FOLEY FINISHES FIRST AS BEAGLES BEATS BUMPS BEST TIME

For HUGS drivers anyway. In fact it must surely be one of the quickest accurate times round BUMPS in the single engine karts, especially when you consider the timing system at BUMPS hasn't even been there for a year yet. It is also extremely doubtful any 15-year-old chavs with ASBO's have gone quicker.

Anyway onto the race. A new format was introduced, replacing the successful VP special devised by Nick Drewett, with the Presidential Special, rather unsurprisingly devised by Jon Beagles. This saw the removal of the controversial bonus points, as well as the top drivers starting in the bottom and having to work their way up. Genius. Or was it?

RACE 1C

The first race of the afternoon saw the top 6 drivers present attempting to get out of the bottom division, with 3 places available in B for the 6 drivers. Keith was on pole thanks to the random grid, but failed to make the most of it, with Mark Foley beating him off the line, and Jon and Josh were also past by Turn 2. Josh had been tapped from behind going into turn 1, forcing him into Keith, who in turn was forced into the gravel. Nonetheless, Keith's curse had struck again. Yet another opening sprint race with a poor kart. Jon and Josh then set about overtaking Mark, both succeeded, but an attempt by Josh to pass Jon failed to come off, and Mark was back into second. Further behind, Nick rammed his way past Sam and set about catching Mark and Josh, with Josh clearly in a quicker kart but unable to pass. Nick rapidly caught the duo, as rapidly as Jon was pulling away from them. Just about anyway. But with the races being incredibly short, that was how the top 4 stayed, with Keith in 5th and Sam 6th. However, Nick sensationally disqualified himself for hitting Sam, promoting Keith to 4th and Sam to 5th. However, Jon's joy was soon to turned into utter elation, as he discovered he had set a 25.38, a record for a HUGS driver round BUMPS. Nick was a close second, with a 25.44, making them the first 2 members in the under-25.5 second club. Mark and Josh were also in the 25's, Josh couldn't help thinking he could have been a lot quicker had he not been stuck behind Mark and had a clear track.

1. Jon Beagles PROMOTED
2. Mark Foley PROMOTED
3. Josh Overhill PROMOTED
4. Keith Herbert
5. Sam Jackson
DQ Nick Drewett

RACE 1B

The first B race is always a hotly contested and eventful affair. This was no exception. Colin had made a good start, but the rapidly improving duo of Tom Buxton and Alex Tweed soon held first and second. In the close battle, Colin found himself bundled into the wall on the entrance to the pits. Further back, Adam bundled Tom Smith into the tyre-wall on the exit of Turn 4, and Will Russell found himself stuck in the tyres at Turn 3. Whilst all this carnage was going on, Alex found a way past Tom Buxton, almost un-noticed. Alex would go on to take the victory, ahead of Tom Buxton and Mike, this saw them avoid the top drivers for the time being at least, as they were promoted into the A group. Tom Smith's crash unfortunately forced himself to pull out of the remaining races, the blame for the crash was laid firmly at Adam's feet, he was disqualified and relegated. Had he not been disqualified and Tom not pulled out of the race, he would not have been relegated, nor promoted. Colin and Will also found themselves facing a tough race with Nick, Sam and Keith next time out.

1. Alex Tweed PROMOTED
2. Tom Buxton PROMOTED
3. Mike Miller PROMOTED
4. Colin Smith-Bowen RELEGATED
5. Tom Smith RETIRED
6. Will Russell RELEGATED
DQ Adam Hibberd RELEGATED

RACE 1A

And now it was the turn of the "A" group, which included newcomer Rob Keeves. Rob struggled slightly in his first outing, finding himself in the wall once and a spin as well cost him time. Also in the wars was Jason Mohammed, who also suffered a crash. So at the front, it was Ben Mason-Gallagher, not having afro-issues this time, who won from Dave McDermott and Amy Charles, and earning them the right to remian in the A group. In an otherwise unremarkable race, before they could get out of their karts there was a slight comedy moment as the top 3 proved that 3-abreast is impossible at BUMPS as they managed to lodge their karts between the 2 walls on the pit straight.

