PHOTO CREDIT: PACE IMAGES
Patrizicorse travelled down the east coast to the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship at the Newcastle Kart Club. The 12 driver team across 6 classes was once again led by former Supercar driver Michael Patrizi. With start drivers across the team, Patrizicorse was looking to finish their championship on a high.
Queensland State Champion Xavier Avramides took on the KA4 Junior class for the Patrizicorse team. Avramides qualified on the front row of the grid and was right in the thick of the action in the heat races. Xavier had a brilliant 2nd in heat 1 and 3, along with a 4th in heat 2 and 7th in heat 4. Avramides, starting on the front row of the grid for the final was bumped off the circuit and put to the rear of the 30 kart field. What was seen next was one of the best KA4 Junior drives in recent memory, as Xavier charged through the field back into the top 10. Avramides crossed the line in position 8 overall with the fastest lap in a scintillating drive.
Noah Zamprogno was the youngest driver in the Patrizicorse team in the Cadet 9 class. Noah qualified in position 10 but an unfortunate DNF in heat 1 hurt his chances. Zamprogno was able to rebound in his remaining heats with a brilliant 7th in heat 2 and position 11 and 12 in the remaining 2 heats. Noah was unfortunately involved in an incident on the opening lap dropping to the rear of the young field. Zamprogno moved his way back up into the top 15 and crossed the line in a credible 13th position!
Mika Lemasurier and Armand Hamilton were the dual Patrizicorse attack on the premier KA2 Junior class. Lemasurier once again did a superb job in qualifying putting himself in 6th position with Hamilton just outside the top 10 in position 14. Mika was quick and consistent in his 4 heats, only leaving the top 3 in one of his heats and putting him right in the front group. Hamilton had an improved showing from qualifying with a 7th in heat 1 and 5th in heat 3, before an unfortunate DNF in heat 4 hurt his starting position. Lemasurier had a chaotic opening 2 laps dropping outside of the top 10 which resulted in the young charger coming home in position 11. Hamilton was just behind him in position 12 after starting in position 20 making up 8 positions across the 20 lap final!
Shaun Jaques and Bryce Lane was the double driver attack in Patrizicorse X30 assault. Jaques was able to qualify just outside the top 15 in position 17 with Lane inside the 30 in position 28. Jaques was able to move forward in every heat and made his way into the top 15 for heat 2, 3 and 4 with position 11 in the final heat the highlight. Lane had an unfortunate DNF in heat 3 but made his way forward in the other heats, landing just outside the 20 in position 22 in his final heat. Both drivers had unfortunate finals with Jaques being hit and put to the rear of the field on the opening lap. Shaun was pushing hard and making his way back into the top 20 when he had another incident which forced him to retire on lap 18. Lane had made a brilliant start and was pushing up towards the top 20 before also having to retire on lap 5.
Patrizicorse had De’argo Stewart and Zack Hilder taking the start in Cadet 12. Both drivers were able to qualify inside the 25 with Stewart in position 24 and Hilder right behind him in position 25. Both drivers had unfortunate DNF results in their heats but Hilder led the charge on the fightback, making his way into the top 15 in the 3rd heat. Stewart was also on the edge of the 20 in heat 2 but had slid down the order in the opening heat. Hilder started out of position 20 in the final was able to make his way forward onto the back of the top 15 to come home in position 16. Stewart was out of position 30 due to his tough results but never gave up and moved forward 6 positions across the race, to come home inside the top 25 in position 24 overall.
KZ2 was the final Patrizicorse class with four drivers taking to the track in dual Australian champion Troy Loeskow, Carter Mobbs and retirees Zac Zamprogno and dual former national champion Christopher Hays. Mobbs and Loeskow were able to lock out the 3rd row in qualifying with Zamprogno inside the top 10 in position 9. Hays in his 20th and final year of karting was able to fittingly set the 20th fastest time in qualifying. Zamprogno led the way through the heats having 3 top 5 finishes and starting out of position 3 for the all important final. Mobbs had 3 top 10 finishes and was near the front of the field, with Loeskow and Hays both having DNF results putting them down further then they should’ve been going into the final. Zamprogno battled for the podium spot during the race but crossed the line in a credible 5th position overall. Loeskow starting out of position 18 was able to storm through the field coming home inside the top 10 in 8th. Mobbs continued one of his best weekends of the season crossing the line in position 12, with Hays just missing the top 15 in his final kart race ever in position 17.
Team owner Michael Patrizi spoke post weekend on his the Patrizicorse teams’ final round of the championship. “Strong weekend for our team at the final round, we were in a strong position for several podiums come finals day however luck was not our side this year. We take a lot of positives from the 2022 AKC season and if anything, we will come back a lot stronger in 23. We have some great young talent in our squad and in the off season we will help them build and develop into much stronger competitors. One thing for sure is our material (Ricciardo kart) has made a great step forward, we have always been there fighting for victories from cadet to KZ2 and 2023 should only be better”.
