OK, here goes with the race report from the second York race at Teesside. If I get any details wrong, let me know and I will change it. If someone can move this to the reports section as well, as I cannot start topics there, that would be good as well.
PRE-RACE
The second York race at Teesside had been hotly anticipated by both camps ever since it was confirmed, with York looking to level the contest 1-1 following Hull’s thoroughly deserved victory in sub-zero conditions at Grimsby back in December. York were certainly favourites, with all of their drivers having visited the track before, but for a number of Hull’s drivers, this was a complete trip into the unknown.
Both Hull and York had problems regarding drivers in the days building up to the race, with Hull having a number of drivers who would otherwise have been in the team unavailable for one reason or another, most notably money issues. The most notable withdrawal was that of Pip Hammond, and of the current crop of drivers, notable absentees were Social Sec Paul Hutton and the consistent Will Russell. However, Hull were however given a boost when Nick Drewett became available just 48 hours before the race, after he was originally set to go to London for something related to his degree. However, Nick realised he could send his ego to London, and Nick himself could come to Teesside. This meant that Hull were able to take 16 drivers, including newcomers Roger Palmer, Mike Miller and Alex Tweed, who had all impressed in recent weeks in races at BUMPS.
York seemingly suffered similar problems with only 11 drivers available. They were known to have also had a couple of top drivers unavailable, and also several drivers who would have been in their team but were unavailable, but unlike Hull, suffered 2 last minute drop-outs.
With these numbers, it made splitting drivers into teams difficult. With York having an odd number of drivers, it made teams of 2 impossible, and teams of 3 would have also made for uneven amounts of drivers for both uni’s, not to mention the fact that there would have been very few karts on such a long track. It soon transpired that there were enough karts for one each, so the race was changed from an endurance to an iron man, which meant for an incredible 27 karts on the track at one time. It also meant that each driver would get significantly more track time. Had it been an endurance race each driver would have had 10 minutes practice and then 30 minutes in the race. But the iron man race meant that each driver had 20 minutes pratice followed by a 40 minute race, thus having 20 more minutes of track time, but the original price stayed the same. An hours track time in twin engine pro-karts on a track which could well be described by Jeremy Clarkson as, “one of the best kart tracks................. in the world,” for just £35 pretty much re-defined the term “value for money.” It also added a lot of spice to what was already set to be an epic race, whatever the result.
And so, the 16 drivers representing Hull embarked on the 2 hour journey to Teesside. Indeed inexperience was going to be a factor, with only 5 of Hull’s drivers having raced there before. York were used to the track and the karts, as well as having such a high amount of karts on the track at one time (the highest in a HUGS race this year was previously 10), owing to their adventures in the BUKC, as well as previous Iron Man races at Teesside. The first race back at Grimsby had been pretty much neutral in terms of advantage, as the icy conditions on track meant everyone had to re-learn the circuit.
When everyone finally arrived, those who had never been before where instantly impressed with the circuit, with it being in a completely different league when compared to anywhere HUGS had been previously this year, and no-one could wait to get on track for part 2 of Hull v York in the 08/09 season.
QUALIFYING
And so the moment came, for us all to take to the track. Everyone selected their kart, most people observing the unofficial agreement that York would take karts 1-11 and Hull would take karts 12 upwards. A few Hull drivers, such as Tom Smith, Josh Overhill and Nick Drewett took the karts which corresponded to their HUGS number (7, 19 and 27 respectively). Some couldn’t do this, most notably Adam Hibberd, with his number of 00, as this was an inter-uni race at Teesside and not an episode of Wacky Races. Number 13 had to suffice. Some might say an apt number.
The karts finally left the pits and took to the track for the 20 minute qualifying session, with the track living up to expectations of the Teesside first-timers. Maybe even exceeding them. Now given that York had a club race at Teesside just three weeks earlier, their objective for the qualifying session was to simply set a fast lap. For the 5 returning Hull drivers, the objective was to familiarise themselves with the track again, and then set a fast lap. For the 11 Hull drivers who had never visited the track before, the objective was to learn the track, then familiarise themselves with it, and then use any time left in qualifying to set a fast time. Qualifying passed without any notable incidents on track, with most people, if not everyone, using the time productively. Although it did begin to spit with rain about 5 minutes from the end, so anyone who hadn’t got a quick time in before then would likely be near the back. It did give people a chance to practise driving the karts on a slippery track, as it soon became just that. At the end of the 20 minutes, the chequered flag was thrown, and everyone lined up just before the start line, awaiting to find out where they were on the grid.
