Karting Korner

1 - The Valentine.

Second round of the 1998 Southern Car Club Karting Trophy, The Valentine broke new ground in more ways than one at Slipstream Racing in Camberley on the 11th of February. Sponsored by Duckhams Oils, The Valentine was the first event in the series to be oversubscribed. As a result, two teams didn't get a run, something to think about if you're 'going to put an entry in' for The Tour of Sandown - do it now or you may not get the chance.

The staff at Slipstream had once again pulled out all the stops for us and had rebuilt eight of the karts with new chassis and Kelgate brakes, the other seven had all been cleaned, overhauled, re-tracked etc. and all fifteen cars went out on brand new tyres.

With an expanded grid of 15 teams, including six new ones, practice was once again a hectic affair with provisional pole changing hands several times before a fantastic last lap of 31.24s by Team TBA confirmed their hold on the top spot. A mixed blessing since once again, the organisers reversed the starting order putting the fastest qualifiers at the back of the grid. Some teams seem to have expected this and appear to have been 'sandbagging' to get a better start position - it's not going to work next time pups!

Behind - in front of? - Team TBA were Basingstoke M.C. - once again showing good form, 0.12s ahead of BP Oil (Colin Early, Gavin Edmiston, Mark Wyatt) who held pole for a while but didn't improve towards the end of the session and let it slip away. In fourth, one of the new teams, Hornets (Chess Valley M.C.) followed by Who Cares (Southern Car Club - Colin Hutchings, Nick Jenkinson, Adam Pearless) once again using their Sandown Park 'secret weapon' - Adam - on his first ever indoor event and another new team, Loobs Young Men - also from BP Oil and including a young lady in their number! In seventh and eighth, more teams in disguise, RSS Racing (HART M.C.) and Anythings Available (Southern again - David Aylmore, David Dees, Ron Fulker, Adrian Grinsted), then it starts getting easier. British Airways I - ninth on their third visit and Sable Design on their first outing since Sandown Park back in August in tenth. Oxford Instruments managed to hang onto eleventh ahead of newcomers Team MPL, British Airways 2 and Oracle with XEXCO Loonies bringing up the front.

At the end of qualifying, the final driver from each team was called directly to their place on the grid, instead of entering the pits. Barely enough time was allowed to make a quick driver change before the lights went green and the race was on.

Things were a bit hectic at first, the fifteenth car seems to be at least three too many at Slipstream and the early laps were - dare I say, rather rough. I think I was rammed by just about everyone during those first ten minutes - don't you lot know there are penalties for upsetting the organisers? However - by lap 30, Anythings Available had managed to escape the carnage and held a 7.46s lead over Team TBA. In third, having set the fastest lap of the race so far were Basingstoke M.C. who were a healthy 17s ahead of newcomers Loobs Young Men, with British Airways 1 less than 2s ahead of Who Cares in sixth. BP Oil in seventh were the last team, on the same lap as the leaders, with Sable Design, Oxford Instruments and Hornets all one lap down. XEXCO loonies at two laps down, were in eleventh, ahead of RSS Racing who were drawing away from Team MPL and British Airways 2. Oracle were suffering at this stage, nearly four laps down on the leaders as the time taken to change the kart for their smaller drivers took effect.

After nearly forty minutes of racing. BP Oil had squeezed. into a 1s lead over Who Cares, with Basingstoke M.C. still in third, Anythings Available had slipped to fourth and Team TBA to fifth. Loobs Young Men were just over a lap adrift in sixth, with Sable Design right behind. Another team on the slide were British Airways 1 in eighth - Hornets, had improved one place to ninth and would spend most of the race swapping places with BA. Down in tenth were Oxford Instruments chased by RSS Racing and British Airways 2 up to twelfth. Team MPL still held unlucky thirteen but Oracle had started to improve and were now ahead of XEXCO Loonies.

Just shy of half distance - only 90 laps completed due to the number of incidents requiring use of the yellow flags, and with everyone under yellow again, Team TBA were at the front some 50s ahead of Who Cares, the only team on the same lap. Sable design were back in third followed on the same lap by Anythings Available, Basingstoke M.C., and BP Oil. British Airways 1 were still holding a slight advantage over Hornets who were just under 2s ahead of Loobs Young Men. RSS Racing had swapped places with Oxford Instruments and British Airways 2 were still twelfth. Oracle continued to climb and had pulled up to thirteenth ahead of XEXCO Loonies with Team MPL now playing tail gunner, thirteen laps down.

