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5th June 2008 - Victorian State Titles
14th April 2008 - V8 Supercar Meet
10th April 2008 - New Avoig Nose Cone
18th February 2008 - Rear Crash Bar
19th January 2008 - SX Projects V8 Supercar support race
2nd December 2007 - Giova built successes in 2007
6th July 2007 - Avoig 125cc unleashed
19th April 2007 - Race Calender online
18th April 2007 - More photos of the Avoig Elise construction
13th March 2007 - Two kart team by mid 2007
1st March 2007 - Giova releases new chassis, the Avoig Elise
1st January 2007 - Website goes live
6th July 2006 - New website begins development
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5th June 2008 - Victorian State Titles
In the absence of a National Title round at Phillip Island this year for the Gearbox classes a last moment decision was made to attend the Victorian State Championships. The majestic appeal of Phillip Island was simply too difficult to pass up for Team GioVa.
The Teams original plan was to travel with a 125cc & a 250cc twin to be steered by Sonny Luca & Pelly however as luck has it the previous V8 round took out Pelly’s 250 twin with engine damage & the recent Oran Park round took out Sonny’s 125 following a spectacular crash that left plenty of damage to the front end that was not going to be repairable within a week for the Island.
Faced with the prospect of 2 broken machines, Pelly elected to maintain his commitment to the Victorian Club & attend the meeting. The challenge was now on to prepare a suitable machine.
Following some brain storming a decision was made to borrow Clinton Downs 125 Kart, remove the early model RS125 engine & replace it with a later model spare engine that was in the workshop for a future 125 build that had never been run, this required the fabrication of new engine mounts & plenty more. The brakes required a much needed update following several brake failures at recent meetings……all this to be done within 10 days – the challenge was on ! The task of preparation was made easier with assistance given by George Koutros .
With preparation all completed with days to spare the “Boss” (Pelly) reflected on the challenge of driving an unknown kart coupled with the reality of not having driven a 125 before. His spirits were high.
The arrival at Phillip Island on the Saturday morning was met with weather fit for ducks… 30kph wind, rain & 8deg C. Sunday proved to be more friendly to the competitors with clearer skies & intermittent rain.
Practice/Qualifying: The first session was met with 20 starters & 7 of those being 125cc machines on a wet track. Darren Dunn set the pace in practice of a 2.01 followed by Rod Con & Colin Moore, unfortunately Pelly’s practice session ended prematurely after 2 l;aps following a spark plug failure however within those 2 laps managed a 4th position & a time of 2.04.
Race One Saturday: Saw Pelly take a race win in a rain soaked track followed by Darren Dunn. The other 125’s all recorded DNF’s.
Race Two Sunday: Was red flagged with points not awarded due to an incompletion of 75% of the race due to a race incident. However at the time of the red flag Mick Bakker was leading the 125cc with Pelly closely jammed on his radiator followed further back with Darren Dunn & Colin Moore.
Race Three Sunday : Had Mick Bakker take the win from Jarrod Lethborg & Ron Conn followed up by Darren Dunn. Unfortunately Pelly retired from second place with a broken chain at which point saw his No1 Title Trophy vanish. All that was required was a finish.
After a great weekends racing & one hand on the No 1 Trophy GioVa racing would like to thank Clinton Brown & Luke Brown for their assistance over the weekend. A big thank to George Koutros for many hours in assistance at the Headquarters in preparing the machine …..it was a big under taking. Clinton Downs for providing the opportunity with his Kart.
Rumor has it that the “Boss” was very impressed with the performance of these little 125’s & will race them again.
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14th April 2008 - V8 Supercar Meet
It is more than fair to say that the recent V8 Supercar meet was an outstanding success. In total around 45-50 machines lined up for each of the sessions over the weekend which made for an impressive spectacle. One superkart competitor who watched the final race on Sunday from the sidelines commented that seeing close to 50 machines on the track at the one time was the coolest thing he has seen!
Results for Team Giova were mixed, with Sonny Luca having a fantastic weekend spent at the pointy end of the 125 field. While John Pellicano was once again outed thanks to engine troubles.
