Club 2000 | Round 8 | 2 July 2022

It was quite a typical day at Red Lodge and even the weather was totally typical too. The racing throughout the day was top-class though.

Honda Cadet

The top three were close yet again and demonstrated some great racing. The rest of the field was rather spread out throughout the day. The clean standard of driving is becoming a common theme for the Cadets and it's making for some wonderful racing.

Teddie Cooper (79) led the trio but it wasn't easy going for him. Nathan Gange (89) was consistently applying pressure on him while Lewis Riley (90) waited close behind. A couple of times, Nathan (89) managed to sneak past Teddie (79) but with some aggressive counter-attacks from Teddie (79), Nathan (89) never managed to retain the lead.

Ex Youngstarz driver, Benjamin Lorne (88) got stuck into his first race meeting and had a good outing overall. He had a great back-and-forth with Zachary Plumb (10) in the final as the pair exchanged positions 5 times!

Results

1st – Teddie Cooper (79)

2nd – Nathan Gange (89)

3rd – Lewis Riley (90)

4th – Alfie Rich (27)

5th – Ethan Okoro (34)

Minimax

As it was just the three entries this round, the Minimax lads joined onto the back of the Junior Rotax grid. In the second heat, there was some close racing between Alex Chlebiej (7) and Will Rogers (53) which ended with some side-by-side contact. Alex (7) was the quickest of the trio this round overall but he couldn't get his engine started for the final and Will Rogers (53) took the lead in the championship.

Results

1st – Will Rogers (53)

2nd – Alex Chlebiej (7)

3rd – Ben Bourne (12)

Junior Rotax

It was a fairly hectic day of racing for the Juniors, particularly in the second heat. Again, the tyre choice was open due to the Mojo shortage but this didn't hinder the quality of racing at all. There was some great aggressive driving throughout the day and some brave moves being pulled off.

Now just 52 points behind the championship leader, Sam Cooper (44) had a great day overall despite a big knockback in heat 3. After starting at the back, he managed to make it all the way to 5th with some great driving. Thanks to his heat 3 performance, he started pole for the final. Despite Elliot Reed-Hughes (95) getting ahead of him with his quick start, he got a good exit out of Paddock and retook the lead within a few laps.

After dropping to 12th at the start of the first heat, Jason Ducis (16) spent the majority of his day climbing places and making his way to the front. With his elbows out, he managed to consistently gain places until he reached third in heat 3. In the final, he started fifth but was beaten to the line by Liam Phillips (3) who'd overtaken him just two laps from the end.

Euan Richards (29) had a very unfortunate day even after getting off to a great start. In qualifying, he took 2nd by just 0.001s ahead of Jason Ducis (16). He managed to hold his place in heat 2 and finish with a decent gap behind him. Unfortunately, he had contact with another driver on 180 at the start of heat 2 which forced him to retire. For the rest of the day, it seemed the kart wasn't running right and he couldn't finish another heat.

Cameron Pottle (7) and Liam (3) had an epic battle in the very hectic second heat. At first, Liam (3) seemed desperate to pass Cameron (7) and even had 2 wheels on the grass at some points. After getting passed, Cameron (7) pulled off a brave high-speed switchback through the French Curve and took the inside into Senna. A couple of laps later, Liam (3) passed and made it stick to take 7th.

Results

1st – Sam Cooper (44)

2nd – Elliot Reed-Hughes (95)

3rd – Jenson Weston (34)

4th – Adam White (13)

5th – Liam Phillips (3)

Junior Prokart

We didn't have Oscar Coughlan (62) this round so it was just Alfie Campbell (40) and Rocky Clements (23) with the track to themselves. In an effort to promote some racing and with the driver's permission, heat 3 and the final were reversed. In heat 3, Rocky (23) got a slow start off the line and Alfie (40) took the lead in a few seconds. In the final, Rocky (23) held his lead for almost a whole lap until Alfie (40) cruised past him on the way down to Paddock.

Results

1st – Alfie Campbell (40)

2nd – Rocky Clements (23)

Senior Rotax

We had only 8 Seniors this round but we still enjoyed some clean racing. Throughout the day, some great moves were made especially in heat 3, when Arundel Hughes (24) led Bryn Evans (77) through the pack. One by one, Arundel (24) picked off drivers while Bryn (77) pulled off some brave lunges to stay on his tail.

Jenson Holloway (3) had some pretty quick starts throughout the day. In the first heat, he got past Max Silvain (26) and Arundel (24) off the line but on the next lap, Bryn (77) and Arundel (24) powered past him. In heat two, he passed three drivers within the first lap and soon started putting some pressure on Michael Thompson (90). He defended well and didn't crack though, so he took third ahead of Jenson (3)

Charlie Flux (86) held the lead in the first heat but after running wide onto the bumpy run-off out of Paddock, he donated it to Arundel (24). For the remainder of the heat, he did a cracking job of holding off Bryn (77) to secure second.

Results

1st – Arundel Hughes (24)

2nd – Bryn Evans (77)

3rd – Jenson Holloway (3)

4th – Charlie Flux (86)

5th – Michael Thompson (90

Senior Rotax 177

As usual, there was some quality racing from the 177s and with 16 entrants, it was non-stop action. In the first heat, the midfield was extremely close. Behind David German (29), there were 5 karts all within a second of him. Toward the front, Lloyd Bell (100) closed in fast on Sol Patience (66) and, despite some good defending, he passed for the lead on lap three. Rob Reeve (15) was making some moves to get towards the front. After lunging Phil Patience (46) and passing David (29) into the French Curve, he managed third.

Stavros Athanasopoulos (55) started pole in heat two and held it really well from Rob (15). On lap five, though, Rob (15) cruised past him and in an effort to regain his position, Stavros (55) went for a lunge into the Esses. It didn't pay off for him and the pack behind passed him while he was disadvantaged. After a few laps, Lloyd (100) was under pressure from Stavros (55) and was overtaken. Despite some great defence, Lloyd (100) got back at him on the last lap and took 4th.

It was Phil's (46) turn to start pole in heat three and, although he lost the lead to Lloyd (100), he had some great pace to keep Rob (15) in third behind him. On lap 8, George Friday (52) and Jamie Allen (34) had a coming together on the Warren with one of them doing an aerial 180 over the other. Thankfully, both of them were okay but they retired from the race.

In the final, David (29) got a good start from third and passed Rob (15). It was short-lived, though. On the third lap, David (29) clipped the tyre wall at the French Curve and pitted in to retire. Jamie (34) and Paul Pinkney (5) unfortunately both slowed down and came to a stop midway through the final which ended their day a bit early. With good driving and a bit of luck on his side, George Friday (52) started 9th but took 4th when the chequered flag came out.