And so, a new year for The University Of Hull came and with it a new season for HUGS, and the first race for the brand new exec team. But it wasn’t their first duty of the day, as earlier on they were at the Freshers Fayre, and attracted nearly 200 people to put on the mailing list, which was a real shot in the arm for the team.

But onto the first race, the new members will have to wait a bit to take to the track, as 16 veterans returned to the third largest council estate in England to race at old favourite BUMPS. The field was bolstered by the return of last years Exec’s Jon Beagles, Keith Herbert and Nick Drewett (oh, and Paul Hutton). Oscar Yapp also raced, but it soon transpired that he had never raced at BUMPS, and was signed in as Tom Race. Luckily this was not questioned, Oscar probably couldn’t do the accent!

There was also a handful of brand new karts in, which would prove alot grippier. The 16 would be split into 8 teams of 2, with Nick and Tom Smith looking to be the favourites on paper.

Kart 1: Phil Skop, Oscar Yapp

Kart 10: Sam Foxall, Jon Beagles

Kart 12: Sam Jackson, Tom Buxton

Kart 14: Kumes Balakrishnan (hope I got that right), Will Russell

Kart 15: Keith Herbert, Roger Palmer

Kart 16: Paul Hutton, Mark Foley

Kart 17: Jane Cummings, Josh Overhill

Kart 18: Nick Drewett, Tom Smith

A random grid gave Sam Foxall pole for the 105 minute endurance, but it was Keith who made the most of his front row grid slot to tak the lead into the first corner, where he quickly built a commanding lead, as others like Sam, Nick and Phil soon found their way from the back to the front. But Keith’s lead was evaporated on Lap 8 when Jane crashed heavily into the tyres at the exit of Turn 5, bringing out the yellow flag as it took several laps to get the stricken Kart 17 out of the tyres. The racing was soon back underway as Nick challenged Kieth for the lead, but one driver who was not holding back was Paul, who from the back of the grid managed to briefly wrestle second place of Nick, although some of his driving was brought into question. Sam Jackson and Phil were following closely in 4^th and 5^th respectively, before the yellows were deployed again, as this time it was Kumes’s turn to crash at Turn 5, a lengthy yellow flag period ensued, but not long after they were taken off they were back out again, for precisely the same reason, dropping Kart 14 far behind.

The first round of pit-stops came, with Jon, Josh, Mark, Will and Tom all taking to the track, intent on improving their teams positions and setting some fast laps in the brand new karts. But not long later, another lengthy yellow flag period came, merely so that the gravel could be swept away from Turn 2. After what seemed an age (9 laps to be precise) racing was back underway, but not before Tom in Kart 18 lost 2 laps when his karts engine cut out, but the team subsequently took the opportunity to re-fuel. Mark was also black flagged after his neck brace came off on the track. Will opened up a large gap on the rest of the field, followed by Jon and Josh, who were initially unable to close in on Will. But eventually the gap decreased, and Jon got a look up the inside going into Turn 5, which forced them both wide, and allowed Josh to pass both of them. But the clear air barely lasted 3 laps, as Josh was forced wide going into Turn 2, and Jon was back through. Elsewhere, Tom Smith was keeping Mark behind him, and Roger, Tom Buxton and Oscar were lapping very solidly, the former particularly impressive, as Kart 15 assumed the lead.

The fuel stops came, and with it the first drivers were back in, with Keith in the lead for Kart 15, but Nick in Kart 18 and Paul in Kart 16 were not far behind at all. Another crash for Kumes at Turn 5 saw the yellow flags brought out again, and not long after Paul got a run alongside Nick on the pit straight, Nick had the favourable line going into Turn 1, but Paul refused to back down and hit the tyre barrier on the entrance, knocking it out of joint and the race had to be red flagged to allow for the tyres to put back into place. The race was soon back underway, but some more slightly absent-minded driving from Paul saw Jane in the wall at Turn 1, bringing out another yellow flag. The drama didn’t stop there, Kumes spun on the exit of Turn 2, and his attempt to turn the kart round saw him blocking the track, bringing out another red.

After a dis-jointed period of the race, the second drivers took control for the final stint, which thankfully saw no flags whatsoever. The race was very much on between Roger and Tom Smith in karts 15 and 18 respectively, and right at the beginning, Tom unlapped himself to ensure they would be on the same lap. Mark still had an outside chance of victory in Kart 16, as he Jon, Josh and Will set about setting nutter lap after nutter lap. In an otherwise unremarkable session, Roger lapped quickly enough to prevent any late charge from Tom or Mark snatching the victory. And so, Kart 15 took victory, about 15 seconds of Kart 18, with Kart 16 a further lap back.

RESULTS

1. Kart 15 – 207 laps
2. Kart 18 – 207 laps
3. Kart 16 – 206 laps
4. Kart 12 – 204 laps
5. Kart 10 – 204 laps
6. Kart 1 – 203 laps
7. Kart 17 – 194 laps
8. Kart 14 – 186 laps

FASTEST LAP CLASSIFICATION

1. Josh Overhill – 25.05
2. Jon Beagles – 25.09
3. Mark Foley – 25.14
4. Nick Drewett – 25.37
5. Will Russell – 25.41
6. Tom Smith – 25.52
7. Keith Herbert – 25.53
8. Roger Palmer – 25.71
9. Sam Jackson – 25.74
10. Paul Hutton – 25.97
11. Phil Skop – 26.11
12. Oscar Yapp – 26.25
13. Tom Buxton – 26.53
14. Kumes Balakrishnan – 27.42
15. Sam Foxall – 28.12
16. Jane Cummings – 28.34

The new karts certainly made a difference, with everyone improving on their laptimes, the biggest improvement was by Jane, who took 8 seconds off her previous time, though admittedly the previous events she had competed in had all been held in rainy conditions, whilst the smallest improvement was by Nick, who improved by 0.07 seconds. The top 4 drivers all beat the previous record, whilst Tom Smith, Roger, Sam and Paul all posted times of less than 26 seconds for the first time. It is safe to say that, for all concerned, it was a real shot in the arm.