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Back to Back Titles for Pierce Lehane

Pierce Lehane added his name to Australian karting history books by becoming the

third driver in the history of the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol

EDGE to win back-to-back Pro Junior (KF3) Championships at Newcastle on Sunday.

The CRG driver joins IndyCar star Ryan Briscoe (1995/1996) and Kristian Lindbom

(2003/2004) in the illustrious back-to-back club.

Second place in the final 25-lap final was enough for the CRG driver to claim the Jon

Targett trophy ahead of round winner Joseph Mawson. Jake Coleman finished third

for the round.

“To put my name on the trophy two times in a row is something that I’ll never forget

in my career, especially when you look at the calibre of drivers that have won this

title over the years,” said Lehane.

“The racing has been really intense this year, even today when I knew that all I had

to do was finish the second final and I was the champion again I felt some of that

pressure.

“It was pretty close racing all weekend, the younger guys have really been stepping

it up in the second half of the series and with a few of the older drivers moving into

seniors next year I think they will really shine next year.”

The #47 Lucky 7 Racing pairing of Tim Slade and Dan Gaunt were the second of

SBR’s cars across the line today with a hard-fought 12th place. Starting from 15th

on the grid, Slade made ground early, but on lap-57, Owen Kelly punted Gaunt at

‘The Chase’ which in-turn required an extended pit stop to rectify the damage. With

Slade at the wheel for the run home he punched his way back for a well-earned 12th.
Tim Slade Lucky 7 Racing
“The turning-point for our race was being caught out of synch with the Safety Car –
we had good fuel strategy and were fighting back but lost it when we had to pit for the
damage to the rear bumper. 12th was a good result as we were struggling with turn
coming down the hill (‘The Dipper / Elbow’) –other than that sector the car was really
strong.”

Tim Slade #47

James Moffat and his #18 co-driver Matt Halliday were also robbed of a likely top ten

finish due to gear box problems late in the race. Starting P17 on the grid the pair had

worked their way through the field and were sitting 9th behind Mark Scaife when Moffat

was forced into the pits. The crew worked frantically to fix the issue and were able to

get Moffat back on the track and he finished out the race in 25th position.

James Moffat #18

"It clearly wasn't the way we wanted to end the weekend," said Moffat post-race. "We

were doing pretty well. We probably didn't have the speed to match the front runners

but with a bit of luck we might have snuck into the top ten."Moffat was full of praise

for his co-driver and crew.

"Matt did an awesome job and The Team has worked their tails off all weekend.

"It's unfortunate, reliability has been a strong point for us this year and it's disappointing

that it let us down this weekend.

James Moffat #18

DIESEL