Club 2000 | Round 10 | 3 September 2022

It was another busy round and we were joined by SARS (Suffolk Accident Rescue Service) and the Mod160 Prokarts. Ex-Club2000 driver, Ollie Handley was a special guest, too, and he brought along his Racing Mini as a little exhibition. The atmosphere was great and so was the weather.

Honda Cadet

It was an epic round for the cadets with 20 entrants in total. Even with a packed grid, we saw some top-tier racing from all. Teddie Cooper (79) extended his lead of the championship and is now 176pts clear of Alfie Rich (27). It's still very close from 4th to 6th where just eight points separate them.

It was a great day for Theo Hamilton (30) who took his first podium and he stayed there from heat 1 to the final. Up there with him was Lewis Riley (90) who started the day strong with two second-place finishes. In the third heat, he spun coming around the Esses and, when he slotted back into the pack, he was down in ninth. Ethan Okoro (34), who found himself just ahead of Lewis (90), defended well and kept him behind him until the end. Theo (30) started second ahead of Lewis (90) for the final and had a great getaway from the grid to remain second. Coming around the esses, Lewis (90) found a gap and went for it to take second from Theo (30). The pair raced closely until the end, where Lewis (90) finished just 0.2s ahead.

Benjamin Lorne (80) showed a vast improvement compared to his last visit, improving his mean average finishing position from 10 to 4.5. He knocked four tenths off on his last lap of qualifying which placed him third in heat one. Within the first lap though, Theo (30) passed him and remained ahead until the end of the race.

Fastest Lap

Teddie Cooper | Qualifying | 46.544s

Results

1st – Teddie Cooper (79)

2nd – Lewis Riley (90)

3rd – Theo Hamilton (30)

4th – Will Archer (66)

5th – Benjamin Lorne (80)

Junior Rotax

We had a fair few drivers who were brand new to Club2000 this round yet the standard of driving remained clean and respectful - there wasn't even a single dropped bumper throughout the day! Jenson Weston (34) looks set to win the championship at this rate, with the only thing that, runner-up, Sam Cooper (44) could hope for is a well-timed retirement or two.

We had to bid our farewells to Alex Beale (43) who enjoyed his last ever round before moving away. In heat 2, Alex (43), Will Rogers (53) and Ben Bourne (12) had a tangle coming around Paddock just before the first racing lap which caused the red flags to come out. The drivers were okay but Ben (12) was the only driver able to make the start. Now starting 13th in the third heat, Alex (43) put his head down and climbed up to fifth after passing two karts on the last lap. He started twelfth in the final and you could see the determination and passion he was putting into his last race. He made some brilliant moves and worked his way up to fifth to finish off an emotional day.

Euan Richards (29) had a rather emotional day, too, but they were all good emotions, considering he took his first win at Club2000. He drove well and stayed on the top step all day, being mostly unchallenged for the lead. He almost had the fastest lap in every race apart from heat 1, when Elliot Reed-Hughes (95) was on a big push to catch him from second place.

Fastest Lap

Euan Richards (29) | Qualifying | 40.512s

Results

1st – Matthew Copsey (97)

2nd – Jenson Mason (85)

3rd – Jenson Weston (34)

4th – Jason Ducis (16)

5th – Seamus Cox (79)

Mod160 Prokarts

Joining as our guest class for Round 10, the Mod160 Prokarts made their annual visit to Club2000. The ever-so-friendly bunch raced their machines around the track to a great standard as expected. Our two Prokart drivers, Oscar Coughlan (62) and Alfie Campbell (40) raced with them and, despite being a bit down on straight-line speed, they had a few good battles.

Tony Whitehead (4) frankly dominated, taking the fastest lap in each heat and the win in each heat, too. Christian Bellaby (66) sat in second all day and was also mostly unchallenged.

The second heat was cut short due to a big incident on Senna where Rohan Smith (7) caught the back wheel of another driver which flipped the kart. Thankfully, the driver was ejected and unscathed. A small flame appeared which a marshal quickly extinguished. The kart was a sad sight to see. (pictured below)

Fastest Laps

Tony Whitehead (4) | Final | 44.236s

Results

1st – Tony Whitehead (4)

2nd – Christian Bellaby (66)

3rd – William Jennings (30)

4th – Alfie Campbell (40)

5th – Steve Grose (32)

Senior Rotax

There were 12 entrants this time and one of them had just moved up from juniors - Matthew Copsey (97). Since he hadn't raced in seniors before, he donned a novice plate and joined the others at the back of the grid. Despite this minor setback, he quickly got used to the additional waft from the power valve and, in his first heat, he made it up to third. His pace improved throughout the day and, for the final, he started in second. After a couple of laps, he made a good move onto Arundel Hughes (24) around the esses for the lead. When the chequered flag came out, he was a whopping 10.726s ahead of Arundel (24).

Josh Twitchen (25) bagged his second win this year in heat three. He'd started second, took the lead from Max Silvain (26) within the first lap and then began to pull away from the pack. By lap 5, he was already 4.4s ahead. A few laps from the end, Matthew (97) passed Charlie Flux (86) for second and began chasing Josh (25). After gaining a second per lap, he didn't have enough time left to catch him and fell short by 3.1s when the chequered came out.

Fastest Lap

Matthew Copsey (97) | Practice 2 | 40.142s

Results

1st – Matthew Copsey (97)

2nd – Arundel Hughes (24)

3rd – Josh Twitchen (25)

4th – James Saville-stones (51)

5th - Charlie Flux (86)

Senior Rotax 177

19 entrants this time for another busy round of Rotax 177 action. Since the championship leader, Rob Reeve (15), sadly won't be returning this year, it seems the title will be passed to either Nick Aitken (21) or George Friday (52). Just 2 points split them so, with two rounds to go, it's anyone's guess who'll win!

It was Nick's (21) lowest scoring round so far this year despite his day getting off to a good start. In heat 1, he started second and held it until lap 7 when David German (29) got past. He'd started in the middle for heat 2 but only managed to gain a few positions. In the hustle and bustle, he picked up a drop-down penalty which demoted him back to tenth, where he'd started. Then, Nick (21) seemed to suffer from an issue in the third heat as he looked like he lacked pace and could only manage thirteenth. In the final, he'd made a good start and made up three places within the first lap. Andy Goodwin (85) put up a good fight as the pair exchanged positions a few times.

Stuart Smith (92) joined the 177s for this round and despite an early first heat retirement, he made the most of his day and did quite well. For heat 2, he had a charge on and passed a kart per lap up to lap 4. After getting through Jamie Allen's (34) defence, he'd got up to fourth. The random grid placed him behind George Friday (52) in heat two and he followed closely behind him for the first eight laps. Stuart (92) made the move for the lead and extended the gap up to 3.5s when the chequered flag came out. The final was just as successful for him, getting past David German (29) on the first lap and then George Friday (52) a few laps later. He held his position all the way until the end to take the third-place trophy.