We then had another of our 'firsts', when Peter Owst of XEXCO Loonies managed to roll his kart coming out of the tunnel. Thankfully Peter wasn't hurt but the race was stopped for a while until the marshals were absolutely sure that he was OK. There are easier - and more pleasant ways of getting your name in 'The Windscreen' Peter.

After the restart, Team TBA held a slender 0.07s lead over BP Oil who were only 2.71s ahead of Who Cares, then there was a gap of 23.8s back to Basingstoke M.C. with Anythings Available in fifth a further 7.76s back. These five had a considerable lead over the rest with sixth placed Loobs Young Men two laps down on the leaders and nearly a lap up on Sable Design. British Airways had stretched a 25s advantage over Hornets and first timers Oracle were up to their race best of tenth. RSS Racing and Oxford Instruments continued their private battle, and XEXCO Loonies had climbed thirteenth - no-one was willing to get near them in case they got rolled on. British Airways 2 were only 2.97s behind but tail-enders Team MPL were now four laps further adrift.

Three quarters distance, and Team TBA had increased their lead to 27.47s, ahead of Anythings Available with BP Oil a further 2.58s behind. Who Cares were just over a lap down in fourth, almost a lap up on Basingstoke M.C. who in their turn had almost a full lap cushion on Loobs Young Men. Sable Design were a lap behind again but Hornets were only 4.92s down and chasing hard, having overtaken British Airways 1. Tenth to fifteenth stayed the same, RSS Racing, Oxford Instruments, Oracle, British Airways 2, XEXCO Loonies and Team MPL - the gaps just got bigger.

Into the last ten minutes and - disaster! The second red flag incident of the evening, caused when Greg Carpenter of Sable Design tried a round the outside manoeuvre on Paul Harrison of Oxford Instruments. Paul ran wide and the ended up locked against the barriers, the impact was so severe that the engine on Greg's kart was ripped right out of the frame. luckily, Greg escaped injury but these two drivers should know better than get caught out like that,

The race was restarted with only enough time left to complete a last lap, leaving Team TBA the winners, a lap ahead of Anythings Available who were 14.41s ahead of BP Oil in third with Basingstoke M.C. a lap further behind in fourth. Who Cares got fifth, Loobs Young Men sixth and Hornets just squeezed past Sable Design (in a new kart) at the last for seventh. British Airways I weren't much further back in ninth, and the final six kept station for RSS Racing to get tenth, Oxford Instruments - eleventh, Oracle, managing to overcome their pit stops to take a well earned twelfth, followed by British Airways 2, XEXCO Loonies and Team MPL.

With Jonathan on the mike and Gary handing out the trophies, the winning teams collected their trophies along with Duckhams Oils rally jackets for first, brilliant yellow sweatshirts for second and polo shirts for third. I saw one of the rather distinctive jackets giving good service on the Winter Rally in Bournemouth last week - very swish!

Once again, our thanks go to the staff at Slipstream for a thoroughly enjoyable - and safe - evening, despite our best efforts, also to Eddie and Hazel for a magnificent buffet and of course to our sponsors, Duckhams Oils for their continued support. See you all at Sandown

2 - Sandown Park.

Yes, as promised, we're going back to Sandown Park on the 26th April for a three hour endurance with one hour's practice. More speed, fresh air - sort of - and fifty odd second laps for you to get your teeth (or gums) into. But remember - we can only run fourteen teams so get your entries in now or all you'll do is read about it. Regs are available, from Colin or Gavin.

3 - Mayor's Challenge.

The Mayor's Go-Karting Challenge takes place on Sunday 19th April 1998 at Sandown Park. In support of Home-Start in Elmbridge, the event is a three hour Pro-Kart race. Registration starts at 12:00 after a four hour Owner-Driver race in the morning. Cost is £300 per team - a lot more than we are used to but the Pro-Karts (which should top 70 mph) have to be hired in at considerable expense, with the rest of the money going to the charity. You could possibly raise the money through sponsorship from friends, family, workmates, etc. it's up to you.