Introduction

There was a real threat of rain in the air and all twenty teams were looking to the heavens on this grey Sunday morning, I don't suspect it was in Morning Prayer. Today was important to a number of teams, for a number of reasons; A couple of the front running teams were playing their wildcard here unknown to anyone else and it was vitally important for the likes of B&R and KKC to get back to the sharp end and attack the championship table again.

Timed Qualifying

I have to prefix the qualifying report with the fact that the entire grid was covered by 1.8 seconds; so all my comments are relative. The bottom line was that all the teams were extremely well matched with grid slots being decided by the blink of an eye!

B&R took first blood in qualifying with a very quick 39.84-second lap. Neil Garrison was standing in for the injured Mike Williams, who today was playing team principal. Steve and Neil were both looking quick and the gauntlet was definitely down. RKC Racing 1 were the first to pick it up and rattled the B&R cage with a time only a 10th off. If that was close KKC 1 came within 100th of the RKC time and looked like there was more to come. The second RKC Racing team created the KKC sandwich with a good 4th while Kartsmart slotted into 5th. Matt and Gary being the first of the top teams to be playing the wildcard. Jason Jones and Dave Hunter looked sharp in the 55 SRP kart.

In the GP grid honours went to Road Runners, with Gary Coombes and Kevin Schofield doing the business, it also give them 7th overall. Jason Redding looked on good form in the 95 Red MAX racing kart and reported good things from their new chassis. Declaring that it was releasing from corners much better, which is what was killing them for most of the season, mission accomplished.

Titan Motorsport, the second front running team to be playing their wildcard today, were down in 9th and although they looked quick, they had some work to do against some very quick teams ahead of them, as did Spec Savers with Rob Lofting and Tom Case piloting the 73 kart who by their standard were off the pace.

Auction My Igloo, who had reverted back to the MAX engine to chase more championship points were off the pace too and could only manage 11th. Auto 1 Racing were running in an engine for most of free practice and so 12th slot wasn't at all bad for Mike and Graham.

The PRD powered KKC 2 kart was struggling with fuel pickup and 13th was a little frustrating for them as it is capable of so much more. Talking of frustrated, Jamie Tanser in the 11 e-e Sport kart started the session very quickly but tailed off the pace and could only place it 14th. The team were now working very hard to find out what was losing them time.

New team Kart-Orze looked useful in 15th and were making encouraging noises after the qualifying flag dropped. JD Vipers were down in 16th with Julian Hunt and John Bennett looking for pace from somewhere. When I said no-one was praying when they looked up at the sky, I think maybe I hadn't considered Julian and John!

Zero Racing was struggling with a power loss problem and by their standard were off it. 2old2b Racing were pacing themselves and working on the consistency angle. Still not a bad lap time though. Axles of Evil looked quicker then 19th, as did Hammonds Heroes in 20th with both teams just chasing a set up.

Measuring the lap times and grid slots in hundredths ensures tensions are high as the grid forms and with a damp patch sitting at turn one the expectations for a clean start were not high! So everything was set for the AM Race.

GP Round 6 and GP Premier Round 13

Defying logic and in some cases gravity, the start was clean and tidy with all 20 karts getting round the first corner without issue. RKC Racing 2 with Barry Ives took the lead with a great start, while RKC Racing 1's Jo Giovannini slotted in behind with Steve Stapley in the B&R charge right behind. There was then a gap to Kartsmart, Roadrunners, Titan Motorsport, Spec Savers and SRP, all of whom looked quick.

Jason Redding in the Red MAX kart got mugged at the start and dropped two places behind Kart-Orze and ee-Sport.

As the race settled down Axles of Evil took an early bath when they lost a chain and Auction My Igloo lost the first of three engines, ouch!

Back at the front RKC 1 overhauled their teammates for the lead and shortly after B&R followed suit to take up 2nd place. The man on the move was Jason Jones in the 55 SRP kart who drove the gap up to the back of Kevin Schofield, no mean feat in itself and then passed him almost immediately. He then did the same to Barry Ives in the RKC Racing 2 kart and set about chasing down the leaders.

Auto 1 Racing left the battlefield with a blown engine as did KKC and just to throw in a curve ball it started to rain! A scene reminiscent of a ballet ensued with karts spinning everywhere.

Barry Hammond made an early stop for wets and refuelled at the same time. This proved decisive and he leap-frogged the "traffic-jam" that followed. Eventually only Kart-Orze were left on slicks and they continued to tip-toe round until it started to dry. By now the race was well shaken up but there were some good wet weather drives worthy of note, namely, Barry Hammond, Steve Stapley, Matt Coles and both the Kart Orze boys did well on slicks! Make a note to buy wets for the future!!

The race finished with B&R taking the honours from SRP's and a great drive from Titan Motorsport to take 3rd from 9th at the start. RKC Racing dropped to 4th at the end due to being stuck in the pits queuing to change tyres and refuel. Spec Savers finished 6th with Kartsmart only 4 seconds behind them.

Roadrunners took GP victory from Hammonds Heroes as they finished 8th and 9th overall respectively. Jason Redding finished in the Red MAX in 10th place and had a good drive but I suspect he was looking for more today? 2old2b Racing played the consistency game well and finished a credible 11th overall with Kart-Orze finishing a great 12th after completing the race entirely on slicks.

JD Vipers took the 3rd slot in GP and 13th overall and made no excuses afterwards by declaring they just weren't quick enough. Auction My Igloo having lost 2 engines in the race did extremely well to finish 14th overall. e-e Sport finished 15th and Jamie was despondent after the race as his pace is much quicker then that.

Zero Racing simply couldn't get the engine to run smoothly and struggled to 16th after they lost a chain too. Axles of Evil having suffered the same issues finished 17th and Auto 1 Racing managed a couple of laps with a replacement engine to get it ready for the Premier race and finished 18th here. KKC 1 and KKC 2 finished the race I the pits with engine issues and decided to use the time to get the MAX ready for the PM Premier race.

Post Race Analysis

A lot of drivers showed off some good driving skills in these changeable conditions today and there was some inspired pit work and decision making that really worked well for the teams concerned.

B&R were special in both the wet and dry with Neil Garrison and Steve Stapley on top form. Good leadership from Mike Williams completed a winning team (it says here) and they deserve the drive of the day award. Well done gentlemen!

Barry Hammond took his first trophy today and deserved it. He drove very well and great team work and decisions on when to change tyres paid off for him.

Titan Motorsport showed their metal again with a 3rd place from a very difficult 9th place grid slot.

Jason Jones was blisteringly fast in the dry and deserved second place overall.

Whilton Mill proved to be a tough track on engines today but it is a great track to drive and a real plus on the race calendar.