Slipstream win spells danger for Weymouth
September 2010 |
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Tanked Up struck the first blow by taking pole position. Galliard lined up on the front row of the grid after an impressive performance by their youngest charger who some say is actually the Stig. Slipstream were 3rd with Just So not looking as comfortable as usual in 4th. They were doing better than Red Steel and RBB who could only manage 16th and 33rd respectively. Red Steel opted for a kart change after qualifying so would start from the back of the grid as would Club16-48.
Ant Teal, who may also be the Stig, did the honours for Tanked Up. It appeared to be a comfortable pole and, although appearing confident prior to the start, he was refusing to comment on his team’s chances in the race.
“I just got my head down and got a clear lap so happy days. It’s too early to think about the race at the moment because anything can happen so we’ll see how it goes at the end.”
The pole side got away cleanly; Slipstream following Tanked Up through turn 1. Galliard had a slow start courtesy of some bumping from the karts behind almost pushing them ahead of the pole man. They still completed the first lap in third with Vagisil close behind. The top 4 started to pull clear of the rest of the field until the pit stops. Slipstream were the first to blink with the Stig coming in on lap 15.
RBB and 3Cubed had made up good ground in the early phase of the race. Red Steel and High Times were also working their way up the field but both would suffer problems soon after and fall back down the order. High Times fell victim to a typically controversial black flag when Richard Higham who - contrary to popular belief, is not the Stig; he is in fact the Stig’s bald cousin – tangled with Just So’s Stuart Symonds. Despite some onlookers feeling that the race steward (who bankrolls Just So) called an unfair penalty, the typically sporting Rich Higham refused to be drawn into such slander because he and Mutley are such good friends…
“The test driver saw it, loads of other people saw it, it was a totally clean move but apparently I knocked him off. I was chasing down Stu Symonds and he was blocking me but I was quicker. I went down the outside but he just didn’t want to give it up and he spun it out. A lot of people have said it shouldn’t have been a penalty but it’s just one of those things.”
3Cubed were having a bad day at the office. Alex Withington who, you guessed it, could be the Stig, refused to comment. Either because he is a Prima-Dona or because Jeremy Clarkson is right and he can catch fish with his tongue and is stumped by clouds. Either way, Carl Watt gave his views of the race instead.
“It’s not going well today. We’ve had a couple of spins. I spun at the bottom of the hill. I think I just turned in too early. It’s been the story of our season really. There have been a lot of stupid little mistakes like that. Nothing we can do about it really.”
RBB’s so far average season didn’t appear to be getting any better at this race. A number of blunders in the pit lane only adding to their woes as Simon Young explained.
“Dan Gore came into the pit lane and said the fuel cap magically vanished from his hands which is unusual and perhaps even unprecedented but definitely needs reporting on. We’ve managed to screw up pretty much all of our pit stops today but we are running around with an okay kart. We changed the kart after qualifying and started at the back. We’ve been putting in reasonable times but the whole field is close today so we’ll be hard pressed to make up much ground for here.”
Back at the front and Tanked Up and Slipstream were enjoying a battle for the lead. Team Tebbutt and Galliard were fighting tooth and nail for the final podium spot. Just So Racing were looking somewhat off colour and sat some distance behind.
Pit lane blunders befell 3 of the top teams. Tanked Up lost a potential victory when Darren Teal stalled in the second stop. Galliard and Team Tebbutt pitted together and both had slow stops. Team Tebbutt’s was the slower which allowed Galliard to jump into 2nd. Further back and Club16-48'srace was going from bad to worse after a number of pit lane blunders involving th fuel cap.
Tanked Up put up a storming recovery drive in the latter stages to snatch 2nd from Galliard in the final pit stop. Team Tebbutt’s challenge for a podium slot ended earlier when they were found to be underweight. The same fate befell Team Red Steel.
So Slipstream cruised home to score their first victory of the season. Tanked Up kept their championship hopes alive with 2nd while Galliard secured their second podium finish of the season in third ahead of a distant Just So. Vagisil and Cartman rounded out the top 6.
The tame race reporter was so stumped by having scored his second podium of the season as well as setting fastest lap of the race that he completely forgot to interview the winners after the race. Fortunately, Dave Pethers gave an exclusive interview a few days later.
“We were nowhere during practice which was a little worrying but somehow Paul qualified us in third right on the last lap of qualifying. Mikey started his first race of the year and did a brilliant job keeping Ant Teal honest. Coming up to his last stop he closed right up on Ant and shortly after that Tanked Up had an issue in the pits which lost them some time. This gave us a five second lead. We then drove a somewhat conservative few stints, but the team did a great job in the pits taking three seconds out of Just So, five out of Tanked up and twenty-three from Galliard to bring home the first victory of the year. Still something to play for in the remaining four rounds so roll on sheepsville for round eight!”