1. Ben Mason-Gallagher
2. Dave McDermott
3. Amy Charles
4. Sam Foxall RELEGATED
5. Jason Mohammed RELEGATED
6. Rob Keeves RELEGATED

RACE 2C

This race gave Nick, Keith and Sam the opportunity to climb out of the bottom division at the second attempt, but first they had to pass Will and Colin, which surely wouldn't be easy. Adam's misdemeanour in his first race saw him forced to start this race from the back. However when the race started, Sam, Keith and Nick made light work of Will and Colin, and set about battling for the lead. Nick had been last of the trio, but impressively fought his way past to lead the race, and that was where he stayed at the end. Sam produced his usual dose of impressive defensive driving to keep Keith at bay, with Will and Colin a distant 4th and 5th. Adam, who's chances of making a return to group B were virtually nil at the start, became absolutely zero as a result of another crash. He found himself bringing up the rest of the field and facing another race at what was effectively the bottom group.

1. Nick Drewett PROMOTED
2. Sam Jackson PROMOTED
3. Keith Herbert PROMOTED
4. Will Russell
5. Colin Smith-Bowen
6. Adam Hibberd

RACE 2B

Jon, Josh and Mark were handed a great chance to make it back-to-back promotions at get into the "A" division. However the second B race bottleneck was still there, and even more so this time that previously, as the 3 top drivers from the top group had to pass the 3 bottom drivers from the bottom group. Josh was keen not to get held up, and from 4th on the grid was in the lead by the end of the first lap. Jon and Mark were soon 2nd and 3rd. However, a collision between Rob and Sam Foxall at turn 5 partially blocked the track, and everyone else was forced to stop whilst Sam's kart could be freed. Josh quickly lapped him, but inadvertantly spun Sam round at Turn 1, holding Jon up. This allowed Josh to build a sizeable lead, one that he was never going to relinquish, and Jon had to settle for 2nd, with Mark unsurprisingly being the final driver to be promoted. Jason, Sam and Rob found themselves relegated again, and now in the C Division.

1. Josh Overhill PROMOTED
2. Jon Beagles PROMOTED
3. Mark Foley PROMOTED
4. Jason Mohammed RELEGATED
5. Sam Foxall RELEGATED
6. Rob Keeves RELEGATED

RACE 2A

The sixth race of the afternoon saw a chance for the promoted trio of Mike, Tom Buxton and Alex preserve their position in the A division and a chance to take on Josh, Mark and Jon. Tom and Alex quickly took the initiative, battling through the pack to challenge Amy at the front. He managed to pass, much to the delight of those watching. Alex was the next to attempt to pass Amy, but she was doing her utmost to ensure she didn't lose another place. This battle lasted for several laps, but Alex eventually found a way through. All this allowed Tom to build a healthy lead. Further back, a spin prevented Ben from keeping his place in th division. Tom Buxton won the race, to what was certainly the loudest cheer of the year. Alex was second, whilst Amy was able to keep her place in third, allowing her to remain in group A.

1. Tom Buxton 
2. Alex Tweed 
3. Amy Charles 
4. Mike Miller RELEGATED
5. Dave McDermott RELEGATED
6. Ben Mason-Gallagher RELEGATED

RACE 3C

The final chance to get out of group C for the finals saw another messy race. A collision at the start involving Rob and Sam Foxall saw both out of contention for a place in the B Final, while Adam's day went from bad to worse by getting stuck in the tyres at Turn 5. This allowed Jason, Colin and Will to lap all three of them, and the race perhaps turned into a bit of a non-event with the top 3 virtually guaranteed, barring any major cock-ups. However, the leading trio didn't care and instead produced one of the best battles of the afternoon, with Colin and Will both attempting to pass Jason, but Jason driving superbly to prevent them from doing so. However, he finally gave way, with Will passing for the win, but Colin couldn't do likewise and had to settle for 3rd, the trio in the B Final. Adam, Sam and Rob were all in the C Final.

