British Superkart Grand Prix : Cadwell park - club race report

Here we are again, back to Cadwell Park for the 2007 running of the British Superkart Grand Prix. It seems so long ago since Trevor Roberts returned to win the 250 National GP, Damian Payart braved the indecisive weather to take Division 1 Superkarts and Guido Kleinmeyer recovered from a nasty crash in Division 2 to take the win. Not forgetting of course, Paul Platt taking one step closer to the 125 Open trio of championships, Danny Edwards winning the 125 ICC class on his debut at Long Circuit, and Simon Bateman leaving as 210 National winner. Last years event was an amazing spectacle, but with an even higher entry for this year’s event, more thrills and spills were guaranteed.Unfortunately the weather cost us most of Saturday, with only Practice and Qualifying completed as terrible British Summertime continued. However, the talents of Keith Parker’s band on Saturday night lightened the mood, and more importantly the weather as we awoke to dry weather for Sunday’s programme. The first final of the day was the 125 Open class, which saw last years runner up Richard Ward on pole position following his win in the pre final. Ward had been on imperious form all weekend, in some cases up to three seconds a lap faster in the difficult conditions on Saturday. Newcomer Lee Morgan would line up next to him, with reigning champion Paul Platt in 3rd. Alex von Ehrheim lined up beside him, with Mick Glasby and Damian Sleep on row three. Mark Bramhall, the championship leader thus far, struggled in the pre final and lined up 7th, next to debutant Dean Keeble, with Jason Kitchin and Lee Smith on row five. Notable strugglers were Steve Parker, lining up a disappointing 16th, and 210 National driver Louise Colin lined up last after retiring the Pre Final. In the race, it was all about Paul Platt and Richard Ward. Last years top two duked it out the entire race, disappearing at the front and were never more than two seconds apart from each other, until Paul Platt never exited the Mountain section at the end of lap eight, which left Richard Ward to win the 2007 GP title, a massive 25 seconds ahead of Mark Bramhall, who was himself 13 seconds ahead of Damian Sleep in 3rd. Mick Glasby finished a distant 4th, ahead of Peter Bennett and Steve Parker. Jason Kitchin finished 7th, ahead of Lee Smith, with Ben Willshire and John Hutton finishing a lap down in 9th and 10th. Next up was the Division 1 and 2 Superkarts, shifted forward because of the requirement of our European friends to catch ferries. Yet it was very much dominated by the British contingent, the front row consisting of Lee Harpham and Mark Owens. Row two saw Thomas Johansson and Malcolm Crowe, with Carl Hulme and Dave Harvey on row three. Top Division 2 was Marcel Massmann on row five, with the remaining four in the class, Thomas Wagner, Stuart Parker, Mark Ellis and Martin Hali starting on together from 20th to 23rd. Paul Kennings and Stefan Malm were well down on row 14. It was down to the Brits to take vengeance for last years defeat, and it was pole man Lee Harpham who ran away and hid having taken the lead going onto lap four. Following him home was Malcolm Crowe, who himself was four seconds clear of Thomas Johansson in third. Stefan Malm had driven brilliantly from his disappointing starting position to finish a stunning 4th, only to be found underweight on the post race weigh-in. This promoted Stephen McAdam, himself having started in 33rd, up to 4th, followed by Simon Holloway and Dave Harvey. Paul Kennings had scythed through the field as well, and eventually finished a credible 7th, with Poul Petersen and Gary Parkes battling it out for 8th. Marcel Massmann finished 10th and took the Division 2 win, well clear of Stuart Parker and Thomas Wagner. Third out for the finals was 125 ICC, with a 17 kart grid improving on last year, but a giant leap in terms of talent on show. In some close battles throughout the weekend, it was 2006 European Junior Rotax champion Jack Hawksworth who would line up on pole, alongside Ian Larder, with national short circuit champion Sam Moore in 3rd. UK Cup winner Jon Neville lined up 4th, with Dafydd Iles and Danny Butler on row 3. Michael Groves would line up 7th next to Lloyd Scrivens, with Nick Horwood and Catherine Foster rounding out the top 10. Jody Whitmore and Danny Edwards had collided at the end of the Pre Final, resulting in poor starting positions for them. Nik Goodfellow unfortunately did not start the final as an incident in the Pre Final left him with a bent chassis. An incident on the approach to turn one saw Dafydd Iles, Jon Neville and Danny Butler drop well down, and saw Ian Larder and Sam Moore take a huge lead on the run down Park Straight. Following them was a train of six karts, headed by Jack Hawksworth and Michael Groves, but also including Jody Whitmore, Danny Edwards, Nick Horwood and Dafydd Iles. As this train started to catch the leading two, Nick Horwood started to struggle, and Michael Groves pulled off with an engine failure. At the front though, Ian Larder, Sam Moore, Jody Whitmore and Jack Hawksworth all took spells at the front, but onto the last lap, this train of six were nose to tail, until Jack Hawksworth, then running 3rd, put a move on Ian Larder going into the Mountain corner, and the pair were off. This left Sam Moore to take the win, ahead of Dafydd Iles and Jody Whitmore, with defending winner Danny Edwards just off the podium. Ian Larder recovered to finish 5th, ahead of Ian Thomson, Nick Horwood and Danny Butler, with Catherine Foster finishing 9th and Ben Hughes, who had struggled all day with engine troubles (including running a Rotax gearbox!!) finishing 10th, and a big well done to a driver who started and finished every race. Following this stunning race was the 250 Nationals, which saw Northern Ireland and Scotland lock out row one, with defending champion Trevor Roberts on pole, with Matthew Bett second. Dean Hawley and Nathan Fearon lined up on row two, ahead of Boyd Barrington and Sam Moss. Karl Baxter and Kevin Waring were on row four, and Neil Hawley was joined by Kevin Busby on row five. Mark Allen was a notable absentee from the front, lining up on row 16, and Roy and Gavin Bennett started 33rd and 34th. It was the first and only time we’d see someone successfully defend their GP title, with Trevor Roberts breaking the resolve of Dean Hawley, Matthew Bett and James O’Reilly, who eventually finished in that order. Karl Baxter finished 5th, ahead of Jason Dredge, and top clubman driver Nathan Fearon finished 7th. Kevin Busby finished 8th, ahead of Mark Allen and Kevin Waring. The only 250 Superstock finisher was Steve Haigh, finishing 17th overall. Last, but by no means least, were the 210 National’s. Reigning champion Simon Bateman was looking for a repeat win this year, but in a race of high attrition, Bob Pooley won the Pre Final by a stunning 38 seconds, well clear of Peter Masson in second, with Mike Coombs 3rd and Dan Bury 4th. Having not even started the Pre Final, Louise Colin started the final 12th, but found herself in the lead by the end of lap one, ahead of Charles Morris and Bob Pooley. Colin was never headed, and when Morris retired on lap six, it was just a case of easing to the line, which she duly did, taking her second national title in three weeks, having won the UK Cup at Snetterton. She finished over three quarters of a minute ahead of Don Thompson, who fended off Bob Pooley, with Tom Whyte not far behind. Peter Masson finished 5th, and Tony Bury finished 6th, the last of the finishers. All in all, despite the poor weather on Saturday, it was yet another brilliant Superkart GP, with new champions in all but the 250 National category. We saw less European drivers this year, but a large increase in the British contingent saw us beat our 2006 entry, so well done to all. Next up, we’re at Mallory Park on September 9th for Division 1 and 250 National, and back to Cadwell on September 16th for 125 Open, ICC and 210 National. Come and watch the Superkart spectacle before the end of another exciting season.