UK Karting - MBKC 3S Club Championship Race Report

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MBKC - 3S Club Championship

MBKC - 3S Club Championship
Round 3 - Three Sisters - 20th February 2005

A lucky escape with the snow and sleet shrouding the east side of the country provided the backdrop to another excellent championship round.

Though bitterly cold, it was dry and sunny all day and the track, which had come in for severe criticism after the previous meeting, was in perfect condition throughout. Another excellent entry of 200 plus drivers once again proved that the Manchester & Buxton club is now firmly established as the North's leading karting club.

A word of thanks also to the drivers for the standards set during the day which were, in general, excellent. A particuarly nasty incident during morning practice involving several minimax drivers cast a shadow over the start of the meeting but, fortunately, that proved to be only red flag of the day. The club would like to send their best wishes to drivers injured in the incident and hope that they will be ready to return for round four.

The first final of the afternoon as usual was contested by the cadet drivers, and this provided a fascinating opener. Throughout the earlier heats there had been a teriffic battle involving Max Goff and Mackenzie Taylor and these two it was taking up the front row for the final. The two of them immediately headed off into the distance and it looked like providing a photo finish as they raced nose to bumper for virtually the entire race, the lead swapping hands on a few occasions, however several back markers on the penultimate lap proved to be Taylors undoing, Goff able to pick his way through whilst Taylor became baulked, giving Goff the victory by 2.689 secs when a much closer finish had looked on the cards. Meanwhile, some eight seconds back, there was a three way battle going on for the third spot, with Chris Warburton, who had moved into third place quite early in the race, just holding on to take the final podium spot from Liam Kelly and James Tunnicliffe.

Running on a split grid, the small grid of S-60 cadets saw Bradley Ord having a very good meeting, taking both the earlier heats and then the final itself with a comfortable victory from the novice competitor Jacob Hunstone by some three seconds, Jordan Keelan taking third spot.

Final two was the eagerly awaited senior TKM final. This class has really come back to prominence this season, another full grid had entered this meeting and, with the TKM platinum cup being contested within the next club championship round in March, it looks like being a really close and exciting championship for the class, with a number of drivers all capable of pulling out big drives on the day. Todays final saw reigning club champion Andy Wilson start on pole and quickly make his advantage count, moving into the lead from the start and driving a faultless race to take a lights to flag victory by a comfortable 1.536 secs from Paul Phelan who had had a really good joust throughout with John Halliwell, before getting up in the later stages to take the second spot by a narrow margin. Fastest lap time was set by sixth place driver Anthony Rainford.

The minimax final was another great battle between the front pair of Luke Varley and Joe McKeand. It actually became two races in one as, in addition to the front two, a little further away, another great battle was going on for the third spot between the busy Oliver Webb, who also races in the Junior Rotax class, and Ryan Denton, a consistent minimax performer at Three Sisters. After several twists and turns it was Webb who won that little battle by a narrow margin to take the third spot. In front of these two Varley and McKeand were having a great battle for the victory. Varley led for the whole time, and although McKeand was rarely off his bumper, he simply couldn`t find the opening to make a passing move and Varley took it by just 0.258 seconds.

Again it was only a small entry of 125 open gearbox drivers, this being boosted by late entries from Ian Thomson and Nathan Freke. It had looked during the earlier part of the day that Andrew Hazlehurst might take a clean sweep, having won both the earlier heats, but, in the final, having started on pole and taking the early advantage, the figure of Freke loomed large and, having quickly taken up second place, began to close rapidly on Hazlehurst, before moving into the lead on lap five. Once there, there was no way back for Hazlehurst, Freke taking a comfortable victory by some 1.625 secs. Some distance back, Ian Thompson did well to hold off the rest of the field for virtually the entire race to take third spot by a comfortable margin.

Junior TKM was another of those finals that provided two races in one. Billy Patterson and Lee Morgan starting on the front row and roaring away to leave Phil Smith and James Campion competing for the third place. Up at the front, Patterson led for the entire race, driving faultlessly and never really allowing Morgan an opportunity to make a move, eventually taking his lights to flag victory by just 0.875 secs. Meanwhile, it was Smith taking third spot by a similar margin after a good battle with Campion. Robert Stanley was in solitary splendour in fifth place with five seconds of space both in front and behind.

