ELF / Hill House Hammond Super 4 National Kart Championships.

Round 2 -: Nutts Corner

After a year’s absence, The S4 National Gearbox Championship made a welcome return to Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland for the Stena Line backed round of the series The fast, bumpy track always provides plenty of exciting and close racing and this year was no exception, but unfortunately it did have its fair share of sizeable shunts. Jon Hateley suffering one of the more serious, damaging his back, pelvis and sternum, happily, reports say he is making progress. Large entries in F125 National and Open necessitated in `B` finals and beefed up by a few local drivers, a healthy grid of 250 Internationals looked very slick indeed. Irrelevant of size all the classes that were competing provided some of the closest finishes ever seen in S4 and with Fulbeck and Kimbolton to come in June, mid season looks likely to be even more thrilling.

With the B finals out of the way F125 Europa was the first of the main finals, just five drivers made the trek across the pond, but they warmed up the crowd in fine style. Winner of heats 1& 2 Charles Long, moved swiftly into the lead at the lights, but by the close of the opening lap he had been overhauled by Dave Morris, David Lucas was 3^rd from Mark Leeson and Dave Horsley. Providing entertainment throughout the race, Morris, Long and Lucas were frequently three abreast, Long briefly put his nose in front on lap 9 but Morris regained on the next, Leeson and Horsley had lost touch with the leading trio but they too were enjoying a great dice. With the race coming to a close it was anybody’s guess who would win. After 14, flat out laps the leading three were barely inches apart as they took the flag, but it was Morris who just had his nose in front on the line from Long then Lucas.

Don Kennedy (2) and Neil Burroughs (1) had taken the heats between them in 250 National and were the front row in the final. All safely round the opening lap it was Kennedy who led them across the line from Burroughs, Andrew Walker, Kevin Ridley, Malcolm Witts and Roy Bennett. With Bennett retiring on lap 2, John Robinson was promoted into the top 6, Andrew Smith next.                           Very close for the first few laps Kennedy continued to lead Burroughs right there in 2^nd, then Walker Ridley and Witts, a gap had opened between Witts & Robinson as he was busy defending his place from Smith.

Lap 7 was mid way through and it was really warming up, Burroughs moved briefly ahead of Kennedy but within the space of a lap Kennedy was back in front, Walker was in touch but some 5 Kart lengths adrift. Witts had started to fall back, his engine sounding off and would eventually finish a lowly 13^th. This left Ridley on his own in 4^th, Robinson and Smith had been circulating together but were now under attack from Stephen Clarke. Clarke had started on the 2^nd row of the grid but either an off or an incident had dropped him well down on the opening lap and he had been steadily working his way back through the field.  With just 4 laps to run Burroughs again moved to the front, Kennedy almost welded to his rear bumper followed. Each time they came round to complete another lap they were side by side, but time was running out and as they chequered flag dropped it was Burroughs, his fist raised in victory, who took the honours, Kennedy alongside having to settle for 2^nd.  Walker, who had been a spectator of the scrap throughout was a close 3^rd, Ridley 4^th. Clarke had put in a tremendous drive and after picking off Smith on lap 13, would nip past Robinson on the final lap to take a very well earned 5^th place.

Guest driver and local hero Stephen McAdam completed a brace of wins in the heats with John Riley claiming the other in F250 International. McAdam headed them round the opening lap, Riley 2^nd, then Dave Harvey, Jonny Wilkinson, Andy Holmes and Colin Menary.  McAdam and Riley were the class of the field and quickly began to ease clear. McAdam leading until Riley swept past on lap 8. Once out front a mechanical problem was about the only thing that could stop him, it didn’t happen and he went onward to take a comfortable win, McAdam 2 secs adrift took 2^nd. Harvey eventually came home in 3^rd, after a challenge from Coalvilles finest "Andy Holmes" in the early part of the race faded into retirement on lap 10, leaving Harvey the benefactor. Menary had chased Wilkinson throughout and with three laps remaining picked him off on the back straight. Wilkinson was demoted even further as Alan Bott also swept past to take 5^th in the latter stages.

