Club 2000, Round 6, 3 July 2021

Report by Nathan Blake

The threat of rain loomed all day with some showers shaking up the racing.

HONDA

Great racing today from all cadets this round despite only four entries. Theo Hamilton (30) has greatly improved since last round, now being between 2-3 seconds away from the experienced cadets. In Heat 2, Will Rogers (53) had a great start off the line to move up into 1st place but Teddie Cooper (79) was hot on his heels throughout the race. As Teddie Cooper (79) looked up the inside of Will Rogers (53) to take the lead, he seemed to lock up and spin; Kiean Sullivan (26) capitalised on this and moved up into 2nd.

In Heat 3, Will Rogers (53) felt the pressure from Kiean Sullivan (26) making a mistake while being overtaken. Teddie Cooper (79), close behind them, followed Kiean Sullivan (26) through into 2nd. A few laps later, Teddie Cooper (79) pushed Kiean Sullivan (26) wide on 180 corner and gained position resulting in a one place penalty for him.

The Final started with Kiean Sullivan (26) defending a great start from Will Rogers (53). With the three leaders close together, Will Rogers (53) passed Kiean Sullivan (26) on the inside of paddock with Teddie Cooper (79) following him through, both taking 1st and 2nd respectively. Will Rogers (53) and Kiean Sullivan (26) each gained 138 points towards the championship.

1st Will Rogers (53)

2nd Teddie Cooper (79)

3rd Kiean Sullivan (26)

4th Theo Hamilton (30)

MINIMAX

With Alex Beale (43) being the only minimax in attendance again, he joined onto the back of the Junior Rotax grid. Alex Beale (43) put in a good performance even with the changeable weather conditions with a fastest lap of 42.59 during the day.

1st Alex Beale (43)

JUNIOR X30

Cerys Pettitt (53) was the only X30 in attendance today but she seemed to have issues with her kart.  After driving in a wet Heat 1 and retiring in both the 1st and 3rd heats just a few laps from the end, she managed well in the Final and set a 41.9 in not very desirable conditions.

1st Cerys Pettitt (53)

JUNIOR ROTAX

The changeable conditions made for good racing in Junior Rotax.  Torrential rain and everyone on slicks made for very treacherous conditions in Heat 1, however, everyone managed very well.  Sam Cooper (44) went off at French Curve resulting in an unfortunate DNF. He made a great recovery in Heat 2 pushing up into 3rd with a great overtake of Elliott Reed-Hughes (95) from Senna to 180.  Matthew Copsey (97) and Alfie Campbell proved their overtaking skills taking 1st and 2nd respectively.

Jenson Weston had a great start in Heat 3 going on to take 3rd.  Sam Cooper (44), again, made a move onto Elliott Reed-Hughes (95) into senna this time as Elliott Reed-Hughes (95) drifted wide unfortunately hitting the tyre wall resulting in a DNF.  Plumes of smoke were seen emanating from the kart of Anthony Ward (33).

The racing was very close in the Final. Elliott Reed-Hughes (95) had a good start. Matthew Copsey (97) had to come in due to kart issues leaving Jenson Weston (34) to take the lead. Coming out of the last corner, a mistake by Elliott Reed-Hughes (95) let Sam Cooper (44), close behind him, to take position. At this point, Matthew Copsey (97) re-joined the race albeit in last position. Alfie Campbell (40) made a great move to take the lead from Jenson Weston (34) taking home 1st in the Final. Unfortunately, Anthony Ward (33) didn’t start in the final due to his engine seizing.

1st Alfie Campbell (40)

2nd Jenson Weston (34)

3rd Michael Morgan (54)

4th Sam Cooper (44)

5th Elliott Reed-Hughes (95)

JUNIOR TKM

The TKMs managed to avoid most of the rain with the order not shaken up too much. Good close racing between everybody in the heats with a few great overtakes too. Jake Cox (26) had a great start to the day starting on pole in the first two heats. Unfortunately, his luck seemed to change as Oliver Bowen (55) and Charlie Gromett (66) finished 1st and 2nd respectively in Heat 3 and the Final.  Luke Bate (95) was on the pace, pinching the fastest lap in every session except Qualifying.

Heat 3 unfortunately saw two non-starters: Freya Woodall (16) and William Briant (97).

The Final was looking quite uneventful but started to heat up in the last 3 laps. After a good performance in the morning, Freya Woodall (16) sadly retired after the first lap. During these last 3 laps, Luke Jarman (18) managed to pull alongside Jessica Fitch-Hall (22) but backed out at the last moment. Then, the rain came and with everyone on slicks the order started to shuffle.  Luke Bate (95) tagged the rear of Charlie Gromett (66) coming into Senna but valiantly let him back through. Charlie Gromett (66) was on the charge to catch Jake Cox (26) and managed to snatch 2nd from him.  Jake Cox (26) bogged down coming past Oaktree on the last lap allowing Luke Bate (95) to push him into 4th.

1st Oliver Bowen (55)

2nd Charlie Gromett (66)

3rd Luke Bate (95)

4th Jake Cox (26)

5th Jessica Fitch-Hall (22)

JUNIOR PROKART

As always, there was some great racing from the Prokart drivers.  Heat 1 was very interesting as it had started with a fairly wet track. Alfie Wilkes (22) and James Drabwell (5) had taken the gamble to stay on slicks. First lap, Harvey Cursley (44) sadly understeered into Senna and spun, dropping a position to last. Reece Bright (27) moved up into the lead from William Bloom (56). With the track drying, Alfie Wilkes (22) and James Drabwell (5) tyres gripped up as they began reeling in the leaders. Alfie Wilkes (22) took 1st from Reece with James Drabwell (5) following through closely behind. Both struggling on their now, ineffective, wet tyres Reece Bright (27) did well to defend from William Bloom (56) in the dying laps of the race.

