Third time's a charm, we discovered, upon actually being able to race at BUMPS this week. As the weather continues to improve following the recent snow and ice, the Hull track was race-ready - as were we...

Teams were drawn largely at random - even which teams would comprise two members and which ones three - though the captains were selected by yours truly prior to this process. Apologies to Paul, who was inadvertently forgotten at this point. The teams lined up thus:

KART 01 - Keith Herbert (c), Mike Miller, Sam Foxall
KART 02 - Jon Beagles (c), Phil Skop, Dominic Martin
KART 03 - Will Russell (c), Colin Smith-Bowen, Paul Hutton
KART 05 - Nick Drewett (c), Amy Charles
KART 08 - Mark Foley (c), Alex Tweed
KART 09 - Josh Overhill (c), Roger Palmer, Chris Sutton
KART 11 - Sam Jackson (c), Kumes Balakrishnan, Hannah Stretton
KART 12 - Tom Smith (c), Adam Hibberd, Jane Cummings

Josh Overhill ensured pole position for his team in the number 9 kart, but deferred the start to a team-mate. Jon Beagles (2) and Colin Smith-Bowen (3) were the only old hands to start the race, and Jon in particular made good use of the opportunity, quickly moving up through the field to lead the pack. This was important for his team, because a first corner collision (in which Jon had heavy involvement, though did not actually come into contact with anyone!) saw the team docked one lap from its end total. For some drivers, like Jane in the 12 and Sam in the 1, this was incredibly important, as they were half-a-lap down on the rest before the race even got underway (via a good old rolling start).

Amy Charles was next to be penalised for guiding Jane Cummings off-track at turn one - an uproar from the spectating drivers saw to that. She would later plead her innocence to the stewards, who then revoked the penalty. She, like Alex in the number 8, intended to run a full 45 minutes before the mandatory fuel stop, though switched places with team-mate Nick Drewett after 25 because of fatigue. This wasn't the first pitstop, though. That honour went to the team in kart number 1 - seemingly the only three-man outfit running 15-minute stints (while the others opted for the simpler three 30-minute stints). Alex ran a clean race and, perhaps in part thanks to Jon's penalty, held a steady lead throughout the first quarter of the race, though he was no match for Jon, who had a 2 lap lead by the time he pitted and handed over to Dominic...the novice initially struggled with conditions and dropped a fair few laps as a result, promoting Alex back into first place. At the fuel stop Nick "The Ego" Drewett was caught berating Jon for not - for once - being the quickest man on track. But Nick's bubble was burst by Keith, who was in fact the quickest during the first half.

The second half got underway and the drivers on track included Amy, back in the number 5, Will Russell in the number 3, and Tom Smith driving the number 12. Tom's presence on track was elevating his team from the doldrums in which kart 11 and kart 1 languished. Sam Jackson and Keith, captains of those teams, enjoyed the company of two novices each for the race's duration. Frequent pitstops by kart 1 perhaps did not help to improve that team's position. Most notably of all, though, was Mark Foley's arrival on-track. He took Alex's one-lap lead and ran away with it, making it virtually impossible for any other team to take the win. Worst of all, Mark's team had no need to pit again at all.

As the final 30 minutes beckoned, the others made their final pitstops. Kart 12's driver was Adam Hibberd; 11 fielded its captain, Sam Jackson; for kart 9 it was captain Josh Overhill; Mark remained in the 8; Nick Drewett was back in the 5; Paul Hutton took over in kart 3; Mike Miller ran his final 15 minutes in kart 1; and in kart 2 the late-arriving Phil Skop roared into action...

Phil was lauded as magnificent to watch as he scythed his way through the pack. He even overtook Mark Foley - who had a quite comfortable lead - without consideration for the respectable race leader. Josh Overhill later commented that he anticipated a good race with Phil Skop - but Phil overtook him and never looked back. Keith returned to the track for kart 1's team in the final 15 minutes, joining the circuit ahead of a five-kart swarm. Catching a backmarker afforded Mark the chance to overtake him - and once both had cleared the slow-mover they scarpered, leaving the swarm to dissolve behind them. Paul Hutton - I think - reeled Keith in to be just a couple of kart-lengths behind him, but Keith responded and pulled out a sizeable gap. He then reeled in Nick and made short work of overtaking him. Mark had, in this time, caught the back of the group he had - only moments before - left behind, and Keith was catching (not that it would affect their race positions). Before anything transpired, the race ended.

Phil's work was praised - though both he and Sam Jackson were cited as being among the most unforgiving racers on the circuit. Mark and Alex were also congratulated - it was surely a dominant victory for them... wasn't it?

The results came in. Kart 1 finished in eighth position, behind 11, 12, 2 and 9. Initially kart 3 was given third - but confusion abounded and this was quickly amended; President Jon W. Beagles insisted that kart 3's combination of Will, Colin and Paul had been comfortably ahead of kart 5's Nick and Amy, and blamed a technical glitch for the apparent reversal of their respective finishing positions. Controversial though it was, kart 3 was reinstated as the second-placed team, demoting Nick and Amy to third. Mark and Alex had thwarted all comers for the win, and duly received a trophy to share between them, and a medal each. Jon suggested that the third "spare" winner's medal be given to the driver with the fastest lap. That had, more-or-less since the fuel stops, been Mark Foley. But despite a last-gasp effort that so nearly regained him the accolade of fastest driver, Keith had in fact claimed it some laps earlier. Phil Skop was nominated Driver Of The Day.

Laps were deducted from some teams during the race - including that in kart 2, which lost three laps. As regards fastest lap classification: I can only make my best judgement based on the timing sheets and data available. Team 12 (Tom/Adam/Jane) seemed to make inexplicably - and impressively - fast pitstops and driver changes - which made determining when those changes actually took place rather difficult! Sometimes a slow laptime could indicate an accident, rather than a pitstop. Tricky stuff. I'd also like Sam Jackson and Josh Overhill to confirm the order in which their drivers raced, as I'm uncertain about this. For any BUMPS first-timers, your lap will be added to the list detailing everyone's fastest ever BUMPS laps - though on a totally dry track we would expect you to be faster! 

Comments, compliments and even complaints regarding the abovementioned content to be addressed to Keith Herbert, HUGS Treasurer.

Thanks awfully,
Keith.