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MIXED DAY FOR METS AT WHILTON MILL

Swansea Metropolitan Uni Kart team headed to Whilton Mill circuit close to Northampton for the opening two rounds of the British Universities Karting Championship 2009.

 

The Mets had easily qualified both A and B teams for the championship the previous week at Buckmore Park and the aim was to build on the momentum and come away from Whilton with a healthy start to the campaign.

 

Greeted with a cold but sunny day, the track conditions we great for racing from the word go and whilst a little green to begin with, the lap times tumbled and the new engines improved laptimes by some 1.6 seconds from last year.

 

ROUND ONE

 

Race 1

Oli Knights (A)

Started - 14th

Finished - 5th

 

Oli was the first driver out for the A team and had drawn grid 14. A fairly chaotic start to the championship and a few hot heads in the field caused some first lap accidents and Oli was caught up at turn 3. Having swiftly been restarted, he managed to pick his way through the field from deep in the pack to finish a well deserved 5th with a spectacular last corner move!

 

Fastest Lap : 55.57s

 

Race 2

Will Albrow (B)

Started - 2nd

Finished - 8th

 

Will Albrow got the B team campaign under way from the front row in race 2. Will made a good start and was holding 3rd place for the first few minutes, however once a train of karts built up and began to battle Will seemed to fall back slightly and ended up finishing the race in 8th position. It was a decent start for the B team but the team needs to make the most of front grid slots to do well in 2009.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.81s

 

Race 3

Daryl Henderson (A)

Started -  7th

Finished - 10th

 

Lloyd Eveleigh (B)

Started - 12th

Finished - 12th

 

Race 3 was the first to feature both A and B team karts with Daryl and Lloyd at the wheels. A frantic start saw both karts in a group with Loughborough A and B, Oxford Brookes A and Plymouth A which produced some good racing yet allowed the karts infront to get away. Once the pack split, Daryl and Lloyd had a fairly simple drive to the flag with no other karts in   a close fight. Daryl finished in 10th and Lloyd was 12th holding his grid slot to the finish.

 

Fastest Lap : 56.80s (Daryl) (A)

Fastest Lap : 56.76s (Lloyd) (B)

 

Race 4

Shaun Dickson (A)

Started - 29th

Finished - 12th

 

Sean Robinson (B)

Started - 24th

Finished - DNF

 

Both karts were out again for race 4 with Shaun Dickson moving up through the field quickly from a lowly 29th starting slot. Sean Robinson however had a kart that sounded and performed badly and could do nothing but fall to the back of the field with little hope of a good result. Shaun Dickson was up into the top 10 when handed a black flag for ‘Advantage by Contact’. Once Shaun had taken the penalty he managed to claw his way back to a 12th place finish for the A team. Sean Robinson’s race ended in the pits when the kart broke down a few laps before the flag and he didn’t complete the race.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.73s (Shaun) (A)

Fastest Lap : 58.42s (Sean) (B)

 

Race 5

Will Wood (B)

Started - 33rd

Finished - 18th

 

Just the B team in race 5 and Will Wood driving from the very back in 33rd. After a superb opening lap and avoiding some turn 3 chaos, Will found himself in 15th place and in a big group running from 10th place. Will had moved his way to near the front of the pack but got side swiped on lap 3 and was left back where he started which was gutting for the team. After a great comeback drive he salvaged an 18th place finish which left the B team knowing round one had been a bit of a let down.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.90s  

 

 

Race 6

Peter Cole (A)

Started - 22nd

Finished - 2nd

 

Pete didn't even make the start of the race after the kart cut out on the rolling up lap. Despite being half a lap behind the next driver, Pete set about one of the most impressive drives we have seen. Lapping 0.7s quicker than anybody else on track he clawed his way through the field and ended up taking 2nd with just one lap remaining. He was just 8 tenths of a second shy of winning the race, yet points are just as valuable and he salvaged what could have been a nightmare of a morning for the A team.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.37s

 

ROUND ONE OVERALL RESULTS

 

Swansea Metropolitan A

7th Place

166pts

 

Swansea Metropolitan B

22nd Place

145Pts

 

Warwick A team won round one of the BUKC with 174 points and with the round two being in the afternoon the Mets were keen to hit back and try and claw back lost ground, the B team being the big losers in the first round of the championship.

