Forgot login?   No account yet? Register
Home Race Results and Reports
Race Results and Reports

Inter-Uni race, round 2

Tuesday, 02 March 2010 00:32 Josh Overhill
E-mail Print

Next up, the race of the semester. Round 2 of the Northern Inter-University championship, which in this academic year has been contested by Hull, York and Durham. The second round saw us venture to Pole Position Indoor Karting in Leeds, a firm favourite of Hull’s. York agreed. Durham agreed. Oh wait, Pole Position INDOOR Karting I hear you cry? But Durham did not like the sound of an indoor track, despite the vast majority of them being mobile chicanes in the first round at Teesside. If anything, we probably did them a favour by selecting an indoor track. They subsequently didn’t compete, but there were still three universities competing, as Leeds stepped in, though they would not be eligible for points.

Hull’s narrow loss at the first leg meant a win here was an absolute must. Pre-race events had not gone to plan in the slightest, as we fell from 17 confirmed on the Sunday before the race to just 12 on the day, meaning we could only take 3 teams. There were also transport issues, and maybe elements of doubt over Hull’s chances were starting to creep in.

 

TEAMS

Hull A: Mark Foley, Will Russell, Tom Smith, Josh Overhill

Hull B: Marcus Stuttard, Mike Miller, Paul Greenbaum, Sam Jackson

Hull C: Kev Gambles, Sam Firth, Liam Lau, Roger Palmer

 

York fielded 5 teams, and Leeds 3. As is always the case at PPIK, kart numbers corresponded to the grid positions, with Hull’s A team heading York’s A team at the start. With Leeds not competing for points, their teams started near the back.

 

KARTS

  1. Hull A
  2. York A
  3. Hull B
  4. York B
  5. Hull C
  6. York C
  7. Leeds A
  8. York D
  9. Leeds B
  10. York E
  11. Leeds C

 

RACE

 

The race started with 2 laps behind the pace kart, and the 11 drivers starting the race were all winding themselves up ready for the start. The pace kart pulled into the pits, the green flag was waved and the race was underway. Mark quickly made a gap between himself and the chasing York A, while Marcus kept close. However, Marcus soon was forced to return to the pits, the marshals unhappy with his neckwear, not that it was much of a hazard, but it is common knowledge over how picky and flag-happy the marshals at PPIK can be, and this perhaps gave an early indication as to how they would be today. Marcus found himself at the back, but was soon passing the slower karts and making his way back up the field. A spin for York’s B team allowed Kev up to 3rd, but was soon down to 5th as Leeds A, and York E, who were fielding a graduate member on the agreement the team was ineligible for points, both passed. They would both soon hit problems, with Leeds A first receiving a black flag for contact and then having kart trouble (though their laps were given back they had still lost a lot of time and several places), and York’s graduate somewhat scoring an own goal by spinning another York driver around and receiving a black flag for his troubles. However, he was permitted to rejoin, defying the rule at the start of the race which said a black-flagged driver must then make a driver change.

This saw Kev, who was doing a sterling job in his first visit to the track, back into 3rd for Hull C, and Marcus was closing in and found himself in 4th. Mark still led, but was losing time by lapping difficult back-markers, which was allowing York A to keep close, though Mark was quicker. Blue flags would only come into effect after half-distance.

A major incident came about 25 minutes in, with only 5 minutes of the first stint remaining. York’s A driver spun a back-marker round going into Turn 9 (the left-hand hairpin), in what was a poorly judged move, and was subsequently black-flagged. York A quickly changed drivers under a yellow light period, meaning they lost next to no time. This allowed Hull’s teams to run 1-2-3 very briefly, before the first round of driver changes. Mark handed over to Will, Marcus to Mike and Kev to Sam Firth.

York A were back into 3rd, with Hull A 2nd. First was York E, with their graduate still at the wheel and going considerably faster than anyone else. He did not hand over until about 40 minutes into the race, and with the 3 others in the team relatively inexperienced, they would soon plummet down the order.

Hull A were now back in front with York A 2nd, with Hull’s other 2 teams losing a lot of time due to being stuck behind very slow back-markers, most notably from Leeds B and Leeds C, but with drivers from York’s lower teams also proving to be problematic. This allowed York B to close in, and Leeds A were back in 3rd after their earlier issues. Nonetheless, it was looking very good for Hull.

