Sparkes edges field to claim Southern Sprint

A strong field of KZ2 drivers were part of the Southern Sprint at the Albany City Kart Club last Saturday and the racing did not disappoint.

The 20-lap final in the WA KZ2 Series produced a fantastic ending as three karts crossed the line in blanket finish, with Bunbury member Thomas Sparkes prevailing by a narrow margin.

Sparkes hit the line with Daniel Currey and Bayley Mickler on either side of him but he won the final by 0.016 seconds ahead of Currey while Mickler was third — 0.032 seconds off the winner.

Ryan Bender crossed the line in fourth place and Joshua Merritt rounded out the top five while former Albany resident Harrison Oddie was sixth and Mitchell Perrella was credited with seventh.

Currey was the clear points leader in the series with Hayden Patrizi, who encountered clutch problems in the final while in front and finished 16th, second in the standings before the Albany round.

Patrizi was the man to beat for the majority of Saturday’s racing in heat 1 and backed it up with a win over Blake Mills and Mickler in heat 2.

The Hurricane Kart Club member won the pre-final by 1.096 seconds over Sparkes to set up an exciting final.

The racing was all completed on Saturday, given the wet weather forecast for Sunday, with six other divisions contested.

Albany’s Harrison Beres had a clean sweep in the cadets 12 class, winning all four races to top the points ahead of Lake King’s Jack Webster.

Damien Stevens relished his home track, winning the Tag 125 restricted medium final by 0.906 seconds from fellow Albany drivers Stephen Conning and Matthew Toovey.

Other winners included Judd Stevens (KA3 junior), Aleksandar Stefanovich (KA4 junior light), Brandon Elliott (Tag 125 light) and Greg Pearson (senior Yamaha).