Guest article by Mark Foley

Dawn broke on the 15th of October, 2009, the sun shone down on a rather uneasy huddle of HUGS members, as the Thursday event created purely to cushion the blow of so many sign-ups was looking remarkably baron. The sign-up sheet itself was certainly thin on the ground, with freshers/newcomers making up a tiny fraction of the names listed. Thankfully, in true HUGS fashion, frantic phone calls were made, mates of mates were dragged in and the conch was sounded as the exec were to bear witness to a titanic answer to the call; the ground trembled, the building shook, Jackon spilt his cappucino on his velvet smoking jacket, and racers began to emerge into the concourse lounge, passion and ambition in their eyes. There were 5 of them.

Fortunately, the hastily drafted racers brought the total to 15, giving us a decent haul to take down the track. With only one or two brand new members to induct, the experienced guys could get out on track with little time wasted. Had the race been earlier in the day, the track would have been undoubtedly treacherous, as shower earlier in the day left scattered puddles all over Hull's roads. By 4:30pm however, conditions had become drier, leaving only a few damp patches to contend with on the track. Turn 4 however remained slightly treacherous throughout each session, with just a patch of understeer allowed everyone to shite themselves oh-so-quickly heading into the wall at 30mph. Later it become clear that the traditional flatout approach to the corner could be achieved, letting the drivers get back up to speed, no one more so than Liam...

With 90 minutes of track time to play with, the event was split into two qualifying sessions, followed by two 30 minute races between the quicker and slower times. With Josh unavailable, the pacesetters of the day were tricky to guess, especially in the absence of newcomers Peter and Paul. The first qualy session saw Phil Skop, Will and Mike setting the pace with low 0:26s. Laptimes remained within fractions one another, the competition was set to be fierce.

Qualifying 1:

1. Phil Skop - 26.17
2. WIll Russel - 26.39
3. Mike Miller - 26.41
4. Tom Race - 26.57
5. Adam Hibberd - 26.70
6. Tom Smith - 26.82
7. Sam 'the one that's not Jackson' Firth - 27.88

Qualy 2 allowed the rest of the field to get their 15 minutes of fame, with 8 karts out on the track, getting a clean flying lap in was key, especially with newcomers Yvonne and Jonathan still getting a feel for the track. Again the times were extremely close, with hundredths of seconds dividing 2nd and 4th place.

Qualifying 2:

1. Sam Jackson - 25.91
2. Mark Foley - 26.12
3. Chris - 26.16
4. Liam Kai Lau - 26.18
5. Rhett - 27.95
6. Daniel - 28.43
7. Jonathan Wilkinson - 28.68
8. Yvonne Thomas - 47.56

With both the qualifying sessions over, it became clear that two exciting showdowns were about to ensue, with laptimes separated by the skin of a gnat's arse hair. The difference between the 2nd place (Foley) and 5th place (Liam Kai Lau) was a mere 0.06 of a second, and with that, the races were under way.

The first race was the B final, with the 7 competitors lined up, attention was turned to Tom and Adam, the quickest of the B finalists. Not least because Tom was on pole, the crowd huddled once again around the first corner, set for a potential incident on a biblical scale, perhaps rivaling the final scene from The Last Samurai. The grandstands were full for the start, and were duly disappointed by a tidy, polite and incident-free first corner. Soon enough, Adam had surged through the pack and was burning his toes in the heat from Tom's exhaust. Backmarkers were going to be an inevitable issue, as it took a mere 2 or 3 laps to catch up, the vital seconds that were lost making each pass began to mount up, totalling valuable time to the leading pack. This was proven almost immediately, as Smith, the master of defence was passed by Adam! The crowd went wild and rapturous applause filled the air, (except Mick, who was hitting that strange chassis thing in the garage with a hammer) the battle commenced, for all of 5 laps. As the dicing duo disappeared into the final hairpin, Tom was the only man to emerge as the yellow flags began to wave. Adam seemed to have simply overcooked it going into the corner, defying all immediate conclusions that Smith had simply punted him off in a rage spurred by Adam's supporters. With Adam's incident putting him at the back of the pack, the race continued as normal, with the race order remaining almost identical to the starting order. Sam 'the one that's not Jackson' Firth drove to an impressive 2nd place, with Daniel also impressing with a drive to 3rd from 6th on the grid. Adam failed to finished the race after another incident put him in the wall at a much faster speed, forcing him to stop due to fears of hurting himself again. Tom eventually took the chequered flag, using his pace and consistency to over come Adam's short, fragile bursts of performance.

