They are no HAZ beens
August 2010 |
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There were a couple of notable absentees for this race. Sami Seppala was busy doing stunts on a plank of wood and James Akehurst was taking part in a Village People reunion gig. This left Team Awesome needing to find some real talent to partner Oli Allwood. Will Tew, fresh from his one-off outing for Wolfie, took one berth and super-sub Kathryn Goodwin also stood in and brought some much needed glamour and charisma to the team.
Loud Pedal Racing were back with a completely different line-up. With Nick Portlock looking likely to be out of commission for a while yet and James Taylor busy being molested by some ropey looking granny in Cannes, James Attfield, Pete Cowen and Matt Forks (not sure if that is the correct spelling Matt but that’s how it sounded on the Dictaphone) stepped up to the challenge.
The hapless KOKS team returned from the grave with two big Prem names in the form of Chris Bell and Trevor Randall. This surprising line-up would surely dominate…
It appeared not to be the case as Ian Perkins took InkJet to a brilliant pole position. Randall could only manage 2nd on the grid. Teamcraft were 3rd but half a second adrift of the front two. Team Awesome, HAZ and Loose Heads were next up and all looking like potential candidates for a podium. Loud Pedal Racing’s return was less than auspicious and the team started dead last, opting to change the kart after qualifying due to a severe engine gremlin.
Perkins MkII was pleased, if a little surprised, to be informed of his pole position.
“I’m very happy. I had no idea I was that quick but the kart is good and the track is beautiful so I’m really pleased. Hopefully we can keep it on the track and I’m looking forward to a good race.”
The KOKS stormed away off the line as the pole sitters slipped down the order on the opening lap. Team Awesome slotted into second ahead of the Stallions who made a flying start from the mid field to jump into third. Five Gloves drove straight into the mechanics bay after the first lap and dropped to the tail of the field.
As things calmed down a bit, the KOKS unsurprisingly pulled out a huge lead. However, despite their premier driver line-up, they somehow managed to miss the fuel window and had to serve a penalty. In typical KOKS style they made a few other on-track errors and dropped out of contention. A very, very sad state of affairs for two ex-Target Racing drivers…
The Man’s an Animal were not looking as competitive this race and struggled to get to grips with the circuit. Of course they blamed their equipment and even had a letter from their mum
“We are having to pull off some absurd moves to get anywhere. Our kart has the power of a glacier but we just have to make do. There is no top end whatsoever so overtaking is obviously really difficult. We also got taken off the track in the first two corners and then got a black flag for putting all four wheels over the white line so it’s just been a recovery drive. It’s not a bad result, all things considered.”
I’m not sure if you guys are philosophy students or just students of Biere des Moulins and weed but if it’s the former I’d be quite keen to have a philosophical debate about the power of a glacier because it depends how you define power. Technically they are very powerful entities.
Anyway, back to the subject of racing and moving steadily through the field were HAZ and Es Car Go. The former was starting to threaten the front and they soon found themselves challenging for the lead. By half distance they had a good lead and were pulling away. Their cause was helped by InkJet receiving a black flag but Harry Landy still viewed them as a threat because they were still running a comfortable second and lapping at a similar pace.
Loose Heads were not having the greatest of days. As well as their bright yellow race suits being something of a wasp magnet, a very slow first stop and a black flag as a result of Garret O’Connor Irish dancing over the white lines left them with a mountain to climb.
Having qualified well, Teamcraft suffered another disappointing race
“At the start I mounted Dan Gore and went up and over the top of him and then a whole train just went past. I hit some water a couple of laps later and spun off. Dyll hit me under a yellow and I spun and then Liam had an off so it’s not been a great day really.”
I should take this opportunity to point out that Dyll made quite an inauspicious Clubman debut that involved 3 spins in about as many laps in his first stint. I just thought I’d share that with you all because I like embarrassing the great pink one!
A team having a better day was HB Racing. A team I have not spoken to much this year, they finally had something to smile about as they enjoyed their most competitive showing so far this year. Stuart Brierley gave his views.
“It’s really good. The kart is fine and we didn’t get it tested so it was good from the off really. We had reasonable pit stops and also had a great battle with Team Awesome. I really enjoyed that.”
HAZ took their first victory ahead of InkJet. Es Car Go maintained their championship lead with third, although they are yet to win a race this year. Zac Seward was happy with the first win and is obviously keen to see more results.
“It’s great to take our first win and hopefully there will be more to come. We kept away from trouble so it’s great. I’m not at the next race but Harry is so hopefully he can do us proud there as well.”
