Breakthrough at Morwell - Dylan's First Podium
Australasian Sprint Kart 'C' Grade Titles
Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th August 2007 (Gippsland Go Kart Club)
After the disaster that was the Val & Joyce Findlay Memorial where our chassis was written off, Melbourne Kart Centre came through for us yet again by sourcing and preparing a Monaco GP5 in just three days allowing us to make the trip to Morwell for the 2007 Australasian Sprint Kart 'C' Grade Titles.
Rolling the kart out on the track for the first time on Friday we found to our pleasant surprise that we had considerable pace out of the box. Running in five practice sessions we found that despite variable weather conditions, Dylan was able to remain one of the fastest on track in Clubman Light. Hope that it was an omen of better luck we set ourselves for a serious tilt at winning the title.
Starting Heat 1 in 9th place and realising the importance of a good start to the weekend Dylan confirmed his pace from Friday practice by proceeding to charge through the pack in the early laps consolidating to finish in a strong 3rd position. Worsening weather conditions forced a switch to wets on the grid for Heat 2, before the heat was red flagged due to what was believe to be failing light. With Heat 2 rescheduled for Sunday we packed up for the day aiming for a big Sunday.
Starting Heat 2 on a wet track in position 15, Dylan made a mockery of Morwell's reputation as a hard to pass circuit by slicing through the pack and passing at will to finish in 5th and reinforced his status as one of the drivers to beat. Following two strong races Dylan was placed in 2nd on the grid for Heat 3. In variable weather conditions we made a gamble to start on slicks with almost the entire field on wets; however what seemed a perfect call was dashed after the field was called in following a number of false starts. Promoted to pole for the restart Dylan's hope for a strong race was seemingly destroyed when it began raining on the roll-around laps.
On what had now become a full wet track and as one of only two karts on slicks Dylan seemed set to struggle simply to stay on the track, with little hope held for a finish even in the top 15. However from the green light it became apparent that Dylan was putting in the drive of his life and arguably the drive of the weekend by holding on to a comfortable fourth. In worsening rain Dylan defied conventional wisdom by gaping the rest of the field by a comfortable 5 second margin and closing to within 1.5 seconds of third place. In a stunning demonstration of the skill the he has developed over the past year and of his latent talent Dylan was able to consolidate to finish fourth in heavy rain and even some light hail.
Rewarded for the outstanding drive in Heat 3, Dylan began the Final in 3rd place on what was still a very wet track. Starting the race on the right tires, Dylan slotted into 3rd behind Mark Appleby and Kevin Taylor early in the race. Despite a race long fight for second Dylan was unable to get past Kevin Taylor and finished the weekend in third
See Photo Gallery for photographs of the event