UK Karting - UK Pro Kart Endurance Championship

Results & Reports
UK Pro Kart Endurance Championship

UK Pro Kart Endurance Championship
Round 8 - 6th August 2006 - Bayford Meadows

Bayford Meadows hosted the 8th round of the Championship in particularly hot and oppressive weather conditions, making things very tough for both drivers and karts alike.

Lucas Racing just took the pole in qualifying from Team X, with Baron Racing and Autotekk making up the second row with just hundredths separating these front-running teams.

As the race got under way, all the front-runners were desperate to take the lead with almost everyone taking a turn at the front of the pack. Eventually, after about half an hour, Autotekk emerged as race leaders and established a small cushion from the ensuing pack, which included, AJB 1, DXI-Sin, Lucas Racing and Team X, in no particular order.

As the one-hour mark approached, Autotekk were now 6 seconds clear of the pack and going like a steam train, putting in the fastest lap of the day with a 53 second dead. Frascati Racing were leading the pro-class in an excellent 7th place overall and S D Racing were the quickest of the clubman class in a creditable 13th spot. Conversely World Thunder had dropped to 36th place with an early mechanical problem, followed closely by SZR, modelworlduk.com and Spectrum Racing, all being forced to make unscheduled pit stops.

As the race entered the first fuel stop window, pro-class leaders, Frascati Racing, were forced to make an engine change which dropped them to 30th place, whilst the overall leaders, Autotekk, had now built up a 12 second cushion from DXI-Sin who were still heading the chasing pack.

With everyone refuelled, Autotekk now led Lucas Racing by 18 seconds, with DXI-Sin and Team X in 3rd and 4th, then Team Alpha moving up into 5th place just in front of Baron Racing. The new pro-class leaders Sudbury T C were now just ahead of PDQ, and S D Racing were still leading the clubman class by a country mile in 11th place overall.

As half race distance approached, the battling duo of DXI-Sin and Lucas Racing were now 24 seconds behind the leaders, Sonic Deaf Monkeys had taken over the clubman leadership as S D Racing encountered a mechanical problem and Frascati were back up to 18th having recovered from 30th place and were now lapping at the same pace as the leaders.

As the second fuel window approached, top runners AJB 1 made an unscheduled stop which briefly dropped them back to 16th place, whilst PDQ had regained the pro-class lead in 7th place overall, but were coming under pressure from Teamtec, RPM Bayliss Boys 2, Sudbury T C and GX160 Parts.com, all of whom were now on the same lap. Cosport had passed Sonic Deaf Monkeys to take the clubman class leadership and Frascati continued their comeback, moving up to 15th place.

Unconventional team strategies now came into play, as many teams were unable to double-stint top drivers due to the relentless heat and even team managers/occasional drivers were seen to be getting their crash helmets at the ready.

With just 2 hours to go and only a splash and dash fuel stop required for most teams, Autotekk looked to have this one in the bag, with a 25 second advantage and nobody really eating into their lead. DXI-Sin were they’re nearest rivals and were the only team now on the same lap as the leaders, when a cruel disaster befell Autotekk. Their axle snapped of its own accord thus robbing them of what appeared to be a certain victory and subsequently negated any chance of success in the 2006 Championship. Grasping the opportunity with both hands, DXI-Sin took up the lead but found that both Lucas Racing and Team X had picked up the pace and were now just 13 seconds behind them.

Alpha were still in 4th place just in front of Baron Racing and AJB 1 had recovered to 6th place, leaving all the super pro teams in the top 6 with the exception of the ill fated Autotekk team who had now retired. PDQ still led the pro-class from Teamtec and Sonic Deaf Monkeys regained the clubman class honours after Cosport pitted with problems.

In the closing stages of the race, the top 6 team’s lap times remained constant and the podium places were set to give DXI-Sin their 1st victory of the season and Sonic Deaf Monkeys cruised home to take the clubman honours from Rogue Racing and S D Racing, but everyone had taken their eyes off Frascati Racing, particularly the pro-class teams.

Having dropped to 30th place in the early part of the race, Frascati steadily worked their way back up, notably by latching on to the leading karts and drafting them, particularly in the last 90 minutes when they were glued to the rear bumper of DXI-Sin. Their reward was an 8th place overall and a second in class, displacing RPM Bayliss Boys 2 and Teamtec in the process, and achieving in my view, the drive of the day.

The Championship moves on to the Thruxton raceway in Hampshire for the penultimate round of the championship, with everything still to play for.


R8 Overall Winners

Winners DXI-Sin	R8 Pro-Class Winners

Results

Overall: 1st DXI-Sin, 2nd Team X, 3rd Lucas Racing
Pro-class: 1st PDQ, 2nd Frascati Racing, 3rd RPM Bayliss Boys 2
Clubman: 1st Sonic Deaf Monkeys, 2nd Rogue Racing, 3rd S D Racing

Championship standing: 1st Baron Racing 281, 2nd Team X 267, 3rd Team Alpha 259, 4th AJB1 249, 5th DXI-Sin 243 Pro-Class leaders - modelworlduk.com Clubman leaders – Rogue Racing

| Results & Reports |
| UK Karting Main Index |


News	Karts & Karting	Notice Board	Market Place	Companies Directory	Tracks Directory	Events Calendar	Race Results	Photo Gallery	Links