
	OPEN ENDURANCE KART CHAMPIONSHIP

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	summer chanpionship ROUND 5

	RACE REPORT
	Round 5 of the 2006 Open Endurance Championship was held at Whilton Mill on a very sunny and hot summers day that would test both Kart & drivers endurance with temperatures into the 30c. 14 karts arrived to contest the race, with a number of regular teams absent due to other commitments. The Senior Max class had 7 entries; the ThunderKart class 2, the Open class 3 and the ProKart class 2 entries. AJ Racing entering the Championship for the first time in their ProKart, along with APC Racing in their Senior Max. With clear skies and bright sunshine the track temperature was rising from the relatively cool levels that greeted the teams as they arrived. As Qualifying got under way TT Sport in the Max showed that they had lost none of their pace from the last round, putting in a succession of quick laps that none of the other teams were able to respond to. They finished a full half second quicker (40.24) than their nearest rivals Red Stripe Racing (40.75). APC Racing on their first foray to the Championship taking the third slot (40.99). The Litigators were the quickest Open team in 4th (41.16) while Red Mist Racing took the Thunderkart pole (42.60) and AJ Racing the ProKart pole (44.64). The start of the race saw The Litigators in 4th judged it perfectly and overtook APC Racing into the first corner. Red Max got the jump on Le Maverick and Ace of Aces had managed to leapfrog Red Mist Racing, but as the front karts headed into the Boot FDM Racing came in a little 'hot' outbraked themselves to miss Box Tech and promptly found themselves facing the pursuing pack behind. They quickly rejoined at the back and set off after them. The handicaps were then added to the timing system placing Stanion Slicks in their Prokart at the top of the table, closely followed by AJ Racing. Ace of Aces were leading the Open Class 3rd with APH lapping within a tenth of them. Red Mist were the leading Thunderkart in 5th, with TT Sport headed the Max's in 7th. Le Maverick were the first to suffer a technical problem with just 15 minutes of the race gone. A stuck throttle cable on their Max was making it impossible to drive so an unscheduled stop was required to replace the offending part. Out on the track Cannonball Racing finally took the Thunderkart lead from Red Mist Racing after sitting on their rear bumper for the best part of 30 minutes. On the hour mark Le Maverick again had problems. Exiting the final bend the left hand stub axle snapped. Luckily the kart stayed on track. It was then FDM Racings turn, spitting out the exhaust tube & wadding. APC Racing then suffered a radiator failure but after borrowing a spare were back out on track. With 1 ½ hours and 140 laps of the race complete, Stanion Slicks (ProKart) were just one & a half laps clear of Cannonball Racing (Thunderkart) and 3 laps clear of Ace of Aces (ProExtreme) in the Open class. Box Tech headed the Max teams 5 laps down but just 4 seconds ahead of the second place Max of TT Sport. The temperature had been steadily climbing and was now into the low 30's With 3 hours of the race complete, The Litigators racing their Leopard in the Open class held the lead, with a 2-lap advantage over Red Stripe Racing in the Max. Cannonball Racing running in 4th had the Thunderkart lead with Stanion Slicks being the leading ProKart in 5th. Disaster then struck Red Max Racing necessitating a length stop in the pits, only to rejoin and stop on track with a fuel pump failure. Over the final hour of the race the lead was constantly changing between The Litigators, Red Stripe Racing & TT Sport for the Overall win, as the final fuel stops came into play. 30 minutes to go and The Litigators held a 1 lap lead from TT Sport who were lapping some 2 seconds faster. With 25 minutes remaining TT Sport overtook The Litigators to get on the lead lap and set about chasing them down. At their current pace they had a shot at the win. Then disaster, the Exhaust tube blew out and they had to crawl back to the pits to fit a replacement. The Grandstand finish that we were all expecting was gone. In all that excitement Box Tech had been quietly putting in the fastest laps of all the karts in the final half hour with their sights set on catching Stanion Slicks. With TT Sport out of the equation this would now be for the final podium position. Stanion Slicks had a 1.5 lap lead but were some 2.5 seconds per lap slower. With just 5 minutes of the race remaining Box Tech managed to catch & overtake them. As the chequered flag dropped The Litigators took a hard fought for win, for both Overall & Open class. Red Stripe Racing took second & 1st Max, just 39 seconds adfrift with Box Tech third. Stanion Slicks took the Prokart win & 4th overall while Cannonball won the Thunderkart class. Round 6 is just 3 weeks away & we look forward to welcoming some Bilands to the Championship from Saxon Motorsport. They will be running in full Senior spec, so if you've got a Biland and want to try endurance racing then please come along.
	TYRE PRIZE Went to TT Sport who having driven superbly throughout the race suffered an exhaust problem with their first win in Class & possibly Overall in sight.

Regulations