EasyKart UK - Round 4 - Teeside Autodrome

The latest and arguably, greatest addition to the Easykart calendar, Teesside Autodrome - AKA “The Jesolo of the North” - brought drama, shocks and fresh excitement to the Championship.

Oliver Scullion was in blistering form in the Light category. After popping in the third fastest lap in an incredibly close timed qualifying – he drove with great confidence in the pre-final to win from Elliot Rice. Ben Yeomans had drawn plaudits for recording his first ever pole-position, but suffered a reversal of fortune in the race.

Emboldened by his earlier victory, Scullion went on to control the main final, successfully resisting race-long pressure from Owen Jenman. Rice’s demise gifted third to Ben King who seized the opportunity to take his first Easykart trophy with gusto, although he was unable to bridge the gap to the front pair whilst also having to fend off Sam Massey.

Massey was able to wrest the place from King for four laps but with three remaining, Ben made his decisive move to make sure the last step on the podium was his.

Postcard from Round 4

The fight for the lead was enthralling, but Scullion was in unbeatable form and for this he was awarded the Karting Magazine Driver of the Day prize.

“I surpassed my own expectations,” he said afterwards. “I made sure that I got a decent start and then tried to maintain the advantage. I kept looking over my shoulder and if the gap came down, I just pushed harder. Towards the end of the race I pulled more of a gap and from there I kept choking the engine to bring the kart home safe. It certainly wasn’t easy, but neither was it the hardest victory I’ve ever had.”

It was his first in Easykart and Oliver believes that it will spur him on for the rest of the season. “I think I can get another podium” he said with a quietly confident air.

Heavy class points leader, Will Smith suffered two bizarre punctures in both qualifying sessions and was forced to start from the back of the pre-final grid. He produced a thundering drive to carve his way from 27th to 5th. In Parc Ferme, he was sportingly congratulated by the drivers, many of whom simply looked on in awe as he rocketed past them.

With his nearest title rival busily working his way up the order, Barnaby Pittingale still had to overcome stern challenges from previous round victor Kieran McCullough, the in-form Mark Lawrence and Jamie McKay. The 2007 World Finals Champion claimed the psychological upper hand with a pulverising win over his pursuers.

With Smith and McCullough in close company at the start of the main final, Pittingale needed a crisp, clean getaway if he was to give himself breathing space. He delivered; with McCullough dropping three tenths on him in the opening lap. Smith on the other hand got a corking start, passing Lawrence and McKay in quick succession. However, Pittingale had managed to open a lead of almost two seconds over him and he still had to catch and pass McCullough. With very different set-ups, Will and Kieran were intriguingly matched. Smith’s kart came on quickly and he recorded the race’s fastest time on lap four, whilst McCullough waited a further ten laps to notch his personal best time.

Behind them, Easykart’s own knight errant, ‘Sir’ Tim Hill had jousted his way past McKay to enjoy his strongest run since the opening round. The circuit’s relentless, max attack nature suited Pittingale to a T, as he explained: “It’s a balls-out circuit, which suits my style because I don’t like using the brakes.” The Londoner pounded round, maintaining the gap to McCullough. Similarly, Kieran’s later pace was sufficient to ensure that his runner-up spot was safe.

In his distinctive, ‘south of the river’ tones Barnaby said, “I wasn’t the quickest, but made the break at the start and my consistency pulled me away from everyone else. I was under a load of pressure from Kieran and Will throughout”.

Christopher Waldock took a popular Junior victory from Patrick Lay, and must have let out a huge sigh of relief at the sight of the chequered flag. He had led from the start, but was accompanied through every single one of Teesside’s rollercoaster twists and turns by Patrick. With four laps remaining, Patrick unleashed his bid for victory and took the lead. His new-found advantage would last just two laps, as Waldock reclaimed the lead on the penultimate tour and held it to the finish - with Jack Mitchell leading home the chasing pack.

Despite having now taken two wins in the series, Waldock remains second in the Championship to Lay, who so far has only the one victory to his credit. Fellow round winner, Brad Fairhurst also remains in touch, even though he had an average weekend by his standards - finishing in 5th spot. Expect him to be far stronger at Rye House and Rowrah.

Just as in Formula One, the Cadet’s have only seen two winners thus far – James DeHavilande and Ryan Anderton. Unlike Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel however, James DeHavilande has not been off the podium, at all. At Teesside, he was again the driver to beat from the outset. Ronan McKenzie did step up to the plate as the most likely to stop him from waltzing off into the distance, when he popped in a pole position-winning time - just a tenth faster. William Stowell and Ryan Anderton weren’t far off their pace, signifying that the field is closing up with every round.

Not always the fastest driver in race trim, James is arguably the most consistent. Having held his lead into the first corner, he ensured that Ronan couldn’t use his better pace to its full advantage in the pre-final.

The main final became a nail-biting thriller. DeHavilande and McKenzie led with Anderton and Stowell in close pursuit. For the entire duration, the quartet ran in close formation, waiting for each to make the first error. It came on lap nine, when Ronan overtook James, whilst Ryan slipped past William.

On lap ten, the order shuffled back to its previous state - but two laps later, Anderton was back up to 3rd. Again, Stowell - desperate to prise the trophy from his rival’s grasp - fought back and just a lap later was back into the podium places. Similarly, Ronan relentlessly pushed and probed for a way past James, but was ultimately forced to accept that this wasn’t to be his day. His second place however keeps the pressure on James in the points table, with all still very much to play for as we go into the second half of the season.

Results

Easykart Light

1st: Oliver Scullion
2nd: Owen Jenman
3rd: Ben King
4th: Sam Massey
5th: Jack Sales
6th: Adrian Crockett

Easykart Heavy

1st: Barnaby Pittingale
2nd: Kieran McCullough
3rd: Will Smith
4th: Mark Lawrence
5th: Tim Hill
6th: Jamie McKay

Easykart Junior

1st: Christopher Waldock
2nd: Patrick Lay
3rd: Jack Mitchell
4th: Thomas Grainger
5th: Brad Fairhurst
6th: Tiernay Oliver

Easykart Cadet

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

Karting Magazine Driver of the Day: Oliver Scullion