LKC – Phil Goss Memorial

The Launceston Kart Club hosted Saturday Night Lights/Phil Goss Memorial on Saturday the 14th of May which would be the first race meeting held under lights at the Archerville circuit since 2014 as well as being the 14th Annual Phil Goss Memorial. Eighty-five competitors across Tasmania, including two interstate drivers attended the race meeting. Drivers were provided with some extremely tough conditions with rain being consistent throughout the day.

Cadet 9 was won by Launceston local Ethan Youd who took the lead from eventual second place finisher Hobarts Logan Potter on lap 4 of the 12-lap final. Third and fourth places went to Launceston pair Harry WARMSLEY and Ollie Garwood.

Cadet 12 was dominated by Smithton’s Lucas Furphy who was like a duck to water winning the wet final convincingly from Launceston’s Ayrton Myers in second and Jack Kalbfell in third.

KA4 Junior Light was hands down the race of the night with the top three finishers only being separated by just over a second. Winning the final was Launceston’s George MacMillan followed by Harrison Duske in second, with third being taken by Emilie Williams who had won the previous three races but was involved in a first corner incident.

KA4 Junior Heavy was convincingly won by Denzil Sargent who has continued his hot form after finishing third place in the Victorian State Championship only a few weeks ago. Second place went to North Wests Cameron Jeffrey with third going to Marcel Byrne.

KA4 Masters was easily won by Johnathan Males after a the previously unbeaten Shane Stonehouse made a small mistake on lap 5 dropping him from first to well down the field. Anthony McCullagh finished in a comfortable second with David Parry just holding off Hobarts James Bresnehan for third.

TaG 125 Restricted Light was won by current state-wide series leader Nigel Hildyard closely followed by Joel Clements who was undefeated going into the final. Third place went to Ben Dobson.

TaG 125 Restricted Medium was for the second race meeting a showdown between the Sheahen brothers occurred. On this occasion it was older brother Troy who was victorious over Allan by only 0.745 seconds. Third place went to North Wests Matthew Harris.

TaG 125 Restricted Heavy was won by Joshua Gadsby who made a last lap move to take the victory away from eventual second place finisher David Fidler who had led all bar the final lap of the race. Third place went to Dallas Harris.

KA3 Senior Light saw a dominant performance from Hobarts Fletcher Bellars who started from pole position and lead the entire race. Second place went to Gemma Wyllie who continued her strong form from Burnie a few weeks back. Hobarts Philip Cowles who dropped down the order at the start of the final fought his way back up to finish in third place.

KA3 Senior Medium was won by Jordie Distill after a last lap passing move over Nathan Zuj, proving his regular trips to the mainland competing in the Australian Karting Championship are paying off. Third and fourth place went to earlier heat winners Daniel Hinds and Troy Stone.

For the first time since 2017 the Phil Goss Memorial returned to its original format of a 21-lap feature race. This year saw a field of twelve competitors, with five of those being former state champions as well as a pole shuffle prior to the main event which proved to be super popular among spectators. The most successful drivers in the pole shuffle were current Launceston Kart Club president Mick Dalton who made his long-awaited return to karting after 26 years away from the sport moving forward three positions, defending Phil Goss Memorial champion Shane Stonehouse moving up four and eventual polesitter Anthony McCullagh moving up five positions. On paper it would seem 2022 Phil Goss Winner Anthony McCullagh had it all his own way leading from start to finish but he was pushed all the way by eventual runner up Shane Stonehouse who had to fight his way to the front after starting from position six. Third place went to Johnathan Males who had to fight his way back from a shocking first lap dropping back to tenth position but went on to set the quickest time of the last lap of the race. For the first time in the events history Phil’s daughter Jessie was able to start the race as well as wave the chequered flag for the drivers as they crossed the finish line.

The next race meeting to be held in Tasmania will be the Ian Harrington Rising Stars event held in Hobart on Sunday the 5th of June. Racing will return to Archerville on Sunday the 19th of June for the KA3 Cup which will include the second annual Bec Wyatt Memorial.