UK Super One Rotax Series, Round 1
from Graham Smith, TSR Productions
Whilton Mill, 12-13 March 2011
No less than 187 competitors signed on for the first round of the 2011 series, now incorporating the Honda Cadet class as well as senior Max, Junior Max, Max 177 and MiniMax ABkC National Championships.
Whilton Mill is in Northamptonshire, right in the centre of England, and the circuit has quite a large elevation change but is also quite bumpy.
Above: Jack Barlow, using a bit more than just the asphalt, won both Jnr MAX Finals
pic - TSR Productions
The Rotax classes will be aired on SkySports TV, and the Honda Cadet on Motors TV. For 2011 until further notice the on board video cameras were mounted facing rearwards and the Mojo tyre bar-code system was trialled ready for full adoption later in the season. The system keeps track of each competitor’s tyres and if required, chassis and engine seals as well.
Although there was some light rain on Sunday morning, the afternoon turned out bright and sunny. Timed qualifying took place on Saturday, followed by two heats for each competitor, then two points scoring finals after a last chance repechage required in Junior and Senior Max only.
MiniMax
The two MiniMax finals were arguably the best of the weekend, just surpassing the Honda Cadet for excitement and lead changes. Jack Mitchell was fastest in timed qualifying and kept up his good record through the heats for a front row position, alongside poleman Ben Hingeley. Although Hingeley set off in the lead, he was soon overhauled by Jack Mitchell and Ross Gunn, leaving Josh White and Hingeley to contest third. Gunn took the lead with half a dozen laps to run but with two laps to go came off briefly at the Boot complex, and dropped to seventh, the incident allowing the next bunch to catch up. But Mitchell just managed to hang on for the win over the current vice-champion Harry Webb, White, Connor Mills and Hingeley. In the second final Webb carved past White and Mitchell for the lead but soon became embroiled in a huge battle. Hingeley worked his way into the lead by lap 13, then fell to third as first Mitchell, then Webb led, before storming back into the lead at the uphill Christmas corner for the win. Piers Hickin joined the battle at the end, taking fourth behind Mitchell and Webb.
Final 1: 1 Jack Mitchell (Tonykart), 2 Harry Webb (Tonykart), 3 Josh White (Tonykart), 4 Connor Mills (Alonso), 5 Ben Hingeley (Tonykart).
Final 2: 1 Hingeley, 2 Mitchell, 3 Webb, 4 Piers Hickin (Kosmic), 5 Mills.
Above: MiniMAX Final 1 winner Jack Mitchell
pic - TSR Productions
Max 177
The finals were notable for the battles between last year’s champion Lucas Orrock and vice-champion David Griffiths with the latter taking first blood in the timed qualifying by a tenth and then pole for the first final. But Orrock scrabbled past at the top of the hill on the first lap, the pair trading the lead for the next much of the race until Griffiths just gained the upper hand by lap 16. Tom Holland, Scott Clee and Colin Davis maintained the next three positions more or less throughout. Griffiths powered into the second final lead, but at the end of the second lap his kart faltered and stopped, the following Holland just clipping the stricken kart which enabled Orrock to take the lead. Holland tracked him throughout but could never quite mount a challenge. Clee fell back a little at the start, but worked up and past Davis for third.
Final 1: 1 David Griffiths (GMS), 2 Lucas Orrock (Kosmic), 3 Tom Holland (Alonso), 4 Scott Clee (Alonso), 5 Colin Davis (CRG).
Final 2: 1 Orrock, 2 Holland, 3 Clee, 4 Davis, 5 David Rendall (Octane).
