After the strong showing against stiff competition at Leeds on Monday, it was back to BUMPS on Wednesday for another VP special, the format being the brains of Nick Drewett. As if karting once in a week wasn't enough. Indeed, 11 of the 12 drivers who were at Leeds on Monday took to BUMPS less than 48 hours later, joined by another 9 drivers, making a field of 20.
Just before the race, there had been a threat of rain, to the excitement of some drivers, but despair to others. However, the rain just didn't want to fall, ensuring another dry race.

The line-ups for the first round were as follows:

DIVISION ONE
Jon Beagles
Nick Drewett
Keith Herbert
Sam Jackson
Will Russell
Mark Foley
Josh Overhill

DIVISION TWO
Adam Hibberd
Tom Smith
Tom Buxton
Alex Tweed
Mike Miller
Paul Hutton
Roger Palmer

DIVISION THREE
Preece Stewart
Hannah Stretton
Dave McDermott
Ian Simmons
Dennis Repade
Sam Foxall

RACE 1 - DIV 1 HEAT 1
Keith got off to a flyer at the start from second on the grid to lead into turn 1, and kept the rest of the field behind him initially, as the HUGS big guns battled it out in the opening race. Further back Josh's failed attempt to pass Will forced him wide and allowed Mark through. Mark was soon past Will as well, but Josh just couldn't find a way to overtake. At the front, Keith was again struggling with a poor kart and had to fend off everyone else, and Jon muscled his way throught to take the lead, followed by Sam. Josh did eventually overtake Will, and then tried to pass Nick, but again failed and lost momentum, allowing Will back through. Keith eventually found himself losing places, and slipped right to the back. But at the front, it was Jon who won from Sam and Mark, who did well to climb from the back of the grid to third. Nick was fourth, ahead of the relegated trio of Will, Josh and Keith. Nick and Josh both endured frustrating races, which was shown as they were the fastest two karts on the track.

1. Jon Beagles - 12 points
2. Sam Jackson - 8 points
3. Mark Foley - 6 points
4. Nick Drewett - 4 points
5. Will Russell - 3 points - RELEGATED
6. Josh Overhill - 2 points - RELEGATED
7. Keith Herbert - 1 point - RELEGATED

RACE 2 - DIV 2 HEAT 1

Alex led away in what was another close affair in the opening Division 2 race, but Adam, Paul and Tom Smith were in close proximity and another good battle began. However, it all ended when Paul found himself bundled into the wall, but the marshalls ruled it a racing incident (clearly knowing more about racing than the marshalls at Leeds). At the front, Adam found a way past Alex to lead the race, and to go on and win it. Tom Smith was third ahead of Tom Buxton, who was to remain in Division 2 for the next round. Paul's crash meant he was last, and would have to race in Division 3 next time round.

1. Adam Hibberd - 12 points PROMOTED
2. Alex Tweed - 8 points PROMOTED
3. Tom Smith - 6 points PROMOTED
4. Tom Buxton - 4 points
5. Roger Palmer - 3 points RELEGATED
6. Mike Miller - 2 points RELEGATED
7. Paul Hutton - 1 point RELEGATED

RACE 3 - DIV 3 HEAT 1
Division 3 was filled with people relatively new to karting. Or at least, that was what we all thought, as HUGS newcomer Ian stormed to victory setting lap-times at Division 1 pace, and lapping everyone except the second placed Preece in an otherwise unremarkable race in which the field was very spaced out. Sam Foxall's third place ensured not only promotion to Division 2, but pole position as well. It turned out Ian used to work at a kart track, as well as having raced TKM's, similar to the sort of karts used in the BUKC.

1. Ian Simmons - 12 points PROMOTED
2. Preece Stewart - 8 points PROMOTED
3. Sam Foxall - 6 points PROMOTED
4. Hannah Stretton - 4 points
5. Dennis Repade - 3 points
6. Dave McDermott - 2 points

RACE 4 - DIV 1 HEAT 2
Back to Division 1, and it was the three drivers promoted from Division 2 that held the first three positions on the grid. But fourth-placed Nick sliced his way through them to take the lead, and Jon soon did likewise to take second as Alex and Adam both lost time early on. Sam and Mark both pressured Tom for third and ultimately Mark lost out, ending up in the wall at the last corner and losing a lot of time, ending up down in 6th ahead of just Adam. Sam did eventually pass Tom, resulting in 3rd and 4th for them and places in the Division 1 final. Ahead, Nick took a dominant win, with Jon a slightly distant second.

