22nd July 2007
Electrical Gremlin plays Sam's fate at the Superkart Titles
With an 8 point lead over the current champion Warren McIlveen coming into the final round of the 2007 Australian Superkart Championships, Sam needed to score just 1 win and continual second places behind Warren in the 4 heat event to secure the 2007 Championship. As fate would have it, nothing is for certain in motorsport competition, and the weekend brought out a few surprises.
In Qualifying Warren pulled a very quick time of 1:29.0, meanwhile the competition had lifted their game with Carlo Chermaz 2nd with a 1:29.6 and Anton Stevens 3rd with a 1:30.2. For reasons of dealing with detonation in the first qualifying session and a water hose was leaking onto the rear tyre and overheating the engine in the second qualifying session, Sam qualified 4th with a time of 1:30.9.
Race 1 - Warren lead from start to finish. Sam was close behind but was forced to button off then his engine was again detonating into levels that didn't make him comfortable. He settled for 2nd place behind Warren but keeping a comfortable distance in front of Carlo who finished 3rd. Sam decided he can settle the score with Warren in the next race heat.
Race 2 - After an overnight inspection of the engine everything looked good to do battle with Warren, but as the flag dropped so did the horsepower out of the top cylinder of Sam's engine with an electrical fault. Sam managed to cruise around the track in 1:44's to secure 13th position and score some critical championship points, meanwhile Warren went on to win again with Anton in 2nd and Carlo 3rd. This was devastation for Sam's chances of securing the 2007 Australian Championship, however as we know in motorsport, it's never over until the fat lady sings.
Race 3 - After finally diagnosing that electrical issue that first occurred at the Phillip Island Round 1, Sam was to start from the 3rd row on grid 6. With the engine now running electrically sound, the carburation did not suit it. Meanwhile Warren again had cleared out to the front and on Lap 2 coming into the approach to turn 2, Anton's front wheel had side swiped Sam's rear wheel, thus creating a very nasty high speed flip for Anton. Anton was rushed to hospital but all was OK for the Kiwi who discharged himself from hospital the next morning. Race 3 had been abandoned by officials and so Race 4 was to be started as if it were Race 3 again but with 8 laps to signify the final.
Race 4 - With what should now be a correct setup in Sam's superkart, he again started from 3rd row and made a great start to be quickly into 2nd position behind Warren. It was already agreed between Warren and Sam that is the order to finish if possible within the karts performance. Sam's kart was finally on song and he produced his official personal best of 1:29.4 in catching Warren (has done 1:28 in private practice). With Sam just circulating behind Warren for a formation finish, Warren decided to wave Sam by because "I was just too nervous having Sam behind".
Sam was finally satisfied in knowing his kart was back to good form, especially with the change in setup required for regulation compliance in rim widths to accommodate the Bridgestone YBH tyre. It was a very trying weekend for Sam who was grateful to his pit crew Steve Sponberg for throwing spanners and pushing the kart over the weekend and to Brian Stockman for his ever exceptional advice.
The final 2007 Championship results for the Australian 250 International title are;
1st - Warren McIlveen - Stockman/Honda
2nd - Sam Zavaglia - Stockman/Honda
3rd - Carlo Chermaz - PVP/PVP
Play of the Day goes to Brian Stockman for completing 10 Australian Titles in a row in the 250 International class. These titles are for the Stockman/Honda from 1998 to 2007 shared only amongst 3 drivers. Warren has claimed 6 of them, Brian has 3 and Sam has 1.
A special '1 off' design incorporating "Ten Years in a row" commemoration shirts were issued to the Stockman customers. These were gifts from Brian and Vivian for their support.
Will it be 11 years in a row come the end of the 2008 season?
Well the competition has surely lifted their game in the last couple of years so it's certainly shaping up to be an exciting 2008 Championship.