But then came a rather controversial point in the race, with Will getting black-flagged for what seemed very little at all, but Tom was on hand to take over without Hull A losing any time at all. York’s driver cheered as York A were now in the lead, but it would only last a handful of laps before they were also back in the pits, and lost even more time with their engine cutting out as they changed drivers. They would drop to 3rd with Leeds A climbing to second, a where they remained even after their second driver change.

Sam Firth had also done a solid job on his first visit to PPIK, but his track time also ended prematurely (albeit by only a couple of minutes or so) when he received a black flag for tangling with a back-marker at Turn 9, but again, no time was lost as Liam was ready when it came to the driver change. Elsewhere, Mike handed over to Paul for Hull B.

Hull A now held a big lead despite the setback, and with York A’s third driver clearly struggling, the gap was now nearly 2 laps. Leeds A were running second, but also more than a lap down. Further back, Hull B held onto a solid 4th, Hull C were closing in on York B in the battle for 5th, whilst the remaining 5 karts lagged far behind, and were bringing out numerous yellow flags through spinning.

Then came another somewhat controversial decision from the marshals. Leeds A’s kart picked up a puncture, and instead of pulling the kart into the pits to resolve the situation, it was sorted trackside, and in doing so the entire field was brought to a halt at Turn 2, with Tom at the front. This allowed all the karts to close in, which would obviously benefit some of the chasing pack, such as York A, who went from being nearly 2 laps down to just over 1, though they were at the back of train. Leeds A, the kart piloted by Leeds’ president, rejoined right behind Tom, now almost exactly 1 lap down. He did un-lap himself a few laps later however, whilst. Liam passed York B for 5th towards the end of the stint.

Tom handed the leading kart over to Josh, who was given the simple task of bringing the kart home, and once everyone else made their final changes, Leeds A had again dropped to a lap down, with York A and Hull B, with Sam Jackson now at the helm, on the same lap as them in 3rd and 4th respectively. Roger took over for the C team. However the quick karts were struggling with the inconsistency of the blue flags, and the back-markers, notably a couple of York’s slower teams, were proving to be very difficult. At times faster karts were stuck behind a slower kart for 3 or 4 laps before the blue flags were finally waved, but at this late stage in the race risky manoeuvres on slower karts were stupid and pointless, especially with the threat of an inevitable black flag should there be contact.

A collision in the under-pass caused another brief stoppage, and once again Hull A proved to be amongst those who lost out, but Hull B was amongst those who gained, with Sam now right behind Leeds A. The incident could have also allowed York A to close in, but their engine cut out and allowed the rest of the field to get away before it was restarted.

Josh managed to maintain a safe gap between himself and the chasing karts on the restart, while Sam kept up with Leeds A, but not enough to attempt a pass. Not that it mattered a great deal. Apart from yet more spins from the back-markers, there were no more note-worthy incidents and those watching counted down the laps to the chequered flag, which was waved once the 2 hours were up, and Hull A were the outright winners, completing 154 laps. Interestingly 1 lap less than the winning team of last year. However, I think we would all prefer to blame the stoppages and difficult back markers for this, as opposed to this year’s A team not being as talented as last years. Leeds A took second, ahead of Hull B and York A. York B were 5th, 4 laps off the winners and 3 laps behind 4th. Hull C were a further lap back, while the remaining York and Leeds teams were far, far, far behind....

 

RESULTS (Team – Kart – Laps completed/down – Fastest Lap)

  1. Hull A – Kart 1 – 154 laps – 43.034 (on lap 44)
  2. Leeds A – Kart 7 - +1 lap – 43.314 (on lap 75)
  3. Hull B – Kart 3 - +1 lap – 43.489 (on lap 95)
  4. York A – Kart 2 - +1 lap – 43.282 (on lap 144)
  5. York B – Kart 4 - +4 laps – 44.342 (on lap 139)
  6. Hull C – Kart 5 - +5 laps – 44.133 (on lap 27)
  7. York D – Kart 8 - +9 laps – 44.815 (on lap 137)
  8. York C – Kart 6 - +10 laps – 44.929 (on lap 134)
  9. York E – Kart 10 - +13 laps – 42.479 (on lap 16)
  10. Leeds C – Kart 11 - +16 laps – 44.934 (on lap 131)
  11. Leeds B – Kart 9 - +18 laps – 44.236 (on lap 111)

