Rissington Round 4 – July 1st

An extremely warm and oppressive weekend greeted the Challenge for round 4. Although we were lucky to have a breeze, shade was at a premium and by Sunday afternoon there were many very hot drivers (and I don’t mean men wearing shorts!!!) 9 lap heats and a 12 lap final was the order of the day.
 

Heat 1

On completion of lap 1 Perkins led the field followed by W. Cox, D. Bury, Plain, Woodward, Whyte and the rest. Hancock in 10th place lost a vital part from his braking system, suddenly becoming a passenger and at high speed he spectacularly left the track in reverse at the end of the Start Straight. That part of the track was under a yellow for the next few laps but undeterred Plain picked off driver by driver to take the lead on lap 4. Perkins was now 2nd, D. Bury 3rd Whyte 4th Woodward 5th and W. Cox 6th. It appeared that Whyte was struggling with some form of mechanical issues as he kept slowing and then speeding up. Woodward managed to pass him on lap 6 to claim 4th. On the last lap Woodward had D. Bury in his sights and was just about to pass him when Whyte mustered up the power from somewhere and drove around the pair of them, he then passed Perkins to claim 2nd !! (The best move this season by far) Woodward and D. Bury followedthrough demoting Perkins to 5th
1st Plain, 2nd Whyte, 3rd Woodward, 4th D. Bury, 5th Perkins and 6th Fowler
 

Heat 2

Whyte took the immediate lead for heat 2 and on lap 3 Plain squeezed passed him at the end of the Back Straight; Whyte now in 2nd was followed by D. Bury. A few kart lengths behind saw a tight dicing battle involving Hancock (now able to stop if need be) Green, Fowler and Woodward. Lap 6 saw Green pass Hancock and made it stick and on the following lap Woodward did the same. By now Plain was out in the distance with Whyte and D. Bury in 2nd and 3rd. On the last lap Woodward passed Green to claim 4th and Fowler passed Hancock to take 6th.
1st Plain, 2nd Whyte, 3rd D. Bury, 4th Woodward, 5th Green, 6th Fowler
 

Heat 3

By this time of day the heats were very appropriately named!! Fowler failed to get off the starting grid but with help from Rissington Marshalls he did eventually join the field albeit a lap down. As someone quite aptly put he became bit of a road block, a few took to the grass one of whom was Plain which shot his outfit straight into the lead. D. Bury clipped the back of Fowler which put himself to the reverse of the field. MSA steward of the day Ian Moore was heard to say ‘he should have gone to Specsavers’. Plain led the race with Woodward in 2nd, S. Cox 3rd, Green 4th, Perkins 5th and Henry 6th By lap 4 Hancock and Whyte had joined the top six and to give chase to Perkins now in 4th. The order remained the same at the front; midfield saw the Cox brothers once again vying for positon with D. Bury attempting to pass to make up his delay at the start. Shane held his position over Wayne until the last lap, this time the fist bump moment was captured on film.
1st Plain, 2nd Woodward, 3rd Green, 4th Perkins, 5th Hancock, 6th Whyte
 

Final

It didn’t come much of a surprise to find Plain was hosting pole with Woodward and Whyte alongside. As the lights changed Plain took the lead, D. Bury (grid 4) and Green (grid 5) had both found the gap between the front row and were now in 2nd and 3rd. Whyte lay in 4th and Woodward 5th closely followed by Perkins. On lap 2 Whyte passed both Green and Bury along the Back Straight to claim 2nd. For the next 2 lap’s only fresh air separated Bury 3rd, Green 4th and Woodward 5th. Plain had disappeared into the distance and already had the length of the Start Straight between himself and Whyte. Fowler, Perkins, and Hancock were very close together, Fowler having claimed 6th on lap 3. At the end of the Start Straight on lap 5 Green momentarily passed D. Bury, Green ran wide holding D. Bury up! Woodward not to miss a good opportunity passed them both to take up 3rd place. Lap 8 saw Green pass D. Bury again and this time made it stick. Woodward had made inroads on Whyte but attempts to grab 2nd spot were just out of his grasp.
 
As the flag fell Plain came in the victor with a perfect score under his belt, Whyte 2nd, Woodward 3rd,Green 4th, D. Bury 5th, Fowler 6th, Perkins 7th, Hancock 8th, S. Cox 9th, Henry completed the top ten.
 
Kate