All in all, the weekend was an absolute success and a pleasure for the team to be involved with. Given the success of the involvement of the Superkart category, it is very likely we will be invited to such an event in the future.
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10th April 2008 - New Avoig Nose Cone
Making its first public outing at the V8 Supercar meet was the brand new Avoig Nose Cone. Having spent many late nights under wraps during its design at the Giova HQ, the new front end screams for attention thanks to the combination of both fibreglass and carbon fibre, as well as an aggressively styled front splitter. Updates still to come to other areas of the body work will follow a similar design and sense of style.
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18th February 2008 - Rear Crash Bar
A requirement of the 2008 CAMS regulations, is the fitment of a rear crash bar. We are making these available for sale in component and welded form to suit Stockman chassis' and also earlier model Anderson chassis. The type of item supplied depends on your exact needs.
Please get in touch if you would like some more information - john@giova.com.au
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19th January 2008 - SX Projects V8 Supercar support race
That's right, for the first time in many years, we will be supporting the top motorsporting class in Australia, the V8 Supercars.
After acting as a support category to the Formula One for every race held in Adelaide, it was only natural Superkarts would once again be invited to support such a prestigious event. We will of course be there to put on a fantastic show for the massive crowd - and given we anticipate a packed grid (that means 60 machines in the one race!) - we are very unlikely to disappoint.
SX Projects has once again showed support to the Superkarting community (they also supported our category for the 2006 National Rounds), so a big thanks goes out to them.
There is only one possible negative to be seen in this whole venture - the very real likelyhood that we will be setting lap times faster than the machines the crowd have come to see!
What a blast, hope to see you there!
SX Projects V8 Supercar Support Race, 7-9 March 2008
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2nd December 2007 - Giova built successes in 2007
With the 2007 racing season coming to an end in NSW, “Avoig” can look back with enthusiasm & be proud of the opening season’s results given these machine were still on the drawing board in late 2006.
George Koutros in a new Avoig Elise (001) took out the 2007 NSW club championship in the 250 International class with John Pellicano securing 3rd position respectfully. Sonny Luca, one of the clubs newer members took 3rd position outright for the club Championship in the 125 class. Well done fella’s for the first year of racing.
Interestingly the chassis performance has come with nothing more than a few tweaks throughout the year, it could be said the machines have performed well throughout year straight out of the box in both the 250 & 125 classes.
2008 will see further developments with the “Avoig’s” body styling to further enhance it’s looks with more stylized lines to create more standout looks, not only will it’s looks be enhanced but we are also looking for better “aero” from the new package. Incorporated with the new styles will also be new venting to allow for more air flow in & around the radiator with no net loss to aero. Currently the plug for the nose cone is finished & the side pods are well underway.
With Chassis development & body work development well on its way, 2008 will also see progress in the engine department in the quest for more HP. Currently our lack of power has seen both the 250 & 125 struggle for outright speed. Recent dealings are likely to see the Avoig’s powered by BRC into the near future along side the curent Honda’s.
Our in house Dyno is well underway thus adding the “missing link” in our quest for progress & development. With time permitting, our plans are to be doing some dyno runs by mid January in preparation for racing in March.
Interest in the machines throughout 2007 have been steady with orders for 2 new 250’s & 1 new 125 for 2008.
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6th July 2007 - Avoig 125cc unleashed
Following an intense 2 months build the first of the new Avoig 125’s powered by a RS Honda had it first test session at Eastern Creek for private Saturday practise on 30th June, 4 x 20min test sessions were conducted throughout the day in a flawless manner to be followed by Sundays race meeting that netted the machine a second place trophy on it’s maiden run.
The practice day was being run by young Sonny Luca who has yet to experience his first race meeting. Whilst it was clear that lap records were not going to be broken it was obvious that Sonny was more than delighted with his new drive. Our focus was on sorting any teething problems that may have arisen from the days test session of a new machine. A return to HQ that night uncovered some minor issues that were addressed that evening in preparation for Sunday’s event.
Sunday’s race meeting was to see young Luke Brown drive as a good lead up for the up & coming National event in 2 weeks time. Team spirit was high through out the day when Luke had openly reported after the first 2 races “it’s the best machine I have ever driven, this is a winning machine”.