 

POINTS

 

With Leeds ineligible for points, their finishing positions were removed to determine the overall result between Hull and York. With Hull only having 3 teams, only York’s best 3 teams would count. The points were awarded on a linear scale 6-5-4-3-2-1. Hull’s teams finished a net 1st, 2nd and 5th, giving 13 points, whilst York’s teams finished a net 3rd, 4th and 6th, giving 8 points. Which gives a final score of:

 

HULL 13-8 YORK

 

Hull’s win levelled the series 3-3, with Durham’s no-show leaving them rooted to the bottom on 0, as are Leeds who did not score points this time. Hence, a decider will be required, with York selecting the track. Realistically, it will be Warden Law should they not decide to take as back to Teesside.

 

The decider will be the most anticipated inter-university races in recent times, lets live up to expectations and win!

 

One last thing, what if Leeds had been eligible for points? Well, with each university having at least 3 teams, there would have been 9 scoring teams, giving a linear points system of 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Hull’s teams were 1st, 3rd and 6th, giving 20 points, York’s were 4th, 5th and 7th, giving 14 points, and Leeds were 2nd, 8th and 9th, giving 11 points. So the outcome would have essentially been the same.

 

Had Leeds counted for series points, the overall outlook would have been no different either. If the system was changed to 3-2-1-0 as opposed to the current system of 2-1-0, York and Hull would both be on 5, and Durham and Leeds would both be on 1. So the race is on between York and Hull, and also between Durham and Leeds to avoid the metaphorical wooden spoon.

 

So who will win this year’s series? Come back in about 3 months to find out. Wink

 

 

 

 

 

Iron Man at Fast Track, 17th February 2010

Sunday, 21 February 2010 19:59 Josh Overhill
E-mail Print

The second visit to the newly re-opened Fast Track came a week after it was originally planned, following the late decision to abandon the race, with snow and ice the reasons cited. Once again, the sign-up list was looking a bit thin, and with enough karts for one each, it meant one thing; another iron man. 10 minutes qualification followed by a 25 minute race, on a very cold and damp track.

ENTRYLIST

2. Mike Miller

4. Sam Jackson

5. Sam Foxall

6. (The Fruity One) Marcus Stuttard

8. Liam Lau

9. Tom Smith

10. Mark Foley

19. Josh Overhill

21. Sam Firth

 

Kart 6 is now known as The Fruity One. Why? No idea. Answers on a postcard.

 

QUALIFYING

Qualifying gave everyone not only the chance to set a fast lap, but also to get to grips with the tough conditions on track. Indeed, there were a number of spins throughout the session, as well as a couple of yellow flags. The most noteworthy incident was Mike going into the wall on the exit of Turn 1. Mark was the quickest when we visited the track for the first time in November, and proved it again, by qualifying on pole. Marcus was second, with Josh third. (I don’t have the qualifying times however)

 

RACE

The 9 karts were packed together on the grid ridiculously tightly, the green flag was waved, and Josh got the best start of them all, but the narrowness of the track meant it was impossible to go round Mark, and instead ended up pushing him round the first corner. Josh did however clear Marcus to take second, but slid going into Turn 8 (the tight left hairpin), allowing Marcus back through. The only other change in position on the first lap was Mike passing Sam Foxall for 8th. So at the end of the first lap it was Mark, from Marcus, from Josh, from Sam Jackson, from Tom, from Liam, from Sam Firth, from Mike, from Sam Foxall. Marcus and Josh did for the first few laps keep up with Mark, but never looked like threatening him, and Mark soon turned on the style and powered away from the chasing pack. Mike’s spin on lap 4 dropped him back down to last, which was the only change in position from the first lap to lap 12, in what must have been a horrifically dull race to watch. The only notable battle going on was between Marcus and Josh, but the virtual non-existence of clear-cut overtaking opportunities made it very difficult indeed. Josh did get ahead of Marcus very briefly, but the manoeuvre came at the expense of poor speed out the next corner, and Marcus was back through.

