Club 2000 | Round 9 | 6 August 2022

With 80 entrants, it was a busy day of racing among all of the classes, even the Prokarts! Despite the sweltering weather, we had a great round as we welcomed many new faces.

Honda Cadet

There was some great, clean racing between the cadets yet again, up and down the whole grid.

Will Archer (66) had a significant improvement in pace since his last outing as a Cadet at Club2000. Will (66) went quickest in qualifying with a 46.670 but his fastest lap was deleted due to a nose cone penalty. Theo Hamilton (30) set an impressive 46.960 which was almost 2 seconds quicker than his qualifying lap last round. Just 1 tenth separated second place from fifth!

Throughout the day, Nathan (89) was putting pressure on Max Wheatley (12) and Will (66). Up to heat 3, he had been following closely and waiting to pounce. He finally made a couple of nice moves in heat 3 and took the lead within 4 laps. In the final, he started third yet again but after just three laps this time, he had the lead.

After starting 6th in the Final, Lewis Riley (90) had a great start and moved up 3 positions within the opening 2 laps. Despite some quick driving from WIll (66), Lewis (90) held third until the very end, finishing just a tenth ahead across the line.

Fastest Lap

Lewis Riley (90) | Heat 2 | 46.478s

Results

1st – Nathan Gange (89)

2nd – Max Wheatley (12)

3rd – Lewis Riley (90)

4th – Will Archer (66)

5th – Harry Samuel (22)

Junior Rotax

Another busy round for the Juniors with 16 entrants! The action was seemingly non-stop as some drivers were still getting to grips with the track and the rest were all fighting hard for positions.

With a packed qualifying session, many of the drivers seemingly struggled to even get a clean lap in. Euan Richards (29) improved by 3 tenths on his last lap to take pole ahead of Matthew Copsey (97). Only a second separated first to thirteenth. Unfortunately, Euan's (29) hard work was undone on the first lap, as he and Seamus Cox (79) had an incident at Senna which dropped them both to the back. After making a great comeback up to seventh, Euan (29) sadly retired just one lap from the end.

Liam Phillips (3) had a great start in the first heat, passing 5 drivers within the first lap. Sam Cooper (44) had a great start, too. After starting twelfth, he was up to sixth before he started dropping down the order due to (I assume) kart issues.

After a hard-fought sixth place in the first heat, Alex Beale (43) had a disappointing start to the second heat after having an incident on the first lap. Despite dropping to the back, he kept his head down and made his way back up to ninth. He suffered a similar fate in the final too; on the second lap, he dropped to the back and found himself behind Anthony Ward (33) who began defending his position. After a few attempts at cracking Anthony's (33) defence, Alex (43) passed him and Isaac Reynolds (61) in quick succession a few laps from the end.

Jenson Mason (85) had some impressive pace despite only racing at Club2000 a few times in his Rotax. Some good driving put him fourth in the first heat and on the second lap of the second heat, he took third from Adam White (13). Jenson Mason (85) began reeling in the championship leader, Jenson Weston (34) and, on the last lap, he made a move to take second place. The Jensons also had a close battle in the Final for second place. Weston (34) had a good start and passed Mason (85) but on lap 6, his defence cracked. Once Mason (85) had gotten past, he began extending the gap to solidify second place.

An unfortunate last-lap retirement in heat 2 caused Elliot Reed-Hughes to start 15th for the third heat. He began making some moves at a rate of almost a kart per lap and by lap six, he was just a few seconds behind Euan (29). Although he was pushing and setting his quickest laps, he couldn't quite catch him by the end of the heat.

Fastest Lap

Euan Richards (29) | Qualifying | 40.540s

Results

1st – Matthew Copsey (97)

2nd – Jenson Mason (85)

3rd – Jenson Weston (34)

4th – Jason Ducis (16)

5th – Seamus Cox (79)

Prokart

For the second time this year, we were joined by the seniors; Jeremy, Harvey, James Snr & James Jnr. William Bloom (23) returned, too and they all tore up the track together. As expected, the racing was clean and respectful!

Jeremy (72) spent a lot of his day lapping with Oscar Coughlan (62), helping him out with the racing line. Harvey (88) had an unfortunate day due to an uncharacteristic engine failure in the very first heat which blew a big hole out the side of it.

Fastest Laps

Juniors | Alfie Campbell (40) | Heat 2 | 44.109s

Seniors | Jeremy Lock (72) | Heat 2 | 43.976s*

Junior Results

1st – Alfie Campbell (40)

2nd – William Bloom (23)

3rd – Oscar Coughlan

Senior Results

1st – Jeremy Lock (72)

2nd – James Drabwell Jnr (5)

3rd – James Drabwell Snr (22)

*Unofficial lap record set using Komet tyres.

Senior Rotax

It was the busiest round so far this year for the seniors with 19 entrants in total! Although he's known for his TKM racing, Charlie Machin (15) joined us in a Rotax this round and shared first place with Lloyd Bell (100) throughout the day. Championship leader, Bryn Evans (77) couldn't quite secure as many points as he usually does with the extra competition in attendance. His unfortunate retirement in heat 2 didn't help matters either.

Matt Davey (85) was in top form from the get-go, passing 6 drivers within the first lap of the first heat. After a few more moves, he settled into fifth after starting fifteenth. In the third heat, he took second by passing 3 drivers during lap one. Soon, Bryn (77) was on his tail but, with some great driving, he kept him behind and took second.

It wasn't the best of days for James Saville-stones (51). He started his day with heat two since he didn't make the start for heat one. He had a good race, though, by making a few good overtakes and ultimately finishing just behind Lewis Fagg (64) in eighth. It all went wrong for him in heat three just two laps from the end. Coming into the Esses, he had contact with Michael Thompson (90) from the rear which sent his kart airborne. After the session was red flagged, James (51) managed to continue but, unfortunately, Michael (90) retired after going into the tyre wall.

It was good to see Josh Twitchen (25) back after his crash back in round six. It seems it hadn't knocked his confidence as he had decent pace and was making some good moves.

Fastest Lap

Bryn Evans (77) | Heat 1 | 39.877s

Results

1st – Charlie Machin (15)

2nd – Lloyd Bell (100)

3rd – Matt Davey (85)

4th – Bryn Evans (77)

5th - Charlie Flux (86)

Senior Rotax 177

A mammoth round for the 177s with a whopping 21 entrants! The racing was hectic but in a good way - the vast majority kept it clean and it was a great spectacle with 21 drivers flying around our technical track.

It was a day to forget for the championship leader, Rob Reeve (15). In the first couple of heats, he was working hard to make his way to the front but it all started to unfold for him in the third heat. Just a few laps in, he dropped his chain and pulled off onto the grass. Only 2 laps from the end of the final, he came together with Jay Ford (99) and retired from the race.

David German (29) had his most successful round so far this year with three wins and a sixth-place finish. He had his work cut out for him in the second heat, starting 16th on the grid. Almost every lap, he passed a driver and, by the end, he was up in sixth.