ABkC National Open Championship and MBKC Winter Cup
Great anticipation had been growing around the paddock all weekend for the first of the seasons `majors`, as teams and drivers renewed `hostilities`ahead of the meeting, with the victors, of course, afforded the right to sport the prestigious MSA `0` plate for the 2007 season.
MBKC were very proud to be hosting this first big championship of the new season and it was a marvellous sight to see the cream of the best drivers from around the country at the Wigan track once again. There was a fantastic entry, with pretty much full grids in the J.I.C.A and I.C.A classes, with fifteen Formula A entries. The Cadet entry too sported a full grid and all the line ups had a real quality about them with many of last seasons top S1 drivers present.
The weather was pretty mixed all weekend, with some heavy showers interspersed with spells of sunshine, although remarkably mild for the time of year, but, having seen some short bursts of rain during the heats, giving drivers and teams a real headache in terms of tyre choices, because, in between the showers the track dried up very quickly indeed, thankfully, the finals were run in perfect dry conditions, providing some truly awesome racing.
Programme order saw the I.C.A. Class first onto the circuit throughout the day. The track was still damp in places as timed practice began, but was drying out quickly, and it was Marcus Allen who took the honours in timed practice ahead of Shaun Carter and David Sutton to place himself on pole for the two heats. The heats were run in mixed weather conditions and were taken by Carter and Sutton, then, in the pre final it was Sutton who took a comfortable victory to place himself on pole position for the final. There was little question that he had certainly been the driver of the day up to that point, but there was an amazing story about to unfold. As they lined up for the final, it was a tantalising prospect, with Sutton and Scott Jenkins on the front row, Jenkins having been phenomenally consistant throughout the heats and pre final and, without question, the busiest man on the circuit, in that he was also entered in the Formula A event which, on paper anyway, assuming he completed every lap of the day, would have given him a total of 105 laps throughout the meeting..........I`m not sure I`d have fancied his petrol bill.
There was some real quality behind the front two, with Charles Bonsey and Jason Edgar on row 2, Marcus Allen and Ireland`s Raymie Eastwood on row 3 and Stefan De Resta and Justin Edgar on row 4. It wasn`t to be the day of some drivers however, Eastwood was out right at the start, with Allen following just 6 laps into the 25 lap event. Sutton, arguably the favourite, was prominent throughout, leading early but dropping back into third place by the finish only to then be disqualified on a non compliance issue, believed to be relating to his air box, so, in the end, it wasn`t to be for Sutton. There was a tremendous cat and mouse battle erupting between Jason Edgar and Jenkins for the victory, with De Resta and Bonsey having their own battle for third spot as it turned out, following Sutton`s disqualification.
It was a fascinating last section of the race with the result in doubt right up to the last corner, but it was Jenkins who just managed to hold it together under the most phenomenal pressure to edge out Edgar by just 0.080secs. Edgar had the consolation of taking the quickest lap of the final. Bonsey and De Resta were having a good battle for the final podium spot with De Resta holding on to take it.
The Cadets gave us some great entertainment all day in the 3rd annual MBKC Cadet Winter Cup. Running to exactly the same format as the `0` plate events, which I thought was maybe a touch harsh on 8 to 12 year old arms and legs, the big, big, question of the day was surely, could Luke Hughes, already a three time winner with both MBKC 2006 championships and the Motors TV crown, make it a four timer with the winter cup?.........well, the drama was about to unfold.
Jake Dennis was quickest in timed practice, followed by Dan Sweeney, with Ryan Burns and Luke Hughes equal in third quickest. Hughes went on to take the first heat, then Jamie Dzyra came to the fore in the mixed conditions, taking heat two, and then also the pre final with Dennis, Sweeney, Hughes, Josh Fry and Burns making up the top six. All this provided a very competitive looking final line up, with Dzyra on pole, Dennis alongside him on the front row, Sweeney and Hughes on row 2, with Fry and Burns on row 3.
A crash entering the valley section of the circuit just after the start saw the red flags out and a couple of drivers needing treatment, later reports confirming that both were, thankfully, ok. Unfortunately, the 20 minute delay meant that the two following finals had to be cut to 20 lap duration.