Honda Cadet
Super One rookie Max Wieteska qualified fastest and although slipping a little through the heats lined up on the second row of the final one grid. Ahead of him were Steven Prentice on pole, Luke Wooder and Jordan Brown-Nuttley. Prentice slipped past Wooder for the lead on the first lap but then was hung out to dry, falling to sixteenth, recovering to eighth before going back to thirteenth at the finish but setting fastest lap. Brown-Nuttley then led Jack Young for the remainder, whilst a little way behind Ben Thompson came up to trade third with Wooder. Wooder then fell victim to Wieteska for fifth. In the second final as Young led, Petricca and Prentice came off at the top corner leaving a fantastic fight for the win. Eventually Wieteska took over at the front with a half dozen laps to run, and although he was pushed back to third on the last lap, he incredibly managed to sneak past both Young and Thompson for the win. Wooder managed to follow him for second place but Brown-Nuttley became involved in a number of incidents and took a 3 place penalty placing him 15th.
Final 1: Jordan Brown-Nuttley (Project One), 2 Jack Young (Project One), 3 Ben Thompson (Project One), 4 Max Wieteska (Zip), 5 Luke Wooder (Project One).
Final 2: 1 Wieteska, 2 Wooder, 3 Thompson, 4 Young, 5 Alex Quinn (Project One).
Above: Honda Cadet action, Jordan Brown-Nuttley leads
pic - TSR Productions
Junior Max
Jack Barlow showed his credentials by topping a timed qualifying list of 56 entrants, Michael Eldridge and Alessandro Latif just behind. Jack Aitken had pole for the first final but came off at the first corner, losing his chain, joining James Singleton and Adam MacKay in retirement. Jay Goodwin had stopped on the formation lap along with Joe Byrne. Barlow swept into the lead on lap three usurping Latif, who held second until Nathan Harrison came up to pass him. From running 8th, Sam Ward made a pit visit and there were no further place changes down to seventh. For the second final Barlow hung on at the front throughout, despite some pressure by Harrison. Four seconds behind, Levi Coombs had overcome Latif whilst Rob Holland had made a steady recovery drive to fifth. Ward carved through most of the field to finish an excellent sixth but Aitken had another challenging race for 19th, albeit setting fastest lap.
Final 1: 1 Jack Barlow (Tonykart), 2 Nathan Harrison (Tonykart), 3 Alessandro Latif (Gillard), 4 Michael Eldridge (Tonykart), 5 Levi Coombs (Tonykart).
Final 2: 1 Barlow, 2 Harrison, 3 Coombs, 4 Latif, 5 Rob Holland (Kosmic).
Senior Max
Having moved from the now defunct KF2 series which suffered a lack of sufficient entries, Charlie Eastwood just pipped Ed Brand for timed qualifying top position, with Oliver Hodgson and Sean Babington next up amongst the fifty karts. It was Hodgson on pole for the first final but Babington wasted no time going past and into the lead with Eastwood and Brand behind. Brand was racing in pain with a hand injured in a Saturday race. Babington was then swallowed up by the other karts, Eastwood taking the lead he would maintain until the end with Brand just losing touch. Ollie Varney and Lewis Plato came off on the first lap, and open champion Ross Wylie retired as well. Babington recovered third from Hodgson whilst John Stewart lost fourth to Ash Hand. Tom Wrigley and Andy King who had finished 7th and 8th in the first final both spun at the start of the second final, causing a chain reaction collecting some others. Eastwood led but was soon dropped to third in favour of Brand and Hand but Hand hit a kerb hard and fell back. Eastwood very gradually narrowed the gap to Brand to within two kart lengths. Hodgson and Babington traded third with Plato leapfrogging almost the entire field for fifth. Danny Russell finished fifth but was found to be half a kilo underweight and had to be excluded.
Final 1: 1 Charlie Eastwood (Kosmic), 2 Edward Brand (Tonykart), 3 Sean Babington (Alonso), 4 Oliver Hodgson (Tonykart), 5 Ash Hand (CRG).
Final 2: 1 Brand, 2 Eastwood, 3 Hodgson, 4 Babington, 5 Lewis Plato ((Tonykart).
Above: Charlie Eastwood, Senior MAX
pic - TSR Productions
