Easykart Rd 4: Ellough Park, Suffolk
(6 July 2008)
When the Easykart series made its first trip to Suffolk, Steve
Youle emerged through the gloom to take a dominant victory. In
Juniors, Jack Sales took his first win of the season - whilst Oliver
George extended his Championship lead in the Heavy class.
Steve Youle returned to form with a superb drive to victory in
the 4th round of the Championship at a wet ‘n’ windy
Ellough.
As the pack rolled out of the pits for the formation lap, the
rain began to fall. Having delivered a sensational drive –on
slicks in the wet – poleman Barnaby Pittingale started as
the favourite for a repeat win in the Light class, but his hopes
were dashed moments after the start. As the field slithered into
the first corner - with the drivers tightly bunched - contact was
inevitable.
From row 3, Sam Smithson had rocketed past Tony Longstaff and
Terry Langley to run side by side with Pittingale as they turned
into Turn 1. Adrian Crockett had just managed to get his nose in
front, and so missed the drama behind him. Pittingale appeared
to be delivering one of his trademark ‘Scandinavian Flicks,’ but
had actually been tapped from behind into a spin. He collected
the hapless Smithson, and Longstaff also suffered in the ensuing
chaos.
Whilst Barnaby and Tony were out on the spot, Sam had dropped
to 19th - but was about to deliver a stunning recovery drive, powering
his way through the field to an eventual 3rd place.
At the front, Crockett led from Stuart Jelfs. Steve Youle had
slotted into 3rd whilst the wily Terry Langley gently nerfed Ayrton
Hirst wide to move into 4th.
With Jelfs holding up a queue of traffic, Crockett began to ease
away - but a red flag brought a temporary halt to the proceedings.
At the re-start - with rain beginning to fall again - Youle moved
into 2nd and began to harry Crockett for the lead.
Jelfs span as the track became increasingly wet, whilst Crockett – now
with an ailing motor – could no longer hold off Youle. Adrian’s
increasing lack of pace also meant that he soon found himself displaced
by Langley.
Having done Club 100, Youle used his extensive experience of racing
in the wet on slicks to deliver a fantastic lesson in smoothness,
whilst Langley remained glued to him.
Behind them, Hirst sliced past Crockett for 3rd, with Jelfs gamely
hanging onto 4th and Smithson now looming large on his rear bumper
in 5th.
Ross Fretten and Richard ‘Diesel Dick’ Hudson were
motoring along nicely and looking like they too could mount challenges
for the podium.
Langley had a big look at Turn 1, but wasn’t close enough.
Smithson made a mistake and lost ground to the front two, whilst
Youle was bravely smashing his kart over the kerbs as he tried
to break Langley’s repeated stabs for the lead.
The drizzle returned and Crockett suddenly speared off the circuit – his
motor having finally let go. Youle was now trying different lines
and finding grip where Langley couldn’t and quickly extended
a gap that the latter simply couldn’t bridge in the dying
laps. Smithson took a deserved 3rd place, with Hudson 4th (and
setting the fastest lap) whilst Fretten survived a big moment to
take 5th.
Jack Sales dominated the Juniors – finally delivering the
performance he’s been threatening for some time. In the Final,
he took a classic lights-to-flag win, with each lap he edged further
away from his pursuers.
Patrick Lay had started alongside Jack, but – like Pittingale
in the Seniors – his hopes of challenging for victory died
at the first corner. A collision with the fast-starting Jack Mitchell
put him down to last, whilst Mitchell was an instant DNF. Series
leader, Elliott Rice benefited by taking up the running in 2nd
but try as he might, he had no real answer to Sales.
The battle for 6th between William Lampitt and Jamie Cummings
provided great entertainment. Connor Hambleton wrested 3rd from
Christopher Waldock, and the pair would remain in these positions
for the remaining laps.
With Lampitt and Cummings still scrapping like mad, this allowed
Tiernay Oliver and Luca Hirst to join the fun. Hirst soon demonstrated
his overtaking ability to leap-frog from 10th to 6th. Sales was
in imperious form as he began to lap the tail-enders. Behind him,
Championship leader Rice consolidated his title challenge with
Hambleton over four seconds adrift in 3rd. Patrick Lay took some
comfort from posting the fastest lap but was unable to finish higher
than 10th.
Part of a speech from Shakespeare’s King Lear came to mind
as the Heavy final got under way – “Blow, winds, and
crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanes’,
spout, till you have drench'd our steeples…”
The weather was now pretty fierce, with winds lifting awnings
and the tarmac grey clouds scudding overhead at a rate of knots.
Not that this was going to impede the juggernaut like progress
of Oliver George. Fastest in both qualifying sessions, Oliver duly
won the pre-Final to secure pole for the Final. Local man Will
Smith lined up alongside him, with a quality field of Mark Lawrencxe,
Duncan Horlor, Tim Hill and Firas Bilbeisi in close attendance.
George headed the 26-kart into Turn 1, with Smith slotting in
neatly behind.
Brian Parias came through from stone last on the grid to 14th
in just one lap. George meanwhile was beginning to show his Championship
potential as he began to extend his lead. With minimal hand movements,
his style through the corners was in stark contrast to Bilbeisi’s
constant tweaking of the steering wheel. On lap 7, Lawrence dived
down Horlor’s inside at Turn 4, to take 3rd. Behind, Tim
(‘Call me ‘Sir’) Hill saw his opportunity and
began to rattle Horlor’s rear bumper. Parias was now 10th
and going through the field like a meal I once had in Egypt.
At the mid-point, Oliver now had a commanding lead over Will,
with Mark looking to have 3rd in the bag. Having resisted Tim’s
challenge, Duncan maintained 4th with Bilbeisi maintaining a watching
brief in 6th. For the umpteenth time the rain began to fall but
not with the severity that the local radio stations had forecast.
Another Club 100 expert on slicks in the wet, Hill began to press
Horlor again, whilst Lawrence edged closer to Smith. With two laps
to go, the race was building to a nail-biting finish. Lawrence
had closed the gap to Smith to just four tenths, whilst Hill was
ramping up his efforts to take 4th. Into the last lap the crowd
were all on tip toe, as Lawrence looked for an opening but found
none. Hill launched his attack and momentarily got ahead. Horlor
instantly fought back and with neither man willing to give way,
a crash was inevitable. Horlor survived to cross the line in 4th,
with Hill furious down in 12th. Bilbeisi also ceded what should’ve
been a certified 5th place to a hard-charging Bradley Sargeant.
Parias’ charge finally halted at 9th place, but that gave
him enough points to ensure that George will still head to Rowrah
looking over his shoulder for the man closest to him in the table.
Easykart Light – A Final
1st: Steve Youle
2nd: Terry Langley
3rd: Sam Smithson
4th: Richard Hudson
5th: Ross Fretten
6th: Ben King
Easykart Light – B Final
1st: Marc Mercer
Easykart Junior
1st: Jack Sales
2nd: Elliot Rice
3rd: Connor Hambleton
4th: Christopher Waldock
5th: Liam Nolan
6th: Luca Hirst
Easykart Heavy
1st: Oliver George
2nd: Will Smith
3rd: Mark Lawrence
4th: Duncan Horlor
5th: Bradley Sargeant
6th: Firas Bilbeisi
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