The 125 Chassis shares similar build characteristics to its bigger brother the “Elise” but a close inspection will indicate the subtle changes to accommodate a smaller power unit. The chassis are designed to allow a good inter change of components between the 125 & 250. They both enjoy similar aero packages & chassis adjustability. The braking department is taken care of by kelgate using 2 pot callipers both front & rear however Team GioVa are using their own in-house rotors made of no cast material thus allowing a greater range of pad material to be used.
Moves are now underway for the second of the Aviog 125 machines with the view of having both Sonny & Luke racing competitively towards the end of 2007 & in preparation to the 2008 titles.
Further development will continue in both engine & chassis areas in preparation for customer machines. Team GioVa will look at developing competitive packages for the Aviog 125 with both Honda & Yamaha power plants.
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19th April 2007 - Race Calender online
Race Calender online!
We have re-jigged the site a little. You can now access our 'Race Calender' and 'Race Results' from the new link - 'Race Info'.
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18th April 2007 - New photos of the Avoig Elise construction
After a great deal of culling and sorting, more photographs featuring the assembly and fabrication of the 'Avoig Elise' have been published to the 'Photos' section of the site. There are some great work in progress photos in there, take a look.
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13th March 2007 - Two kart team by mid 2007
GioVa racing will again run a 2 kart team by mid 2007.
With an absence of a 2 kart team for some years now GioVa racing have purchased a 2001 Honda RS125 & commenced building a new 125 Avoig in preparation for some new blood to the sport.
The plan will be to be race ready for the 2nd round of the club championship in June. The build will as they say “have all the right bit’s” - kelgate brakes are making their way from the UK & the engine will under go all the necessary modifications to ensure it delivers the mumbo to run at the pointy end of the field.
The drive will be going to a newer member of the sport with no previous experience in Kart racing. Whilst Sonny Luca has not raced before he has all the right criteria for the job - he is young, very keen & prepared to put the effort in & to date his assistance in running the 250’s has been terrific, further more the Boss has been impressed with his attitude toward s his new sport. Sonny has put plenty of long hours in at the workshop in preparation for the build & his mechanical experience has been very helpful in understanding the finer points of a two stroke.
Our plans will be to settle into a rhythm for 2007 using all local club meetings to gain valuable experience & put plenty of race miles on the machine. We hope to escalate the pace for 2008 to interstate meetings & also challenge for a National title.
Stay tuned to our photo section for photos of the build.
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1st March 2007 - Giova announces new chassis, the Avoig Elise
After a year in development, the Giova Racing designed and built chassis - the Avoig-Elise - saw its first outing on the track last weekend at Eastern Creek (Feb 25th). Two machines made their way to the circuit, the freshly constructed chassis (Avoig-002) of John Pellicano and the almost as fresh chassis of George Koutros (Avoig-001).
The debut of the chassis also coincided with the first outing in the 250cc International class for George, who was overheard saying he experienced the most fun at the race track to date.
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1st January 2007 - Website goes live!
After 6 months in the pipeline, the next generation GIOVA website is LIVE!
We have put a lot of effort into building a functional website which is not only great to look at, but great to interact with as well. Our plans for the site are three fold. Primarily we aim to keep everyone up to date with our racing progress throughout the season, this will also include photographs from events whenever possible.
As we are often busy in the workshop, we also plan on showing photosets from the work which takes place at the Giova Headquarters.
And perhaps most importantly of all, we plan on continually adding articles to the 'Tech Tips' page. The goal is to create a central location for access to technical articles related to Superkarting. This will include technical papers as published by others (and linked to by us), as well as hands-on, step-by-step 'how-to' pages which are designed more for the person who is starting out with karting and needs some advice. We feel this final contribution will be of great benefit to those who are new to the sport and perhaps a little unfamiliar with the art of preparing a superkart for racing purposes.
We are incredibly excited about the possibilities this website offers and look forward to hearing from you via our guestbook and seeing you throughout 2007!
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6th July 2006 - New Website in development
The next generation GIOVA Racing website has started taking shape. Our plan is to maintain a source of informative articles related to the things we occupy our time with - this of course being articles heavily centered around Superkarting.