
	OPEN ENDURANCE KART CHAMPIONSHIP

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	summer chanpionship ROUND 3

	RACE REPORT
	Round 3 of the Summer 2006 Open Endurance Championship returned to Whilton Mill. As with Round 2, 18 teams attended. The Senior Max class had 8 entries, Open Class 6 entries, and ThunderKart Class 4 entries. Several new teams entered, including the Senior Maxes of Kart Smart and FDM Racing. The Litigators entered the Open Class in a Leopard TaG kart. For this race they would be running for class points only, but for round 4 they should have a handicap arranged. The start of practice saw the karts venture out onto a greasy track. Within minutes, however, the circuit was soaking wet, and wet tyres were the order of the day. At the start of qualifying, The Litigators were immediately on the pace, showing the Leopard to be a superb kart. Their fastest lap of 50.2 seconds was just under a second quicker than their closest rivals, CV Racing. Red Max Racing was third, and Box Tech fourth. The lead ThunderKart of Red Mist Racing was in 12th Place. As the race started, the handicaps were added. The Open Class ProMax of Appliance Maintenance took the lead from APH Racing in their Open Class Pro Extreme. The ThunderKart of Red Mist Racing were third. At this point, FDM Racing, in their first endurance race were down in 16th place. Around 40 minutes into the race, the red flag was shown as a timing system failure had occurred. The teams were gridded up as per the last printout. Another good start saw Appliance Maintenance keep their lead from APH and Red Mist. At the 1½-hour mark, Appliance Maintenance still held the lead from APH by 48.53 seconds. The Litigators, in their first Open Championship outing in their new Leopard, held third place 5 laps down. Red Mist Racing held the ThunderKart lead from Cannonball Racing, and Red Max Racing held the Max class lead. The day remained wet, and mechanical gremlins struck several teams. WGS had some minor mechanical, and were also suffering having elected to test some new wets for the championship. These tyres, however, did not provide the required performance and hampered their race even further. At the 3-hour mark, The Litigators had taken the overall lead, with a 4-lap advantage over Appliance Maintenance. CV Racing had taken third with Kart Smart, in their Senior Max just behind in 4th. Red Mist Racing still held the ThunderKart lead, with a 4-lap advantage over Team Slick. With the final stages of the race approaching, the weather decided to make things interesting for all teams, with rain falling long enough to make the change to wets necessary. Some teams decided to try and stay out in case the rain subsided, but when it did not, they had to pit. As the race entered its final stages, The Litigators had stretched their lead to over 5 laps, while Appliance Maintenance held their lead over Kart Smart. Red Mist Racing still held the ThunderKart lead, whilst running in 5th place. In the closing few laps of the race a mechanical failure saw Box Tech lose their 2nd place in the Max class. This helped FDM Racing who were only looking for experience in their first race. On the last lap of the race, The Litigators slowly entered the pits. A minor fault had occurred and this was rectified before the 2nd place team could take the flag. They took the chequered flag as they exited the pit lane. Appliance Maintenance took 2nd and Kart Smart were 3rd. In the ThunderKart class, Red Mist Racing won, having held the lead from the start of the race, with their nearest class rivals Cannonball Racing 9 laps adrift. In the Max Class, Kart Smart took the win from FDM Racing, who were delighted with their podium finish. With any championship running many classes, the rules can be complex, especially when trying to equalise every team's chance of winning. One thing that we have still to iron out is the issue of a control wet tyre. We have not yet managed to find a suitable wet tyre, but hope to make a decision in the near future as this is key to making the championship as easy as possible to understand. In our efforts to improve the championship, feedback is always welcome. We will be handing teams questionnaires shortly, and would ask that they are completed and returned as soon as possible. This will help us improve the championship, which in turn will provide bigger grids. The final results were: 1st The Litigator Open (Leopard) - Class points only 2nd Appliance Maintenance Open (Pro Max) 3rd Kart Smart Senior Max 4th CV Racing Open (CVT Senior Max) 5th Red Mist Racing ThunderKart 6th Cannonball Racing ThunderKart 7th Team Slick ThunderKart 8th FDM Racing Senior Max 9th Box Tech Senior Max 10th XOB Senior Max 11th Perry Vak ThunderKart 12th TT Sport Senior Max 13th Red Stripe Racing Senior Max 14th LE Maverick Senior Max 15th Red Max Racing Senior Max 16th APH Racing Open (Pro Extreme) 17th Ace of Aces Open (Pro Extreme) 18th WGS Open (TKM 4/) Andrew Hornsey The Open Endurance Kart Championship TYRE PRIZE Went to FDM Racing great result in their first race.

Regulations