So. Home is where the kart is. At least according to the absent president Mr Sam Jackson. Some of you maybe wondering, “where is the report to A Change Of Scenery?” Well, you can’t see the report because there isn’t one. “Why?” I hear you all shout. Transport issues prevented us from our trip to Grimsby last week, after there was no-one to drive the minibus.

But as you will all be pleased to hear, there were no such problems this time round, and even better news, your regular race reporter is back, after an excellent report from Mark Foley in my absence 2 weeks previously. A shot in the arm for all.

Onto the race itself, a full field of 24 took to a dry BUMPS circuit, it had rained the several previous days, but stayed dry and unsually warm for the end of October  for the raceday. With 11 new members, the initial plan of a team endurance was scrapped in favour of the same format which ran 2 weeks previously, which was deemed a success. Whilst the newbies were inducted, the 13 other members took to the track in a bid to set a nutter lap which would see them into the A, B or C finals.

Q1 saw execs Josh, Tom and Mike joined by Paul, Rob and Mike Hetherington. Josh was intent on returning to the top of the BUMPS charts after being knocked off by Liam 13 days ago, and was soon on a charge. But a number of other drivers seemed to struggle in poor karts, Mike Hetherington in the awful kart 11 was possibly denied a place in the A Final because of this, whilst Rob Stephenson showed plenty of promise. At the end of a clean first session, Josh jumped out of his kart in anticipation, ran to the timing screen, only to find he was 4 hundredth’s of a second slower than the record time, with a 25.08 (Bugger!). Paul was second quickest, nearly a second slower, closely followed by Tom, their times would almost certainly see them into the A Final, but Mike Miller would be made to sweat with his time of 26.64.

Q2 would see Mark and Liam take to the track, joined by Pete, Sam Foxall, Kevin Gambles, Aaron and Ozgun. They were not out for long when the first set of yellow flags were thrown, which quickly turned into red flags, Kevin getting it wrong on the exit of Turn 3 and ending up facing the wrong way in the gravel, and was then made to help sweep up before getting back underaway. Aaron was slowly losing his reputation of being the Nelson Piquet Junior of HUGS by not binning it every lap, having seemingly done so on his first session, and this time his run was solid if unspectacular. However, this was partially undone when he drove through the gravel at Turn 1 under yellow flags. Mark would go on to be the fastest in the session, with a 25.49, Liam would also just duck under the 26’s. Peter and Kevin would also see themselves provisionally in the A Final, with Mike Miller on the bubble. Could any of the newcomers crash the party?

Q3 was the first of 2 sessions for the newcomers, as 6 of the 11 took part in this session. The watching execs prayed for a clean (or at least relatively clean) session. We didn’t get it. There was crash after crash after crash, which would mean yellow flag after yellow flag after yellow flag. In fact, it was plausible that several drivers didn’t get a clear lap in, judging by some of the times. Nonetheless, the pace of Gabor, Peter’s younger brother, and local Andy Barratt, would see them into the B Final, whilst Reece, Jacob, Adrian and Tom Newbould would almost certainly be in the C Final. The session ended in bizarre fashion, with one driver missing the pit-lane on the in-lap, and driving round the track in the wrong direction to correct himself.

Q4 saw the final 5 drivers take to the track, in a much cleaner session than Q3. Marcus, armed with his own helmet, soon set about setting some quick times, and with a best lap of 26.93, only just missed out on a place in the A Final. Thomas Rowson also impressed, lapping solidly with a best time of 28.77. The other 3, James, Kevin Gronvall and Richard, would be in the C Final, having lapped much quicker than the C Final runners in Q3.

QUALIFYING TIMES

1. Josh Overhill – 25.08
2. Mark Foley – 25.49
3. Liam Lau – 25.95
4. Paul Greenbaum – 25.98
5. Tom Smith – 26.06
6. Pete Szedlak – 26.08
7. Kevin Gambles – 26.61
8. Mike Miller – 26.64
9. Marcus Stuttard – 26.93
10. Rob Stephenson – 27.78
11. Mike Hetherington – 28.03
12. Sam Foxall – 28.31
13. Ozgun Onal – 28.71
14. Thomas Rowson – 28.77
15. Gabor Szedlak – 28.84
16. Andy Barratt – 29.34
17. Richard Bodington – 30.25
18. Kevin Gronvall – 30.44
19. James Hancox – 31.87
20. Aron Singh – 32.00
21. Reece Houlsby – 36.40
22. Jacob Lofthouse – 38.75
23. Adrian Hardy – 39.38
24. Tom Newbould – 41.43

So there you go. Top 8 in the A Final. 9^th to 16^th in the B Final. 17^th downwards in the C. Well, that’s the theory anyway, so a massive apology at this point to Thomas Rowson, who was inadvertently forgotten at this point, and whilst 14^th was enough to see him into the B Final, he ended up racing in the C.

