Leopard Sr Round 4: La Conca International Circuit

Xander Clements, November 8th, 2015

 

Moving into the second half of the season, the SKWC Leopard Senior Farewell Tour returned to Europe at the La Conca International Circuit in Italy.

Qualifying/Super Pole

Initially, Ben Hamlet (Intrepid) looked to continue his undefeated pace with a pole position after setting the fastest lap in qualifying. In Super Pole, though, Intrepid driver Brenden Baker (Intrepid) claimed the top spot over PSL Karting driver Michael Avansino (Ricciardo) by a mere four hundredths of a second. Hamlet would have to settle for third place, with Dan Burgess (Intrepid) going fourth fastest and Corrie Hiatt (BirelART) rounding out the Top 5.

Heat 1

Getting off to a clean start, Intrepid Driver Program teammates Brenden Baker and Ben Hamlet worked together to pull away. Corrie Hiatt battled with Adam Rylance (CRG) early on, keeping Hiatt from being able to keep up with the two leaders. Going back and forth in the closing laps, it was a last-lap, last corner maneuver that allowed Baker to take the heat race victory. Rylance worked his way back by Hiatt in the closing laps to finish in third, relegating Hiatt back to fourth with Carson Clements (Kosmic) finishing in fifth.

Heat 2

PSL Karting driver Michael Avansino (Ricciardo) led the start of Heat 2, but dropping a rear tire on the exit of turn 6 caused him to spin out of the lead, surrendering the top spot to J3 Competition pilot Braden Eves. Avansino's bad luck continued later on in the same lap, wrecking off of bad contact with a curb in the chicane leading into the final corner. Eves never looked back from taking over point, with Dan Burgess finishing in second. Phillippe Denes (Turner) had a great drive from the back of the grid to finish in third.

Last Chance Qualifier

SKWC Rookies Brendan Burcroff (CRG) and Brayden Werner (Praga) started on the front row of the LCQ, which proved to be one of the most action-packed sessions on the night. While battling for second place allowed Burcroff to cruise to an easy victory, the fight for the final transfer spot brought contact between Matt Keyes (Turner) and Rick Gizzi (Kosmic), with Gizzi coming out on top. Unfortunately for the DCT SpeedSport driver, Gizzi received a driving standards penalty of 5 seconds, placing him back to fourth and giving the final transfer spot in the final to Werner.

Final

After multiple restarts due to turn one incidents, the field got through with only one casualty: BirelART Factory pilot Corrie Hiatt. The rest of the leaders made their way into a six-driver lead pack, with Ben Hamlet, Brenden Baker, and Braden Eves leading the charge. Michael Avansino struggled once again as a spin took him out of contention, with Adam Rylance and Dan Burgess slowly falling out of the draft of the frontrunners. Leaving just the trio of Baker, Eves, and Hamlet out front to battle for the win, it appeared that all three had an equal shot at victory.

 

Unfortunately for Baker, contact from Ben Hamlet sent him spinning at the halfway point, eliminating his chances at returning to the top step of the podium. After some defensive driving in the closing circuits, Hamlet was able to cross the line in first. However, a ten second penalty was issued for the Intrepid pilot, marring him back to a fourth place finish and surrendering the win to Eves who made his debut on the Kosmic chassis. Dan Burgess also received an eight second penalty for the lap one incident that spun out Hiatt, moving him back to sixth and Hiatt to fifth.

 

This round now is the drop round for championship leader Ben Hamlet, but with a strong opening half to the season he still sits high atop the leaderboards in driver standings. Adam Rylance remained in second after drops being factored in, but by a slim margin over Brenden Baker who now resides in third. Intrepid Driver Program remains on top in the Team Championship as well with a marginal gap back to CRG USA.