Everyone was then allocated their grid position. Pole position went to York’s Christian Wood, he was joined on the front row of the interestingly three-abreast grid by Hull’s two fastest drivers, Jon Beagles and Imran Khan. Hull’s next fastest driver was Josh Overhill, in 6th place, the outside of the second row. He joined two York drivers on the second row, with their president Daniel Maddox in 4th, and Sophie Cockman, the fastest of the 4 female drivers on the grid, in 5th. After that, York’s advantage clearly showed, with three of their drivers locking the third row. Tom Race qualified an impressive 10th for Hull, closely followed by Nick Drewett in 11th. Hull’s next fastest was Keith Herbert, in 16th, clearly struggling with an under-performing kart.
QUALIFYING TIMES
1. Christian Wood - Kart 11 - YORK - 50.566
2. Jon Beagles - Kart 18 - HULL - 51.053
3. Imran Khan - Kart 23 - HULL - 51.054
4. Daniel Maddox - Kart 5 - YORK - 51.189
5. Sophie Cockman - Kart 1 - YORK - 51.257
6. Josh Overhill - Kart 19 - HULL - 51.356
7. Rachael Drew - Kart 6 - YORK - 51.369
8. Tony Tong - Kart 2 - YORK - 51.438
9. Jamie Garside - Kart 8 YORK - 51.502
10. Tom Race - Kart 24 HULL - 51.550
11. Nick Drewett - Kart 27 HULL - 51.567
12. Sean McKenna - Kart 28 YORK - 51.593
13. Sam Welch - Kart 4 YORK - 51.642
14. Michael D'Cruze - Kart 3 YORK - 52.646
15. Michael O'Neill - Kart 9 YORK - 52.743
16. Keith Herbert - Kart 17 HULL - 52.767
17. Colin Smith-Bowen - Kart 14 HULL - 52.812
18. Sam Jackson - Kart 30 HULL - 52.825
19. Adam Hibberd - Kart 13 HULL - 52.911
20. Mark Foley - Kart 25 HULL - 52.942
21. Tom Smith - Kart 7 HULL - 52.972
22. Mike Miller - Kart 26 HULL - 53.358
23. Jazmine Fleet - Kart 16 YORK - 53.886
24. Roger Palmer - Kart 22 HULL - 53.919
25. Alex Tweed - Kart 12 HULL - 54.319
26. Tom Buxton - Kart 15 HULL - 54.456
27. Amy Charles - Kart 29 HULL - 57.980
RACE
In similar fashion to the 2008 Brazillian Grand Prix, a short shower before the start of the race meant the track was going to be slippery to begin with, although it had stopped raining. The Union Jack flag was thrown, and the race was underway. Jon Beagles got off to an absolute flyer, leading into the first corner. Imran and Josh both made poor starts, both clearly disadvantaged being on the outside of their respective rows. Indeed, Josh had slipped to 9th by the time the field had reached the first hairpin, but quickly re-passed 2 York drivers to recover to 7th place by the end of the first lap, which everyone had taken very cautiously due to the slippery surface. Further back, several drivers were in trouble, spinning on the opening few corners due to the difficult conditions. Jon led as everyone began the second lap, closely followed by York’s Wood and Maddox, as Josh tried an ambitious overtaking manouvre on Imran at the second hairpin, which he somehow made work. Jon’s lead was sadly short-lived, as he was passed on the third lap, but the top 3 were quickly edging away from the rest of the field, as Imran and Josh, making up for their starts, closed in on York’s Sophie Cockman and Rachael Drew, and an epic battle which lasted for several laps began, with the 4 drivers changing places near enough every corner, as the track soon dried and lap-times became much quicker. All four drivers were 4th at some point, however temporary, although the battle was soon affected as several others were already being lapped, with the lapped drivers getting in the way of one or more of the 4. Further back, Nick Drewett was locked in a race with two more of York’s drivers, who, according to Nick, forgot that were effectively on the same team and were racing each other for all it was worth.
