Jenner and Gigis lead double Melbourne Kart Centre victory

Melbourne Kart Centre took to their local Panduit City of Melbourne Titles across the weekend. Multiple time national champion James Sera was leading 16 drivers, across 9 classes to try and claim the prestigious titles at the Go Kart Club of Victoria. The team was once again spearheaded by multiple time national champion Bradley Jenner and former state champions Peter Gigis, Taine Venables and Blake Purvis.

Bradley Jenner and Curt Sera took to the track in the mammoth field of TAG 125 Light. Jenner showed blistering pace in qualifying to land himself in position 1, with Sera also inside the top 10 in position 9 overall. Jenner was unstoppable in the heat races taking out all 3 victories, with Sera also showing excellent speed and making his way up to position 7 in the final heat. Jenner won the start in the final and didn’t look back taking out a faultless victory by over 8 seconds! Sera was unfortunately involved in a first corner incident on lap 1 ending his weekend.

Jenner was back out on track in X30 Light with Melbourne Kart Centre stable mate Jake Santalucia. Jenner was faultless on Saturday taking pole position and claiming position 1 in heats 1 and 2. Santalucia landed himself in position 8 in qualifying and raced in the top 10 in the Saturday races. Jenner crossed the line in position 2 in heat 3 but a post-race penalty had him starting out of position 11 in the final. Santalucia was able to make his way up to position 6 in heat 3 for his best finish of the weekend so far. Jenner stormed through the field to come home in position 2 with a remarkable podium result! Santalucia raced hard at the front and was able to come home inside the top 10 with a credible position 7.

Aleksander Stefanovich was the single Melbourne Kart Centre driver in the TAG 125 Heavy class. Stefanovich qualified just outside the top 10 in position 11 in qualifying. Aleksander was able to show excellent pace in the heats to move inside the top 10, with a position 7 in heat 1 and position 9 in heat 3 the highlights. Stefanovich raced hard in the final and was able to come away inside the top 10 once again in a consistent performance.

Tik Tok sensation Mathew Basso was the Melbourne Kart Centre flag bearer in the KA4 Junior Light field. Basso qualified just outside the top 10 in position 11 overall. Mathew moved inside the top 10 for all 3 of his heats, with position 9 in heat 1 and 2 and position 7 in the final heat. Basso raced well in a national level field and was able to come home inside the top 10 in the final with a credible position 9 overall!

Blake Purvis, James Flynn and Christian Bua Giancarro were the youngest drivers to take the track for Melbourne Kart Centre in the near full field of Cadet 12. Flynn led the charge in qualifying landing in position 18, with Purvis and Bua Giancarro in position 19 and 31 respectively. Purvis after a poor qualifying, set the heat races alight moving up to position 8 in heat 1, position 5 in heat 2 and position 2 in heat 3! Flynn was able to make his way onto the rear of the top 10 group, while Bua Giancarro was working his way towards the top 25. Purvis while battling for the race win in the final suffered heartbreak being involved in a lap kart incident and being ruled out of the race. Flynn was unfortunately involved in a first lap incident and was also out of the race with Bua Giancarro moving up to position 22 by the races end in his best result of the weekend!

KA3 Senior Light was Melbourne Kart Centre’s biggest lot of drivers for the weekend with Jake Santalucia, Riley George, Imran Aly and Joshua Lackas all taking the start. Santalucia was right in the fight for pole position, landing himself in position 3 overall. George, Aly and Lackas all qualified inside the top 20 in position 8, position 12 and position 18 respectively. Santalucia was brilliant in the heat races, taking home position 1 in heat 1 and 2 and position 2 in heat 3, putting him off pole position for the final. George was able to run inside the top 10 in all 3 of his heat races, with Aly and Lackas racing inside the top 20 and looking to move forward. Santalucia was right in the front group fight in the final and was able to come away with a brilliant podium in position 3 overall! Aly was able to make his way into the top 10 in the final with George and Lackas not far behind in position 14 and 17 respectively.

KA3 Senior Medium had current Victorian State Cup champion Taine Venables and Jack Johnson running for the Melbourne Kart Centre. Venables stopped the clock in qualifying with a brilliant pole position lap, with Johnson also inside the top 10 in position 9 overall. The racing was thick and fast at the front with Venables finishing in the top 5 in all heat races, with position 3 in heat 1 and 3 the highlight. Johnson raced in and around the top 10 in all 3 of his heats putting in smooth and consistent performances. Venables was once again right in the front battle in an extremely competitive final coming away with position 5 overall. Johnson raced hard and just missed the top 10, coming home in position 12 overall.

Hunter Salvatore and Jay Murray were the dual driver attack in the KA3 Junior class. Salvatore landed inside the top 10 in qualifying with position 9 overall. Murray just missed the top 10 in position 12 but was keen to move his way forward. Salvatore was nothing short of brilliant in the heats, moving his way into the top five in all races with position 3 in the final heat the highlight. Murray raced on the edge of the top 10 but an incident in heat 3 had him starting out of position 22 for the final. Salvatore raced in the front field in the final and came away with position 2, grabbing a brilliant podium result. Murray was able to make his way up 7 positions in the final to come home inside the top 15 in a nice fightback.

Peter Gigis was the sole Melbourne Kart Centre member in Victorian Combined Masters class. Gigis qualified inside the top 5 in qualifying but was able to move up to position 3 in heat 1 and 2 on Saturday. Peter turned up Sunday morning and was able to grab the final heat win going into the final. Gigis had a battle on his hands early in the final but was able to skip clear and take a brilliant victory in the final!

Team owner and manager James Sera spoke post weekend on the team’s results. “The feeling of watching your driver cross the line celebrating victory never gets old. Brad was faultless all weekend in TAG 125 Light and other then a setback in X30 Light could have been on for a double victory. Peter was faultless on Sunday in Masters and drove away in the final. All of our drivers did a great job and to come away with 2 wins and another 3 podiums I couldn’t be happier”. Melbourne Kart Centre will head interstate next weekend for the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship at Newcastle Kart Club.