Arguably the best final of the afternoon belonged to the Junior Rotax class. Lewis Williamson, who had travelled down in appalling weather conditions from Golspie in North Scotland, had been very impressive in the heats and, starting from the front row, quickly took up the mantle in the final. However, he had some good drivers to contend with, one of these being Liam Fenwick, last years Minimax champion who has made an impressive start in the Junior class, and it was Fenwick, starting on row three, who made a blistering start, quickly taking up second place behind Williamson. For several laps Williamson held his lead impressively, but incessant pressure from Fenwick finally took it`s tole and, on lap eight he finally nudged ahead and, as we have seen very often in the past, once in front he is very hard to dislodge and that proved to be the case again, Fenwick holding on for the victory by just 0.248 secs. A battle royal had taken place for third spot between Craig Boyd and Tom Stackhouse, with Boyd taking third, but, a subsequent objection saw the positions reversed and third spot went to Stackhouse.

A small entry of four 100 national drivers, basically having a practice prior to next weeks `0` plate meeting saw the Cumbria based Justin Edgar quickest throughout the day. In the final, although Dane Smith was never too far down, he was unable to make inroads into Edgars advantage and he took the victory rather more comfortably than the 0.491 sec time gap would indicate. James Burton was a distant third, some 17 seconds behind.

On a split grid with the 100`s were the Rotax 177 drivers, and it was Graeme Hunt who initially took up the mantle but, following a slight mistake, it was Bram De Groot who eased into the lead and very quickly made his advantage count. Chris O`Neill was always in the picture in third spot, but unable to quite get to grips with the front two. In the latter stages Hunt pulled back some time on the leader, but De Groot it was, making his seasonal bow, taking the victory by, in the end, the fairly narrow margin of 0.217 secs. Chris O`Neill took third from a fast finishing Barry Linley.

Last race of the day, traditionally, was the Rotax Max final and, unusually, it was a fairly clear cut affair. Craig Copeland, who had looked impressive throughout the day soon took the lead and began to pull clear, despite the best attentions of Paul Pendlebury and Dean Parker, although it really became a battle for the second spot, as Copeland stretched his lead in the later stages to take an impressive victory by 2.731 secs. Behind him a real battle had developed between Pendlebury and Parker, with the former just holding on by a whisker to take second spot by the minimum distance. Daniel Chesters the former MBKC 100 national club champion took an excellent fourth place.

Report by: Mel Tipton

Results

Full Race Results from Round 3...

FORMULA W-60 CADET
Max Goff (Zip/Comer)
Mackenzie Taylor (Zip/Comer)
Chris Warburton (Wright/Comer)

FORMULA S-60 CADET
Bradley Ord (Zip/Comer)
Jacob Hunstone (Tony/Comer)
Jordan Keelan (Zip/Comer)

FORMULA SENIOR TKM
Andy Wilson (Venom/TKM)
Paul Phelan (Blade/TKM)
John Halliwell (Side/TKM)

FORMULA MINIMAX
Luke Varley (Intrepid/Rotax)
Joe McKeand (DC1/Rotax)
Oliver Webb (Gillard/Rotax)

FORMULA 125 OPEN GEARBOX
Nathan Freke (Top/Pavesi)
Andrew Hazlehurst (Mach1/TM)
Ian Thompson (Energy/TM)

FORMULA JUNIOR TKM
Billy Patterson (JKH/TKM)
Lee Morgan (JKH/TKM)
Phil Smith (JKH/TKM)

FORMULA JUNIOR ROTAX
Liam Fenwick (Tony/Rotax)
Lewis Williamson (Cat/Rotax)
Tom Stackhouse (Kosmic/Rotax)

FORMULA 100 NATIONAL
Justin Edgar (Tony/Comer)
Dane Smith (Alpha/Comer)
James Burton (Haase/TM)

FORMULA ROTAX 177
Bram De Groot (JKH/Rotax)
Graeme Hunt (CRG/Rotax)
Chris O`Neill (Top/Rotax)

FORMULA ROTAX MAX
Craig Copeland (Maranello/Rotax)
Paul Pendlebury (Cat/Rotax)
Dean Parker (JKH/Rotax)

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