RACE 3B

Three places in the A Final were up for grabs, looking to fill them were Keith, Sam and Nick. Looking to stop them and nab the places for themselves were Mike, Ben and Dave. Keith wasn't holding back, and was quickly in the lead. Mike and Ben fought Nick and Sam off initially, but soon it was the top 3 that would have been predicted at the start of the race. With the field soon becoming spaced out, it was soon clear what the result was going to be, again not accounting for any collisions failures or spins and the like. And so, Keith won from Nick and Sam. And into the A Final they went.

1. Keith Herbert PROMOTED
2. Nick Drewett PROMOTED
3. Sam Jackson PROMOTED
4. Mike Miller RELEGATED
5. Ben Mason-Gallagher RELEGATED
6. Dave McDermott RELEGATED

RACE 3A

The other 3 places for the A Final were to be decided here. Jon, Mark and Josh knew they wouldn't have it easy, especially considering Amy, Alex and Tom Buxton had driven superbly in their first two races. It was important to get a good start, and Josh did just that, beating Jon off the line as everyone hurtled into the first corner. Mark and Josh soon passed Tom and Amy, but as Jon went to pass Amy going into Turn 5, the two collided and were both in the wall. It was later deemed a racing incident. Nonetheless, Jon's hopes for an A Final place were severely dashed. At the front, Alex brilliantly fought off Mark and Josh, certainly not an easy task. Mark did make an attempt to pass going into Turn 6 but went wide and allowed Josh through. And thus, Alex led to Josh to the chequered flag for a Cambridge 1-2, with Mark a close third, their places in the A Final were confirmed. Jon however, would be in the B Final.

1. Alex Tweed 
2. Josh Overhill
3. Mark Foley
4. Tom Buxton RELEGATED
5. Amy Charles RELEGATED
6. Jon Beagles RELEGATED

C FINAL

Adam Hibberd was certainly the favourite to take the C Final, and from third on the grid he was soon past Rob and Sam Foxall for the lead of the race. However, several incidents over the course of the meeting had taken its toll on the karts, and almost simulatenously, Rob and Mike's karts decided enough was enough for one day, and both stopped on the pit exit. Mike's kart had suffered a broken steering rack, while the belt on Rob's kart was to blame for him stopping. The race was stopped early, with Adam credited with the win.

1. Adam Hibberd
2. Ben Mason-Gallagher
3. Sam Foxall
4. Dave McDermott
5. Rob Keeves
6. Mike Miller

With several karts now out of action, and with the staff BUMPS unwilling to allow more karts to be used by us (so the 15 year-old chav's with ASBO's could), we were left with just 4 karts for the remaining 2 races. A crisis meeting between the Execs was called, and it was decided that the Exec's weren't going to run, including next year's president Sam Jackson, and Tom Smith, who had hoped to get back in following his earlier crash. This was going to make the race meeting a bit of an anti-climax, but nothing could be done to prevent it.

B FINAL

Colin, Jason, Amy and Tom Buxton were left to contest the B Final. A spin for Jason dashed his chances early on, and Tom Buxton took the lead having beaten Amy off the line, and overtaken Colin as well. This paved the way for Tom to take his second race win of the day, and again to another cheer from those watching.

1. Tom Buxton
2. Colin Smith-Bowen
3. Amy Charles
4. Jason Mohammed

A FINAL

The reshuffle of positions allowed Will to jump from C to A, and was perhaps slightly questionably given pole position for this race. Josh and Mark were faced with the task of not only passing Will, which was never going to be easy, as well as Alex, which neither could manage last time out. However, Will found himself from first to last by turn 3, as Alex beat him off the line and Mark and Josh both forced their way through at Turn 2, and then set about overtaking Alex. Mark lost momentum coming out of Turn 3 whilst attempting to pass Alex a few laps in, which allowed Josh through, but then ran wide on the exit of turn 4 allowing Mark back past at Turn 5. A lap later Alex slid wide at the same corner, and Mark and Josh were both through. Josh attempted on several occasions to pass Mark, but couldn't find a way through and had to settle for second, with Mark the winner.

1. Mark Foley
2. Josh Overhill
3. Alex Tweed
4. Will Russell