One of the major turning points of the race came on lap 8, when Jon’s front right wheel decided it had had enough and flew off at the second hairpin. Jon managed to guide the now three-wheeled kart back to the pits, in similar fashion to Michael Schumacher in the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, although at least Jon can say that the loss of the wheel wasn’t his fault, unlike Schumacher. After a very lengthy delay, Jon was sent back out in a replacement kart, but now several laps down. This now meant that York held first and second, but with third-placed Imran catching, having broken free of the 4-way battle earlier on the race. This had now dissolved into a 2-way battle, with Josh trying to pass York’s Sophie Cockman, but unable to do so for many laps. The two took completely different lines through the S’s before the pit straight, which gave Josh the inside line going into Turn One, but couldn’t get close enough to pass, but was very close a couple of times. Josh did finally pass, after Sophie was slowed by a lapped car, which allowed Josh to pass, but then was slowed by another lapped car which meant Sophie could take 4th back.
At the front, York’s Christian Wood was in complete control of the race, but Imran was now extremely close to Daniel Maddox, and a duel for 2nd soon began. Further back, Nick was still involved in the fight he had been in for much of the race, now for 7th place. Meanwhile, Tom Race was putting in a solid performance, made more impressive by the fact he hadn’t been karting for a while. Keith and Mark were both performing well, as always, despite the fact both had poor karts, whilst Roger Palmer, Alex Tweed and Mike Miller were all doing well with making the giant step-up from BUMPS to Teesside. However, the long race was proving to the be extremely tiring for some, with Amy Charles being forced to retire from the race due to fatigue, as had one of York’s drivers.
As the race reached the closing stages, all of the previously mentioned battles continued. With just a few laps left, Sophie and Josh came up to lap Keith, who, unlike most of the previous lapped drivers, was reluctant to allow them through. As the three came onto the pit straight, Sophie decided to try and pass Keith around the outside. Josh saw his chance, and passed both of them up the inside going into Turn One, in similar fashion to Mika Hakkinen at the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix, when he passed Michael Schumacher and the lapped Ricardo Zonta. At around the same time, Imran passed Maddy for second place. These two changes in position also altered the points between Hull and York, just so long Imran and Josh held onto their respective positions.
With not long to go, the heavens opened again, making the conditions for the race even more like the 2008 Brazillian Grand Prix, with everyone struggling again for grip, reminiscent of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, with cars sliding off all over the place in the last 2 or 3 laps as the rain and track conditions worsened.
Before conditions could get much more worse, the race came to it’s conclusion. York’s Christian Wood was the deserved winner, winning by 23 seconds from Hull’s top driver Imran Khan, who had opened up a 5 second margin over Daniel Maddox in the closing laps. Josh Overhill held on to take an (and dare I say it) impressive fourth ahead of York trio Sophie Cockman, Rachael Drew and Tony Tong, with Nick Drewett 8th, the final driver who wasn’t lapped. The finish was extremely close, with Josh only 10 seconds behind Maddy, and also 10 seconds ahead of Nick, who was 4 places behind him. Two more drivers from York rounded out the top 10, both having been lapped. Tom Race was a solid 11th, whilst 20 seconds separated Hull quartet Keith Herbert, Sam Jackson, Mark Foley and Colin Smith-Bowen, from positions 13th to 16th. Jon Beagles was given 25th after not being given enough laps back at the end of the race, he almost certainly should have been given the laps back which would have put him back on the lead lap, and definitely deserved second place.
RACE RESULTS
1. Christian Wood - Kart 11 - YORK 42 laps
2. Imran Khan - Kart 23 - HULL +22.756
3. Daniel Maddox - Kart 5 YORK +27.895
4. Josh Overhill - Kart 19 HULL +38.547
5. Sophie Cockman - Kart 1 YORK +40.182
6. Rachael Drew - Kart 6 YORK +42.765
7. Tony Tong - Kart 2 YORK +45.238
8. Nick Drewett - Kart 27 HULL +47.400
9. Jamie Garside - Kart 8 YORK + 1 LAP
10. Sam Welch - Kart 4 YORK + 1 LAP
11. Tom Race - Kart 24 HULL + 1 LAP
12. Sean McKenna - Kart 28 YORK + 1 LAP
13. Keith Herbert - Kart 17 HULL + 1 LAP
14. Sam Jackson - Kart 30 HULL + 1 LAP
15. Mark Foley - Kart 25 HULL + 1 LAP
16. Colin Smith-Bowen - Kart 14 HULL + 1 LAP
17. Michael D'Cruze - Kart 3 YORK + 1 LAP
18. Tom Smith - Kart 7 HULL + 2 LAPS
19. Roger Palmer - Kart 22 HULL + 2 LAPS
20. Alex Tweed - Kart 12 HULL + 3 LAPS
21. Mike Miller - Kart 26 HULL + 3 LAPS
22. Jazmine Fleet - Kart 16 YORK + 3 LAPS
23. Adam Hibberd - Kart 13 HULL + 3 LAPS
24. Tom Buxton - Kart 15 HULL + 3 LAPS
25. Jon Beagles - Karts 18 & 20 HULL + 5 LAPS
26. Amy Charles - Kart 29 HULL DNF (18 laps completed)
27. Michael O'Neill - Kart 9 YORK DNF (13 laps completed)
POST-RACE
The agreed points system for the race was n, n-1, n-2 and so on where n equals the number of karts in the race, in this case 27. In addition to that, with such a long practice/qualifying session, points were also awarded here, with the system being n/2, (n-1)/2, (n-2)/2 etc. Again where n equalled the number of karts.
