Race Report - Round 8

NO SURPRISES ON REVERSE CIRCUIT

Playscape Academy’s September round saw the National circuit used in reverse direction and this produced some unusual results in the qualifying heats as this configuration clearly suits the heavier drivers.

CADETS

James Beumee and Robert Staines produced a fierce tear up in Heat 4 with James just edging the win and Carl Stevens executed an immaculate pass on Billy Houlihan to win Heat 8, with the following heat providing a bewildering array of passing involving all five drivers won in the end by a delighted Tyler Dougan.
 
Sipho Manzi took a well crafted victory from the back in Heat 11 whilst a mistake in Heat 15 for race leader Henry Piper saw him plough exhaustively into a tyre wall and out of contention after some early promise in the previous heats.
 
Meanwhile, back to the trials of James Beumee. The new track record holder had another high quality race with championship rivals Andre Aguirre Conde and Matthew Smyllie in Heat 21 before ending up in last place in Heat 25 as four drivers crashed out on the last lap allowing Charlie Tibble his first win on his first appearance at the Academy.
 
The line up for the final saw Manzi with 3 wins on pole position with Beumee on grid 2 and most of the other championship contenders out of the running with the exception of Ryan RRapo on grid 3.
 
From the start Beumee jetted off into the lead as Manzi battled with Rrapo and surprise packet Krystan Hack Hurn. The battle allowed Beumee to move away and the rest of the howling pack led by Harry Hardy to close in. Hardy tried just a little too hard and was excluded for spinning out an irreconcilable Hacker Hurn and Manzi and Rrapo resumed their battle away from the rest of the field.
 
As the race came to a conclusion, Beumee had Gavin Johnson and Henry Piper to contend with, a battle for last place going on all around the race leader! Despite a few heart in the mouth moments, James Beumee secured his win with Sipho Manzi a distant 2nd place and Ryan Rrapo a solid 3rd place performance.

JUNIORS

The junior section has been all about the absorbing title battle between Conor Jux Chandler and Nick Walker but once again the reverse circuit provided some different heroes.
 
No less so than Prajesh Shah, surely the most improved driver this year, his economical style producing 3 wins in qualifying, including a clinical last bend effort to win Heat 1. Andy Rrapo was also in inspired form, enticing Walker into a costly spin in Heat 10 as Nick tried to use the whole track and more to generate more speed to catch Andy.
 
Any celebration by Jux Chandler of Walker’s error was quickly eradicated by Dzogbe Akpoblu ploughing into the back of Conor in Heat 15 and relegating him to last place, the emotions running high as Jux Chandler rued the missed opportunity to gain some championship points on his great rival.
 
These happenings bequethed the front row to Rrapo and Shah, with Jux Chandler and Walker eventually on equal points from the heats on row 2, Kieran Golding and Edward Hall on row 3 with Matt Salmon joining the B Final qualifers on the last 2 rows.
 
From the start Walker produced a devastating burst of power and speed to grab the lead from a bemused Rrapo with Jux Chandler also piling through leaving the unfortunate Prajesh Shah hung out to dry on a frantic first corner.
 
Matt Salmon was now also on the case of Andy Rrapo as they fought nose to tail for 3rd place, Matt drew up alongside Andy on several occasions, only for Andy to block the race track with some crafty and brave moves as the race wore on.
 
Walker out front suddenly found the pace he had been missing in the heats as he tried to quell the attentions of Jux Chandler but still Conor improved his times on his relentless chase of the race leader.
 
At the half way stage, a battle between the top 2 title contenders looked assured as Conor narrowed the gap. At the three quarters stage, the gathered spectators looked on in anticipation as the gap was now down to a few kart lengths.
 
But with 1 lap to go, Walker had broken the spirit of his challenger and coasted home to victory by just over half a second, with Rrapo making it a family double for 3rd place, emulating brother Ryan’s position in the Cadet section.

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