Posted by AGI Sport on Dec 13, 2013 in Management

RACE REPORT – AGI SPORT wins the NSW Excel Racing Championship

RACE REPORT

AGI Engineering employee and resident Mechanical Engineer David Kermond was given the chance to compete in one of the AGI Sport Excel race cars for the final round of 2013. Dave didn’t disappoint, gaining confidence over the race weekend to produce very competitive lap times and some encouraging performances by the end of the event. Dave is a respected State & National level Karter but what made his performance even more impressive was that he’d only just driven a manual car for the first time some weeks before this event!

Practice 1 on the Saturday morning didn’t get off to a good start for the AGI Sport team with a blown engine on the first lap of practice for car #66 – Nathan Gotch.

Practice results:

o 4^th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

o 7^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 8^th – AGI Sport – Dave Kermond

With an engine change required for car #66 (carried out on the Saturday night at the AGI workshops!), a number of car swaps were in order to make sure lead driver and Championship contender Nathan Gotch had a car available for Saturday’s points paying races. New recruit Dave Kermond would be forced to sit out on the Saturday running (sorry Dave!) until the repaired car would be available on Sunday. The pace of the AGI Sport drivers was slightly off in Qualifying as the drivers got used to their ‘new rides’ for the weekend.

Qualifying results:

o 6^th – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 7^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 8^th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

Race 1 saw team driver Glen Smith move up a spot to 7th and Nathan up two positions to 4th.

Race 1 results:

o 4^th – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 6^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 8^th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

Race 2 featured a reverse grid start. Nick Filipetto quickly moved into the lead with a hard charging Dean Evans on his tail for the entirety of the race. Nick did a fantastic job to take his first win in the Excel series for 2013. Nathan Gotch would join Nick in the top 3 with a 3rd place finish with Glenn in 7^th. Post-race scrutineering would see Dean Evans demoted several positions due to a fuel level infringement, moving Nathan up to 2nd place.

Race 2 results:

o 1^st – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

o 2^nd – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 7^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

Race 3 on Sunday morning would prove to be an incredibly tight battle up front with the top six finishers less than four seconds apart by the chequered flag. The AGI Sport Team would take a 1-2 finish with Nathan Gotch leading home Nick Filipetto in 2nd. Glenn Smith came home 5th with series debutant Dave Kermond in 9th in his first ever car race.

Race 3 results:

o 1^st – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 2^nd – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

o 5^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 9^th – AGI Sport – Dave Kermond

Race 4 would see Nathan Gotch win his second race of the weekend with Nick Filipetto unfortunately getting shuffled back through the pack during some incredibly close battles up front. Glenn Smith would finish in 4th with Dave Kermond in 7th.

Race 4 results:

o 1^st – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 4^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 6^th – AGI Sport – Dave Kermond

o 7^th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

Race 5 saw a great battle between the championship protagonists of Dean Evans, Nathan Gotch and Ian Kegg. Dean came out on top with Nathan Gotch finishing a fine 2nd. Glenn Smith came home 3rd with Filipetto 6th and Kermond 7th.

Race 5 results:

o 2^nd – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch

o 4^th – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith

o 6^th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto

o 7^th – AGI Sport – Dave Kermond

The battle for the 2013 NSW Excel Racing Championship would be fought out right up to the last round of the series with AGI Sport Team driver Nathan taking out the inaugural Championship with one race to go. It was an incredibly close series with the lead of the championship changing several times throughout the year. In all, seven drivers would represent the AGI Sport Team in 2013.