Race Report - Round 3
CADETS
The Cadets started off the mornings racing for round three of the
Playscape’s Academy. The ten laps of practice for each driver gave
everyone a good chance to learn the reverse circuit before going
into the qualifying heats.
The usual suspects set the pace early on with Red Carter putting in
a 25.4 second lap time in heat one, which was soon bettered by Jack
Bartholomew in heat three with a 25.34. Daniel Brewer, Carl Stevens,
Gavin Johnston, and Jack Bartholomew all took race wins until heat
eight where Fenton Robathan showed his speed, spinning on the first
lap but still pulling in a convincing second place to Edward Hall.
Jonas Moore and Matthew Smyille both secured race wins before heat
twelve, which was a taste of things to come in the final with a few
of the major contenders taking to the circuit. Robathan managed to
take the win after an exciting race which left Gainluca Tartaro in
second, Bartholomew in third, Jonas Moore in fourth and an unlucky
Edward Hall in fifth position. Robert Staines took a race win in
heat 13 before Sipho Manzi showed his potential in heat 14 winning a
race in his second ever Academy meeting. The fastest lap of the
heats came in heat 16 when Andre Aguirre Conde put in a 25.010
second time, which he followed up with a win in heat twenty.
The standard of Driving in the heats was better than most had
expected, with only a few poor overtaking manoeuvres which could be
explained by the inexperience of most of the drivers using the
circuit the opposite way round. I’m sure everyone was expecting the
high standard of driving to continue into the finals, which promised
some good racing after so many different winners in the heats.
The C final saw nine drivers take to the circuit for a five lap
race. The top two drivers would progress through to the B final. A
pile up on the first corner saw Harry Ezzido, Tyler Dougan and Ross
Cunningham drop back down the field the bottom three positions, but
allowed Ryan Rrapo and Imran Qadri to pull away a comfortable lead
to the finish line. An exciting race saw Finbar Skitini lead Henry
Piper across the finish line. Ezzido and Dougan did well to overtake
Henry Hardy and Jamie Scott Brown before the chequered flag and an
unlucky Cunningham brought up the rear of the field in ninth
position.
The B final was host to another pile up on the first corner. Hacker
Hurnn, Staines, Smyille and Carter all pulled away to take advantage
of the accident. A good race between the top five saw Ryan Rrapo
finish fourth to Staines, Hacker-Hurnn and Smyille who each
qualified through to the A final. Carl Stevens and Edward Hall led
Jonas Moore and Imran Qadri across the line to bring up the rear of
the field.
A red flag was called only seconds after the start of the race due
to a snapped throttle cable on the polesitters kart. After a short
delay the race got away cleanly with Andre Aguirre-Conde pulling
away considerably of the line. A crash on the first lap, lead to
Robert Staines retiring on lap two. Jack Bartholomew, Robathan and
Johnston had a good race for the last podium positions although
Bartholomew pulled away towards the end of the race to secure second
place and the fastest lap time with a 24.623 second time. Robathan
and Johnston followed suit ahead of Tartaro, Smyille and Brewer who
gained from Hacker Hurnn’s Mistake towards the end of the race.
L-R Jack Bartholomew, Andre Aguirre Conde, Fenton Robathan
Final Results:
Pos No
Driver
Best lap
Race Time
1 16
Andre Aguirre Conde
24.869
4:14.159
2 3
Jack Bartholomew
24.623
4:15.638
3 15
Fenton Robathan
25.500
4:19.368
4 9
Gavin Johnston
25.240
4:20.298
5 19
Gainluca Tartaro
25.191
4:23.371
6 10
Matthew Smyille
25.509
4:27.978
7 18
Daniel Brewer
25.647
4:29.763
8 21
Krystyan Hacker-Hurnn
25:909
4:30.794
9 17
Sipho Manzi
26.178
4:07.861
10 13
Robert Staines
DNF
JUNIORS
A smaller grid of eighteen drivers made for an eventful and
controversial end to the Academy meeting.