A FINAL

Like last time, the A Final was first, as the big guns within the society raced for bragging rights in the pub and a nice shiny trophy. But were the results about to be dictated by the random grid? Mark was drawn on pole, and would also take the quick Kart 18. Liam was third in the shite Kart 11, whilst Josh was 5^th in a cold kart on a cold track (the drive to the grid was interesting as I drifted in and out in a desperate attempt to get some heat into the kart), as he wound himself up for the start. The engine revs rose (or at least some of them did), the green flag dropped and we were away! Mark quickly siezed the initiative, leading away from Paul, whilst Mike’s solid but fair defensive driving kept everyone else at bay. The race was red flagged after only 4 laps as Liam’s kart grinded to a halt on the pit straight, and the chain reaction behind saw Josh facing the wrong way down the straight as he slammed on the brakes to avoid smashing into the back of Paul. The race was soon restarted with Josh and Liam having it all to do from the back, but a flying start saw Josh past Pete and Tom by Turn 2, but his failure to pass Mike as well would prove costly, as Mike defensive driving ensured no-one would pass, as the 5 karts shot down the back straight as close as you like. Kevin, almost unnoticed, had climbed up to 3^rd, and he was streaking away from the Miller Train. After a few laps, it was Mark from Paul from Kevin from Mike from Josh from Liam from Tom from Pete. In a perhaps slightly baffling move, Mike was shown the blue flags to allow Josh, Liam, Tom and Pete through, as Josh set about closing down 3^rd placed Kevin. The laps ticked by, and Josh was on a charge, and took chunks out of his lead, but was it going to be good enough? No! And Josh missed out by what was only a few tenths of a second. Mark was the winner, with Paul a solid second, but Kevin had taken an even more solid third, what an absolute shot in the arm there, and a fantastic effort considering this was only his second outing with the society.

1. Mark Foley (25.29)
2. Paul Greenbaum (25.79)
3. Kevin Gambles (25.82)
4. Josh Overhill (25.34)
5. Liam Lau (25.47)
6. Tom Smith (25.58)
7. Pete Szedlak (26.29)
8. Mike Miller (26.28)

B FINAL

The B Final was always going to be hotly contested, and proved to be a good race at that. As mentioned earlier, Thomas Rowson was overlooked, and in a moment of confusion Aaron took his place. Mike Hetherington was on pole, and as the race started he quickly stole a march on his rivals and built a healthy lead, whilst everyone else behaved themselves as they squabbled over what looked to be the battle to be best of the rest. One driver who was on a charge though was Marcus, from the back of the grid he was slicing his way through the field. Yellow flag periods were few, but when they did show Mike saw his lead completely vanish.  When the race was back up to full speed, Mike spun, allowing Marcus to take the lead. Another incident which saw gravel strewn over Turn 1 would see the race finish under a yellow flag period, and the win was Marcus’s. Apologies to Mike at this point, after a mix-up I had intially told him he had won the race, until I was duly corrected. But despite the incidents in the race, a good show all round from these 8 drivers, with everyone either improving their best lap-time, or setting decent times if they were a first-timer with the society.

1. Marcus Stuttard (26.34)
2. Mike Hetherington (26.82)
3. Gabor Szedlak (27.32)
4. Ozgun Onal (27.83)
5. Andy Barratt (27.52)
6. Rob Stephenson (27.62)
7. Sam Foxall (28.04)
8. Aaron Singh (30.57)

C FINAL

As the 8 drivers lined up on the grid, those who competed in the A and B finals bundled behind the fence  at Turn 1, Liam had his camera at the ready, as all 16 hoped for a massive pile-up. It didn’t happen, but just as Liam had finished recording, there was a spin at Turn 3, and another at Turn 4. The drivers behaved themselves, but there was soon a number of yellow flag periods. The BUMPS staff were fully aware that this was a race full of new members, but were still a bit trigger-happy with the flags, the slightest incident bringing them out and slowing the field down. That, coupled with the fact the timing equipment was on the blink, made it difficult to distinguish everyone’s exact position. Though you will be pleased to hear we managed to note everyone’s best lap. With time against us, the chequered flag was waved. Kevin Gronvall was the winner, with James Hancox second, both of whom made the most of their front row grid slots. Thomas Rowson, who should have been in the B Final, claimed 3^rd from the back row, whilst Richard Bodington took 4^th, also from the back row. After that, I really don’t know (Sorry again! I do my best!!)

1. Kevin Gronvall  (28.23)
2. James Hancox (29.41)
3. Thomas Rowson (28.76)
4. Richard Bodington (29.46)

• Adrian Hardy (29.78)
• Jacob Lofthouse (29.18)
• Tom Newbould (31.68)
• Reece Houlsby (32.62)

Nonetheless, another great days racing it has to be said, but things will get better, due to the return of Fast Track next week. If you are reading this and have not yet put your name down for it, do so. It promises to be an absolutely epic race.

 FASTEST LAP CLASSIFICATION

1. Josh Overhill – 25.08
2. Mark Foley – 25.29
3. Liam Lau – 25.47
4. Tom Smith – 25.58
5. Paul Greenbaum – 25.79
6. Kevin Gambles – 25.82
7. Pete Szedlak – 26.08
8. Mike Miller – 26.28
9. Marcus Stuttard – 26.34
10. Mike Hetherington – 26.82
11. Gabor Szedlak – 27.32
12. Andy Barratt – 27.52
13. Rob Stephenson – 27.62
14. Ozgun Onal – 27.83
15. Sam Foxall – 28.04
16. Kevin Gronvall – 28.23
17. Thomas Rowson – 28.76
18. Jacob Lofthouse – 29.18
19. James Hancox – 29.41
20. Richard Bodington – 29.46
21. Adrian Hardy – 29.78
22. Aaron Singh – 30.57
23. Tom Newbould – 31.68
24. Reece Houlsby – 32.62

And finally, a few words on what happened after the race. Mark, Paul and Kevin were awarded trophies for their respective top 3 finishes in the final, whilst Josh claimed his trophy that he should have received 2 weeks previously. Later on, Josh, Tom and Paul, together with Reece (Tom’s house-mate) and Magic Kev/The Johnson (Josh’s house-mate) descended on Asylum. Paul had defied the Halloween party by dressing up in such a way more suited to the Beach Party. They all (bar Reece) then removed their shirts which resulted in the now famous “Topless Social.” The girls loved it. All in all, an awesome race, an even more awesome social, resulting in one fucking awesome day/night.