18.11.2015 - 2015 EPEC Rd 10 Teesside 8 Nov

Report + Photo : Jim White

Since this was the Final Round, it was a tense time as teams were working out how well they needed to finish to gain Championship trophies as well as the Trophies of the Day.

43 MS SoCo Select, 23 POT Racing, 33 Q Racing, 1 Titan Motorsport were the favouirites for the Championship podium but the order was to be fought for.

In Clubman 25 Tockwith 2, 58 DWS, 115 Team Keane, and 777 Offline 2 were similarly fighting for Championship positions.

The HGX200 class was to be contested between 9 Newmarket Hornets, 6 Coseley Cougars and 19 Newmarket Buzzin Hornets.

The weather forecast was typical for November , wet and windy but unseasonably warm when the wind dropped. Damp for qualifying, then torrential rain 2 hours in.

The actual weather was better albeit with a greasy track for most of the race, drying from half way, then drizzling last 20 min. And then just as everyone was packing away , the heavens opened.

Qualifying

On a damp, greasy track a recently awoken Connor Lucas stepped into the kart and set fastest lap. And so grabbed Pole for his team 443 MS Lucas

1st 443 MS Lucas Connor Lucas 58.913 sec

2nd 43 MS SoCo Select Steven Welsh 58.997

3rd 23 POT Racing Tristram Oman 59.05

4th 24 Kick Haase Ossie Munday 59.34

5th 13 Red Racing Adam Nichols 59.38

6th 25 Tockwith 2 Sarah Moore 59.415

Race

The race start was delayed for the observance Remembrance Day 2 min and then it began.

A certain amount of re-arrangement occurred as 24 Kick Haase (Ossie Munday) acted as the cuckoo in the nest at the first corner and went off into the lead.24 Kick Haase, 443 MS Lucas (Sam Tugwell), 13 Red Racing (Adam Nichols), 23 POT Racing (Lee Pattison), 78 Tockwith 1 ( David Moore), 33 Q Racing ( “Hash” Brown), 44 MS JSR (Jamie Crease ), 43 MS SoCo Select (Steven Welsh), 25 Tockwith 2 (Sarah Moore), 6 Coseley Cougars (Cle Pickering), were the top 10 at the end of the first lap.

The conditions were certainly challenging and by lap 25 there was a settling down. The new top 10 was 24 Kick Haase, 43 MS SoCo Select, 13 Red Racing, 443 MS Lucas (Sam Tugwell), 6 Coseley Cougars (Cle Pickering) !!! , 44 MS JSR (Karl North), 1 Titan Motorsport (Owen Jenman), 78 Tockwith 1 (Ed Moore), 9 Newmarket Hornets !!! and 23 POT Racing. On lap 26 in 21st place and 42 sec off the lead, 23 POT Racing had an early driver

change because Lee Pattison’s wrist was not completely healed and giving him problems. 97 laps later 23 POT Racing (Stephen White) had risen to 4th 10sec off the lead and Tristram Oman would now drive to the finish. 43 MS SoCo Select (Dan Crossley) had a 5sec lead over 24 Kick Haase (Charlie Bingham) with 44 MS JSR ( Jamie Crease) in 3rd. Then 443 MS Lucas (Mick McDonald), 33 Q Racing (Adam Willis), 13 Red Racing (Greg Booth), 115 Team Keane (Tom Bolland) double stinting, 78 Tockwith 1 (Marmaduke Hall), 98 Baron Racing (Tom Campion) and 6 Coseley Cougars slipping out of the top 10. The difficult conditions continued with a typical lap time of 60 sec being 13 sec off the dry pace.

43 MS SoCo Select were in the lead by 5.5 sec at lap 122 ( 1/3rd distance) from 24 Kick Haase (Charlie Bingham). By lap 180 24 Kick Haase were back in the lead from 43 MS SoCo Select , 33 Q Racing, 443 MS Lucas, 23 POT Racing, 44 MS JSR, 13 Red Racing and 98 Baron Racing (Lewis Walters). Conditions had settled to a cold, overcast atmosphere that was threatening to rain but holding off. The gaps were holding and race positions at the top were fairly static. At this point 43 MS SoCo Select would win Overall, 6hr and 24hr Championships. 25 Tockwith 2 (Matty Greenwood) in front of 58 DWS (Danielle Gardner) but not enough 58 DWS would win Clubman. 6 Coseley Cougars (Richard Dunn) would win HGX200 from 9 Newmarket Hornets (Sam Guntrip) and 19 Newmarket Buzzin Hornets (James Shrimpton).

Half an hour to go.

24 Kick Haase are leading by 45sec but have a Splash and Dash to do. 43 MS SoCo Select went for an audacious plan to do 2 stops in one turn. In second they refuelled and redrivered and then in the following lap made a Splash and Dash stop to get all stops completed in their sprint for the line with 90 min to go. 33 Q Racing in 4th were hoping for a full course yellow for their Splash and Dash to hold their position. 23 POT Racing (Tristram Oman) had an early stop after the first half hour and were also sprinting for the line. 115 Team Keane had gone for an unusual set up in the beginning which appeared to be a mistake as they qualified in 23rd, however the plan was coming together as they had steadily moved up the leaderboard and were now 2nd in Clubman and catching 78 Tockwith 1 with 25 Tockwith 2 attempting to catch 115 Team Keane. In HGX200 6 Coseley Cougars had problems and were behind 7 Barnato 7 but in front of 9 Newmarket Hornets , unfortunately, they were slowing ; could they be caught ?

At Race End

The forecast rain began to fall steadily in the last 20 min. 6 Coseley Cougars managed a final spurt to overtake 7a and win the HGX200 class with 9 Newmarket Hornets third.

115 Team Keane’s plan came together and they claimed the Clubman win from 25 Tockwith 2 and 78 Tockwith 1 in third.

24 Kick Haase made their Splash and Dash and re-entered the race with a 21 sec lead that they held to the finish. 43 MS SoCo Select were second and 23 POT Racing third. The full course yellow did not materialise and 98 Baron Racing were too quick for 33 Q Racing in 4th and 5th respectively.