LGM CADET CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 4 AT GLAN Y GORS

Situated within the Snowdonia National Park about 20 minutes drive from Betws Y Coed, Glan Y Gors is a beautiful circuit that can lay claim to being amongst the very best in Britain.

That was a view endorsed by LGM supremo Mike Mills as he gazed down from the balcony outside a very well appointed restaurant on Friday afternoon. It was Mike’s first visit to the Welsh circuit and he came away very impressed with what he’d seen. On a rather less positive note, the amount of dust accumulating in various team awnings produced one or two grumbles but, this apart, most people had good things to say about the circuit.

Unfortunately, favourable comments aren’t always translated into race entries and several meetings scheduled for 2013 had already been cancelled through lack of numbers. With two Super 1 Rounds, for Rotax and MSA classes, due to take place in June, this particular meeting was never going to be short of entrants. Apart from 46 Little Green Man contenders, a further 114 drivers turned out in other classes

The computer system at GYG forced a departure from normal arrangements. Instead of allocating each driver a front, middle and rear grid in three Heats, starting positions were determined by Timed Qualifying sessions. William Pettitt, Oliver York and Zach Robertson all got below 49 seconds in the first session. However, their times were eclipsed in the next one by a super quick Teddy Wilson. Next up were Kiern Jewiss and Alex Quinn. George Price and Mario Mills both had mountains to climb after they were excluded in this session.

Wilson served notice of his intentions by duly winning the opening Heat although Jewiss certainly made him work hard for it. In fact it was Tyler Chesterton who finished ahead of everyone having missed out a section of the circuit. This omission resulted in him being docked a lap. Some 40 yards further back, Ethan Hawkey took 3rd spot ahead of Pettitt. It was that man Wilson who claimed victory in Heat 2 with Herbie Grout hard on his heels. Oliver York and Tom Wood had a good battle for 3rd spot but Zach Robertson was involved in a collision midway through this race that cost him around 10 seconds and more than 20 places.

York claimed victory next time out, followed by Pettitt, Quinn and Grout. Wood came within 100 grams of taking 2nd spot but his argument with the scales resulted in an exclusion. Owen Byatt, Mario Mills, Luca Molinaro and Fraser Fenwick all qualified via the “B” final. Evan Smillie lost 2nd spot in this race by incurring a 5 place penalty. So they lined up for the “A” Final with Wilson claiming pole position alongside York. Pettitt shared row 2 with Grout, while Jewiss and Hawkey sat immediately behind. Due to concerns expressed at PF a week earlier, the top ten qualifiers were required to run with controlled fuel.

Pettitt made a lightning start from 3rd place on the grid, but York found himself forced out wide, thus letting through a train of ten karts or more. Wilson, too, was compromised on the opening lap and dropped down to 5th spot. Quinn slotted in behind Pettitt and took over the lead soon afterwards. Pettitt dropped down the order as Alex McDade went through into 2nd place. Jonny Edgar replaced McDade and tucked in tightly behind Quinn. Almost immediately, however, he was swallowed up by the karts of Grout, McDade, Pettitt and Wilson. Quinn was holding on grimly at the front before both Grout and Pettitt found a way through.

At around half distance Pettitt took over 1st place from Grout, with Wilson, McDade and Quinn following closely behind. Edgar suddenly looked vulnerable as both Hawkey and York overtook him. York went past Hawkey to take 6th spot and Edgar followed him through. McDade was the next driver to fall into York’s clutches and he moved into 4th place almost immediately afterwards by overtaking Quinn. With four laps remaining, Grout went through into the lead and Pettitt came under strong pressure from Wilson for 2nd place.

After emerging as one of the likely winners, Quinn was now struggling for pace, dropping down to 6th behind Edgar. The top three drivers had broken away by this stage, but it was anyone’s guess as to which one would actually win. Wilson hit the front and Pettitt seized 2nd place, while Edgar went past York to claim 4th position. They began their final tour with Wilson under strong pressure from Pettitt and Grout. With the chequered flag in sight Grout made an ambitious attempt to overtake Pettitt that succeeded in delaying both drivers by a full second or more.

Officials subsequently deemed Herbie’s move to have been rather too ambitious and he was docked five places. York had got back in front of Edgar and was promoted to 3rd spot on the podium. Quinn dropped four spots on the last lap as Hawkey, McDade, Lewis Thompson and Tom Wood all went past him. 1st place in the Privateer’s Cup had been settled after just one lap when Tyler Chesterton retired. This provided Jack Brailsford with a morale boosting win. 3rd place was claimed by Abbi Pulling who had finished 5th in the “B” Final.

RESULTS

1. Teddy Wilson (Next Gen); 2. William Pettitt (Fusion); 3l. Oliver York (Fusion); 4. Jonny Edgar (Fusion); 5. Ethan Hawkey (Fusion Jr); 6. Alex McDade (Eclipse).

PRIVATEER 

1. Jack Brailsford; 2. Tyler Chesterton; 3. Abbi Pulling (Gillard)

BEST TURNED OUT KART; Abbi Pulling.

POLE POSITION PRIZE; Teddy Wilson.

FASTEST LAP AWARD; Teddy Wilson (49.30 secs)

BEST PAIR; York & Brailsford

All trophy winners on Zip karts unless otherwise stated