Australian Karting Forum

Top Ten Karters of 2010!

Writing the Top Ten every year is a bit of a stressful task, to be honest. I don’t use a points system, I judge it by what I see from the side of the track. However, I took a 6 month holiday this year so I’ve had to lean on the results sheets a little more than usual! Still, I attended three State Titles, the Nationals, three rounds of CIK, the Leopard Final and a bunch of other stuff as well, so I think my opinion still counts for something.

As always I should remind you that this article doesn’t use a points system or any other “official” method of deciding the order. I just see what I see and make my decisions based on that. So, without further adieu...

10. Jonathan Venter

Jonathan is the first Junior in this years Top Ten, and there are many more to come. Honestly, I don’t think we’ve seen the sort of quality in the junior ranks that we have this year in a very long time.

It’s incredible to think that drivers like Anton De Pasquale can struggle to win a single blue plate in 5 attempts across two classes, but that’s the sort of depth the juniors faced this year. Venter seemed to play second fiddle to Pierce Lehane in both the Rotax Pro Tour and the CIK Stars of Karting Series for much of this year, but he’s certainly threatening to be the next big thing. He was very consistently on the podium in both series, and scored both a blue and a green plate in Junior Max to cap off a very successful year.

9. Dean Foster

Fozzy has truly had a breakthrough year. He’s been racing since before the dinosaurs died out, and despite the pressure of taking on karting as a full-time job thanks to his Master Karting business, managed to find a perfect synergy with his Kosmic kart.

His Leopard Light National Championship was one of the most widely celebrated wins of the Easter weekend, and he backed it up with continuing results throughout the year that proved it was no fluke, including victory at the Leopard Final in front of Adam Hughes, Cian Fothergill and Ben Edwards. The best thing is, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Fozzy is a gentleman!

8. Cian Fothergill

I should preface this entry with two points. Firstly, Cian is a good mate of mine and I’ve been dreaming of the day I could include him in my Top Ten. Secondly, his first name is pronounced KEY-UN. Not SEE-ARN or KYE-ANNE. It’s like “Ian”, but with a C on the front. All commentators please take note!

Cian simply laid waste to his competition in the CIK Pro Light division this year, clean sweeping most rounds with vastly superior pace. His Tracksa race suit was regularly soaked in cheap champagne!

He is one of those guys that is consistently the pace. Stopwatches follow him everywhere he goes, whether he’s racing CIK, Leopard or Clubman. His CIK title defence for 2011 will be very exciting, with Aidan Wright, Jacob Parsons, George Geranis and James Macken all stepping up to the senior division, and gun drivers Shay Mayes, Jake Spencer, Daniel Baker, Jason Hrynuik and Adam Hughes all hoping to steal the number one! Pro Light looks set to be a cracker.

7. David Sera

David Sera in SEVENTH!? I know it seems crazy, but James Sera didn’t even score a place in the Top Ten, and he’s my all-time favourite! To be honest, neither of the Seras managed to recreate their brilliance from previous years. Dave did manage to continue his incredible streak of National Championships, but he was pretty lucky to receive a monsoon right before the Rotax Light final!

That said, I do love to see Aussies kicking arse overseas, and Dave’s effort from waaaaaaay down the grid at the Supernats was a ripper. It’s a shame he didn’t manage to sneak past Nicastro at the post to complete the fairytale run.

While Dave might have slipped down the list this year, you’d have to say his performance in KZ2 at the last few events of the year would have struck fear into the hearts of the guys who’ve been competing in gearbox all year. Dave is poised to take them all to school next year. It’ll be exciting to see.

6. Matt Wall

It’s no secret, I love Matty Wall. He’s probably the nicest guy in Australian karting. He also happens to be one of the most naturally talented drivers we have the joy to watch race, I think. He has limitless depths of determination. Even when a race weekend starts as awfully as his Clubman Heavy National Championship defence did, he races clean and fair, and charges his way forward. Even with the ABCD group system working against him, he was there with a chance to win on the last lap. I have great respect for that.

This year we saw the return of gearbox racing to Australia, thanks to the CIK Stars of Karting series (which was a roaring success!). Huge numbers of Australia’s top karters jumped straight in, and it was a race to see who could get a grasp of the driving style, and kart setups, required to win. Wall-E had a bit of an advantage having raced ICC about 5 years ago, but still huge amounts of practice was required. Mid-year it looked like he might lose the battle to CRG’s Kel Treseder, but Wall-E made the brave decision to jump into the BRM chassis and secure his place at the Las Vegas Supernats by etching his name on his 10th National (and first CIK) Championship.

