Newsletter – April – Warm up Round – Round 1 Rissington Champs
Easter Sunday and as it happened ‘April Fools Day’ saw a great turn out of 210 competitors all eager to get back on track and show their adoring public the fantastic preparation and modifications made over the closed season !!!!
The original idea of the Warm up Round was to literally warm up those engines (and bodies still full of Christmas festivities) and mentally prepare for the coming season although some still prefer to open vans/lorries/campers and out falls last years equipment so perhaps we should rename it to the 210 Preparation Round? Some found this round extremely useful as wellies had perished, zips had broken, generators needed repairing and gas bottles were found to be empty. It was eventually going to be a fruitful but extremely wet and miserable Saturdays Practice. However the 210 camp was buzzing with excitement and many commented on what a great weekend it had been.
Sundays race day with round one Rissington Championships also being contested was dry, that yellow ball which we hope to see more of this year appeared in the sky but there was still a bitterly cold feel in the air. If any driver had arrived needing to slim down slightly the top 5 of every heat would be awarded a cadburys creme egg for their achievements. Mr Hancock did try and blame his wife for shrinking his suit!!
The three heats saw Lee Plain take the victory for heat 1 & 2 with Fowler clinching the win on heat 3 Dan Bury came in second for all 3.
Throughout the day the racing saw the top 7 places furiously filled with Plain, Bury, Rob Perkins, Adam Woodward, Fowler, Tom Whyte, and Wayne Cox.
For 2018 Rissington had changed the format for how many laps would be completed. It wasn’t until the grid positions for the final were posted did Julie Dredge realise that our lovely lot had been racing for 7 minutes plus a lap! (13 laps) The final was programmed for 9 minutes plus a lap!! The drivers were called down to a quick meeting, Julie offered oxygen and no extra cost but they all agreed that a final of 7 mins plus a lap would suffice.
As they gridded up for the final a few spares had to be extracated from kart seats and helmets in the form of perviously mentioned uneaten Creme Eggs!
Plain took advantage of his front row slot and led the race for 4 laps as he exited the bend onto the Start Straight his wheels hit the grass and his recovery slowed him down enabling the charging Bury 2nd, Perkins 3rd , Fowler 4th and Woodward 5th to close up even closer if that was possible than they had been before. Bury passed him on the next lap along the Back Straight and led for 6 laps. The top 5 certainly put on an exciting show. Fowler spun on dropped oil, as did a few others onto the entrance of the back straight (the offending driver would later be seen to spin on his own oil leakage!) therefore promoting Woodward to 4th. Two laps from the end Plain snatched the lead back, Woodward spun but managed to recover to keep his 4th position. As the flag fell Plain took the victory (and won an even bigger Easter Egg!) Bury 2nd, Perkins 3rd, Woodward 4th Fowler 5th and Hancock 6th.
If the weekends racing is anything to go by we are definitely in for a close and exciting season.
Pit Bits
Points – Can we please draw your attention to the change of how Challenge points will now be scored.
The 2018 regulations state … Points in heats and finals will only be awarded to Competitors who have completed a minimum of 75% of the race distance of the winner, and having crossed the finish line with the driver seated correctly in his Kart and the engine providing the motive power.
This was changed to discourage drivers cruising round in order to achieve a finish therefore putting themselves and fellow competitors at risk.
Website – Big thanks to Gareth, Chris and Sian for getting the website up and running. At this moment in time it is still work in progress but nevertheless it’s looking good.
Newsletters – If there is anything you wish to be included in following newsletters ie, articles, clarification of rules, anything of interest, personal achievements then please email Kate Bateman at :- 210challenge@talktalk.net
Next Meeting Fulbeck April 22nd
Kate