Newsletter -July- Shenington Superprix Round 3

What a contrast to last year’s Superprix, In 2022 we baked in temperatures of 30+ whereas 2023 put on a display of four seasons in one day. The weather for Fridays practice was abysmal. Saturdays race day wasn’t much better with the addition of strong winds. It’s truly remarkable that the track was dry for all the 210 races!!!. 17 drivers signed up to contest the ‘E’ plate and we welcomed back Shaun Stonier after quite a few years sabbatical.

Heat 1 took place on Saturday whilst other classes had qualifying sessions. The warm up lap saw Fowlers wheel detach and travel faster than he was!! It was Perkins who led for the first 3 laps until Sifleet passed him into the Stratford hairpin. It was great to see D. Bury back in the seat after his accident at Fulbeck sitting in 3^rd. Stone and Rawden spent a few laps scrapping for 4^th, with Stone keeping his line to claim the place. 1^st Sifleet only 0:00:34 in front of 2^nd place Perkins, 3^rd D. Bury, 4^th Stone, 5^th Rawden, 6^th Henry.

Sundays race day didn’t start well as the warm up was red flagged. Just before Wilkins Skull span on the first lap and with nowhere to go Owen made contact which sent him up the bank and rolled back down. Luckily he walked away and made an early departure from the meeting. After attending A&E he had sustained a cracked and broken rib. We all wish him well.
Heat 2. There was no movement between the top 4 for the entire race. Sifleet had made the best start to lead from D. Bury, Rawden and Stone. Perkins managed to pass Fowler on lap 6 to claim 5^th but was seen to slow on the next lap returning the place back to Fowler. Sloane and Henry battled it out for 6^th There was no sign of Fowler on the last lap which promoted Sloane and Henry to 5^th & 6^th spot.
1^st Sifleet, 2^nd D. Bury, 3^rd Rawden, 4^th Stone, 5^th Sloane, 6^th Henry.

Heat 3 saw Perkins take up the lead from Rawden, D. Bury, Sloane and Sifleet. Lap 3 saw D. Bury spin into the Chicane in an attempt to pass Rawden. He did eventually manage to self-start allowing all but one competitor passed. Lap 4 saw Stone pass Sloane out of the Stratford hairpin to claim 4^th, a position he was now getting used to! By lap 6 Sifleet had passed Rawden and squeezed passed Perkins at the Stratford Hairpin to claim the lead. However Perkins did hassle him throughout the remaining laps. 1^st Sifleet, 2^nd Perkins, Rawden 3^rd, Stone 4^th, D. Bury 5^th after battling his way through the field, Sloane 6^th.

Final: Sifleet from Pole position lead the field around Café for what was going to be some very close racing at the front. Rawden appeared to have mechanical issues but did finish although a lot further down the pecking order than desired. As they completed lap 1 the order for this race was very much decided. Sifleet led from Perkins whom remained stuck to his back bumper for the majority of the race, piling on the pressure lap after lap. On lap 3 Perkins saw a glimpse of the lead along Strafford Straight but Sifleet pulled it back just before Bruno Chicane. D. Bury was 3^rd, Fowler 4^th, Stone lay in 5^th after spinning on the out lap from the dummy grid much to the amusement of Rawden unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it didn’t make the filming. Henry and Sloane maintained a steady 6^th and 7^th. As the race progressed the midfield saw Shepheard and Stonier continuing to dice with Shepheard eventually passing Stonier on lap 11 to claim 8^th.

As the flap fell Sifleet became the 210 Challenge ‘E’ plate Champion, Perkins was 2^nd having secured the fastest lap of 51.54. D. Bury 3^rd, Fowler 4^th, Stone 5^th,Henry 6^th, Sloane 7^th, Shepheard 8^th, Stonier 9^th with Shelley completing the top 10.

The final can also be viewed on Shenington SuperPrix LIVE | Shenington Kart Racing Club – YouTube

Congratulations Lionel Sifleet 2023 ‘E’ Plate Champion