Easykart Round 8: Whilton Mill, Northants – 21 September

The 2008 championship concluded at Whilton Mill last Sunday (21 September) and despite two of the three classes being already settled, the incentive of ‘wild card’ entries to the annual World Finals ensured some fantastic racing.

He ain’t Heavy, he’s Mcullough…

With newly-crowned champion Oli George opting to sit out last round at Whilton Mill, Kieran Mcullough seized the opportunity to score his maiden Heavy win.

Not that the likes of Will Smith, Brian Parias or Firas Bilbeisi were simply going to roll over and let him walk it. But much as they gave spirited chase, this was McCullough’s day.

Kieran himself remained modest, “Oli wasn’t there, so I guess that made it easier for me. I’d been second fastest to him in the previous two meetings, but after a rebuild (prior to the weekend) the kart just flew. In practice on Saturday I did a 48.4 and the lap record was 48.5. I then got down to a 48.0 before putting on a new set of tyres and was in the 47’s”.

Having converted his pre-final pole into a comfortable lead, he was the only driver to dip into the 47 second bracket in race trim. “I thought to myself, ‘just keep it on the track’, I was going so well,” he beamed.

Having made short work of the first race, he fluffed the start of the main final.

“I was slow off the start, despite Firas (Bilbeisi) pushing me across the line. Will got the jump on me and was away, as was Brian (Parias) who’d followed him through. I was 3rd and chased down Brian for a couple of laps. He defended quite vigorously and I went for a bit of a 50/50 move. I clipped him and was up on two wheels, but survived to pass him cleanly. I took another two laps to catch Will, but whereas Brian defended, Will just let me past and from there I pulled away.”

On lap 9, Kieran set the new lap-record completing an almost perfect day. He said, “It was a shame Oli wasn’t racing. Still, it’s nice to win and get the lap record.”

Jack sails to victory…

Prior to Whilton, Junior front-runner Jack Sales had vowed to “go for the win.” And was as good as his word, aided by a cunning plan from the outset. He said, “I was trying to conserve my tyres in the warm-up and qualifying sessions, so did as few laps as I could. I looked at the Qualifying time sheets and saw that Patrick (Lay) had done nearly a whole race distance more than me. I pulled 2nd out of the bag in the second session and I’d like to say a big ‘well done’ to Chris Waldock for getting pole”.

Keen to end the season on a high, champion-elect Elliot Rice sealed the pre-final win after a tense dice with Sales. But a chat on the grid between the pair before the start of the main final, revealed another strategy.

“I was 2nd on the grid, alongside Elliot and we had a plan to get away (from the pack), which we did. I was in 2nd (behind Elliot) and after a few laps, looked over my shoulder and saw Brad (Fairhurst) closing in on us. I quickly passed Elliot and thought, ‘that’ll give him an incentive to go quicker - which it did. We pulled away again but as we entered the later part of the race we came across a backmarker. I got through, but Elliot was baulked and I was able to cling on to the end, to just win it. It was a bit of an uneventful race but I don’t mind winning, to be honest.”

Sam’s the man but Terry’s all gold…

“We were so close and yet so far,” said Sam Smithson’s mum, perfectly describing how her son had narrowly failed to snatch the Light title away from Terry Langley.

Sam won the pre-final by just 4 tenths from - yes, you guessed it - Terry. Barnaby Pittingale loves Whilton and was back on song at the Northamptonshire track, taking 3rd – although he was some way back from the lead pair.

With the rest of the field unable to run at their pace, Sam knew that the title was now Terry’s barring a miracle n the main final. “I thought, ‘stuff it go out and enjoy it.” After initially getting the jump at the start, Sam soon found himself in 3rd. “Barnaby followed me, did me and Terry did me too”.

Smithson passed Langley and found that Terry wasn’t in a mood to put up much of a fight, as he’d clearly done the maths and knew that 4th would clinch it. Sam had other ideas.

“I overtook Barnaby and I thought, ‘hang on, I could do this if others could join us’, he said, referring to a brief idea to back up the leading trio into the clutches of the pursuing Adrian Crockett and Marc Mercer, dropping Terry lower than the required 4th place. He dismissed the idea almost as soon as it entered his head, knowing that it was too risky. With their lap times virtually identical, Smithson knew that he wasn’t about to shake off Langley, who maintained a watching brief on his title rival from behind the flamboyant Pittingale.

“My plan now is to win the Worlds” Smithson told Easykart.co.uk bullishly. “I really can’t wait to get out there”. He added, “I want to thank my mum, dad and little brother for all their moral support. Kenny Rice and Andy Tidy for keeping Dad cool and calm. Bob and Marion Sales, for the awning space and making it really fun, and obviously Terry, for making it such a great season.”

With the champions; Oliver George, Elliot Rice and Terry Langley automatically earning places at the World Finals – held this year at the superb Jesolo circuit, near Venice on 17/19 October – some twelve extra, ‘wild card’ entries have been made available to selected drivers.

Series promoter, John Vigor said, “Due to the success of this year’s series, Birel granted us some additional places for the World Finals and I’m delighted to say that we’re taking a quality, 15-strong team.”

Joining Oli George in the Heavy class will be Will Smith, Firas Bilbeisi, (Winter Series champion) Mark Lawrence, Richard Friend and defending World title-holder Barnaby Pittingale.

Jack Sales, Brad Fairhurst, Connor Hambleton and Tiernay Oliver will, with Elliot Rice, spearhead the Junior assault, whilst Sam Smithson, Owen Jenman and Adrian Crockett will be eager to turn the tables on Terry Langley and the rest of the drivers from 18 different countries.

Birel UK supremo, Andy Cox said, “To field fifteen drivers at the World Finals illustrates how popular Easykart is becoming. This year’s event is expected to see nearly 300 drivers taking part. Last year Barney Pittingale came home with a World title - can he or any of the other boys do it again this year? We think so!"