Karting Australia: Cordato brothers score GoPro Summer Series medals in Newcastle
The Cordato brothers - Leon and Lewis - both scored medals on race day two of the first event of the 2024 GoPro Summer Series presented by GoPro, with Leon winning Gold in KZ2 and Lewis a Bronze in his national Senior racing debut in TaG - while Tommy Risk and Jack Bartlett backed up Saturday’s Gold in their respective categories.
Leon bounced back after a troubled race day one in the six-speed gearbox category to take the win. Although Bailey Sagaidak - who also struck trouble on Saturday - pushed him to within two-tenths of a second at the end, Cordato seemed always in control. Victorian Jay Murray ended the Feature Race third.
Lewis - Leon’s younger brother - drove to a Bronze Medal in the TaG 125 category and while he wasn’t in the mix to win the race, it is a huge confidence boost to start his senior career after heartbreak in KA2 at the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship, when he saw his opportunity to win the Title drift away due to several issues.
The race for the win in the TaG 125 Feature Race was sensational. Brodie Whitmore led for much of the 11-minute plus one lap event, however, the strategy by Jackson Souslin-Harlow to time his run for late in the race saw the latter take the lead and go on to win. It was a golden day for Souslin-Harlow and his team, JSH Racing, as they celebrated a double Gold with Tommy Rizk backing up his stellar performance from Saturday by winning the Feature in KA3 Junior.
Starting as the pole sitter, the unique inversion format of the GoPro Summer Series, which saw Rizk start the opening Sprint Race from 10th position. Fighting his way through the pack, Rizk managed to climb to second place, just behind his teammate, Joel McGrath, who inherited the pole position after qualifying 10th. McGrath held his ground, delivering a tenacious defence against Rizk in what turned out to be one of the day’s most exciting battles.
Tommy Rizk celebrating his win in KA3 Junior
The best race of the event was the Cadet 12 Feature Race. Saturday’s Gold Medalist, Oliver Williamson was in a fight with his TWM teammates Spencer Garde and Mason Lucchitti for much of the 11 minutes, plus one lap distance. It was revealed afterwards that Williamson was battling with an ailing engine, which created a titanic battle in the final few laps.
At the end, Mason Lucchitti - who only started racing this year - added Gold to Saturday's Bronze, while Cooper Clavell made a last-gasp effort after charging forward to win two Silver Medals in both race days, while Garde settled for Bronze in front of Williamson. As a side note to Lucchitti’s win, his father, Paul won his first ever Fanatec Australian GT World Challenge race alongside a former Australian Junior Karting Champion, Jayden Ojeda in Sydney last night.
Novocastrian, Jack Bartlett was a popular double Gold Medal winner in KA2. After winning in Saturday’s torrential rain, Sunday was bright sunshine and he dominated over fellow local, Ayrton Dalmaso. Dalmaso midway through the Feature Race started to mount a challenge, however, Top Gun Racing’s Bartlett was too strong winning by 2.84 seconds. Saturday’s Silver Medalist, Anashe Manyau walked home with a Bronze Medal in Sunday's Feature.
This concludes the 2024 GoPro Summer Series for now, with the next event featuring the unique two-day, two-event format set to take place in Port Melbourne at Todd Road over the weekend of November 31 to December 1. The next event on the national karting calendar will be the Ultimate Club Racer at Monarto, November 1-3, with entries open now.