Race 1 Results:

1. Tom Smith - 26.13
2. Sam Firth - 27.14
3. Daniel - 27.15
4. Jonathan Wilkinson - 28.18
5. Rhett - 27.34
6. Yvonne Thomas - 42.12
7. Adam Hibberd - 26.21

That just left the A final, a race that looked to be action-packed, as all the quickest drivers of the day were compacted into an 8 kart grid. Liam was unfortunately placed at the back of the grid and faced a tough race ahead of him as Mark and Will headed the front row, with Mike looking set for a tough race in P3, despite setings some quick laptimes, not to mention some personal bests. The race started as usual, Mark was rather bolshie with his defence off the line, desperately trying to compensate for his poor start. Foley quickly established a lead, gaining time on the back of the pack as Liam struggled to find a way around Phil and Tom Race. Sam Jackson had fought his way through the pack from 5th place, and was gaining inch by inch on Foley. Everything was looking set for Foley's victory when he ran into Mike, who decided that the heat of the A final would an apt time for him to practise his defence skills. It took Foley several laps to pass, and with each lap Jackson took a huge chunk out of his lead. Liam also managed to carve his way through the pack of the field, as Tom and Phil fought for position. Liam's luck was shortlived however, as the slightest error going into T4 left him facing the wrong way in the tyres. Each driver on the track took in turns to shit themselves as they rounded Turn 4 at full throttle and finding Liam to greet them on the racing line. This was not the worst incident however, as a few more laps saw Jackson right in the exhaust pipe of Foley. "Surely a competitive yet courteous battle ensued" I hear you cry. (click here for Jackson's side of the story) But alas! What occured next was nothing short of a callous, heinous crime against the moral codes of motorsport. The packed grandstands positioned all around the track saw the injustice with their own eyes, each spectator caught sight of the malice in Sam Jackson's eyes as he lunged forth towards the rear bumper of Mark Foley's car. Crash! There was a tremendous punt, the line had been crossed, but Jackson was undeterred! Again he smashed into the back of Foley's car, his kart was a proverbial log against the huge doors a fortress. Foley was nudged further off course, and yet again Jackson lunged! The third punt was complete, and it was all Jackson needed to pass Foley, collecting the spoils of his evil, malicious, callous, heinous, hate-filled, incourteous plan. He had taken the lead, and kept it for the remainder of the race, supposedly providing two feeble invitations to let Foley back through into the lead, both were offered under the yellow flags, but Foley's dilligent respect to the BUMPS regulations could not comprehend a pass under the yellows, and therefore not passing him back. Jackson couldn't lose Foley, and both sprinted to the finish, the farcical result follows:

Race 2 Results:

1. Sam Jackson - 25.24 - 56 laps
2. Mark Foley - 25.47 - 56 laps
3. Chris - 25.42 - 56 laps
4. Will Russell - 26.04 - 54 laps
5. Liam Kai Lau - 25.04 - 54 laps
6. Mike Miller - 25.89 - 54 laps
7. Phil Skop - 25.62 - 53 laps
8. Tom Race - 26.37 - 36 laps (?)

Jackson's Side of the Story - how it really went down

"Surely a competitive yet courteous battle ensued" I hear you cry. But alas! It sure did! What occurred next was nothing short of a callous, heinous crime fantastical, wondrous move on Jackson’s part against the moral codes of motorsport the diabolical wrong-doings of the nefarious Mark Foley.  The packed grandstands positioned all around the track saw the injustice with their own eyes, each spectator caught sight of the malice heroic glimmer in Sam Jackson's eyes as he lunged forth towards the rear bumper of Mark Foley's car. Crash! There was a tremendous punt, In an attempt to make Jackson swerve into the tyres, Foley had braked far too early for the following corner, leading to an inevitable collision!  The line had been crossed, but Jackson was undeterred! Again he Foley smashed into the back of Foley's Jackson’s car; his kart was a proverbial log against the huge doors of a fortress. Foley was nudged slipped further off course, and yet again Jackson lunged! The third punt attempt was complete, and it was all Jackson needed to pass Foley, collecting the spoils of his evil, malicious, callous, heinous, hate-filled, incourteous, gracious, skilful, jaw-dropping, considerate, masterful plan. He had taken the lead, and kept it for the remainder of the race, supposedly providing two feeble more than generous invitations to let Foley back through into the lead, both were one was offered under the yellow flags, but Foley's dilligent sissy-girl respect to the BUMPS regulations could not comprehend a pass under the yellows, and therefore not passing him back. Jackson couldn't lose Foley, and both sprinted to the finish, the farcical just and righteous result follows:

Race 2 Results:

1. Sam Jackson - 25.24 - 56 laps
2. Mark Foley - 25.47 - 56 laps
3. Chris - 25.42 - 56 laps
4. Will Russell - 26.04 - 54 laps
5. Liam Kai Lau - 25.04 - 54 laps
6. Mike Miller - 25.89 - 54 laps
7. Phil Skop - 25.62 - 53 laps
8. Tom Race - 26.37 - 36 laps (?)