Pole sitter Dzyra didn`t make the restart and it was quickly a five kart train that pulled out a decent gap at the front, with Dennis, Sweeney, Hughes, Burns and Fry putting a huge amount of distance between themselves and the rest of the pack, pulling away throughout and, by lap 19 of 25, that gap had become around ten seconds and, amazingly for the entire race, the order of the front five never changed, indeed, up to lap 23 nothing changed at the front end, with the exception of apparent fatigue setting in, certainly in the case of Fry, who began to drop back from the front four until, by the end, he was around five seconds off the pace, although still very comfortable in 5th place. It was difficult not to feel sympathy for young Dennis also, having led for the first 24 laps, as soon as he was passed by Sweeney at the start of the final lap, it seemed that exhaustion engulfed him and he dramatically dropped away to finish a most unflattering 16th, which didn`t tell the story of his day at all. Hughes though went with Sweeney, and so did Burns and, right at the death, Hughes found the strength for one last outside lunge to squeeze past Sweeney and get up to the line just 0.034 secs ahead of his great rival. A great effort from Burns too, who was in the shake up right up to the last few feet and eventually just a whisker back in third place. Jacob Stilp, who finished eighth, took the fastest lap of the final.
So, a remarkable four timer for Luke Hughes, the likes of which we may never seem again. As he now moves on to National events this season, the MBKC club would like to wish him every success for the 2007 season.
On then to the Junior I.C.A. Open Championship, and what a line up of talent we had here with 2006 National Champion Jack Harvey leading the line up, along with No2 Oliver Rowland, No4 Jordan Chamberlain, No`s 9, 10 and 11, Tom Joyner, Alice Powell and Mackenzie Taylor respectively, plus the talents of Max Goff, James Thorp, Tom Grice, and John Norris, amongst others fancying their chances, surely we were all in for some fabulous racing.
It most certainly didn`t disappoint in the racing respect, what was disappointing though was the unacceptable number of false starts. Throughout the heats and pre final it was taking up to four formation laps to get the racing underway, which, at this level simply isn`t good enough, and would have been stamped out far earlier in a humble club meeting.
Powell set the quickest lap in timed practice to put herself on pole in the heats, edging out Shane Crosbie and Sam Jenkins, but it was Harvey who took heat one, then Jenkins came up trumps in heat two, before Harvey again came out on top in the pre final from Chamberlain, Grice, Thorp and Rowlands to place himself on pole spot for the final, Chamberlain starting alongside, with Grice and Thorpe on row 2, and Rowland and Jordan Lennox-Lamb on row 3.
The final though didn`t quite work out for Harvey and Chamberlain as they dropped back from their lofty positions to eventually finish in 9th and 11th respectively. Instead, in the early stages, it was Grice who set the pace, with Jenkins, Norris, Thorp and Rowland all prominent, however by mid stage it was Lennox-Lamb who had become a major danger, with Joyner also coming through from a start position of 9 to put pressure on the front few. By lap 13, it had become a five kart breakaway and Lennox-Lamb had by now taken it on from Grice, who slipped back to 5th, although still very much involved in the shake up. Joyner had by now slipped through into 2nd spot and was really putting pressure on the rear bumper of Lennox-Lamb and, with Rowland, Thorpe and Grice all within genuine striking distance, the last three laps looked like being an epic battle. On the penultimate lap, Joyner looked like he had got the inside line on Lennox-Lamb into turn one, only for Lamb to shut the door rather late, nearly wiping Joyner out, a move that the officials took objection to, Lennox-Lamb receiving a warning flag then, on the final lap, Joyner, spotting what he thought was a gap, went for it, causing some contact between himself and the leader, but he was able to make it stick and he got his nose in front to hang on for the rest of the lap and grab an amazing victory by just 0.074secs with Rowland just a whisker back in third.
The recriminations seemed to continue as the front two left the circuit and, not surprisingly, news filtered through that a protest had been lodged, before it was finally confirmed that the positions remained unchanged.
Joyner was the National Open Champion for 2007.
Could it get any better? Had the best been kept to the last? Well, any Formula A event is always a mouthwatering prospect, and what a line up we had. Perhaps not the biggest entry, with 15 making up the grid, but some great quality. National champion Mark Litchfield was there, along with No3 Chris Rodgers and No5 Danny Cruttenden. There was local interest with Nik Goodfellow and Phil Smith in the line up, and there were many questions to be answered in this first major competition of the 2007 season. How would the young newcomers to Formula A , Richard Bradley, Scott Jenkins and Scott Malvern fare on their debuts? Jenkins reputation had been enhanced already since he had earlier already taken the I.C.A. Win, surely the adrenelin would be coursing through the veins?
All these questions would be answered, but, going back to earlier in the day. A disaster for Goodfellow as early as the first lap of timed practice, as he ground to a halt, placing him to the rear of the grid for the heats.
