EasyKart UK - Round 3 - Clay Pigeon

One of the unsung benefits of kart racing is the opportunity to visit unusual parts of the country and immerse yourself, albeit briefly, in the local culture.

So, imagine my disappointment when I arrived in Dorset for the third round of the Easykart Championship to find that I’d missed the second ‘Dorset Knob Throwing and Frome Valley Food Fest’.

Gutted, wasn’t the word.

I and my other, more open-minded co-racers had not only missed out on the classic Knob throwing event, but also ‘Knob Painting, a Knob and Spoon Race, Guess the Weight of the Big Knob, Knob Darts and a Knob Pyramid’.

Luckily then, that the racing at Clay was like the weather; hot, hot, hot.

Three drivers took their first victories of the year to make sure that the current championship leaders would not enjoy Jenson Button-esque romps into the distance.

Postcard from Round 3

Adrian Crockett dominated an otherwise thrilling Light encounter, with a perfect display from the start of timed qualifying to the last lap of the main final. The Visick Cars-sponsored driver was in sublime form, and perhaps now, having thrown off the bad luck that dogged him in the first two races, he will become the biggest threat to Terry Langley and Owen Jenman’s dominance at the top of the championship table.

Reigning champion Langley was, almost inevitably, Crockett’s shadow. Behind Adrian on the grid for the pre-final, Terry tracked his rival down every straight and through each corner in the two races, doing just enough to ensure that he dropped a mere four points in the title chase.

Having overcome the impressive Jack Sales, who had started from his first ever senior front-row in the pre-final, Owen Jenman completed the podium - but ultimately had no further answer to Terry or Adrian’s pace.

After the trophy presentation, a delighted Crockett revealed the secret to his speed, “Low tyre pressures. I had them at 7psi. I used to do ICA (Inter Continental A) when they used really grippy tyres and we’d run them at those sort of pressures. The kart feels awful to drive, but the tyres work. While other people went high, we went the other way and it worked.”

The popularity of the Light class is such that a B final was necessary for the second event running. Richard Washbrook narrowly beat Josh Pettitt in an entertaining encounter.

Once again, the Heavy class looked set fair for a titanic scrap between Barnaby Pittingale and William Smith. Especially after the pair recorded identical times during qualifying.

After 19 hard laps in the pre-final, Pittingale took the win - exactly half a second clear of Smith and with a faster lap margin of just one hundredth of a second. Richard Friend pushed them both hard to take third, but a look down the result sheets showed that the real danger man, was Kieran McCullough. Tipped by series promoter John Vigor beforehand to take a shock victory, Kieran was the fastest man in the 30 kart field and had recovered from 17th to 7th in the process.

The Londoner got a blistering start in the main final to scythe past William Gibson, Howard Kayman and Tim Hill and slot into 4th, behind Friend. Passing the latter on lap 3, McCullough gradually reeled in the battling leaders. He explained, “It took me about five laps to get up to Barnaby and Will. I got alongside and we went three abreast into the hairpin. If you’ve ever seen that before, you’ll know that the guy on the inside wins every time. And thankfully, that was me!”

With his tail up and nose in front, McCullough wasted little time in opening a gap. Pittingale and Smith pegged it to no more than a few tenths, but he had enough in hand to take his first win of the season.

Behind him, Smith had one last throw of the dice left and took 2nd place three laps from home.

Fellow Karting Magazine contributor, and the man reviewing karting for the MSA, George Robinson, joined Adam Jones as a guest of the series, and enjoyed his Easykart debut enormously, finishing in a very respectable eleventh place and comprehensively beating his colleague. Even giving Adam a cheeky wave as he lapped him!

In the build up to Clay, John Vigor had commented that he believed Patrick Lay was due for a return to the top step of the podium. Whether John’s tip became a Murray Walker-esque curse remains unclear, but Patrick narrowly missed out on fulfilling the Easykart promoter’s prediction by just three tenths of a second. Christopher Waldock emerged victorious and broke his Junior duck in the process.

Indeed, Patrick had certainly looked likely to reward John’s faith after taking the pre-final win, but was to find Waldock’s challenge too strong in the return encounter.

As the porn star-moustachioed starter Mick Eldridge got the main final underway, Lay got the holeshot over Waldock. Jamie Cummings slotted into third with Thomas Grainger in close attendance.

On lap five, Waldock took up the running and with each lap managed to eke out a small advantage – barely more than six tenths but enough to give him a ‘comfort zone’ over the opening round winner. Round two victor Brad Fairhurst was unusually mired in the midfield, battling with AJ Morris and Jack Mitchell for much of the race.

Jamie Cummings’ run in third lasted just a handful of laps before the youngster plummeted down the order, handing the remaining podium place to Thomas Grainger.

After yo-yoing between fourth and sixth in the first eight laps, William Davison finally got back into fourth spot and, with a clear track in front of him, closed the gap to Cummings from two seconds to just two tenths - setting the fastest lap of the race as he did so.

At the front, Waldock saw off a late challenge from Lay, clocking his personal best lap on the penultimate tour to seal a terrific maiden victory in the series, although Patrick retained the points lead with his second place. These two rising stars look increasingly likely to be shaping up for a battle royal as the season enters its second half.

In the Cadets, no one had an answer for James DeHavilande - who again increased his points lead over his nearest rivals with a crushing demonstration throughout the meeting. After converting yet another pole position in timed qualifying into a flag to flag victory in the pre-final, he led the improving Aaron Oakes off the line and took the lead, with William Stowell and Ryan Anderton both getting great starts to demote Oakes to fourth. Ryan Anderton overcame a poor finish in the pre-final to quickly move up the order. So much so, that on lap six he was third and monstering Aaron’s rear bumper for second. Using his superior pace, he passed Aaron and hared off after James, who was now over six seconds ahead.

Able to match Anderton’s pace with ease, DeHavilande’s metronomic smoothness at the wheel saw him able to keep the gap constant to the finish. To his credit, Oakes didn’t give up his pursuit of the leading duo and was rewarded with his first Easykart podium.

Results

Easykart Light

1st: Adrian Crockett
2nd: Terry Langley
3rd: Owen Jenman
4th: Sam Dimelow
5th: Steve Youle
6th: Ben King

Easykart Light B

1st: Richard Washbrook
2nd: Josh Pettitt
3rd: Karl Annear
4th: Gavin Murphy
5th: Ashleigh Curtis
6th: Nick Pratt

Easykart Heavy

1st: Kieran McCullough
2nd: Will Smith
3rd: Barnaby Pittingale
4th: Richard Friend
5th: Lewis Shelley
6th: Howard Kayman

Easykart Junior

1st: Christopher Waldock
2nd: Patrick Lay
3rd: Thomas Grainger
4th: William Davison
5th: William Hill
6th: Dean Clayton

Easykart Cadet

1st: James De Havilande
2nd: Ryan Anderton
3rd: Aaron Oakes
4th: William Stowell
5th: Ronan McKenzie
6th: Harrison Thomas

Karting Magazine Driver of the Day: Kieran McCullough