1. Nick Drewett - 12 points
2. Jon Beagles - 8 points
3. Sam Jackson - 6 points
4. Tom Smith - 4 points
5. Alex Tweed - 3 points RELEGATED
6. Mark Foley - 2 points RELEGATED
7. Adam Hibberd - 1 point RELEGATED

RACE 5 - DIV 2 HEAT 2
Although an absolute genius format, the one notable flaw is the second Division 2 race. This is because at the front of the grid are drivers who started in Division 3, a division comprised of relative newcomers. At the back are those relegated from the original Division 1, made up of much quicker drivers. This means a bottleneck at the start as the much quicker drivers attempt to pass the newcomers, who are usually going slower. And it showed again, as pole-sitter Sam Foxall failed to see the flag go down and didn't moving, causing Ian and Keith to go into the back of him. The start was aborted, and at the second attempt Sam drove extremely slowly into the first corner, which caused a chain reaction behind, slowing Josh and crucially allowing Keith through. Ian was soon in the lead, but with Keith closing him down, and Josh closing the pair of them. The trio soon came to lap Sam, and Ian was forced wide allowing Keith through, and Josh right behind. But Ian defended well and Josh couldn't pass. Not that it mattered too much, they were all in the Division 1 final, and Josh's third meant he would be on pole.

1. Keith Herbert - 12 points PROMOTED
2. Ian Simmons - 8 points PROMOTED
3. Josh Overhill - 6 points PROMOTED
4. Will Russell - 4 points
5. Sam Foxall - 3 points RELEGATED
6. Tom Buxton - 2 points RELEGATED
7. Preece Stewart - 1 point RELEGATED

RACE 6 - DIV 3 HEAT 2

Paul, a surprise runner in Division 3, was the hot favourite to win this race. Starting from fourth, he quickly passed the three in front and led away. Hannah ran an impressive second for a while, before a spin dropped her to the tail of the 6-kart field. A spin for Roger also lost him time, dropping him to fourth. But it was Paul taking the expected win, ahead of Mike and Dave. The trio all being promoted into the Division 2 final.

1. Paul Hutton - 12 points PROMOTED
2. Mike Miller - 8 points PROMOTED
3. Dave McDermott - 6 points PROMOTED
4. Roger Palmer - 4 points
5. Dennis Repade - 3 points
6. Hannah Stretton - 2 points

RACE 7 - DIV 3 FINAL
The order of the divisions was then reversed, so it was the Division 3 final first. Hannah was on pole and initially led, but was soon passed by Roger and Tom Buxton. Preece also looked on for a good result but a spin dashed his chances. The order remained largely the same, with Roger winning from Tom Buxton and Hannah.

1. Roger Palmer - 12 points
2. Tom Buxton - 8 points
3. Hannah Stretton - 6 points
4. Dennis Repade - 4 points
5. Preece Stewart - 3 points
6. Sam Foxall - 2 points

RACE 8 - DIV 2 FINAL
Guaranteed to be a close battle, with Will and Mark both looking to finish with a good result. But Mark and Paul were both adjudged to have jumped the start and were penalised after the race. Mark received a second penalty for spinning Dave round soon after. Alex was another driver to be tipped into a spin, this time with Adam being the culprit. Once the dust settled, it was Paul leading, with Will, Adam and Mark not far behind, but Mark's day was soon capped with another meeting with the wall. Adam soon forced his way past Will for second, and set about trying to pass Paul, but right at the end, Paul was forced into the wall, delaying Adam and allowing Will back past to take the win.

1. Will Russell - 12 points
2. Adam Hibberd - 8 points
3. Mike Miller - 6 points
4. Alex Tweed - 4 points
5. Paul Hutton - 3 points
6. Dave McDermott - 2 points
7. Mark Foley - 1 point

RACE 9 - DIV 1 FINAL
And so, it was time for the big one. The division 1 final. Josh was on pole in the knowledge it was vital to get a good start and lead into the first corner. He did so, ahead of Ian and Keith, as the Division 1 mainstays battled behind. Jon was soon up to fourth from sixth, as Tom Smith held fifth ahead of Nick and Sam. At the sharp end, Josh was controlling the race, with Ian and Keith very close, but never close enough to make an attempt to overtake. Jon soon caught up with Keith, but further back the only notable incident of the race came when Sam and Nick had a coming together, which in turn spun Tom around and to the back of the field, with Nick staying ahead of Sam. But it was Josh who held on to take the chequered flag ahead of the impressive debutant Ian, followed by Keith and Jon.

