York Keeps on Trucking

William Pettitt produced a lap out of nowhere in Timed Qualifying that no-one else could match. The 2nd session was run on what should have been a slightly quicker circuit but still William’s time remained unbeaten, Alex Quinn and Oliver York coming closest. Both sessions were run on Saturday morning in wet conditions that began to dry in time for the Heats. York claimed pole position for final 1 after winning both of his Heats. Quinn won the other one to gain a place opposite Oliver on the front row. Lewis Thompson shared row 2 with Jonny Edgar. Tyler Chesterton, George Price, Luca Molinaro and Owen Marlow qualified via the “B” Final.

FINAL 1

Competitors were faced with a difficult tyre choice in Sunday’s first final. Although an early morning shower had left the circuit looking damp, there were sufficient dry patches to suggest that slicks might be an advantage in later stages. As it happened, everyone opted for wets. York and Thompson made very fast starts, forcing Quinn to take a wide line at Turn 1. Alex found that he’d run out of road and dropped down to 12th place initially. Thompson went into 1st place half way round the opening lap and he was followed by Teddy Wilson who looked extremely quick at this stage, having started off grid 5.

Wilson hit the front after half a dozen laps had been completed but his tenure was short lived as York replaced him almost immediately. There was nothing between the front three runners at this point, but it soon became clear that Wilson’s tyres were starting to go off. Matthew Graham took over 3rd place from Wilson at half distance, by which time York and Thompson were some 40 yards ahead. Wilson lost another place to Kiern Jewiss next time around, with Jonny Edgar and Alex McDade rapidly gaining ground.

Out in front, meanwhile, York had established a lead of around 20 yards over Thompson and looked as though he might win this race comfortably. However, Thompson put in two or three quick laps to close the gap once more. As they began their final tour, York was holding on grimly with Thompson looking ready to pounce. Jewiss had replaced Graham in 3rd spot, but was almost 100 yards behind the two leaders. In a thrilling end to this race, Thompson got his kart alongside York around the final bend with Oliver just and so winning by a coat of paint. Edgar finished behind graham in 5th spot only just ahead of McDade .

FINAL 2

There were no doubts about the tyre choice for this race as it got underway on a perfectly dry circuit. York took an immediate lead but was overtaken within half a lap by Edgar who had come flying through from grid 5. Wilson was involved in a shunt at turn 1 that dropped him outside the top twenty runners. Jewiss initially held 3rd place ahead of Thompson with Jack Armstrong coming under strong pressure for 5th spot. After two or three laps, Edgar and York were starting to pull away from Thompson who had relieved Jewiss of 3rd position. Graham was fighting hard to retain 5th spot ahead of McDade, Pettitt and Armstrong. Quinn found himself in 9th position, some 20 yards behind the battle for 5th.

Edgar and York were working well together so that, by half distance, they had pulled out a gap of 40 yards or more over Jewiss who was back up into 3rd place ahead of Thompson. York then decided to take over at the front with Edgar seemingly glued to his rear bumper. Quinn was back under our radar having jumped up to 5th position ahead of Pettitt, Graham and McDade. Thompson dropped down to 5th after Quinn and Jewiss both went through. Even with a quarter of this race still remaining, York was beginning to take a defensive line around the corners. Back in 3rd spot Quinn could see a gap of 50 yards gradually diminishing.

York had slowed the paced dramatically so that, with two laps still remaining, Quinn and Pettitt were just 10 yards behind. Pettitt got ahead of Quinn on their final tour and then snatched 2nd spot from Edgar who responded immediately to retrieve the situation. These four approached the last bend with nothing to separate them. Edgar swung wide in an attempt to get past York and almost allowed Pettitt through. York took the win, with Edgar just holding onto 2nd spot. Jewiss took 5th place, about 40 yards behind Quinn in 4th position. Thompson finished 7th behind Graham, with Alex McDade, Sean Butcher and Zach Robertson making up the top ten.