Xander Clements, December 1st, 2015

 

Rounding out the season at the new world-class facility in Sohar, the 2015 SKWC IAME Leopard Farewell Tour concludes its record-setting year.

Qualifying/Super Pole

By one of the largest margins in the season, Ben Hamlet (Intrepid) took pole position in both preliminary qualifying as well as super pole. Brenden Baker (Intrepid) took second in super pole after struggling in the opening session, with Corrie Hiatt (BirelART) qualifying third. Dan Burgess (Intrepid) had a solid qualifying run in fourth besting Adam Rylance (CRG) and returning SKWC Driver Matt Solarczyk (Comp Kart).

Heat 1

In one of the cleanest starts all night, Ben Hamlet led his heat grid through the first lap with little to no issues. He cruised to the heat race victory, with Hiatt remaining on the edge of his tail until a mistake sent the #42 BirelART machine around surrendering the third place starting spot for the final to Adam Rylance. Hiatt settled for third as Alex Frazer (Ricciardo) fended off Ian Bushey (Intrepid) for fourth.

Heat 2

Still getting off to a mildly clean start like Heat 1, Brenden Baker led flag to flag like his Intrepid Driver Program teammate for the heat race victory. Problems for Solarczyk and Ricciardo driver Michael Avansino (Ricciardo) would see them both DNF and be forced into the Last Chance Qualifier. Dan Burgess, Connor Tebbe (Kosmic), and Carson Clements (Kosmic) all took advantage to finish second, third, and fourth.

Last Chance Qualifier

Setting a precedent for the Final, the LCQ was quite eventful. Contact initiated Elliott Budzinski (Tony Kart) took Alexander Kirkwood (Energy) and Brendan Cronin (Praga) out of contention for the transfer spots and allowed Matt Solarczyk, Austin Hervias (CRG), and Michael Avansino to pull away. Ultimately the battle for second was decided in Race Control, as they felt that Solarczyk initiated contact with Hervias that gave him the position, pushing Hervias and Avansino on to the final.

Final

After multiple attempts to go green, the drivers finally made it through the first lap clean enough for the race stewards to be content with the start. Groups on track formed between 1st and 3rd as well as 4th through 7th, with Ben Hamlet, Corrie Hiatt, and Brenden Baker in the lead group. They traded positions multiple times within the first half of the race until Hamlet hit a curb harshly, knocking the Englishman out of the draft.

 

While it shortly appeared that Hamlet would not cross the line first for the first time this season, Hiatt made an aggressive, late-braking move on Baker that took them both off track on Lap 12/18. The contact allowed Hamlet to reclaim the top spot with a solid gap back to Hiatt in second and Baker in third. This gap was proved insurmountable as Hamlet would hold on for his fifth victory on the season and his fourth perfect weekend. Hiatt, Frazer, Burgess, and Tebbe all received penalties for contact in the final that re-adjusted the finishing order, with Hiatt finishing in second and Baker being moved up to the final spot on the podium in third. Burgess would finish 4th, with Connor Tebbe finishing a career high of 5th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Record-Breaking Champion

Having already clinched the Driver's Title coming in, Ben Hamlet had no stress entering the event and once again proved why he is a worthy champion. Hamlet crossed the line first in every Final, although a ten second penalty at La Conca kept him away from a perfect season. He ended the stellar run with 4 Pole Awards, 4 Heat Race Wins, and 5 Feature Victories. Thanks to Ben and his Championship Runner-Up Brenden Baker, Intrepid Driver Program finished with a 500+ point victory in the Team Championship. Alexander Kirkwood (Energy) claimed Rookie of the Year honors over CRG USA's Brendan Burcroff, as Kirkwood looks to move from his privateer operation to a bigger team in 2016.

The 2016 Silly Season should be interesting as the SKWC sets up for its 7th season of operation.