Rissington
KC - Club Championship
June Meeting
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Rissington
KC - Club Championship |
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Rissington
KC - Club Championship
June Meeting - Little Rissington - 03/06/01
Race report by Chris Hartley
Exactly seven months since the last chequered flag had been waved, the Rissy faithful turned out in full force to finally get their 2001 season underway. The Foot and Mouth crisis hit Rissington harder than most, with the club forced to cancel the opening three rounds of its championship; but it was back to business as usual, as almost 200 karters arrived to make this a truly memorable weekend.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, there was an atmosphere unlike any I have previously experienced at any kart meeting in the ten years since I first became involved with the sport. The enthusiasm of the drivers, mechanics and officials - all delighted to be back doing what they love the most - was infectious. It was somehow fitting therefore, that the quality of racing throughout was of the very highest standard.
Super One racer, Will Miller, took a sensational pole position after dominating a large field of Formula Cadets, with three straight heat wins. 2000 championship runner-up, Adam Shipstone, started alongside but was quickly squeezed down to third by James Birch. Dale Bowkett was another fast starter, moving from sixth to fourth. The leading quartet remained as one until lap three, when Bowkett dropped back, promoting Jason Wilson to fourth spot. On lap four, it was Marcus Allen's turn to upset the order. Having started on the fifth row, Allen was Terrier-like in his attack of the frontrunners, demoting Wilson, Shipstone and Birch in quick succession, before almost immediately disposing of Miller to take the lead.
Will Miller (98), Adam Shipstone,
(87) and James Birch (24) prepare to do battle in the Formula Cadet final.
This must have come as quite a surprise to Miller, as it was very possibly the first time he had been overtaken all day. Worse was to on lap seven though, as Miller dropped from second to fifth. But the Sandhurst-based driver was having none of it. Amazingly, the next time the pack across the start/finish line, Miller had somehow forced his way back in front. Shipstone had also fought his way past Allen, who was now third, just ahead of Birch and Wilson. Further back, Jake Farndon, Nicholas Smith and Dale Bowkett were all scrapping for sixth place.
During the last couple of circuits, just inches separated the top five, but Miller kept his cool to take a deserved victory. Some last lap wrangling saw Allen steal second from Shipstone, with Wilson fourth, Birch falling to fifth and Farndon just fending off Smith to take sixth.
In Junior TKM, pole went to James Smith - a double race-winner in 2000 - with the promising Scott Allen right alongside. Allen took an early advantage by pulling off a gritty move around the outside of the polesitter going into Paddock for the first time. Reigning champion, Charlie Watt, briefly moved into third, but was quickly demoted by Ashley Harris, under braking into the Elbow. Michael Meadows made a lightning start to move into fifth, ahead of Jason Dredge.
On lap two, Harris slotted inside Smith at Paddock to take second. However, he was already two seconds adrift of Allen, who had been busy setting some Schumacher-esque early flying laps, to pull clear of the squabbling pack. Harris then set about trying to reduce the deficit, spectacularly using every inch of tarmac - and then some - whilst Watt overtook Smith for third position.
At mid-distance, Charlie Watt retired after a tangle with James Smith. This gave Jason Dredge an easier than expected passage to third place, ahead of the recovering Smith, with Meadows fifth and Luke Jones now sixth.
Despite his best efforts, Harris was unable to close the gap to the leader and Allen actually began to edge away during the closing stages, taking the flag by 3.55 seconds. Still, it was Harris's best Rissy finish since entering the class as Cadet champion at the beginning of 2000. Dredge took third place, just ahead of Smith. Meadows was next across the line, with Nick Miles an excellent sixth on his Junior TKM debut, and Robert Watson sixth, just two-tenths ahead of Mark Tisdale.
After narrowly missing out on the 2000 Junior TKM title, Adam Constable moved up to Junior TKM Intermediate and proceeded to obliterate the field with three wins and three fastest laps in the heats. Seemingly, the only hope for front row compatriot, Brenton Jones, was to snatch the lead into the first corner and defend like mad. It didn't happen, and Constable quickly (very quickly) set off into the distance. Still, not everyone deserted Jones, as Edward Giddings, Peter Baldwin, Craig Underhill and Gary Fowler all paid very close attention to the man in second.
It took until lap five though, before Baldwin forced his way past. Underhill took immediate advantage and suddenly, Jones was demoted to fourth. Then on lap six, Baldwin left the door ajar going into the Elbow and Underhill seized his opportunity on the inside line. As the two karts ran side by side into the apex of the corner, there was a slight contact and Baldwin ran wide. Giddings, Jones and Fowler all pounced and Baldwin found himself down in sixth place.