Between them Carl Kinsey and Paul Kennings are proving unbeatable in F250`E`, Kennings took Heat 1, with Kinsey taking 2&3. Establishing an immediate lead in the final, Kinsey completed a hat trick of wins during the day taking a relatively unchallenged win, Kennings coming home 2^nd.  Local driver, Keith Campbell from Carrickfergus would be 3^rd, Keith had briefly held 2^nd during the opening two laps but had succumbed to the very quick Kennings on lap 3. Tom Stambach and Stuart Cryer had held 4^th & 5^th places, but both suffered mechanical problems, which elevated Andy Scott into 4^th by race end.

In F125 Open, Guest driver Liam Warren and regular Daniel Grieg scored wins in the heats with Paul Ozanne taking up the other two, that gave him pole position for the final, and alongside him on the front row was Peter Palmer. Ozanne made the most of his grid 1 moving to the front at the lights. As they came round to complete lap 1, Palmer was slotted in behind followed by Robin Kingham, Grieg, Warren and Stephen Coward, the whole field streaming through line astern behind. Lap 2 and the cream was now making its way to the top, Ozanne continued to lead. Palmer 2^nd, Grieg had moved into 3^rd ahead of Kingham. Mark Fell was now starting to make his presence felt after starting on the 4^th row in 5th. Very close throughout the whole field Warren was 6^th then Coward and Mark Brookman. No change on lap 3, but Grieg was out on the next lap, as was Warren, Fell was now 3^rd and a lap later swept past Palmer in 2^nd.   By lap 6 things were starting to settle down Ozanne, had a small but valuable cushion over Fell, there was a slight gap back to Palmer and Kingham in 3^rd & 4^th and they were closely followed by Coward and Brookman. Ian Pratt had been going very well after starting down in 17^th place he was 7^th, then came, `B` final winner Richard Hanmer and Dave Fricker. As the laps were rattled off Ozanne had everything under control, keeping just enough of a cushion, he was out of reach of any serious challenge from Fell and that’s how they would finish. Kingham had a brief spell in 3^rd but with 3 to go Palmer regained his earlier position, Kingham having to settle for 4^th. The battle for the top ten positions had been intense, After putting in a super drive, Ian Pratt scooped 5^th place ahead of Nelson Rowe, Rowe splitting Pratt and Brookman on the final lap, Jeremy Ferguson, Hanmer and Fricker the first ten finishers.

The last final of the day was F125 National, Clubmans driver, Andrew Agnew had won a couple of heats, which made him polesitter, Carl Hulme, Dennis Gale and Jeff Stewart taking the others heats. Lap 1 and Agnew headed them round, streaming through it was Hulme next, then Jason Sammut, Gale Mark Burrows, Scott Neal. 

 Agnew continued to lead, but behind was were it was all starting to happen. Hulme was tucked under the race leaders bumper and he inturn had Gale breathing down his neck. Kevin Pinder, who had started from grid 18 was now nibbling at Gale’s rear end, with Sammut, Burrows and Neal next up. With another lap gone, Agnew, Hulme and after quickly despatching Gale, Pinder, were breaking away from the pack of chasing drivers. Extending it on the next tour, A winner seemed to be coming from this group, but they hadn’t reckoned on Graham Barker.                                                           Seemingly out of it starting way back on the 10^th row. Barker was quickly into his stride and by the start of lap 4 he was 9^th, a lap later he had moved into 4^th, some twenty Kart lengths adrift of the leading three. Taking a couple of laps to bridge the gap he was soon in the thick of the action, first Pinder then Hulme were snapped up and by lap10 Agnew had relinquished his lead to the flying Barker. As the remaining few laps were run it was clear that he would not be caught, a slight but important gap appearing before he took the Chequered Flag. 2^nd place was taken right to the end with Pinder ahead of Agnew, Hulme half a kart length back in 4^th.   From 5^th place back, the traffic was bumper to bumper throughout, Burrows had slowly lost ground and his race ended after a tangle with Mark Van Driel on lap 13. Sammut, who after showing well in the early part of the race had also dropped a few places eventually finishing 9th. Matthew Bett had come from a low as 8^th place on lap 2 to snatch 5^th from Scott Neal who was followed home by Dennis Gale and winner of the `B` Final Richard Ward.

Robin Haworth