ROUND 01 MiniGP | Future stars

Riders braved wild weather from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in a dramatic MiniGP season opener

Chaz Williams has grabbed the top spot in the FuSport FIM MiniGP 160cc class with a double victory at the season opener held at the Newcastle Kart Racing Club over March 7-9, while Judd Plaisted marked a successful transition to the 190cc class to record the round win in the larger category courtesy of a win and third place.

Thanks to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, scattered showers were the order of the weekend with the wet weather sweeping in every few hours to spark chaos on the track and in the pits, but that didn’t stop some strong rivalries emerging in every class. Williams (ESG – Black Diamond Asphalt) started the weekend with pole position and a win in the opening 160cc race, with the dry conditions helping the Queenslander to a new lap record. His new mark of 54.797 seconds knocked off his main rival Austin Attard (Hammertime – Alpinestars) who finished 2.889 seconds behind. “That was the toughest weekend I’ve ever done,” Williams said afterwards. “I could hear Austin behind me and he was pushing me along, but my strengths are staying consistent and I get fairly good drive out of corners.” For Attard, there were many positives: “I was really pushing in that race, I didn’t get the most out of it, but I was still happy.”

Ethan Ayad broke through for his first podium. Cooper Horne (Highview Accounting and Financial) was fourth.

The second race was held on a drying track and although Williams led from start to finish, he had to withstand significant pressure from Attard. After almost 20 minutes on a physical track like Cameron Park, the intensity maintained was impressive. “At the end of the race I’m fairly tired but I go for a lot of runs, ride my mountain bike and ride flat track to stay fit,” Williams said. Attard has a similar approach, saying he enjoys Cross Fit, swimming and running. “It’s a weird one, the feeling after a race, you’re mentally exhausted but not really puffed out.”

Attard would make up precious bike lengths under brakes in the second race, but Williams’ drive on corner exit meant a serious challenge would be difficult, and he finished 0.697 seconds ahead. Some consolation for Attard was that he reclaimed his lap record at 54.621 sec.

“It takes a lot of confidence to pass fast riders,” Attard explained. “Cameron Park is one of those tracks where you need to be really close to make a pass. I’m still lacking a little bit of mid-corner speed and drive; my strength is on the brakes.”

Having just turned 10, the aim for Attard is to now push for race wins. Behind them, another strong rivalry was emerging, with Horne getting the better of Ayad to snare the final podium spot.

Judd ‘Rocket Ronny’ Plaisted (Headsox – Motologistix) has quickly adapted to the 190cc class, qualifying on pole several tenths clear of Jake Paige (Airoh – Five Racing Gloves).

While all eyes were on the top two, the heavens opened four laps into the opening race, leaving crews scrambling to change to a wet set-up. Plaisted emerged from the break looking cautious, while other contenders found confidence in the wet. Phoenix O’Brien, who had found an incredible 1.5 sec in the morning warm-up, looked to be on a charge, as did Nik Lazos (GowMoto). Lazos eventually went down in the tricky conditions, as did Paige, but it was Isaac Ayad who mastered the conditions to hold on for a 2.3 sec victory, his first in the class.

O’Brien also showed great poise to take second ahead of Plaisted and Paige. For Plaisted, his focus was on not risking a DNF. “All I was thinking that whole first race was points, points, points. I decided to play it smart.”

The second race was held in dry conditions, allowing both Plaisted and Paige to go hard at the front, trading blows in the opening laps. Behind them, Lazos, O’Brien and Ayad were fighting it out for the final podium spot. In the closing laps, Paige went hard for the win but was met with rock-solid defence from Plaisted, holding it to the line for a 0.152 sec victory. “I went into the second race with a lot of confidence, I was going for the win no matter what,” Plaisted said, adding, “This year, all my experience from last season is going to help. I’m going into a weekend knowing exactly what a positive mindset feels like. I’ve had a lot of advice from people like Joel Kelso and the best thing they can say is to keep it simple, not to over-complicate things.”

During his Moto4 wildcard last year at Catalunya, Spain, Plaisted recalled Kelso’s vital advice: “Joel said you just need to take the pressure off yourself sometimes, not to make things too hard for yourself. A race can either go in your favour or it won’t, and there’s no point in beating yourself up. That really stuck with me, it’s helped a lot.” O’Brien had looked set for the podium before losing the rear at the final corner, allowing Lazos some form of redemption after his strong effort in race one.

The support classes were stacked full of ASBK talent keen to keep their skills sharp, with Marcus Hamod taking two races and JJ Nahlous taking one in the Supermotard Pro class. The Mini Bikes Pro class, which has now opened up to other manufacturers, featured some excellent racing from Levi Russo, his brother Jai and Cameron Dunker, with Levi Russo taking the round with two race wins.

The series now moves to Oakleigh GoKart Track in Melbourne over April 11-13.

FIM MiniGP 190cc Round 1

FIM MiniGP 160cc Round 1