Two laps later, Jones guided his kart past Underhill and back into second place, whilst Niraj Gorshia - running in the sole Junior Rotax Max entry of the day - began to mix it with Giddings and Fowler, after successfully passing an unsettled Baldwin. As Constable cruised to victory, there was excitement all the way to the flag, as Jones just fended off Underhill and Giddings for second place. Just over half a second separated the trio at the line. Gorshia claimed fifth on the track, while Fowler and Ian Blake were fifth and sixth in class.
As usual, it was difficult to pick a winner in TKM Clubman, with Chris Needham, James Gubby, Jamie Bell and Scott Pinnell all taking heat wins. Needham took pole, narrowly edging out reigning Midland Champion, James Bartlett. Needham got the perfect start into Paddock and Bell hung on to his tail, to push Bartlett down to third, Anthony Greaves and Alex Checketts moved up to fourth and fifth, as Gubby and Damian Sleep clipped wheels going through the first corner.
On lap three, Bartlett fought past Bell to retake second, as Checketts grabbed fourth from Greaves and Roger Snook slotted into sixth. Bell stayed with Bartlett for a short time, before the Gloucester student began to pull clear. Further back, a long train of karts - now led by Adam Roberts - battled for the final top-six position. Unfortunately, Roberts and Greaves both crashed out on lap nine, leaving Nick Talbot and Gregg Strutt to pursue fourth-placed Checketts. Up front, Needham was able to gradually ease away from Bartlett and was 3.52 seconds clear at the flag. Bell and Checketts were closely matched in third and fourth, with Talbot and Strutt rounding out the top six.
Pole position was the reward for Nick Passmore's consistency during the TKM Premier heats, whilst 2000 Clubman runner-up, Mark Allsworth, made an impressive class debut to start on the outside of row one. Neither was as quick off the mark as Ross Allen though, who rocketed into the lead on lap one. As Passmore and Allsworth were forced to settle into second and third places, ex Formula ICA expert, Steven Brady, moved into fourth, ahead of Martin James and Guy Tolley.
The leading trio remained nose to tail to nose during the coming laps and split from the fourth, fifth and sixth placed men, who were enjoying their own close scrap. It remained so until the second half of the race, when Allen and Passmore just began to edge clear of Allsworth. While Passmore remained glued to Allen's rear bumper, he - as is often the case with Passmore - never made any serious attempt to get by. It looked as though the man from Southampton might be biding his time, waiting to launch a surprise attack on the last lap. This he did, as the duo went into the Elbow for the final time.
Aware of the threat, Allen braked very late into the corner, so as not to encourage a last-chance-saloon dive up the inside from Passmore. He succeeded, but was disadvantaged by a slower exit speed and Passmore very nearly stole the victory on the run up to the line, denied in the end by just 0.09 seconds. Thanks to a late charge, Allsworth wasn't too far behind either, (half a second), while Brady used his experience to stave off Guy Tolley and Will Alderson for fourth, after Martin James dropped out of the action late on.
For the first time in a very long time, a class other than TKM Clubman had the biggest grid of the day. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this honour fell to the booming Formula Rotax Max class. With 43 entrants, the class was required to run a 'B' final and it was Richard Davies, Piers Sexton, Pasha Sailol and Robert Deverell who qualified comfortably for the back of ' A' final grid, almost seven seconds clear of the field.
In the all-important 'A' final, Stuart Quittenton set about putting a below par 2000 behind him, by claiming pole position alongside David Oldroyd. Quittenton made a good start to head the field at the end of lap one, but Oldroyd slipped to fourth, behind Lloyd Williams and former British Championship ace, Jon Daltrey. After a promising start, Williams was then forced out of the action on lap two, promoting Daltrey to second, Oldroyd to third, James Packwood to fourth and last year's championship runner-up, Mark Melhuish, up to fifth. Meanwhile, Matthew Nicoll-Jones (driving the sole Formula ICA entry) had moved from eighteenth on the grid to sixth.
At the front, Daltrey continued to pressurise the leader until lap five, when Quittenton's untidy exit of the Dog Leg allowed the second-place man to get down the inside on the run into Bottom Bend. As the two karts entered the flat-out turn side by side, it looked like a fairly standard move in which Quittenton would be forced to concede the racing line. And indeed, Quittenton seemed to be giving Daltrey the room to come through when the two karts clipped one another and were both sent careering onto the grass, and out of the race, in spectacular fashion.