1. Josh Overhill - 12 points
2. Ian Simmons - 8 points
3. Keith Herbert - 6 points
4. Jon Beagles - 4 points
5. Nick Drewett - 3 points
6. Sam Jackson - 2 points
7. Tom Smith - 1 points

FASTEST LAP CLASSIFICATION

1. Jon Beagles - 25.71
2. Keith Herbert - 26.00
3. Josh Overhill - 26.01
4. Ian Simmons - 26.05
5. Nick Drewett - 26.13
6. Sam Jackson - 26.16
7. Mark Foley - 26.27
8. Will Russell - 26.63
9. Paul Hutton - 26.82
10. Tom Buxton - 26.91
11. Tom Smith - 27.10
12. Adam Hibberd - 27.11
13. Roger Palmer - 27.19
14. Alex Tweed - 27.25
15. Mike Miller - 27.26
16. Preece Stewart - 27.73
17. Dennis Repade - 28.41
18. Hannah Stretton - 28.57
19. Dave McDermott - 29.26
20. Sam Foxall - 30.32

So, what does this do to the overall BUMPS times? Jon climbs up one into second place, just 0.15 behind Pip pushing Nick down to third. In fourth and fifth, Mark and Josh are also members of the 25 club (at BUMPS). Keith became agonisingly close to being the 6th member, with a 26-flat, but it does move him up 2 places into 6th. Newcomer Ian Simmons is a new entry at number 8. Sam Jackson stays 10th, despite improving his best time by a quarter of a second. Will Russell also improved his time, now in 13th.
Elsewhere, Tom Buxton, Roger, Mike, Hannah and Sam Foxall have all improved on their best time.

And finally, the ultra-confusing points system

As if a points system isn't confusing enough, it was made all the more confusing by a flurry of bonus points added. At least Nick had the decency to decide on the bonus points BEFORE the race had began.

But firstly, here are the standings WITHOUT the bonus points

1. Ian Simmons - 28 points
2. Jon Beagles - 24 points
3. Adam Hibberd - 21 points 
4. Josh Overhill - 20 points
5. Keith Herbert - 19 points
=. Roger Palmer
7. Nick Drewett - 17 points
=. Will Russell
9. Sam Jackson - 16 points
=. Mike Miller
=. Paul Hutton
12. Alex Tweed - 15 points
13. Tom Buxton - 14 points
14. Hannah Stretton - 13 points
15. Preece Stewart - 12 points
16. Tom Smith - 11 points
=. Sam Foxall - 11 points
18. Dave McDermott - 10 points
19. Mark Foley - 9 points
=. Dennis Repade

So, without the bonus points, it would have been a win for debutant Ian Simmons, taking advantage of starting in Div 3, then working his way up to strong positions in Div 2 then Div 1. Adam Hibberd takes a shock third place, whilst the man who devised the format, Nick Drewett, is down in joint 7th. But then here come the bonus points.

Josh, Keith, Will, Paul and Mike all have a bonus point for "bounce-back abilty", ie getting relegated in the first round, but then getting promoted in the second, hence being where they started for round 3.
Jon is awarded a bonus point for setting the fastest lap of the day.
Given that 9 different drivers won the 9 races, no-one is given the most wins bonus point.
Several drivers are awarded points for remaining in Division 1. Sam and Nick are awarded 2 points for staying in Division 1 throughout, but would have both been relegated into Division 2 had there been a fourth round. Jon also stayed in Division 1 throughout, and he would have remianed in Division 1 if there had been a fourth round, and is awarded an incredible 5 bonus points. Mark is also given one point for staying in Division 1 after the first round.
As if that isn't enough, there is also a bonus point on offer for the best newcomer, available to anyone who started in Division 3, and another for Driver Of The Day. Ian is awarded Driver Of The Day, but confusingly Hannah is given the newcomers point, despite Ian being a newcomer (to HUGS at least). Ian is then also awarded a newcomers point.
At the other end of the spectrum, Dave is awarded a "thanks for turning up" bonus point, despite getting promoted into Division 2 at one point.

After all that, here are the controversial final points standings:

1. Jon Beagles - 30 points
=. Ian Simmons
3. Josh Overhill - 21 points
=. Adam Hibberd
5. Keith Herbert - 20 points
6. Nick Drewett - 19 points
=. Roger Palmer
8. Sam Jackson - 18 points
9. Will Russell - 17 points
=. Paul Hutton
=. Mike Miller
12. Alex Tweed - 15 points
13. Tom Buxton - 14 points
=. Hannah Stretton
15. Preece Stewart - 12 points
16. Tom Smith - 11 points
=. Sam Foxall
=. Dave McDermott
19. Mark Foley - 10 points
20. Dennis Repade - 9 points

And so, all the bonus points mean that Jon Beagles and Ian Simmons are the joint winners.

Slightly further behind, Josh and Adam are tied for third. May I point out that a good way to determine who is 3rd and who is 4th is the fact that Josh won a Division 1 race???

Oh well, see you all on the track soon for another epic HUGS race!!!

Josh