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BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Round 4
Larkhall - 17th JUne 2007
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Testing – Larkhall is one of the tracks I look forward to visiting each year and I’m sure it is one of the best for the spectators as well. The best bit has got to be flying up the hill and round the flat out right hander before braking from 85 to 50mph its quite a spectacle in the Super ICC karts! Testing went very well and me and the team managed to get a good set-up on old tyres and we felt very confident that we could get the job done when race day came.
Heat 1 – I started the first heat of the day from 7th on the grid and initially got a good start off the grid but got boxed in behind Rubie-Todd who had got a poor start. I dropped back to 8th before making my way back up to 7th. By lap 3 I was up to 6th but unfortunately I made a small error under braking into the top corner and locked my right front this allowed Frank Wrathall past. I quickly latched back on to Wrathall and we both made our way through into the top 5. I managed to get Nick Goodfellow into the bottom corner before following Wrathall through past Nigel Moore. This left me in 4th place behind Daniel Borton but I ran out of laps and had to settle for 4th.
Heat 2 – I started the second heat of the day from pole and made a quick get a way. Raymie Eastwood was close following for the first few laps but once my tyres came on the kart felt very good and I was able to pull away for a comfortable victory.
Heat 3 – For the final heat I started on grid 10 and made a good start off the line and was able to sit in 8th place after the first lap. I quickly made my way though to 7th before Nigel Moor made a move on me. A lap later and I realised I was quite a bit faster than Moor and quickly disposed of him before slicing my way through the pack. Once up to 2nd I began to chase race leader Frank Wrathall down but didn’t have enough time and had to settle for the fastest lap of the race and 2nd.
Final – After some good heats I started alongside Wrathall on the first row with Moore and Hibbert directly behind me. I got a superb start and was able to take the lead into the first corner. We had left the tyre pressures quite low so that the kart would be very fast at the end of the race but unfortunately this left me open to attack in the opening laps. By lap 4 I was back down to 3rd and a wild lunge by Nigel Moore nudged me onto the marbles and I rejoined down in 7th. I was determined to fight back and quickly passed Borton and Eastwood before slicing down the inside of Moore into the bottom corner I was now in 3rd but quite away behind the leading two. Fortunately the kart was now perfect and I was able to push on the limit. By the last two laps I was on around .05 of a second behind Hibbert and Wrathall but with neither making mistakes it was going to be hard to pass. On the last lap I out broke Tom (Hibbert) and stole second but with only two corners to go I didn’t have a chance to pass Wrathall. The team did a great job and I’d like to thank Ian and my Dad for giving me a good package. The Gillard chassis was great and so were the engines.
This now leaves me 2nd in the championship behind Tom Hibbert but If I can grab a win at the next round at Llandow in Wales then hopefully I can turn that into a 1.
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