
	OPEN ENDURANCE KART CHAMPIONSHIP


	ROUND 4

	RACE REPORT
	Yet another scorching day greeted round four of the Whilton Mill Open Endurance Championship. With clear blue skies, the glorious British summer was once again giving its best to the championship. 9 teams attended. 5 ThunderKarts, 3 Senior Max's, and a TKM 4/ all took to the grid. All teams used the 30-minute practice session to their advantage, especially Le Maverick, who were running in a new engine. When the green flag fell for the start of qualifying, the lap times had dropped dramatically. With refuelling completed in extra quick time, all teams made it to the grid. The start took place without incident, with the pole sitters Box Tech dropping to third place, as both G&W Racing and WGS managed to slip by. ThunderKart championship leaders Team Slick also suffered at the start, dropping several places off the line. They regained one place, but then as the race settled down, they maintained sixth position. G&W Racing was striding into the distance, and with half an hour of the race completed, they had already pulled out a 32 second lead over second place GWS. Le Maverick, however, suffered a terminal engine failure, with several bolts at the bottom of the engine working lose and the engine losing all of its coolant. With 1.5 hours of the race gone, G&W had extended their lead to 5 laps, although they were 1 fuel stop down on second place Box Tech. The late entered ThunderKart of BAB Racing was in third, just 2 laps down on Box Tech. WGS rounded out the top four. The Senior Max teams had all agreed to run at 175kg, but this seemed to make very little difference to them, as they lapped just a few tenths off their lap times from the previous round. It was also interesting to note that the lap time difference between the Maxxis tyres on G&W Racing and the Kartline tyres on Box Tech was just four tenths of a second, in favour of the Maxxis runner. At the 3-hour mark, G&W Racing still held the lead, with Box Tech still holding onto 2nd place. After the fuel stops just a matter of seconds separated the top two teams. The fuel efficiency of the ThunderKart gave Red Mist a strong third place. Team Slick was two laps behind them in fourth place. Red Mist was soon to suffer a major tyre problem, when a blister on their front left tyre caused the tyre to delaminate. A pit stop to change the tyre cost them several places. This problem was to repeat itself on the front right, but luckily happened just a few laps from the end. They managed to nurse the kart home, entering scrutineering with over a third of the canvas showing. With 25 minutes to go, G&W Racing made their last fuel stop. Box Tech, who had been steadily catching them managed to take the lead, and when G&W Racing left the pit lane they were just under a lap behind. G&W were determined to catch Box Tech and retake the lead, and pushed hard. They were only lapping two to three tenths of a second faster than Box Tech, but were pushing harder and harder each lap. With 10 minutes to go, they had reduced Box Tech's lead to 34 seconds, and although catching them seemed unlikely they were not going to give up. Just three minutes later, however, any hopes of victory were dashed when the chain jumped the rear sprocket and G&W came to a halt out on the circuit. The time taken to put the chain back on cost G&W three laps, but with an initial 10-lap advantage they managed to hold on to their second place. With 375 laps completed, Box Tech took the chequered flag and victory, with G&W Racing second. Team Slick had made up for any issues at the start by running a faultless race after, and took third place overall and 1st place in the ThunderKart class. Although the grid for the last couple of rounds has been disappointing, interest for the final round is strong. With plans underway for the 2006 Championship, both the circuit and myself are committed to ensuring that the championship grows. We will be looking at next year's dates in the next month or so, and will make sure that the calendar is published as soon as possible. The next and final round of the 2005 Whilton Mill Open Endurance Championship will take place at Whilton Mill on September 17th. Andrew Hornsey Whilton Mill Open Endurance Championship

Regulations