5. Shayne Piper

Shayne Piper is an enigma in Australian karting. Frankly, I don’t think he’s THAT flash at driving! Not only that, but the guy is nearly 40 years old and to the best of my knowledge, was a rookie only 6 or 7 years ago. Some people can’t understand how he can come out and defeat the best of the best (again!) in the toughest class at the Nationals - Clubman Heavy.

The answer is supreme kart setup. Shayne’s kart on the last lap was unbelievable, driving mid-track baulk lines he still launched out of the corners and simply left his opponents in the dust. Shayne’s greatest abilities are not seen in the kart, they’re seen in his incredible analysis outside of the kart. It’s no surprise that his “project drivers”, guys like Joey Mawson, Shay Mayes (and in the past people like Pete Lawler and Daniel Baker) rise as quickly as they do. Shayne’s ability to read a kart and a track is simply unparalleled, in my opinion.

4. Jordan Nicolaou

For a while there I didn’t rate Jordan as highly as his older brother Leigh, who was a highly successful junior competitor himself (and won a Clubman Heavy blue plate this year, out of interest). This year I think Jordan not only stepped out of his brother’s shadow, but started casting a pretty big one of his own. He secured the Junior National Heavy National Championship in a dominant fashion having also taken out the Victorian Open in an exciting battle with Anton DePasquale.

He dominated the JNH category in the Victorian All Stars Series and capped off the year with another blue plate in Tasmania after bad luck crueled his run in South Australia where he looked very likely to take the win. If he can recreate his consistency in the Clubman class he’ll be unstoppable (it seemed every time I watched him in Junior Clubman this year, something fell off his kart!). Jordan figures so highly in this years table not just because of his results, but because of the incredible calm he displays under pressure; nothing seems to phase this man!

3. Lee Mitchener

After showing so much promise for so long, when Lee Mitchener finally got the monkey off his back with his maiden State Title win in Leopard Heavy at the Victorian Open (against a swag of top-line competitors at one of Australia’s toughest tracks I might add), he simply went gangbusters from there. Leopard Heavy has been his playground ever since, with victories recorded at the Nationals, NSW State Titles and the Leopard final!

His form in CIK Pro Gearbox is rapidly improving, he’s a “must stopwatch” Clubman Heavy racer, he showed impressive speed at the Rotax Nationals (despite very rarely racing the Rotax class), and best of all he stood on the top step of the podium at the International Bruno Grana Trophy!

2010 will be a year for Mitch to remember.

2. Pierce Lehane

In any other year, I would have described Pierce Lehane as the most exciting junior driver Australia has to offer. It’s incredible that he has to take second place on this list - and speaks volumes for the level of competition present here in Australia.

Pierce stamped his authority all over the Pro Junior category in the CIK Stars of Karting series, where he went awfully close to clean sweeping the whole series! His smooth style on the sticky Dunlop tyres was a joy to behold, and while his competitors laptimes often blew out towards the end of the weekend as they ran out of rubber, Pierce was consistently able to keep motoring all the way to the finish. He notched up the National Championship in the most convincing fashion possible.

He combined his CIK championship with consistent podium finishes in the Rotax Pro Tour, and capped off his year with a stunning 3rd place at the Rotax World Final, and ran as strongly as 4th at the WSK Nations Cup! Incredible!

1. Joey Mawson

What an incredible year Joey Mawson has had. He started with a win in Junior Clubman at the Victorian Open, and opened the floodgates from there! He scored the JC/JNL double victory at the Nationals (a feat even Chaz Mostert and James Kovacic were unable to perform), won the Junior Clubman blue plate again in Queensland and NSW, and then proved he has the talent to take himself to greatness by developing his driving style to work on the soft sidewall Mojo tyres as well (having been a bit of a “stiff tyre” specialist last year).

Joey poled Junior Max (both Light and Heavy) at the Nationals, won half of the Pro Tour finals, and scored blue plates in NSW and SA. To top it off, he was in a race-winning position at the Las-Vegas Supernats when his engine stalled!

His progress this year has been nothing short of sensational, particularly his ability to adapt his style to suit different engines and tyres. He just takes the top spot over Lehane because he seems to (just barely) have the upper hand over his rival when they go head to head.

