Easykart Rd 2: Rye House, Hertfordshire (24 April 2008)

The Easykart Championship returned to its spiritual British home - Rye House - for the second round of this increasingly popular series.

With over 60 drivers entered, the senior classes required B finals to meet the maximum number of karts permitted to run at Rye. Easykart Junior also continues to attract new competitors and is producing some excellent racing.

Easykart – Light class

Barnaby Pittingale isn’t putting a wheel wrong at the moment, and looks almost unstoppable after the opening two rounds of the Championship.

The 2007 World Finals Champion took another dominant win from pole in the Lights class to extend his lead in the Championship.

Barnaby himself was modest about his performance. “It wasn’t that easy to be honest. In the Pre-Final everyone was on wets but Harry Cockill opted for slicks. As the track dried he flew through the field and passed me for the lead. I don’t know why but he suddenly slowed and I nipped back through. He should’ve won”.

“In the main Final, I got ahead and maintained a small gap. Steve Youle put me under a lot of pressure, as did Ross. It was pretty close all day really.”

Indeed, Ross Fretten scored his best result yet with a fine second place over back-in-form, Steve Youle. The part-time MTV Emo Power Ranger pressured Youle for much of the race, and a great passing manoeuvre settled who was taking the silver rather than the bronze home.

Reigning UK champion Harry Cockill had a bad day in the office by his standards, finishing down in 7th place - but retains his 2nd place in the Championship table.

One of the pre-season favourites, Terry Langley, stormed from 20th on the grid to 5th at the flag – setting a new Easykart lap record on the way. However, he’s languishing down in 28th place in the points tally, and must now build on his Rye performance if he is to mount any form of attack on Pittingale’s dominance.

Pittingale expects a tough fight for the title, although his bid may be helped by his rivals’ inconsistency. “At each of the two rounds I’ve had different people around me on the grid. We’ll have to see what happens at Clay Pigeon. I was 7th there last season but hopefully I’ll be able to stick it on pole and clear off from there.”

Easykart Junior

Elliot Rice over-turned Luca Hirst’s crushing pre-final win to take his second Junior win in succession.

Having been less than spectacular in qualifying, Rice found his race pace far better and tracked Hirst for three laps before attempting to snatch the lead. Luca put up a spirited defence and the pair ran into Stadium rubbing sidepods. As they ran wide into the fast right-hander, Jack Sales nipped through to lead. Rice - in 2nd - waited four laps before passing Sales and setting about breaking his pursuers’ tow. Hirst’s strong weekend turned into disaster when his chain snapped. This benefited Brad Fairhurst, who now began to pressure Sales for 2nd.

As the race ran towards its conclusion, Fairhurst passed Sales and started hunting Rice down – setting a new Easykart Junior lap record for the circuit in the process.

In third place, Jack Sales had the sort of result that he’d deserved at the opening round of the series at Whilton Mill. We can surely expect a season-long battle this trio.

Speaking after the trophy presentation, Elliot said: “Rye House was a lot harder than Whilton. The times were closer and I think the final could’ve gone four ways”.

Whilst Rice sits on top of the table, Fairhurst has started to close the gap and must now be confident that he can challenge for wins. Second in the opening round at Whilton Mill, Luca Hirst will be aiming to show that he’s got bouncebackability after his DNF cost him vital points.

Easykart – Heavy class

Edward Cockill’s cool, metronomic driving faltered only once at Rye, when the Oxford Brookes student failed to top the time sheets after the second qualifying session.

In the pre-final he delivered a superb drive to come through from the back of the grid (after a last-minute set-up change on the dummy grid meant that he failed to join the rolling up lap in time to take up his original place on the 4th row of the grid) and take the win from ‘Sir’ Tim Hill, the impressive Oliver George and poleman, Brian Parias.

In the Final, Edward further underlined his dominance of the day, by taking a Union to chequered flag victory and establishing a new Heavy class lap record on the way.

He said: “At the start I got away and was lapping about 2 tenths quicker than the guys behind me. It also helped that everyone was battling with each so I was able to get my head down, bang in some consistently quick laps and I’m hoping that this result has set me up for the Championship.”

He added: “I’m now aiming for consistent results. Things didn’t go to plan at Whilton (where the first round took place in March) and I won’t be at Llandow. So I can’t afford a DNF in my remaining races.”

Brian Parias showed that he’s returning to form with a well taken 2nd, while Winter Series Champion Mark Lawrence won his hard fought duel with George and Hill to snatch 3rd place.

Despite his comfortable win, Ed was quick to praise his rivals: “Ollie George has been very quick and Tim Hill is always rapid in the wet. Brian was scarily quick in Qualifying, so he’ll be a threat for sure. Bradley Sargeant is another one to watch. We raced each other in Formula 6 and enjoyed a lot of battles together. He’s getting faster in Easykart with every race”.

In the title hunt, Cockill has now moved into the lead, with George just 4 points behind. Below them, there’s barely anything in it down to Tim Hill in 8th place, with just twenty points separating Cockill and Hill.

With a much-deserved cold beer in his hand, series promoter John Vigor expressed his delight at Easykart’s continued expansion in its second year of operation here in the UK.

“The thing that excites me is the number of new drivers coming in. We’re getting a lot of new competitors into MSA racing and Easykart is bringing them in. People are enjoying the racing and the paddock has a nice camaraderie - I think that’s refreshing to see in MSA racing.”

He added: “It’s my intention to continue the fun element and make sure that everyone goes home on a Sunday having had a great experience. Anyone can come and do Easykart and we’re all here to help – my team, Andy Cox (of Andy Cox Racing and the Easykart importer) and the guys in the paddock.”

Easykart Light – A Final

1st: Barnaby Pittingale
2nd: Ross Fretten
3rd: Steve Youle
4th: Ayrton Hirst
5th: Terry Langley
6th: Ben King

Easykart Light – B Final

1st: Stuart Jelfs

Easykart Junior

1st: Elliot Rice
2nd: Brad Fairhurst
3rd: Jack Sales
4th: Patrick Lay
5th: Christopher Waldock
6th: Connor Hambleton

Easykart Heavy – A Final

1st: Edward Cockill
2nd: Brian Parias
3rd: Mark Lawrence
4th: Oliver George
5th: Tim Hill
6th: Kieran McCullough

Easykart Heavy – B Final

1st: Grant Melville