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 3^rd, but was soon down to 5^th 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 3^rd for Hull C, and Marcus was closing in and found himself in 4^th. 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 3^rd, with Hull A 2^nd. 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 2^nd, 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 4^th, Hull C were closing in on York B in the battle for 5^th, 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 5^th 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 3^rd and 4^th 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 5^th, 4 laps off the winners and 3 laps behind 4^th. 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 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th, giving 13 points, whilst York’s teams finished a net 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th, 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 1^st, 3^rd and 6^th, giving 20 points, York’s were 4^th, 5^th and 7^th, giving 14 points, and Leeds were 2^nd, 8^th and 9^th, 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.