With the order now shaken up for Heat 2, took the lead impressively from both Alfie Wilkes (22) and James Drabwell (5) on the first lap. A lap later, William Bloom (56) took 2nd. Coming into Senna, James Drabwell (5) made a mistake allowing Harvey Cursley (44), close behind, to capitalise. Cassidy Beeton (66), Harvey Cursley (44) and James Drabwell (5) were very close during the race. After exchanging positions, Harvey Cursley (44) picked up a Black and White (B/W) warning for tapping James Drabwell (5) and taking position.

It was another close race in the 3rd heat starting with Harvey Cursley (44) passing Alfie Wilkes (22) coming around the Warren.  James Drabwell (5) managed to follow Harvey Cursley (44) through. On the next lap, James Drabwell (5) passed Harvey Cursley (44) at the French Curve. Cassidy Beeton (66) made a good comeback passing Alfie Wilkes (22) and then Harvey Cursley (44) shortly after. Reece Bright (27) worked hard to keep William Bloom (56) behind ending up just 0.36s ahead on the line. Unfortunately, Harvey Cursley (44) picked up another B/W for tapping the back of Cassidy Beeton (66).

For the Final, it was close again. Cassidy Beeton (66) and Harvey were having a great battle through Senna to 180 however Cassidy Beeton (66) picked up a B/W warning for leaving Harvey Cursley (44) no racing room. Soon after, Harvey Cursley (44) attempted a pass up the inside of Cassidy Beeton (66) on 180 with the pair continuing side-by-side up to the Esses. Cassidy Beeton (66), having the inside there, kept the lead. On the last lap, Reece Bright (27) defended well from a great move by William Bloom (56) around the Esses.

1st Reece Bright (27)

2nd William Bloom (56)

3rd James Drabwell (5)

4th Alfie Wilkes (22)

5th Cassidy Beeton (66)

SENIOR ROTAX

It was pretty close between the midfield this round with the two front runners, Arundel Hughes (24) and Thomas Parker (72) exchanging places all day.  After seeing the Prokarts dry up the track, the Rotax’s opted for slicks all around. Straight away, Arundel Hughes (24) gained a big lead. Thomas Parker (72) started reeling him back in casually setting the fastest lap by just over half a second, however, he was still 3.58s short to the line. Vincent Anderson (21) unfortunately picked up a drop-down penalty dropping him from 5th to 6th.

For Heat 2, we saw the same finishing positions as Heat 1 but with Thomas Parker (72) finishing ahead of Arundel Hughes (24). Chloe Kunjasic (14) picked up a puncture resulting in a regrettable retirement. On the last lap, Dylan Tatham (55) seemed to pick up a slow puncture losing two positions but he did so well to defend and still finish 5th.

In Heat 3, there was a Black and White (B/W) warning before the race even began due to Jack Watson (25) changing positions before the start/finish line on the starting procedure. To add to their bad luck, Jack Watson (25) dropped his chain three laps later resulting in an early retirement. Stuart Smith (92) was in the lead when he retired from the race. Coming into 180, Thomas Parker (72) moved onto the inside of Arundel Hughes (24) but seemed to bog down and lose out.  Two laps later, Thomas Parker (72) repeated this move but with more speed, unfortunately, he ran too deep and lost position again. All the while, Dylan Tatham (55) was being caught by Arundel Hughes (24) and Thomas Parker (72). Arundel Hughes (24) made a move to take the lead and Thomas Parker (72) followed suit two corners later.

Having retired from Heat 3, Stuart Smith (92) failed to start in the Final. Thomas Parker (72) looked confident on 180 as, yet again, he made a lunge onto Arundel Hughes (24). This time, it paid off and he claimed 1st. Dylan Tatham (55) seemed to have the widest kart out there as Jack Watson (25) couldn’t find a way past for the whole race. His defending skills paid off as he kept 3rd position with Jack coming home in 4th.

1st Thomas Parker (72)

2nd Arundel Hughes (24)

3rd Dylan Tatham (55)

4th Jack Watson (25)

5th Vincent Anderson (21)

SENIOR ROTAX 177

The Rotax 177s started off pretty uneventfully, dodging the morning showers with tensions rising towards the end of the day.  In the first heat, Jay Ford (99) pulled a 9s lead on the rest of the field. The rest, however, just 2.4s apart from 2nd to 8th.

Again, a pretty uneventful second heat. An unfortunate retirement saw Mike Boswell (27) finish just two laps from the end.

Heat 3 is where it started to get interesting. Gary Cooper (76) made a great move on Justin Clarke (48) around the outside of 180 taking the lead from Jay ford (99) shortly after. With just three minutes to go, light rain slightly dampened the track causing Trevor Palmer (36) to spin coming into Senna just a few laps from the end dropping him into ninth place.

In the Final, Nick Aitken (21) spun in the middle of Senna approaching the first corner with the pack behind him. A few drivers slowly piled into him but, with no injuries, the race continued. Soon after, Robert Reeve (15) took Justin Clarke (48) into 180 to move up into 3rd.  Jay Ford (99), close behind tapped leader Gary Cooper (76) on the rear coming into Senna. With the two fighting, Robert Reeve (15) passed Jay Ford (99) and Gary Cooper (76) for the lead. Unfortunately, Gary Cooper (76)’s bumper had come loose from the contact resulting in a mechanical flag and a DNF.  After a great performance in Heat 3, Mike Boswell (27) broke down on the Esses soon after.

1st Robert Reeve (15)

2nd Justin Clarke (48)

3rd Simon Hilton (65)

4th Jay Ford (99)

5th Phil Patience (66)