For qualifying, Hull scored 91.5 points altogether, and York scored 99, despite having 5 less people. For the race, Hull scored 189 points and York 180. This meant that when combined Hull had 280.5, and York had 279. While from here it looked as if Hull had won, York of course had 5 less people, so it was decided that these scores would be divided by the number of participants each uni had.
So:
HULL= 280.5/16 = 17.53125
YORK= 279/11 = 25.3636
Hence, York are the winners, by a scoreline of, erm... 25.363636–17.53125. Congratulations to all at York. The winning margin makes the win sound more emphatic than it probably was, but nonetheless a much deserved victory. In winning part 2 of Hull vs York 2008/09, York level the series 1-1, so a Part 3 will be needed to determine the overall winner.
After a brief discussion between Hull’s Execs, Josh Overhill was awarded Driver Of The Day. So that will be one round of applause for the Driver Of The Day. And a second for writing this report. Lol.
Thank you very much,
Josh
And here is the fastest lap classification:
1. Christian Wood - YORK 50.511
2. Daniel Maddox - YORK 50.594
3. Imran Khan - HULL 50.755
4. Jon Beagles - HULL 50.898
5. Sophie Cockman - YORK 50.908
6. Josh Overhill - HULL 51.172
7. Jamie Garside - YORK 51.237
8. Rachael Drew - YORK 51.253
9. Sean McKenna - YORK 51.275
10. Sam Welch - YORK 51.463
11. Nick Drewett - HULL 51.486
12. Tom Race - HULL 51.508
13. Tony Tong - YORK 51.530
14. Sam Jackson - HULL 51.856
15. Colin Smith-Bowen - HULL 52.004
16. Mike Miller - HULL 52.132
17. Adam Hibberd - HULL 52.186
18. Tom Smith - HULL 52.230
19. Mark Foley - HULL 52.231
20. Keith Herbert - HULL 52.612
21. Michael D'Cruze - YORK 52.651
22. Michael O'Neill - YORK 53.179
23. Roger Palmer - HULL 53.257
24. Jazmine Fleet - YORK 53.493
25. Alex Tweed - HULL 53.602
26. Amy Charles - HULL 53.999
27. Tom Buxton - HULL 54.416
And finally, a few interesting facts from the race:
- York's Christian Wood drove the "perfect race" with pole position, fastest lap and the win
- In qualifying, Jon outqualified Imran by 0.001 of a second, or in other words a thousandth of a second
- Only 4 of the drivers who finished the race did not set their fastest lap of the race between laps 26 and 31
- The pole position time, of 50.566, was set with an average speed of 88.993kph, or 55.3mph
- York's Michael D'Cruze was the only driver who didn't better their best qualifying time in the race
- A 40 minute Iron Man? The chequered flag was waved a lap early!
- During qualifying, the print-out showed everyone's second best qualifying lap. Interestingly if no-one set their fastest lap and the grid was based on the second best laps given, the grid would have remained almost exactly the same. From 14th down, their would have been no change whatsoever. The only notable differences were that Imran(in 3rd) and York's Daniel Maddox would have swapped over, as would have Josh(in 6th) and York's Rachael Drew(in 7th). Tom Race would have started 13th, having qualified 10th.
AND FINALLY:
In the two Hull v York races this year, there have been different points systems, but if the points systems were swapped over, Hull would have still won at Grimsby, and York would have still won at Teesside
At Grimsby (using Teesside points system)
Qualifying:
HULL: 4 + 3.5 + 3 + 1.5 + 1 = 13
YORK: 2.5 + 2 + 0.5 = 5
Race:
HULL: 8 + 6 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 23
YORK: 7 + 5 + 1 = 13
HULL: 13+23=36
YORK: 13+5=18
Final Score
HULL; 36/5=7.2
YORK: 18/3=6