THE GRAND PRIX COMES TO TOWN

Winners are grinners

Richard Dodd should know, he's both.
We caught up with him after the Grand Prix
to get his side of the story.

"People say, 'Hey Doddy your kart won the race - pity you weren't in it!' But it was Doc's birthday and I guess for him it's a pretty good present!"
Richard Dodd, Organiser of the event went on to say, "The weekend went extremely well - record entries, record crowd, five Australian champions competing in the final of the Open Class - including Doc Pearson - who drove my cart after stacking his own.
"There were no serious accidents, no disputes concerning clarification, everything was done with no protests being launched."
"All the Interstate drivers have gone home with headaches, which is always a good sign!", says Richard.
"There are a few people who are stiff and sore, and maybe even a few broken ribs out there."
Victorian driver and former Australian champion, Doc Pearson, topped off a sensational last day's racing to win the Open Class of the Australian Street Circuit Go-Kart Grand Prix in Tennant Creek on the May Day weekend.
Starting from third position on the grid, Pearson took the lead early and was not headed.
Fellow Victorian, Remo Luciani, stayed right on Doc's tail until the finish to come second. Sydney driver, Darrell Smith drove a strong race to finish third. Darwin driver, Alastair McGregor, was the best-placed Territorian driver finishing fifth.
In the Clubman Class, Australian champions Nick Agland from NSW and Remo Luciani had a close and exciting tussle with numerous changes of the lead before Agland finally got the chequered flag. Victorian John Ippolitto came in third. Darwin driver David O'Dowd was best placed Territorian coming in fifth.
The KT100 Heavy Class final was declared after 15 laps when Harvey Morrison had a spectacular exit from the race. South Australian Craig Denton, was declared the winner from West Australians Mark Douglas and a bruised Harvey Morrison. Joseph Evans from Jabiru was the best-placed Territorian with a strong fourth.
There was secondary drama in this race when confusion caused by an ambiguous red flag caused Dave Hender to perform an extremely close and thorough examination of Tony Civitarese's rear end. Hard on his tailpipe came Michael Harvey who saw the week's specials flash before his eyes as he narrowly avoided disaster.
"It might be getting to the stage where a red flag indicates that an accident is about to happen, rather than having just happened. Perhaps we'll be looking at the rules about where cars are stopped under red flag conditions," commented Richard Dodd after the race.
The Juniors final proved to be one of the best races of the day with Victorians Andre Morgan and Aaron Rintoull changing places numerous times before Morgan took the lead in the final chicane. Fellow Victorian Steve McFarlene finished third with Alcie Springs driver Danny Reidy fourth.
Local Tennant Creek driver, Ben Reichstein, continued his domination of the Midget Class winning the final from Darwin rider Patrick Hamon and Victorian Andrew McFarlane.
Alice Springs driver Mark Phillips took the Rookies Class from local Eddie Gunderson with Jabiru driver Anthon Evans third.
Alice Springs drivers Ron Connor, Steve Jenstch and Geoff 'Flash' McEwen provided an Alice Springs whitewash of the Outlaws Class, finishing in that order.
Alice Springs driver Carey Joy won the Twins Class with West Australian Tim Major second and Alice Springs driver Bruce Muir third.
Victorian, Allan Morgan produced a very consistent ride to win the Golden Oldies Class from South Australian Keith Bartlett and Rod Arthur from Jabiru.
Ben Reichstein will be going up to Darwin next week to compete in the Northern Territory State Titles. Ben Reichstein had a monumental battles with Jabiru driver Anthony Evans in the final of the Midget Class.
Two young locals Eddie Gunderson and Kevin Spratt were put in the Alice Springs race team in order to promote local junior sort, considering the amount of practice they had, these two budding drivers performed admirably with Eddie picking up second prize in the Rookie Class. Kevin competed in the Junior Class and after a few crash outs early started to get used to the track, before crashing out late in the final.
The judging of the Miss Grand Prix on Saturday night proved to be a fantastic night, with a huge crowd at the Memo club. This years Grand Prix has proved to be the biggest and best, with the committee said to have excelled themselves, having 41 interstate entries, which is four times as many as ever before. The drivers who are now going home will be promoting the event for next year and it is said to be even bigger and better.

