Round 7 Report - Motors TV Ultimate Karting Challenge
Signed photographs, fan mail, e-mails all over the place, what has it all come down to?
What next?, an onsite coiffure in the paddock perhaps? Three Sisters will never be the same again.
Seriously though, the impact that the Motors TV Ultimate Karting Challenge has made on the karting world should not be underestimated with the event being eagerly watched by fans in dozens of European countries and underlining MBKC as THE most innovative and pro-active kart club in the UK.
With just two rounds to come after today, it is really boiling down into an exciting finale with at least two, and possibly three of the four class entry likely to be decided on the final round of the season in November, what a meeting that one is likely to be, book your spot on the viewing hill early!!!
No problems with the weather for round 7 either as the Cadet class got us underway, a class which has created possibly most interest during this series, with it`s wafer close finishes and super competitive edge creating some genuine edge of the seat moments and today was going to prove no exception.
Daniel Sweeney led the championship going into round 7, but with Ryan Burns wearing the No. 2 and Luke Hughes No. 3, there can never be an easy race for anyone. Quality all the way down this field, with the likes of David McNicoll, Joe Byrne, Connor Llewellyn and Jacob Hunstone all there in the shake up. Slot in dangerous late entries like Josh Fry and William Hunter and it can be seen just how competitive this class is.
Fry started on row 1 and was soon forcing the pace along with the quickly improving Hunter who had started on row2, but, by lap 4, Hughes and Byrne were really starting to charge through the pack. Hughes has been in outstanding form this year and as he edged through into third place he must have fancied he was going to be on for yet another victory. He then nudged past Hunter to set up a dogfight in the final few laps with Fry, although Byrne, who had also ripped through the field to move into third spot, was by no means out of contention either. Hughes did take the lead briefly on the penultimate lap, but Fry is made of stern stuff and he wasn`t going to give this up easily, edging back into the front spot, then, in an amazing final lap, just holding off Hughes with some fantastic defensive work to take the narrowest of victories by a mere 0.058secs, Byrne a whisker back in third place with Hunter in fourth. Championship leader Sweeney came in fifth with Hunstone in sixth, meaning that Hughes has now taken up the championship advantage by a single point going into round eight with Burns nine points adrift in third spot. Should be a real dogfight in the last two rounds.
In the Minimax class, Jordan Holmes, another of the late entrants into the series was starting from the front of the grid with the current championship leader, James Theodore going from the back, as indeed he has from round 2, the No2 driver, Shenade Gress alongside him, although, for Gress, it was to prove a pretty disastrous day as she could finish no higher than 13th on the day, a result that dropped her back to fourth in the overall standings.
At the front, Holmes was going well from the start, quickly pulling out a big advantage over the rest of the pack, with Joe Boullen, on the No4 plate and Theodore coming through the pack to take up seconf and thirs spots and, with Holmes looking pretty comfortable out in front, it really became a great battle between these two rivals for the second place. Holmes drove an exemplary race to take the victory by a comfortable 1.832secs, Boullen just held on under extreme pressure from Theodore to take second spot with Roy Gill, Jamie Fegan and Ross Anderson making up the top six placings. It would certainly be a major surprise were Theodore not to take the championship at this stage, leading by a handsome 26 points from Boullen, edging up two spots, with Roy Anderson remaining third after his 8th place today and Gress slipping back from 2nd to 4th, although only five points separate Boullen, Anderson and Gress.
Junior Rotax Max saw another quick newcomer on the front row, in the shape of Curt Holmes and, as expected, he quickly made his grid advantage tell to blaze away into the lead. Joe McKeand, the current championship leader was going well and making up spots from the rear of the grid, but the one they all needed to watch was the Scottish driver Ross Wylie, wearing the No5 plate, Wylie was really on fire as he charged through the pack to move into 2nd spot, way ahead of the rest of the field, to set up a two kart battle between himself and Holmes. Holmes must have been pretty surprised to see Wylie snapping away at his bumper in the late stages, surely having thought the race was sewn up. Wylie wasn`t going to be denied, grabbing the advantage on the penultimate lap and holding on for a quite remarkable victory, taking it by 0.695secs, McKeand some 4.5secs back, but still happy with third place, Ryan Tod, Daniel Murphy and John Stewart making up the front six. Murphy must now be regretting having done the first round in Minimax before giving in to the weight disadvantages and going into Junior Rotax, the extra points would have given a whole new pictiure to the championship, which is starting to look good for McKeand who, on 205 points, leads Stewart by 12 points with Tom Wrigley, Wylie and Murphy following these.
Finally, it was on to the only senior class of the series, TKM Extreme, and this is an incredibly tight championship that is surely destined to go right to the wire. Paul Monks led going into this round, but the Bury based driver didn`t have the greatest of days, seemingly beset by a number of problems and, in the end, did really well to get 6th spot and some damage limitation so far as his championship hopes were concerned. Another prominent contended, Luke Caudle was another driver who didn`t have the best of times, managing 7th spot behind Monks. It soon turned into a three way battle between Phil Smith, Matt Bell and James Duxbury for the front, as these three put a gap between themselves and 4th placed Martyn Lyell, with Anthony Lester, Monks and Caudle way behind. Indeed Smith, a three times victor in the series so far, had to be content with third spot as Bell and Duxbury pulled away to set up a great battle in the later stages, with Bell just edging it in a tense last lap, reaching the flag just 0.211secs ahead of Duxbury, although Duxbury it is at the end of round 7 just moving ahead of Monks on 206 points to 203, Caudle is a further 6 points adrift followed closely by Smith, Lester and Bell, who, following his victory today, may now possibly be regretting his decision last month not to follow Caudle`s lead, simply do one lap and then retire, thereby picking up the 20, or so points on offer, rather than missing the meeting completely after the clash with the Fulbeck Super 1 event. Time will, no doubt tell.
One thing is for sure.......it is going to be a cracking last couple of rounds, starting with round 8 on the 28th October, whatever you do, don`t miss it.
Report by Mel Tipton
CADET
Josh Fry
Luke Hughes
Joe Byrne
Henry Hunter
Daniel Sweeney
Jacob Hunstone
MINIMAX
Jordan Holmes
Joe Boullen
James Theodore
Roy Gill
Jamie Fegan
Ross Anderson
JUNIOR ROTAX MAX
Ross Wylie
Curt Holmes
Joe McKeand
Ryan Tod
Daniel Murphy
John Stewart
TKM EXTREME
Matt Bell
James Duxbury
Phil Smith
Martyn Lyell
Anthony Lester
Paul Monks