Australia - your number one karter is JOEY MAWSON!

Apologies
There were a number of guys that nearly made it onto the list this year. Adam Hughes, James Sera, Jason Pringle, Kel Treseder and Todd Hazelwood all performed admirably this year and are stiff to miss out on a spot. All of them could probably claim to get as high as 8th on this list, but unfortunately I can’t fit eight people into three spots.

Rising Star
Usually I try to pick someone from left field, but this year my choice is someone who has already won a blue plate; Jordan Ford. He showed pace, determination, and most importantly maturity this year, and I think next year he’ll be a star. Give a determined, focussed competitor a blue plate and watch them flourish. (I should know, I saw Matt Hayes transform into one of the giants of Clubby Light after banking his first State Title). The only thing stopping me from picking Fordy to win the Nationals in Clubman Light is the long trip west. Even so, I wouldn't write him off!

Best development
CIK is truly back. Buddha and The Plumber have revived CIK in a way that many did not think possible. It is again the elite level of competition in Australian karting.

Best development (2)
Reece Sidebottom winning plenty of races after stepping up to Rookies. The number of “Midget Dads” I heard complaining that the only reason he went any good was because his Comer engine was a freak (or a cheat) is simply unbelievable. Funnily enough though guys, he’s now in Rookies, using a totally different engine and he’s STILL BEATING YOUR KIDS! Why is that? Because he’s an awesome driver, and his dad Brett knows how to set up his kart. When will people learn that a quick engine will never take a slow driver or chassis to victory?

Worst development
James Sera wins the Clubman Light National Championship in an Azzurro chassis, but still couldn’t sell any... Sometimes, I don’t understand karters!

So, that's it for another year.

We have plenty to look forward to in 2011, including a CIK series that has grown beyond all expectations, a trip west to contest the Nationals in Cockburn (where I expect the locals to figure highly in the results as they did seven years ago) and another battle between the chassis manufacturers hoping to wrest the title of top dog from Arrow. The Lindstroms have done an admirable job with the DR Kart so far, and the dominant Tony//Kart and Kosmic guys now have the new Exprit to overcome as well! Should be an exciting year.

Would your Top Ten have looked different? Feel free to add your thoughts!

Big thanks to Snappy and Flogga from KartX for the brilliant images!

Cheers,

Col.

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Comment by Thomas Maxwell on June 4, 2011 at 10:24: that exactly right!

Comment by Troy Mawson on January 23, 2011 at 15:15: Well done Col Ithink your dead right there the racing has been close between joey and pierce this year in Jmax and spectacular at that. Their will always be differing opions as to the top 2 as Jmax was the only class they went head to head hopefully this year will be even more spectacular with joey and pierce going head to head in CIK as well if all goes to plan.

Comment by paul nehme on January 23, 2011 at 7:13: keep an eye out for matty chambers this yr in the dr kart in kz2

Comment by James Mills on January 21, 2011 at 23:45: Look forward to this every year! Pretty accurate, well done! It's not easy to put numbers on them, although I would have had Lehane as number 1 but I haven't seen Mawson in action enough to comment.

My very early tip for your number 1 of 2011 is Adam Hughes, I think he's going to have a good year and will win the Pro Light title, also expecting Justin Ruggier to make a comeback and win the Pro Gearbox title with the Top-Kart and place in your Top 10 and Lehane to defend the Pro Junior title and win the Junior Max Pro Tour title and yet again feature in your Top 3! Haha looking forward to it!

Comment by Andrew Cash on January 21, 2011 at 23:38: all of them are AUS champions..

Comment by Luke Fong on January 20, 2011 at 17:13: This is the mosst i've read properly on one screen in one day. In effect the best reading I've done since the 2009 Top Ten...

Hit the nails on the head!

Comment by Geoff Connell on January 20, 2011 at 16:17: greenbury won 3 out of 4 pro tours, and demaio won 3 state titles and never got mentioned. top few are pretty accurate though.

Comment by Adam Willison on January 20, 2011 at 13:08: Pretty accurate Col, good form.

Best development (3)
Kartbook TV. Your Vic Open and Nationals DVD's are something that have never been readily available before. Your camera work is as good as any one-man show could be, your commentary is hilarious, people who weren't there get to see every race and we get to tuck it away into our DVD collection forever. Thank you!

Top Ten Karters of 2010!

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