The last round of the 2021 210 Short Circuit Championship saw a very good grid enter for Shenington on October 17th. The first two seeded places had already been secured by Lionel Sifleet and his son Aaron but that wouldn’t stop them from scoring as many points as possible during the day. The No. 3 plate still had to be contested between Rob Perkins and Dan Bury with Tony Bury having a mathematical chance. The rest were all up for grabs with the dropping of their two worst rounds making a world of difference to most. The weather for the first part of the day was drizzly therefore a wet practice session greeted the drivers. The lights are out and we are off!!!!
Heat 1 – saw the grid on wets. Hopes had a dramatic spin on the warm up lap taking the tyre wall with him as the kart swapped ends just after pits bend. A. Sifleet had a flyer off the start to lead Hancock, Perkins, L. Sifleet, D. Bury, Henry and the rest. On lap 3 A. Sifleet had edged a little way from the chasing pack. As Hancock, Perkins, L. Sifleet, D. Bury and Henry rounded the Stratford hairpin Perkins ran on in the attempt to pass Hancock and they all came to a grinding halt to sort themselves out, avoiding any collisions in a true gentlemanly manner as we’ve come to expect. As they exited to give chase to A. Sifleet. the order was L. Sifleet, D. Bury, Perkins, Hancock and Henry. Lap 5 saw Henry pass for Hancock for 5th.
1st A. Sifleet, 2nd L. Sifleet, 3rd D. Bury, 4th Perkins, 5th Henry, 6th Hancock.
Heat 2 – Although the rain had stopped the track was still damp and as a dry line appeared during the race many drivers were seen to cool their tyres in any remaining puddles. Wayne Cox brother to Novice T. Cox had joined us for the weekend (not for points) and not having raced for a few years he led the field for 2 laps ahead of Henry, Hopes and Fowler. A. Sifleet by lap 3 had from a rear grid position passed them all to claim the lead, Hopes was 2nd with L. Sifleet and D. Bury giving chase. By lap 6 L. Sifleet was giving his son A. Sifleet some serious hassle and passed him on the following lap into Café.to claim first spot. D. Bury after a few
attempts passed Hopes on lap 7.
1st L. Sifleet, 2nd A. Sifleet, 3rd D. Bury, 4th Hopes, 5th W. Cox, 6th Fowler.
Heat 3 – Heat 3 saw all drivers back on slicks. It was evident emotions were running high. On lap one as L. Sifleet lead the pack around pits bend onto the Straight Fowler spun in the path of Hancock who miraculously missed him but unfortunately T. Cox took avoiding action and collided with Skull which put them both out. On lap 2 A. Sifleet was handed the lead by his Father as his knob fell off (his words not mine!!!) W. Cox now 2nd,D. Bury 3rd Sloane 4th. In the exact same spot as lap one there was a coming together between Henry and Perkins sideling Perkins for the remainder of the race. However by lap 4 the ones to watch were the 3 of T.
Bury, Hopes and Stone all vying for 4th. D. Bury was now up to 2nd and W. Cox 3rd.
1st A. Sifleet, 2nd D. Bury, 3rd W. Cox, 4th T. Bury, 5th Stone who’d passed Hopes on lap 5 and made it stick, 6th Hopes
Final – As the lights changed for the last race of Championship 2021 it was A. Sifleet who made the most of his Pole position. He was closely followed by the next 5 of L. Sifleet, W. Cox, D. Bury, Fowler, and T. Bury who then spun sending himself to the rear of the field. Perkins made it up to 6th to give chase to Fowler, when Fowler spun into Wilkins, Perkins had nowhere to go making contact with Fowlers kart, damage thus unfortunately concluded his race! On lap 2 L. Sifleet determined to finish the season with a victory passed A. Sifleet, D. Bury also demoted W. Cox to 4th. For the entire 11 laps remaining of the race we witnessed some superb, fast, cheeky, clean, skillful manoeuvres for the fight for 2nd between A. Sifleet and D. Bury who were extremely close and personal. ( The photo below beautifully captures one of these moments!!)
It truly was one of the best races we’ve witnessed in a long time. Sloane, Hopes and Stone once again were battling it out for 5th. Stone had passed both of them by lap 5. Hancock caught and passed Sloan to claim 6th by lap 8 and continued to battle until the last lap when Sloane snatched it back.
L. Sifleet came in victorious a perfect way to finish the Championship, 2nd A. Sifleet, 3rd D. Bury, 4th W. Cox, 5th Stone who deserves a special mention for his performance (one definitely to watch out for next year), 6th Sloane, 7th Hancock, 8th Fowler, 9th Shepheard and T. Bury completed the top ten.
Conclusion –After a year of uncertainty with the Championship having to be cancelled in 2020 our ‘healing year’ as I referred to it as, has well and truly healed. Although perhaps not everything went to plan at the start of the season, we’ve certainly made up for it since. We’ve enjoyed close and exciting racing but above all its been safe due to the skill and consideration of you the drivers. 2021 has welcomed three Novices to swell our ranks, Tony Cox, Mark Shepheard and DaveSkull all of whom have been welcomed into the fold. We are incredibly lucky to have an abundance of help and never-ending advice. You need to be that special person to join this family. Above all we survive on our camaraderie and leg-pulling unique to our class. Give yourselves a big pat on the back.
Looking forward to the 2022 season, in the meantime take care and stay safe.
Kate