The turning point of the race came on lap 12, just short of half distance, when Marcus spun going into Turn 8, and Josh had absolutely no chance of avoiding him and slammed into the side in what was a heavy impact. Marcus was in the wall, but Josh continued as normal, though his kart was wounded as it was slipping and sliding all over the place the next 2 laps, but fortunately was OK after that. This had allowed Sam Jackson to catch up to the back of Josh, whilst Marcus dropped to 6th behind Liam. Josh maintained a safe distance between himself and Sam, and Marcus was soon back up to 5th place. The incident had allowed Mark to stretch his lead even further, and he was by far the quickest kart on the track.

What happened in the remaining laps? Absolutely nothing. Nothing worth shouting about anyway. Mark was victorious; Josh was second, a whole 30 seconds behind. Sam Jackson rounded off the podium (not that there was one) in 3rd, Tom was 4th and Marcus stayed 5th, rounding off the race by spinning into the wall on the slow-down lap.

 

The timing system included the slow-down lap in the results, hence they were inaccurate. Here is the amended result

 

  1. Mark Foley – 26 laps in 24 minutes and 43 seconds
  2. Josh Overhill - +30 seconds
  3. Sam Jackson - +39 seconds
  4. Tom Smith - + 1 lap
  5. Marcus Stuttard - + 1 lap
  6. Liam Lau - + 1 lap
  7. Sam Firth - + 1 lap
  8. Mike Miller - + 1 lap
  9. Sam Foxall - + 3 laps

 

 

 

Another shoot-out at Pontefract, 3rd Feb 2010

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 21:43 Josh Overhill
E-mail Print

The first race of the year saw us return to Pontefract, the scene of 2 epic races last year. We had hoped for a bigger turn-out this time, but for some reason or another several drivers that may have been expected to show didn’t, and instead we went backwards, with a slightly disappointing 11 drivers making the trip. Although, that perhaps turned out to be a good thing, as there was enough karts for one each, creating the ingredients of promised to be a classic race. Upon arrival, the drivers were greeted by a modified layout. Who would ultimately benefit? And who would suffer?

The drivers were assigned their kart numbers by an independent adjudicator. OK, no they won’t. They were supposedly going out in alphabetical order by their surnames, but Tom decided he didn’t like the sound of Kart 9, and went out in Kart 1 instead. Sam Firth was in Kart 11, but otherwise everyone was in the right order.

 

ENTRY LIST

  1. Tom Smith
  2. Mark Foley
  3. Kev Gambles
  4. James Hancox
  5. Sam Jackson
  6. Mike Miller
  7. Josh Overhill
  8. Roger Palmer
  9. Marcus Stuttard
  10. Rob Stephenson
  11. Sam Firth

 

QUALIFYING

Tom led everyone out in the qualifying session, as everyone tried to create some space to set a flying lap whilst trying to get to grips with the new layout at the same time. Kev Gambles’s hopes of getting a good slot were dashed by a problematic kart, and he was unable to set a flying lap before the problem was resolved, and he was forced to start from the back. Josh qualified on pole, as the 5 execs locked the top 5. It was Josh, from Sam, from Mike, from Tom, from Mark. Mike and Tom were separated by a mere 4 thousandths of a second. Marcus was the only one anywhere the execs in 6th, with 7th-placed Roger nearly a second slower.

 

  1. Josh Overhill – Kart 7 – 21.437
  2. Sam Jackson – Kart 5 – 21.669, +0.232
  3. Mike Miller – Kart 6 – 21.907, +0.470
  4. Tom Smith – Kart 1 – 21.911, +0.474
  5. Mark Foley – Kart 2 – 22.050, +0.613
  6. Marcus Stuttard – Kart 9 – 22.251, +0.814
  7. Roger Palmer – Kart 8 – 23.186, +1.749
  8. Sam Firth – Kart 11 – 23.265, +1.828
  9. Rob Stephenson – Kart 10 – 23.476, +2.039
  10. James Hancox – Kart 4 – 23.590, +2.153
  11. 11.   Kev Gambles – Kart 3 – 29.046, +7.609