Oldroyd was gifted the lead, but was under immediate pressure from Nicoll-Jones, who had already charged past Packwood and Melhuish, with some committed driving. Despite being visibly slower than the man on his tail, Oldroyd doggedly defended his lead until lap eight, when the inevitable happened. By this time, Melhuish and Oliver Crawford had both outmanoeuvred Packwood, to move into third and fourth. Three seconds further down the road, reigning champion, Louise Colin was busy fending off Nick Mathias for sixth place. The order remained thus until the flag, with Nicoll-Jones claiming overall victory, but the class win actually going to Oldroyd.
In Formula 125 Open, Mark Todd, Ross Adams and Paul Johnson filled the front row of the grid, but the poleman's fourth successive poor start of the day, left Adams as the leader at the end of lap one, with Marcus Cunnington up to third and Johnson dropping to fourth.
Todd was clearly quicker than the rest of the field, but in heat three, Adams had been fast enough to keep the Super 4 stalwart behind him to take victory. It therefore looked as though an interesting battle was in store, as Adams again began digging his heels in. However, it took until just lap three for Todd to squeeze his way into the lead, under braking into Paddock. As it happened though, this meant that the large crowd was now in for a real treat, as Todd, Cunnington and Johnson began a fierce and entertaining battle for second place.
For the next six laps, it was virtually impossible to keep up with the race, as the three drivers frantically swapped positions as often as two or three times a lap. It was an excellent display of racing skill and a shame it had to end on lap nine, when Cunnington and Johnson got a little too friendly and dropped back from a very relieved Adams. Richard Palmer moved into third, but was never able to threaten Adams, whilst Cunnington and Johnson fell away in fourth and fifth, with what looked like handling problems after their early race excitement. Former champion, Kevin Busby, improved to take sixth place. Another fine win for Todd then, who made the best possible start to his defence of the title. Shaun Stonier was the only finisher in Formula 210 and therefore, the class winner.
Steve Dennis, Chris Morris and Lee Fenwick filled the front row in the Formula 250 National/International final. While Dennis stuttered off the line, Fenwick made a blinding start to take the lead into turn one. Who needs launch control?! Dennis and Morris slotted in behind the sixteen-year old, while Mally Witts moved to fourth, ahead of Mike Williams and Rob Wynell-Mayow.
Dennis and Morris quickly set about trying to wrestle the lead away from their less experienced rival, but Fenwick was having none of it. By lap three, Witts - who finished an outstanding 3rd in last year's Super 4 series - had joined to make it a four-way scrap. One lap later, the man from Crick shot past Morris and into the top three. As the quartet left the rest of the field in their wake, Scott Emberson moved into sixth spot, following the demise of Wynell-Mayow, with Ron Stamp just behind.
Witts patiently waited for the right opportunity to present itself and it wasn't until lap seven that he eventually found a way past Dennis and into second place. By this time, Fenwick had just pulled a few kart lengths clear and was looking comfortable, but - having already negotiated a fair amount of traffic - the leader had a whole gaggle of slower karts to deal with in the closing stages. Witts' greater experience finally told as Fenwick came to lap a backmarker through Paddock on the last lap. The leader was delayed by only a fraction of a second, but it was just enough for Witts to seize his opportunity and steal the victory. An impeccable drive saw Witts take the flag, with Fenwick a superlative second on his 250 debut. Dennis and Morris were just behind in third and fourth, with Emberson and Stamp rounding out the top six, following Williams' late retirement.
Drive of the Day:
Results
Formula Cadet
Fastest lap: Allen, 51.80s
Junior TKM
Fastest lap: Allen, 45.79s
Junior TKM Intermediate
Fastest lap: Constable, 46.23s
Formula TKM Clubman
Fastest lap: Gareth Lewis (Wright/TKM)
Formula TKM Premier
Fastest lap: Allsworth, 45.95s
Formula Rotax Max
Fastest lap: Oldroyd, 43.09s
Formula 125 Open/Formula 210
Class winners: Todd, Shaun Stonier Fastest lap: Mark Todd 31.75s
250 National/International
Class winners: Witts, Heath Marah Fastest lap: Fenwick, 31.08s
Press Contact:
Chris Hartley
Tel: 01902 714957 (work)
Tel: 0121 382 4033 (home)
E-mail: chris@connect-group.com
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