Newsletter – Fulbeck round 7
Fulbeck hosted the penultimate round with a smaller-than-usual grid, partly because of rising fuel costs. Nevertheless, the drivers delivered a magnificent display of close, competitive and clean racing, with the trust between them evident even at high speeds. Nathan Caddick joined us once again, although he was not eligible to score points, and the weather remained kind throughout. Thank you Janice Taylor for the fabulous photos.
Heat 1:
Stone made a clean start from the front and quickly established a 1.6-second lead, while Morris worked his way past Shelley and Fowler before closing rapidly on the leader.
Morris reduced the gap with the race’s quickest pace, then eventually completed the decisive move on Stone into the left-hander before Caravan with less than three minutes plus one lap remaining. Stone’s challenge ended shortly afterwards when a rear wheel came off, forcing him to retire on lap eight. Morris controlled the closing laps to take the victory. D. Bury 2nd Fowler 3rd followed by Shelley 4th, Caddick 5th and Sloane 6th.
Heat 2:
The first start was waved off because the field was too spread out. Once racing began, Morris struck out in the lead, Stone with 4 wheels well secured on his wagon swept around the outside into 2nd and closed on Morris. On lap 3 a full course yellow for barrier repairs ensued at the second bus-stop chicane. Racing eventually resumed with only three minutes plus one lap remaining. At the restart, Stone briefly edged ahead, but Morris reclaimed the lead before Caravan Corner. Bury secured 2nd on lap 7 while Stone held off Henry (5) by just 0.04 seconds to take third. Unfortunately Morris was issued with a 10 second penalty as it was deemed he hadn’t slowed the field down enough!!!!
1st Bury, 2nd Stone, 3rd Henry, 4th Morris, 5th Caddick, 6th Sloane.
Heat 3:
Bury surged from 5th on the grid into the lead, while Morris climbed 5 places from 8th. Morris first passed Caddick, briefly lost a place to Henry after running deep, then overtook Henry on the inside for 2nd and passed Bury down the inside to take the lead. Stone advanced from 11th, overtook Henry for 3rd, Henry later spun coming out of the Bus Stop but retained 4th. Fowler also passed Hutton and then Sloane to secure 7th. Neither Caddick or Fowler were in a position to catch Shelley who was lying nicely in 5th. 1st Morris, 2nd Bury, 3rd Stone, 4th Henry, 5th Shelley, 6th Caddick.
Final:
Morris on pole didn’t have the best of starts as Stone launched into the lead. Bury, Morris, Henry, Fowler and Sloane disputing the places behind. Bury attempted to take Morris on the inside at Caravan Corner but initially had to yield. As his tyres came in, Morris closed on Stone. On lap 4 Bury completed a pass on Morris for 2nd through Caravan Corner and the following complex. Fowler spun at the hairpin, dropping behind Shelley and Sloane. Lap 6 saw Morris pass Stone and Bury within a few corners to take the lead. Henry attacked Bury and passed him for 3rd ; Bury retook the place before Henry later moved back ahead, with one exchange appearing tactical as they chased Stone. Fowler having recovered had a good dice with Shelley and Sloane. For the next 6 laps 2nd to 4th place was the most Contested, Competitive, Committed, Close, Clean and Courteous racing we’ve seen in a long while. By the last lap Morris had pulled clear as Henry closed on Stone in the fight for 2nd, but disaster struck as Stone developed a technical problem and lost out to Bury and Henry before nursing the kart home in 4th , then stopping near the hairpin. Shelley later helped him back, a true example of sportsmanship.
Morris came in victorious Bury finished 2nd , Henry 3rd , Stone 4th , Shelley 5th , Fowler 6th Sloane 7th . Hutton 8th Newman 9th Taylor completed the top ten finishers.
