Superstars and Locals set to shake up Sydney’s Eastern Creek.

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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his weekend’s third round of the 2016 Rotax Pro Tour at Eastern Creek’s International Karting Raceway will see a fleet of locals showcasing their on-track experience as they take on Australia’s own world class Rotax drivers. Returning to the National Series this weekend will be reigning Rotax Light Champion Pierce Lehane, while former International Speedway rider James Holder switches from two wheels to four, making his Rotax Pro Tour debut with Redspeed.
Eastern Creek will mark the home event for many drivers who have shown early season form across the different categories. In Junior Max; Cody Brewczynski and Lucas Lichtenberger sit fourth and fifth respectively in the overall points standings and both have also experienced success at the circuit in the recent past.
For Lichtenberger, the corresponding round in 2015 saw him claim his first round win in the series in the Junior Max Trophy category before stepping up at the start of this year, while for Brewczynski, he will be looking to continue to use his experience in the category combined with local track knowledge in an effort to climb his way up the points tally. A little over 60 points is all that separates Jaiden Pope and Brodie Whitmore at the top of the points order in Junior Max Trophy with Eastern Creek acting as a home track for Whitmore, it should spell yet another close battle between the pair.
Sebastian Ruiz and Ryan Tomsett were the two drivers to chase in Micro Max at Warwick and will be looking to replicate that form this weekend, however Kiwi Emerson Vincent remains the overall points leader. Victorian James Wharton holds a firm lead in the points standings in Mini Max with another field of over 25 drivers lining up to battle for the silverware. Since stepping up to Mini Max from Micro Max, Cody Maynes-Rutty has delivered some good results and will be returning to the track where he made his Pro Tour debut in 2015 which was also the setting for his first round win.
Team mates Cody Gillis and Joshua Fife enter the weekend as the benchmark drivers in Rotax Light after the first two rounds with Gillis sitting undefeated from Todd Road and Warwick. Out to interrupt the party of the Wollongong driver will be current Rotax Max Australian Challenge Champion, Pierce Lehane who has his first outing in the series for 2016 and his first

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since moving across to CRG.
In Rotax Heavy, Corey Lean has continued to be a driver to watch with last year’s Eastern Creek event seeing him debut with a fourth place finish overall. Lean will be hunting down points leader and fellow local Ben Ritchie. Sydney local Nathan Tigani will have his first home state appearance since stepping up into DD2, currently third in the points, he is chasing down Victorian duo Troy Woolston and Adam Lindstrom who have both shown glimpses of good form in the first two rounds.
Kris Walton has been the standout performer in DD2 Masters up until round three but will be absent from the Eastern Creek event due to commitments with the Australian V8 Ute Racing Series at Phillip Island, opening the way for others to step up including Lee Mitchener and Scott Howard who sit second and third in the points.
James Holder, who is the brother of 2012 World Speedway Champion, Chris Holder had a strong career on two wheels in the dirt himself, contesting many Australian Championships while also making appearances around England and Europe, the effective home to Speedway racing on bikes.
This weekend marks Holder’s first National Karting event with it also being only his ninth meeting overall and he is looking to gain as much experience as possible.
“I’m really looking forward to the weekend, I’m only new to Karting and it’s certainly a change from Speedway racing on two wheels. It’s been a great experience so far and I’m ready for the challenge in racing against some of the best in the country. I’m mainly looking to use the weekend as a learning experience and gain more track time with a view to a possible full-time drive in the future,” Holder said.
The event will also mark a return to the traditional three day format for all classes with practice on Friday, qualifying and three heats on Saturday and finals on Sunday with plenty of focus being placed upon the sole eight minute shootout on Saturday morning as not only an indicator of the form of drivers for the weekend but also a determinant of the drivers to chase for a podium result come Sunday afternoon.
Round 3 of the 2016 Rotax Pro Tour takes place at the Eastern Creek International Kart Raceway, Eastern Creek, NSW from April 15-17.

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[box type="shadow"] Fonte: rotax.com.au [/box]

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