Standing Regulations (item 6) are very clear in reference to red flagged races. I have attached the relevant extracts (highlighted in green with critical words and passages highlighted in red) for your perusal as follows:

Race Meeting Standing Regulations
6.15 Stopping the race:
(i) Should it become necessary to stop a race because the circuit is blocked by an accident, or because weather or other
conditions make it dangerous to continue, the Clerk of Course shall order the red flag to be displayed simultaneously
at all marshals’ posts. When the signal is given, all vehicles shall immediately reduce speed in the knowledge that:
• results shall be the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown;

The regulations go on to say that "IF the race can be restarted the following applies":

• race and service vehicles may be on the track;
• the circuit may be totally blocked because of an accident;
• weather conditions may have made the circuit undriveable at racing speed; and
• the pit lane will be open.
(ii) The procedure to be followed varies according to the number of laps completed by the race leader before the signal to
stop the race was given.
Case A – Fewer than two full laps
If the race can be restarted, (a) below will apply.
Case B – Two or more full laps, but less than 75% of the race distance/duration (rounded up to the next lap/minute)
If the race can be restarted, (b) below will apply.
Case C – 75% or more of the race distance/duration (rounded up to the next lap/minute)
The vehicles will be sent directly to the parc fermé and the race will be deemed to have finished and the results shall
be the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown.
(a) Case A
• The original start shall be deemed null and void.
• The length of the restarted race will be the full original race length unless the Stewards of the Meeting approve a
shorter length.
• The drivers who were eligible to take part in the race shall be eligible for the restart only in the vehicle in which
they started the aborted race.
• After the signal to stop the race has been given, all vehicles able to do so will proceed slowly and directly to:
– the pit lane; or
– (if the grid is clear) to their original grid positions; or
– (if the grid is not clear) to a position behind the
last grid position as directed by the marshals.
• All vehicles may be worked on, save that refuelling is prohibited. If work is carried out on the grid, this must be
done at the vehicle’s original grid position and must not impede the new start.
(b) Case B
• Other than the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown and the number
of laps covered by each driver the original race will be deemed null and void.
• The length of the restarted race will be two laps less than the original race distance, less the number of laps
completed by the leader before the signal to stop was given, unless the Stewards of the Meeting approve
otherwise.
• The grid for the restarted race shall be the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag
is shown. The grid positions will not be closed up should any cars be unable to restart.
• Finishing positions will be determined by the final positions at the completion of the restarted race. Prior to the
restart, each driver shall be credited with the number of laps completed in the declared results of previous part/s.
• Only vehicles which took part in the original start will be eligible and then only if they returned under their own
power by an authorised route to either the pit lane, to a position behind the last grid position as directed by the
marshals, or to the grid.
• Vehicles may be worked on in the pits or on the grid. No refuelling is permitted at this time – see below. If work
is carried out on the grid, this must be done at the vehicle’s correct grid position and must not impede the restart.
• If a vehicle returns to the pits for refuelling, such refuelling may only commence after the restart, after which the
vehicle may rejoin the race.
(iii) In both Case A and Case B
(a) Unless specified in Supplementary Regulations, the race will be restarted at the “2 MINUTE” signal, at which
time the pit lane exit will close.
(b) Any vehicle which is unable to take its position on the grid before the “2 MINUTE” signal will be directed to
the pits. It may start from the pit exit as specified in the start procedure.

Superkart Racing – Standing Regulations
6.12 Finishers: To be classified as a finisher, a kart must cross the finishing line under its own power not later than three
minutes after the relevant class winner has done so (in thee case of circuits of 3km or less) or six minutes (in the case
of circuits longer than 3km); moreover, it must have covered at least 75% of the distance covered by such winner.

6.13 Restarting the race: When the red flag signal is given at the start/ finish line and red flags are shown around the circuit,
all drivers shall immediately stop racing, reduce speed, and proceed slowly to the pit entry road. From there they will
be directed by officials in the knowledge that:
• race classification (or part race classification) will be the order in which the karts crossed the finishing line at the end of the lap prior to that during which the signal to stop the race was given;
• race and service vehicles may be on the track;
• the circuit may be totally blocked because of an accident or for some other reason;
• climatic conditions may have made the circuit undriveable.

The Race Meeting Standing Regulations 6.15 clearly states that the "results shall be the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown"
It goes on to say that IF the race can be restarted, other conditions will apply. In this instance the race was not restarted, so the first paragraph of 6.15 applies and is all that is relevant.

The Superkart Racing Standing Regulations 6.13 clearly states that the "race classification (or part race classification) will be the order in which the karts crossed the finishing line at the end of the lap prior to that during which the signal to stop the race was given;

Rick Setterfield's statement that "As less than 75% of the scheduled race distance was completed and there was no further opportunity to restart the race, the original start was declared null and void", is an incorrect reference to the Race Meeting Standing Regulations 6.15 Case B. Unfortunately Rick has misread the rule that states;
Case B – Two or more full laps, but less than 75% of the race distance/duration (rounded up to the next lap/minute)
If the race can be restarted, (b) below will apply.
(b) Case B
• Other than the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown and the number
of laps covered by each driver the original race will be deemed null and void.

I'll say it again, this rule only applies IF the race can be restarted. The race was not restarted and therefore Race Meeting Standing Regulations 6.15 Stopping the race: (i) results shall be the race order as at the start of the lap before the lap in which the red flag is shown; must be applied.

The only only other mention of 75% in the Standing Regulations is in the Superkart Standing Regulations and refers to the distance a driver must cover in relation to the winner to be classified as a finisher. It has nothing to do with the length of the race.

The position of President of the VSKC is a thankless job and the administration of the sometimes complex CAMS rules is a difficult task. It's easy to misread a rule as Rick has done in this case. I'm sure all the club members would hope that the CAMS Standing regulations are applied correctly and that the results for this meeting are corrected as soon as possible.

Click here for Patrick Atherton's race report.

Gary will be attending most Victorian Superkarts race meetings. If you require a stunning photograph of your kart in action, Gary is your man. If you contact him prior to the race meeting, he can concentrate on getting THE photo of your Superkart.

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