8th May 2007
Sam Zavaglia wins Round 1 of the 2007 Australian Superkart Titles - Phillip Island
A mixed day in performance has still netted Sam with a round win at Phillip Island on 6th May.
On Saturday, qualifying went well and Sam was able to pull a couple of laps without too much interference from the slower traffic. Sam qualified 2nd from Warren McIlveen only 12/100's behind. These times were in lap record territory and were personal best times for Warren and Sam.
Sunday came and racing saw things get a little bit tougher.
Race 1 - Sam's engine tune was a little too aggressive for the early morning start which was causing excessive detonation in both cylinders. Sam decided that after 3 laps chasing Warren McIlveen 1st position in mid to low 33's lap times, to ease off into 1m34's and settle for a comfortable 2nd position behind Warren.
Race 2 - Sam's engine side pod wasn't dzus fastened which flew off during the warm up lap. This didn't seem to trouble Sam's kart too much except it proved to be remarkably slower in the left hand turns due to a greater wind resistance in Southern loop, Siberia and from MG leading onto the front straight. The package was still good enough for 1:34.0's each lap but not good enough to challenge Warren for the outright lead.
Race 3 - Warren had his clutch slip off the line which enabled Sam to lead the opening lap. With a little caution Sam tested the grip from an oil spill in Turn 1 from a previous race with no such problems, but on Lap 2 when entering T1 at 230kph his kart speared straight ahead in a roller coaster ride through the grass unable to regain the circuit till Turn 2 where there was a drop of at least 80cm. Using his motocross skills, Sam realising this at the last moment accelerated hard to ensure a clean jump from the kart, landing on the inside of Southern Loop turn, then safely rejoining the race circuit. Sam charged with an understeering kart due to wheel alignment and nose cone issues back into 6th place.
Race 4 - Warren seemed to have issues with his quick shifter. After realising this during his warm up lap he managed to switch it off to bypass the cut-off circuitry. His clutch again slipped off the line which allowed Sam into the lead, however Sam's engine was misfiring under high loads in 5th and 6th gear. Soon Anton Stevens had caught and past Sam where he used the slipstream created by Anton to create less load hence less misfires from the No.9 machine. Anton started to become very untidy due to his tyres blistering, Sam decided it was time to go it alone and was able to pull pasted in mid corner and create a gap to win from Anton. Warren had recovered from his clutch slippage to begin his charge back but he too was to suffer from tyre trouble with a blow out effectively placing him in last of the finishers.
So although it was not a convincing win from Sam, he will take it anyway with a 8 point lead from Warren and a 4 point lead from Gary Pegoraro going into the final round at Eastern Creek. Watch out for both Warren and Sam as each driver will be at their peak levels to try and the close the deal for the 2007 Australian Superkart Championship.