Race Report - Round 2
NEW SKIDS ON THE BLOCK TAKE VICTORIES IN ROUND 2.
CADETS
The cadet section opened the day’s racing at Streatham Kart Raceway
with some determined performances from the leading lights with
Robert Staines, Fenton Robathan and Reece Yusuf being beaten only
once each during the qualifying races to lock out the top three
positions on the grid for the all important Main Final.
Further down the race order Jack Bartholomew, Red Carter and Jonas
Moore had all shown flashes of great form, and we were assured of an
absorbing race to finish proceedings.
From the start pole sitter Robert Staines was outgunned into the
first corner by Fenton Robathan and had to defend his position
against the usual hard charging Reece Yusuf and these three began to
draw away from the rest of the pack as the early laps ticked away.
Further back down the field drivers were impatient as they jostled
for position and Krystan Hacker Hurnn was forced into retirement by
an unfortunate crash at the second hairpin.
Fenton at the front continued to maintain a murderous pace and
Robert Staines fell back into the chasing pack with Jack Bartholomew
now approaching the back bumper of the pole position driver.
Eventually he was to find a way past Robert and move to a safe
position in 2nd place as the last lap started with Fenton now well
clear at the front. The last lap was all about the battle for third
place with Robert Staines now being hounded by both Reece Yusuf and
James Beumee, but in truth they only succeeded in impeding each
other and Robert held on for third.
As he secured his maiden victory Fenton Robathan punched the air in
delight and was well applauded for a popular win for one of the
smallest drivers in the field.
L-R: Jack Bartholomew, Fenton Robathan, Robert Staines
Final Results:
Pos No
Driver
Best lap
Race Time
1.
28
Fenton Robathan
24.869
4:13.448
2.
1
Jack Bartholomew
24.961
4:15.562
3.
11
Robert
4.
14
Reece Yusuf
25.067
4:20.318
5.
8
James Beumee
24.944
4.20.423
6.
16
Andre Aguirre Conde
25.320
4.23.365
7.
15
Jonas Moore
25.418
4:24.017
8
6
Red Carter
25.246
4:24.249
9.
25
Krystan Hacker Hurnn
25.723
DNF
JUNIORS
With an increased entry for the junior section, the competition
remained as fierce as ever at the front of the field with seemingly
any of the top 10 drivers capable of winning races at ease, but ‘old
hand’ Nikolas Walker showed all his experience in clinching pole
position for the Main Final.
Daniel Wright had hit a purple patch of form winning his last three
qualifying races whilst Conor Jux Chandler had been consistently the
fastest driver on show together with defending champion Matt Ellis,
who appeared strangely subdued and had to qualify for the Main Final
from the B Final.
Once again we were expecting 10 laps of controlled aggression and
kart control from the bigger drivers in the section, and as the
lights flicked to green at the start, Nickolas Walker led the inside
row into the first corner.
Daniel Wright had missed the start and Conor Jux-Chandler and Andy
Rrapo followed Nikolas into second and third with George Skitini and
Daniel Wright desperately trying to get back into the race.
Through the early laps, the top 2 were comfortable at the front, but
Andy Rrapo was under pressure for third place and his battle for
that position saw the gap between the top 2 and the rest open up
significantly.
Meanwhile, Nickolas Walker had learned all about the pace of Conor
Jux-Chandler as they swapped positions several times mid race, and
again tactics began to form in the minds of the crowd.
Nikolas was determined to control the race from the front, and every
time Conor passed him he simply took the place back again on the
next corner and was attempting to back Conor into the chasing pack
to allow himself the opportunity to move away at the front.
With three laps to go, Conor clipped the tyre wall and Nikolas
sensed the chance to get away and produced his fastest laps for the
next two laps, but Conor was more than a match and as they started
their last lap, he was right back onto the rear bumper of the long
time race leader.
There then followed 27 seconds of pure cat and mouse as Conor jinxed
from side to side in an effort to pull Nikolas into a mistake. As
they approached Buswash corner Nikolas found himself out of position
nailed to the inside as Conor took to the faster outside line.
Coming out of the corner, Nickolas had no option but to drive mid
track to defend either an outside swoop or an inside switch from
Conor, and it was the switch that Conor employed.
As the two drivers powered towards the final corner, their body
language portrayed that they were taking very large gulps of air and
did not expect to exhale for quite some time! As the final corner
loomed they got closer and closer and were racing dead level,
Nickolas on the outside, Conor on the inside.
Both were aiming at the same bit of track and inevitably they
clashed for what seemed like an eternity to the watching crowd,
gasping as one as Nickolas frantically tried to control both the
race and his jawing steering wheel.
They exited the corner still dead level and now it depended on the
final dash to the finish line, a distance of no more than about 20
metres. Nickolas was undoubtedly going faster but had further to go
in distance to reach the finish line. Conor had scrubbed off his
speed as the drivers had battled towards the final corner, rubbing
sidepods as they went, but could make a dive for the line by staying
tight to the tyre wall.
So this most pulsating of finals was won by …….Conor Jux-Chandler by
the merest of margins over a 10 lap race, about a nose cone and a
bit, or in terms of time just 7 one hundredths of a second.
Now they could exhale. Now the crowd could applaud the efforts of
these feisty gladiators. Now Conor could celebrate proudly a hard
fought first ever victory. Now Nickolas could rue his tactics and
glare challengingly at anyone who told him it was bad luck. And by
the way, Daniel Wright regained third place whilst that was all
going on!
L-R: Nickolas Walker, Conor Jux-Chandler. Daniel Wright
Final Results:
Pos No
Driver
Best Lap Race
Time
1.
7
Conor Jux
2.
13
Nickolas Walker
25.025
4:18.390
3.
2
Daniel Wright
25.416
4:21.030
4.
17
George Skitini
24.985
4:21.320
5.
1
Andy Rrapo
25.356
4:22.628
6.
8
Matt Ellis
24.687
4:23.171
7.
14
Luke Babiali
25.170
4:23.536
8.
11
Tommy Moore
25.820
4:27.310
9.
19
Martin Meyer
25.757
4:28.260
10.
5
Prajesh Shah
25.055
4:28.559
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