 

ROUND TWO

 

Round Two was going to be run under the endurance format where each team competes in a one hour endurance style race with two mandatory pit stops and a driver change.

 

Race 1

Lloyd Eveleigh (B)

Will Wood (B)

Started - 2nd

Finished - 7th

 

Lloyd held position off the start and pulled a big gap from the rest of the field with Hertfordshire in the lead and Brighton catching. Once Hertfordshire hit lapped traffic, Lloyd and Brighton caught quickly but a good call meant Lloyd was brought in early and rejoined in clear air to put in some fast laps. Once the first stops were completed Hertfordshire had lost time in traffic and the B team were having the start to the afternoon they needed. However on the inlap to hand over to Will Wood, Lloyd clipped a spinning backmarker and was black flagged for ‘Advantage by Contact’ which in his opinion was harsh considering the backmarker had lost it. Either way, Will had a huge amount of time to make up due to Lloyds error and drove superbly to move up from 11th place to 7th by the finish with some great decisive passing moves. A top 3 was easily on the cards but once again for the B team it was a case of what if…

 

Fastest Lap : 55.83s (Lloyd)

 

Race 2

Pete Cole (A)

Daryl Henderson (A)

Started - 33rd

Finished - 3rd

 

Pete started the enduro for the A team and moved swifty up into the midfield. Moving through the field with Loughborough helped his progress and he was in the top 10 by his first pit stop. A swift stop and Pete was charging once again, moving up into the top 5 with a few minutes left before the hand over to Daryl for the second part of the race. Pete handed over to Daryl in 4th place and Daryl headed out onto the circuit with the task of just ticking off the laps as being in the top 5 from 33rd was a good result. However Daryl set a great pace and managed to move the A team kart up to third position by the end of the race and in doing so got his highest ever BUKC finish and gave the A team a good platform with which to build a Round Two result.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.22s (Pete)

 

Race 3

Oli Knights (A)

Shaun Dickson (A)

Started - 2nd

Finished - 3rd

 

Will Albrow (B)

Sean Robinson (B)

Started - 34th

Finished - 11th

 

The final race of the day had both A and B team karts racing. Oli was on the front row and had a great chance of leading from the green light, unfortunately the timing screens showed he jumped the start by a mere 0.06s and therefore an early black flag penalty applied. After serving the penalty Oli had to set about gaining lost time. Will Albrow was starting 34th and moved comfortably up in to the top 15 by the midpoint of the race. Both drivers made their first mandatory stops and with the light fading and temperatures dropping they had to be aware as many drivers we making mistakes as grip fell away. Oli handed over to Shaun Dickson who kept up the A team charge with a solid drive and moved them up to 3rd position by the end of the race. Will Albrow handed over to Sean Robinson who was able to keep the pressure on and moved up to 11th position by the flag.

 

Fastest Lap : 55.63 (Oli) (A)

Fastest Lap : 56.81 (Will) (B)

 

ROUND TWO OVERALL RESULTS

 

Swansea Metropolitan A

3rd Place

116pts

 

Swansea Metropolitan B

13th Place

104pts

 

The second round was much better for the A team and showed their championship winning potential, they just need to keep the silly mistakes out of the way and the results will come. The pace is clearly there. Many of the other top teams made mistakes in the first round so Swansea Met A have a great chance assuming that Buckmore is a good solid round. Pit stops for both teams have been spot on and we just need to be clean and clinical out on track.

 

The B team had a better Round Two yet once again getting caught up in accidents is costing vital points. Round Two easily had a potential top 8 result for the team had the first race gone wrong and the team have some work to do heading to Buckmore Park on March 11th. The drivers are quick enough, the confidence needs building because they can easily be a top 10 BUKC team. A change of fortune needed! Some strong results for the rest of the season will hopefully mean the shabby morning can be the dropped round for 2009.

 

Big thanks to Swansea Met SU for their support this season, their financial help is a great benefit to the team along with transport arrangements and SMU Kart team hope to get the job done in ‘09! Check their website out on the links page for more information!

 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 2/7 ROUNDS

 

1. Oxford Brookes A - 118pts

 

4. SWANSEA METROPOLITAN A - 112PTS

 

18. SWANSEA METROPOLITAN B - 87PTS

 

Visit BUKC official site in links page for full standings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Race Meeting:

Whilton Mill

BUKC

R1 + R2

9th February 2010

 

Date