Winners are grinners Richard Dodd should know, he's both. We caught up with him after the Grand Prix to get his side of the story. "People say, 'Hey Doddy your kart won the race - pity you weren't in it!' But it was Doc's birthday and I guess for him it's a pretty good present!" Richard Dodd, Organiser of the event went on to say, "The weekend went extremely well - record entries, record crowd, five Australian champions competing in the final of the Open Class - including Doc Pearson - who drove my cart after stacking his own. "There were no serious accidents, no disputes concerning clarification, everything was done with no protests being launched." "All the Interstate drivers have gone home with headaches, which is always a good sign!", says Richard. "There are a few people who are stiff and sore, and maybe even a few broken ribs out there." Victorian driver and former Australian champion, Doc Pearson, topped off a sensational last day's racing to win the Open Class of the Australian Street Circuit Go-Kart Grand Prix in Tennant Creek on the May Day weekend. Starting from third position on the grid, Pearson took the lead early and was not headed. Fellow Victorian, Remo Luciani, stayed right on Doc's tail until the finish to come second. Sydney driver, Darrell Smith drove a strong race to finish third. Darwin driver, Alastair McGregor, was the best-placed Territorian driver finishing fifth. In the Clubman Class, Australian champions Nick Agland from NSW and Remo Luciani had a close and exciting tussle with numerous changes of the lead before Agland finally got the chequered flag. Victorian John Ippolitto came in third. Darwin driver David O'Dowd was best placed Territorian coming in fifth. The KT100 Heavy Class final was declared after 15 laps when Harvey Morrison had a spectacular exit from the race. South Australian Craig Denton, was declared the winner from West Australians Mark Douglas and a bruised Harvey Morrison. Joseph Evans from Jabiru was the best-placed Territorian with a strong fourth. There was secondary drama in this race when confusion caused by an ambiguous red flag caused Dave Hender to perform an extremely close and thorough examination of Tony Civitarese's rear end. Hard on his tailpipe came Michael Harvey who saw the week's specials flash before his eyes as he narrowly avoided disaster. "It might be getting to the stage where a red flag indicates that an accident is about to happen, rather than having just happened. Perhaps we'll be looking at the rules about where cars are stopped under red flag conditions," commented Richard Dodd after the race. The Juniors final proved to be one of the best races of the day with Victorians Andre Morgan and Aaron Rintoull changing places numerous times before Morgan took the lead in the final chicane. Fellow Victorian Steve McFarlene finished third with Alcie Springs driver Danny Reidy fourth. Local Tennant Creek driver, Ben Reichstein, continued his domination of the Midget Class winning the final from Darwin rider Patrick Hamon and Victorian Andrew McFarlane. Alice Springs driver Mark Phillips took the Rookies Class from local Eddie Gunderson with Jabiru driver Anthon Evans third. Alice Springs drivers Ron Connor, Steve Jenstch and Geoff 'Flash' McEwen provided an Alice Springs whitewash of the Outlaws Class, finishing in that order. Alice Springs driver Carey Joy won the Twins Class with West Australian Tim Major second and Alice Springs driver Bruce Muir third. Victorian, Allan Morgan produced a very consistent ride to win the Golden Oldies Class from South Australian Keith Bartlett and Rod Arthur from Jabiru. Ben Reichstein will be going up to Darwin next week to compete in the Northern Territory State Titles. Ben Reichstein had a monumental battles with Jabiru driver Anthony Evans in the final of the Midget Class. Two young locals Eddie Gunderson and Kevin Spratt were put in the Alice Springs race team in order to promote local junior sort, considering the amount of practice they had, these two budding drivers performed admirably with Eddie picking up second prize in the Rookie Class. Kevin competed in the Junior Class and after a few crash outs early started to get used to the track, before crashing out late in the final. The judging of the Miss Grand Prix on Saturday night proved to be a fantastic night, with a huge crowd at the Memo club. This years Grand Prix has proved to be the biggest and best, with the committee said to have excelled themselves, having 41 interstate entries, which is four times as many as ever before. The drivers who are now going home will be promoting the event for next year and it is said to be even bigger and better.		Richard Dood gives Doc Pearson a hand to hold up the Chief Minister's Perpetual Trophy, his spoils as the grand winner. When the smoke cleared from Stewie's monster burn-out we noticed the 'For Sale' sign. The car's just used to go to and from the shops no doubt? Doc shows us a glimpse of the future. Electric start, water cooling, quite as a mouse, so where's the fun in that? Flash McEwin finds that switching to a shorter wheelbase mid race can cause some problems. Barry Harker was there to shoo 'em off at the start. Natasha, here sorting Bill Cross, worked tirelessly over the weekend to keep it all running. The mouth on the mound, Pete, with his eyes and communications blokes, Eric and Flash. Ron Conner swings through the chicane. The contestants line up after the "Dog Parade" for the judges decision on Miss Grand Prix 1998.