Bayford sun shines on Just So
July 2010 |
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Indeed it was Slipstream Racing who were better than anybody else in qualifying. Sadly for them they changed kart prior to the start and were relegated to the back. This promoted Just So into pole position ahead of Team Red Steel. The latter were running a second team today; Red Steel 2 performing the perfunctory task of riding shotgun for the main team and hopefully taking points away from their rivals. The duo of Lee Clackett and Pete O’Connor lined up third. Vagisil, High Times, Wolfie and Tanked Up were next up and all with a realistic shout at a podium finish.
Phil Ingram did the honours for Just So in qualifying. Despite being surprised by his pace, he was confident his team could hold off the challenge from behind.
“I’m quite chuffed to be on pole actually because I didn’t feel like I got a clear lap in so that’s quite positive for the race. I’m sure the two Steel teams will be plotting to overthrow us but we won’t let them.”
Just So led off the line ahead of the two Red Steel teams – the junior squad violating strict team orders and leading the sister team. Vagisil were once again showing excellent pace up there in 4th with High Times close behind. The usual suspects of Wolfie and Tanked Up were also in close attendance.
Pit stops would be crucial and the notoriously difficult pit lane at Bayford Meadows was sure to make a difference during the day. Wolfie were one of the first of the leaders to pit and came in around 5 minutes to get some clear air. Slipstream looked very rapid both in the pits and out on track as they recovered from their penalty in qualifying. Sadly, however, their day would come to a premature end.
They were not the only team who would suffer problems. Wolfie were another casualty and RBB struggled for pace all day. Tim Gibson joined Simon Young and Grumpy Gore for this race as Liam Hegarty was convalescing at home after injuring himself in the gym trying to impress the girls. Gore explained the last minute driver change as well as his team’s lack of pace.
“I think it’s a case of Juan Pablo Montoya motorcycle tennis. I don’t know what he gets up to in his spare time but he hurt himself in the gym apparently so we’ve got Tim with us and he’s doing a good job. We’re struggling a bit today because we changed our kart in practice because it was miles off the pace but the replacement doesn’t seem to be much quicker so I don’t know what we can do really.”
All of the teams suffered with tyre wear issues. The rear tyres in particular were a problem for a number of teams and many were experiencing handling problems. Perhaps this explained why Parmveer Nijjar spun off not once but twice… in the same place. His assertion that he was tapped into a spin was vehemently denied by his team and rumours about his future with High Times continue to gather momentum.
After a promising start, Tanked Up Racing began to slow and slip down the order. Ant Teal was not happy with the deterioration in performance and the team were deciding whether or not to risk a kart change mid-race.
“It’s not good. We’re tempted to bin the kart and get a replacement to be honest. This is going to be a dropped score anyway I think because anything outside the top three isn’t good enough if we’re challenging for the title.”
A team that did have to change karts were Team Red Steel. After battling for the lead with Just So for much of the race both in the pits and out on circuit, they began to slow with engine gremlins. A tweak of the carb in the pits did nothing so they had no choice but to return to the pits to get it tested. Marc Craddock explained events.
“The engine started four-stroking and gurgling coming out of corners so we got Tony to tweak it in the pit stop. That didn’t make a difference so we came in to get it tested. The tester did one lap before bringing it in. We got in a new kart and all that cost us two laps. The electrics had snapped on the engine so it’s a shame.”
Club16-48 were also in the wars. Once again, Phil Kendall admitted that their weakness at not being able to sort the kart in practice was hampering their performance.
“We always struggle to spot whether or not we have a good kart. We thought it wasn’t great so we came in and had it tested. The chassis was bent so they gave us a new one but within four or five laps, looking at Steve out there, I thought ‘this isn’t looking good’ and was losing ground. We qualified poorly and we’ve lost a lot of ground during the race. We’ve tried to drive around it but I can’t see we’re going to do much more today.”
After an average qualifying performance, the mighty Galliard were starting to pick up the pace and were rapidly moving into contention for a podium finish. In fact their youngest driver got my vote for drive of the day after a stellar double-stint which included another epic battle with 3Cubed, who were another team running well and hoping to take advantage of the demise of some of their rivals. Wolfie were running well in third before their seat broke and they lost 4 laps getting that fixed.
With problems besetting most of their rivals, Just So could afford to cruise towards the end. They eventually crossed the line almost an entire lap ahead of Red Steel 2. Galliard picked up their first podium position for several years with third. Red Steel salvaged 4th after their earlier problems. High Times were found to be a kilo underweight after the race and were excluded from the results.
With Steel’s engine problem compounded by their junior team taking points away from them, Just So’s Brian Trott was even more pleased with the win that meant his team extends its lead in the championship.
“We’ve done what we needed to do today. It was close until Steel had their problem. I think they might have had the edge on pace but we just did a few better pit stops than they did and got back in the lead. We were running nose to tail with them when they had their problem so it would have been all to play for. We’ve had our fair share of bad luck so it’s about time they had some – the staff kart broke down for them. Once that happened, no one else was really in the race so it was just a case of backing off and bringing it home.