Matt Ellis was off to a good start in heat one, setting a lap time
of 25.277 and taking the first race win. This was only short lived
though as Nick Walker was on usual form and set a fastest lap time
of 25.268 in heat 2. The standard of driving in the juniors was not
as clean as the Cadets; however it did lead to some exciting racing.
There were wins for George Skitini, Dean Welch and Andy Rrapo before
heat six which saw George Skitini, Matt Ellis and Nick Walker meet
for the first time of the meeting. Skitini came out on top but it
was Ellis who set the quicker time of 24.9. Alexis Skitini
carried on the families winning form with a first place in heat
seven. Conor Jux Chandler took his first win of the day in heat 8
ahead of Wole Bello on his racing Debut. Prajesh Shah came
onto form by heat thirteen with his first win of the day, Tommy
Moore doing the same before heading into the finals.
Andy Rrapo got a brilliant start from pole at the beginning of the
five lap B final. He pulled out a comfortable lead before taking
first place by five seconds. Dean Welch, Wole Bello and Alexis
Skitini demonstrated some excellent racing until the last few laps,
when Welch made a slightly daring move on Bello, slowing both
drivers up and separating the pack slightly.
Alexis Skitini took second position and Welch followed him through
in third to qualify for the all important A final. Wole Bello
settled for a commendable fourth place on his debut, ahead of Billy
Cowan and Daniel Wright. Piers Boothe, Troy Headman and Alfie Healey
brought up the rear of the pack after some close racing.
The ten lap A final ended in Controversy, even though it made for
some excellent racing. It was Nick Walker, George Skitini, Jux
Chandler and Matt Ellis who led the field out of the first Corner.
Walker and Jux Chandler made a nice move on Skitini at the beginning
of lap three, before becoming engrossed in a good race between the
two drivers. The constant chopping and changing between the two
drivers allowed Skitini to catch back up to the leaders, with Andy
Rrapo flying through from the back of the field to join in on the
battle. George Skitini managed to retake second position before
being spun around at Buswash corner.
Rrapo received a penalty board after an unruly pass on Jux chandler,
however he did not move over to allow Jux chandler to re-pass...
Rrapo managed to move up into the lead and take the win, ahead of
Walker, Jux Chandler and Matt Ellis. Prajesh Shah crossed the line
to secure fifth position in front of Alexis Skitini in sixth
position. Dean Welch and Matthew Brayne collided early on in the
race pushing them down the field to seventh and ninth respectively,
with Tommy Moore in between setting an excellent lap time of 24.652
seconds.
George Skitini will count himself as unlucky after finishing tenth
in a race he was leading towards the beginning. However, the final
result came under scrutiny by the officials as Andy Rrapo did no
pull over to let Jux chandler back past. If he had done so he would
have finished in third so the officials decided to announce Nick
Walker as the winner by default, and give Conor Jux chandler second
position as he deserved.
Andy Rrapo was accredited with third position, however shortly after
the podium presentation the officials decided he should have been
rightfully disqualified, he will receive no points for the A final.
The officials tried their hardest to make the racing as fair as
possible to everyone and hopefully all the drivers involved will
understand it’s the rules that make the racing not only fair and
safe but also exciting to be involved in.
L-R Conor Jux-Chandler, Nick Walker, Andy Rrapo
Final Results:
Pos No
Driver Best Lap Race
Time
1 14
Nickolas Walker
25.035
4:14.699
2 2
Conor Jux Chandler 24.855
4:15.666
3 9
Matt Ellis
24.937
4:18.135
4 16
Prajesh Shah
25.067
4:19.167
5 7
Alexis Skitini
25.144
4:21.260
6 4
Dean Welch
25.102
4:22.336
7 15
Tommy Moore
24.652
4:22.551
8 3
Matthew Brayne
25.055
4:24.289
9 6
George Skitini
25.021
4:34.050
10 5
Andy Rrapo
24.770
(Disqualified)
Reported by Robert Hall.
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