News Archive: July 2013


10/07/2013

SUPER 1 MSA BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 AT LARKHALL

Tom WoodHe arrived holding a substantial championship lead of 33 points over his nearest rival. On Sunday evening, when all the equipment was being stacked away, Oliver York still headed the championship table although, Alex Quinn had greatly reduced his advantage

 

Teddy Wilson emerged from Timed Qualifying as the driver to beat. York was placed 4th behind Alex McDade and Sean Butcher. Keirn Jewiss equalled York’s fastest lap but had to settle for 5th place on count-back. Next up came Jonny Edgar and Will Pettitt but there was a surprise addition to the top ten rankings as Mario Mills qualified 8th fastest ahead of Alex Quinn and Tom Douglas.

 

Quinn drew first blood with a relatively comfortable win over Jewiss in Heat 1. York was an early leader in this race but gradually fell off the pace and had to settle for 5th position behind Tyler Chesterton and Will Pettitt. Heat 2 produced a very narrow win for Jewiss who had been pushed hard by McDade on every single lap. Tom Wood managed to get past Edgar for 3rd spot. Coming off grid 8 Wood claimed victory in Heat 3 with Quinn relegating Pettitt down to 3rd position on the last lap of this race.

 

In Final 1 Jewiss claimed pole position from Quinn by virtue of his Timed Qualifying performance. Wood and Pettitt made up the 2nd row. Owen Byatt, Callum Bradshaw, Oliver Caldwell and Luca Molinaro qualified via the “B” Final. Larkhall usually punishes anyone starting from grid 2 as Quinn soon discovered when he immediately dropped down to 4th place behind Jewiss, Wood and Chesterton. Pettitt, Wilson and York fared much worse as they became involved in a collision before even reaching Turn 1.

Wood lost little time in wresting control from Jewiss who dropped down to 5th place as Chesterton, Quinn and Butcher also took advantage. Jewiss seemed to lack his Saturday pace as he dropped down to 9th spot behind Grout, Hawkey and Edgar. Grout put in a couple of fast laps and caught up the four leaders. York, Wilson and Pettitt were steadily climbing back through the field.

Their task became a little easier when Wood suddenly put in a couple of laps that were a full second slower than normal. It caused everyone immediately behind him to scramble for position and, while all this was going on, he calmly pulled away, eventually winning bya a margin of some 20 yards or more from Butcher, Quinn, Grout and Edgar. Chesterton was the main casualty of Wood’s tactics as he dropped down to 7th spot behind Jack Armstrong.

 

As expected Wood went off into the lead in Final 2, but things didn’t work at all well for his front row partner Butcher who was forced down into 10th place. Edgar moved up into 3rd position behind Grout but soon developed clutch problems that sent him moving down the running order. Quinn took over 2nd place from grout who was subsequently demoted to 5th position as Butcher and Wilson both went through. Butcher then took the lead approaching half distance only to lose it a lap later when Wood regained command.

Butcher had another go at leading with Grout now holding 2nd spot and Wood formulating his plan of attack. Grout took over the hot seat for a couple of laps before Wood relieved him of the position. All four front runners had a turn at leading on their hectic final tour but Wood’s raised arms told us that he’d got the verdict. Quinn took 2nd place followed by Butcher and Grout. Matthew Graham finished narrowly ahead of Wilson for 5th place.

 

RESULTS

 

FINAL 1

1. Tom Wood (Fusion Jr); 2. Sean Butcher (MBR); 3. Herbie Grout (Next Gen); 4. Alex Quinn (Fusion Jr; 5. Jonny Edgar (Fusion); 6. Jack Armstrong (Next Gen)

FASTEST LAP; Tyler Chesterton (Privateer) 44.48s

 

FINAL 2

 

1. Wood; 2. Quinn; 3. Butcher; 4. Grout; 5. Matthew Graham (Eclipse); 6. Teddy Wilson (Next Gen)

FASTEST LAP; William Pettitt (Fusion) 44.41s

ALL FINISHERS ON ZIP KARTS