RACE

The drivers were lined up on the grid, and anxiously awaited the lights to go out. The intelligent system used in the Pontefract karts meant it was impossible to rev the karts, so a very slow start was anticipated. When the lights went out, Josh made an OK start, but moved over to prevent Sam taking him round the outside going into Turn 1, and was safely in the lead going into Turn 3. But behind them, there was proof that being on the outside wasn’t such a bad thing, as Tom was ahead of Mike by the end of lap 1, and Marcus had also passed Mark.  Sam held onto second, and was defending the chasing pack like beavers, which allowed Josh to sneak away and build a big margin with only a few laps gone. With the pack so close together, Tom and Mark found themselves squeezed out and at one point were as low as 6th and 7th respectively, as Sam Firth jumped up impressively to run as high as 5th. Marcus was the first driver to break Sam Jackson’s resistance and took 2nd place having started from 6th. But a maybe the turning point of the race came shortly after Tom had taken Mike for 4th, and attempted to pass Sam for 3rd, but as Sam defended robustly from Tom going into Turn 1, the two tangled and Sam was in the wall. No blame apportioned, simply a racing incident was the verdict of the marshals. But this had dropped Sam to 11th and last. The yellow lights were deployed, and some drivers went slower than others, but again all speeds were deemed legal and the race was soon back underway.

Josh now had a big lead, but was all too weary of Marcus’s pace which he has demonstrated at each and every race he has been to since joining this year. Tom was now up to 3rd, with Mike 4th and Sam Firth in 5th. But Josh would soon have another problem to contend with, backmarkers. Blue flags were waved, and while some drivers jumped out the way immediately, others proved slightly more difficult. Kev would even briefly re-pass Josh as he lapped him. But the chasing pack would soon have the same problems.

Mark had now passed Sam Firth for 5th, whilst Roger and Kev fought tooth and nail for 7th, passing one another constantly for several laps. Sam Jackson was still last at this point, but would soon pass Rob and James to climb up to 9th. Mark then turned his 5th place into 4th, dispatching Mike, and was now lapping as quickly as Josh, whilst Tom ensured there would be a close battle for 2nd as he closed in on Marcus. But at the front Josh stretched his lead even further, and had now lapped the entire field.

The remainder of the race descended into a bit of lull, but suddenly livened up right at the death as Tom caught up with Marcus, and on the last lap Tom would briefly take second as they raced side by side, but Marcus was just in front as they crossed the line and took second by just hundredths of a second. Josh had won, the new layout seemingly suiting much better. Another driver who preferred the new layout was Mark, as he took 4th, just ahead of Mike in 5th. But elsewhere opinions were divided as to what was better out of the two layouts. Roger, just held off Kev to take 6th, and in the battle of the Sam’s, Firth stayed ahead of Jackson to take 8th by just a second. 6th to 9th were separated by only 10 seconds.

 

  1. Josh Overhill – 71 laps
  2. Marcus Stuttard - +1 lap
  3. Tom Smith - +1 lap
  4. Mark Foley - +1 lap
  5. Mike Miller - +2 laps
  6. Roger Palmer - +3 laps
  7. Kev Gambles - +3 laps
  8. Sam Firth - +3 laps
  9. Sam Jackson - +3 laps
  10. James Hancox - +5 laps
  11. Rob Stephenson - +6 laps

 

Estimated race time: about 25 minutes and 5 seconds

 

FASTEST LAP CLASSIFICATION

 

  1. Josh Overhill – 20.60 (lap 66)
  2. Tom Smith – 20.81 (lap 17)
  3. Marcus Stuttard – 20.93 (lap 30)
  4. Kev Gambles – 20.93 (lap 62)
  5. Sam Firth – 20.94 (lap 54)
  6. Mark Foley – 20.96 (lap 58)
  7. Mike Miller – 21.03 (lap 52)
  8. Roger Palmer – 21.10 (lap 68)
  9. Sam Jackson – 21.13 (lap 28)
  10. Rob Stephenson – 21.74 (lap 52)
  11. James Hancox – 21.80 (lap 39)
 
More Articles...
Login to Facebook to create a new HUGS account. If you wish to connect your Facebook account to an existing HUGS account, please log in to your HUGS account first.