OPEN ENDURANCE KART CHAMPIONSHIP

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  summer chanpionship ROUND 4  
 
 
 
RACE REPORT

  
 
Round 4 of the 2006 Open Endurance Championship was held at Whilton Mill.

With 15 karts arriving at the circuit the Senior Max Class had 5 entries, the ThunderKart and Open Class both had 4 entries, and the ProKart Class had 2 entries. Stanion Slicks entered their ProKart, and Team Slick gave their ProKart its first outing in the championship.

Thankfully, the strong sunshine and 30 C temperatures of previous days gave way to a slightly cloudy, but still warm day.

Qualifying was a busy time, with pole position being fought over for the whole of the session. Round 3 winners The Litigators were not going to have it all their way, with both TT Sport and Box Tech battling for the fastest lap. At the end of session, the Top 4 were covered by just 0.12 seconds. Remarkably, both TT Sport and Box Tech set the same time of 40.60 seconds with The Litigators just 0.02 seconds behind them in third. CV Racing was fourth with a time of 40.72. Team Slick held the ThunderKart pole, with Team Slick 1 on the ProKart pole.

Unfortunately, Red Max Racing failed to reach even the qualifying session, when an engine failure and no spare engine ended their day before it had even began.

At the start, third place The Litigators managed to leapfrog both Box Tech and TT Sport. CV Racing then managed to pass all three of them within a handful of laps. With the first few laps complete, and the handicaps added, Stanion Slicks took the lead from Team Slick 1. Team Slick, in their ThunderKart were in third place, with the Open Class Pro Extreme of Ace of Aces fourth

With less than 20 minutes of the race completed, The Litigators suffered a costly failure. A throttle linkage failure saw them return to the pits for the first of several unscheduled stops, an unusual occurrence for the team

With 1 ½ hours and 100 laps of the race complete, Stanion Slicks had picked up their pace, and were 5 laps clear of the ThunderKart of Team Slick, with Red Mist Racing in third. Box Tech, who were 7th overall, held the Senior Max lead from TT Sport. This battle had been raging since the start of the race In 9th place, Ace of Aces held the Open Class lead

With the weather remaining warm, several teams suffered with mechanical problems. Le Maverick had several problems with their chain, CV Racing had suffered with minor mechanical issues, and WGS had several "offs". Red Mist Racing suffered a stub failure, resulting in a high-speed accident. Thankfully, the only damage was to the kart itself.

With 3 hours of the race complete, Stanion Slicks still held the lead, with a 2-lap advantage over Canonball Racing, who in turn lead Box Tech by 2 laps. The Litigators held the Open Class lead, but with the issues they had suffered they were 10 laps down on the overall leaders. They did, however, lead their nearest class rivals, CV Racing, by 3 laps

As the race entered its final phase, it was clear that the fight for overall victory would be a three-way affair. Whilst Stanion Slicks in the ProKart still held the lead that had been theirs from the start, 2nd place Team Slick in the ThunderKart were closing, as were Box Tech in the Max, who were 3 seconds a lap faster than the leaders.

With 15 minutes of the race remaining, Box Tech managed to take 2nd place from Team Slick, who were in turn catching leaders Stanion Slicks. Just 6 minutes after, they managed to catch and pass the ProKart of Stanion Slicks,

Box Tech managed to stretch their lead to 26.23 seconds by the time the chequered flag fell. Stanion Slicks finished 2nd overall, with Team Slick in 3rd place. Canonball Racing were fourth, and second in class, TT Sport 5th overall and 2nd in the Senior Max Class, whilst Team Slick 1 rounded out the top 6 taking 2nd in the ProKart class. The Litigators won the Open Class, with WGS finishing 2nd, their highest class finish of the year.

We are now half way through the Championship, and the top three teams for the Overall Championship are separated by just 1 point, with Box Tech on 155 points andTeam Slick & Canonball Racing on 154 points. The Handicap is working extremely well, with the top three karts in Round 4 all being from different classes, and the gap between them being just 1 lap.

With nearly 30 different teams having taken part in at least one race of the championship, interest in the championship is still high, and growing. I have been speaking to Saxon Motorsport, who will be adding a link to our championship website, and hope to have several Biland teams entered by August. This will allow the full power version of the kart to enter.

Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I will not be at the July round of the championship. I will, as usual, complete all pre race administration, but Chris York of Whilton Mill will be the Clerk of the Course on the day.

ANDREW HORNSEY

TYRE PRIZE

Went to Le Maverick for shear perserverance after numerous trips to the pits for a multitude of mechanical issues but still made it to the chequered flag.