After suffering a blown engine in Friday practice, RedIce Racing had to revert to the backup engine for Saturday and Sunday's racing. The old-spec BRC 250FE was a little down on straight line speed compared to the newer spec engine that was originally on the kart. Nevertheless, Ilya managed to qualify in 6th position for the first heat on Saturday.

Heat 1

Ilya started strongly and pushed his way up into 4th position. He had a good battle with the reigning Australian Champion Jason Smith, demonstrating some monstrous late braking into Turn 2 to keep Smith behind. A missed gear change on lap 3 out of Turn 2 allowed Smith and Chermaz to slip by going into Turns 3 and 4. Ilya kept pushing the kart to its limit to stay in touch with the pair, until his tyres began to overheat on lap 5. Unable to carry the same pace through the corners, Ilya dropped positions as the laps continued and eventually crossed the finish line in a disappointing 8th position. 

Heat 2

After an average jump off the line, Ilya executed a divebomb late braking manoeuvre around the outside of a few karts going into Turn 2 allowed him to regain a couple of spots. 

Running on an old set of tyres, Ilya battled understeer through the corners, making it a tough race to hold position, especially considering the straight line speed deficit to the other karts.

Nevertheless, Ilya spent much of the race going toe-to-toe with Smith, Chermaz and Stebbing - benefiting from Stebbings' eventual retirement to come home in 6th position.

Heat 3

Ilya started strongly in heat 3 - running in the top 5 again for most of the race. Having some great scraps with Chermaz and Stebbing, Ilya cannoned off the end of the main straight with 3 laps to go as his brakes gave up. A weekend of late braking had taken its toll on the brake pads, and he'd worn them down to the metal.

Ilya luckily missed the wall by less than a metre, and dropped a few positions, but kept circulating and nursed the kart home in an eventual 8th position. 

Heat 4

Ilya started from 6th position and dropped down to 8th as the karts approached the first corner. Utilising his fresh brake pads, Ilya cruised around the outside of 3 karts to pop up in 5th position coming out of Turn 2.  Four corners later, there was a massive incident involving 6 stricken karts and the safety car was called.

The safety car eventually pulled in, leaving only 3 laps of racing. Ilya instantly attacked, but was caught on the debris of the earlier crash as he overtook Stebbing into Turn 6. The rubble pulled him off the track and he dropped a few positions.

Ilya cranked the pace up and began to pull in the karts ahead at a rate of knots, but suffered another engine failure with 2 laps remaining. With extra points awarded for the final heat, it put a massive dent in his championship points, dropping from 6th to 8th.

RedIce Racing now looks forward to Round 2 of the Australian Superkart Championships at Phillip Island in September.

RedIce Racing would also like to thank the following for their support: Your Amigo, Alex EMS, Davtec, ZiP BDH and Wizzer Race Engines (Gary Pegoraro.