The fifth round of the AMP Karting Series took place over the weekend as drivers of all ages battled for their spot on the podium. The day got off to a damp and foggy start as families prepped their karts but by the time practice rolled around, the fog had lifted and the drivers took to the track.
Lo206 Cadet and Junior Pre-Final Race: Oliver Piatek started the race from pole and was defending against Anthony Hyman and Adam Wein in the opening laps. The front three racers pulled away from the rest of the field as Hyman and Wein continued to struggle to pass Piatek. Hyman was able to pull alongside Piatek at turn two but couldn’t make the move stick.
On the final lap, Piatek lost the lead at turn four and was unable to fight back along the back straight as Hyman and Wein went through. Hyman crossed the line one-tenth ahead of Wein. Alyssa Vascocu finished fourth ahead of Spencer Mast in fifth.
Lo206 Cadet and Junior Final Race: Piatek jumped from third to first on the opening lap, but five minutes later Wein took the lead. By this time a front pack had developed with Piatek, Wein, Vascocu, Mast, and Saddington constantly trading positions throughout the race.
Saddington and Vascocu went side by side through turn four as they tried to pass Piatek for the lead and made contact. Both drivers ran wide and fell away from the leading pack. Piatek led Wein and Mast on the final lap but at turn nine both drivers passed Piatek, who was run off the road. Wein won and Mast crossed the line second but following a post-race investigation, Piatek was promoted to second for the contact on the final lap.
TaG Junior, Senior, and Master: Anderson Chaboudt started on pole but was passed two minutes into the race under braking into turn nine by Leonardo Oliveira. Oliveira continued to extend his lead for the rest of the race and won handily with Chaboudt and Craig Foster finishing a comfortable second and third.
KA100 Final: Raiden Nicol opted to start the final race from the back of the grid despite winning the pre-final race comfortably earlier in the day. Drew James started on pole but was passed by Piatek on the opening while Nicol gained three positions in the opening two minutes of the race. He continued his charge through the field and dove down the inside for the lead at turn two with nine minutes remaining in the race. The field spread out over the closing minutes as Nicol finished nearly ten seconds ahead of James in second. Piatek finished third ahead of Abbie Adams and Hyman.
Lo206 Senior and Master Final: Bhanu Yedla started on pole after winning the pre-final. Nicholas Lefferdo and Antonio Abrom passed Yedla and the pair began to battle for the lead. They pulled a small gap over Yedla and swapped back and forth for the lead. Lefferdo emerged on top as he crossed the line half a second ahead of Abrom. Yedla finished third followed by Carson Craig and Shawn Rashid.