Bradley it was taking the quickest qualifying lap to place himself on pole for the heats, ahead of Malvern and Lee Bell, with Cruttenden and Lichfield in 4th and 5th respectively.
The story of the heats had seen Jenkins take heat one from Litchfield, whilst heat two saw Bradley come out on top from Jenkins, so a great opening for the debutants. Malvern too had been strong in the heats, but it had been a disaster for Goodfellow, well down in heat one and a non start in heat two, saw him starting the pre final in last place, a prefinal that had seen Jenkins and Bradley sharing the front row and, whilst Bradley had slipped back slightly to end up a still highly creditable fourth, it looked at the mid point as if Jenkins would take the victory, when a snapped back bumper saw him black flagged and unable to finish, Litchfield going on to take a sizeable victory from Cruttenden and Rodgers.
And so, on to the final.
The pre final had surely left Jenkins with far too much to do from a grid position of 13. It was Litchfield on pole, with Cruttenden alongside, Rodgers and Bradley on row2, with Jonathan Walker and Martin Smith on row 3.
The ups and downs of motor sport were vividly highlighted in this final when, at the start, Bradley having made a great start, found he couldn`t make the corner, then hit a puddle and ended up off the track, finding himself without steering, he then drifted back on to the track only to be collected by Smith, putting them both out. Bradley was philosphical about it all later, explaining "The bolt on the steering column sheared", adding ruefully "to think, a 30p bolt cost me a possible chance of being National Open Champion". Even so, he did enough to prove that he will be a real handful for his rivals this season.
It was Cruttenden who took up the early running, but Rodgers and Litchfield were close in attendance. Litchfield passed up the chance of taking it at turn one on lap 4, instead, having taken the inside line, waving Cruttenden to continue in front, but it was soon Litchfield taking over in the lead and, it looked, whilst it was still a close affair between himself, Rodgers, who by now had edged through into 2nd place, and Cruttenden, as if Litchfield would press on and maybe extend his advantage. By now though, there was a different threat looming large on the horizon, as Jenkins had systematically picked his way through from 13th spot to suddenly find himself running in 4th and bearing down on the front three. A couple more neat overtaking moves saw him second to Litchfield as he eased past Cruttenden and Rodgers. With two laps to go, could he get Lichfield? The young Bristol based driver was really on fire and, on the last lap, another bit of magic saw him squeeze past the National champion and hold on for a victory which had seemed absolutely impossible at the start, to take the victory by 0.134secs. Well done too to Nik Goodfellow, putting his earlier problems behind him to take a very creditable 6th spot.
One disappointing and rather sour factor came at the post race presentations, as both Litchfield and Rodgers failed to show up to collect their 2nd and 3rd place trophies, leaving Jenkins on the podium alone with his trophies. Better could and should have been expected of the country`s No1 and No3 drivers.
None of this bothered Jenkins however, as he posed happily with all his trophies, and a perhaps unique double, Formula A and I.C.A. National Champion all in one remarkable afternoon. MBKC has never seen nothing quite like it and the MBKC club salute a remarkable young driver.
What a great start to the 2007 season, and, with the Super 1 round to come on 18th March, who knows.......perhaps even better to come.
Report by: Mel Tipton
Results
FORMULA I.C.A.
Scott Jenkins (Intrepid/TM)
Jason Edgar (Gillard/TM)
Stefan De Resta (Gillard/TM)
Charles Bonsey (Intrepid/TM)
John Walsh (Intrepid/TM)
Shaun Carter (Intrepid/TM)
FORMULA JUNIOR I.C.A.
Tom Joyner (Gillard/Parilla)
Jordan Lennox-Lamb (Zip/Parilla)
Oliver Rowland (Zip/Parilla)
James Thorp (Tony/IAME)
Tom Grice (Gillard/Parilla)
Sam Jenkins (Intrepid/Parilla)
FORMULA A
Scott Jenkins (Intrepid/TM)
Mark Litchfield (NJR/TM)
Chris Rodgers (Octane/TM)
Danny Cruttenden (Zanardi/TM)
Jonathan Walker (Gillard/TM)
Nikolas Goodfellow (Wright/Maxter)
CADET WINTER CUP
Luke Hughes (Arrow/Comer)
Daniel Sweeney (Zip/Comer)
Ryan Burns (Zip/Comer)
Josh Fry (Zip/Comer)
Jack Thorne (Zip/Comer)
Alex Gill (Wright/Comer)
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