Fuel Rule Change Spices Up TEKA Round 1
| from Justin Sydenham | 11 February 2016 |
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Well what a cracking start to the 2016 season!!
Aside from the anticipation of kicking off the new year, the excitement and buzz around the pit lane was fuelled (sorry couldn't help myself) by the removal of the minimum fuel stop rule thus introducing a new strategic element.
Most teams arrived to take advantage of Saturday's free practice, but the constantly changing weather and track conditions left no one the wiser to the ideal set up for race day. That uncertainty coupled with the question of how to best manage fuel strategy ensured the race for the prize was going to be hotly contested.
Above: #58 Kinetic team qualified on the front row. Victory, however, went to the Awesome Racing #10
pic - TEKA/BJR Photography
Qualifying was literally the luck of the draw, and the draw delivered a lively looking grid to say the least. With the Buildline #9 lining up against the Kinetic #58 on the front row with Hellrazor #13 directly behind pole. All bets were off on who would emerge out of Lithgow’s tight turn 1 in the lead.
A cracking jump off the line delivered the first bragging rights of the 2016 season to the Hellrazor #13 team, behind them cool heads prevailed. Somehow all competitors made it through the tight sequence of opening corners intact and facing the right direction.
Keen to dominate early, #13 with Brad Lewis at the wheel pushed hard to open the gap up front in the early laps, while the big story behind was the charge of Bullit Racings Steely Banderas in #50. Starting from the mid pack the Bullit racer carved through the field to be challenging Buildline early for second position. A little panel rubbing ensued which allowed Hellrazor to continue building a handy buffer in the lead. Though #50’s speed and respect between the teams the squabble for 2nd was settled in favour of the #50 who (with Buildline and local favourites Awesome Racings #10 close in tow), set off to chase down the leader.
Meanwhile a little further back it was game on early for the podium amongst the class B competitors. Both the Benders Racing #22 and CJR #69 hit early mechanical dramas thus burning vital laps (and in Benders case an engine, 5 carby's, 3 chains and a team managers patience) in the pits before rejoining the action on track. The pre race prayers looked to be paying off for Christ Crew as the #3 grabbed the upper hand early. Unifilter Racing #33 however had other ideas and fought their way into the class B lead, only to be the next in line for mechanical misfortune in the form of a clutch failure.
Up front in class A, the Bullit #50 had hunted down Hellrazor #13 and it was on for the outright lead. Hellrazor fought hard to hold off the charge of Steely but the Bullit Racing #50 was living up to its name and was simply too fast seizing the lead and proceeding to build a margin on the field. The outcome however was far from decided.
There were a few smoking guns in the pack running their own race with every intention of having the lead when it mattered most. Kart 58 Kinetic Racing, armed with a brand new Briel chassis, well in mix. Kart #16 Alyman showed they’d stepped it up a level this year to be serious contenders and were putting a solid race together.
Meanwhile the wealth of experience on board kart 49 rolled the dice on a 3 stop strategy they were quietly plugging away at hitting their fuel numbers rising to the top towards the end of the day.
Above: #90 RPG was second in Class B
pic - TEKA/BJR Photography
There is no substitute however for outright speed, and Awesome Racing #10 together with Buildline #9 continued applying consistent pressure on the rest of the field by delivering consistent sub 41 lap times across their drivers.
The hard luck story book wasn't full for the day, and next in line was the demise of the race leading #50 via a broken seat bolt and subsequent damage to the fuel line. Relegated to 13th and a number of laps down, Bullit fought back through the field to ultimately claim 6th.
Mechanical dramas also struck early leaders Hellrazor, who found themselves stranded on the front straight later in the day without power. Fortunately they were able to fire the #13 back up and ultimately finished 5th.
Battles raged throughout the pack and heading into the last hour kart #90 RPG held the class B lead with the Christ Crew #3 in hot pursuit. With 40 to go the RPG #90 crew showed their hand and pitted for a final fuel stop rejoining in 3rd position behind the Christ Crew #3, and the quite achievers in Precision Motorsport #48. Demonstrating the value of lapping consistently, staying out of trouble and keeping it on the black stuff, the Precision #48 team had run an excellent race throughout the day.
Christ Crew #3 had played the fuel strategy game well and in not requiring a stop in the final hour now held the lead and did not surrender it, crossing the line in first place for class B ahead of Precision #48 and RPG #90.
The drama however was not over yet. Endurance racing can be cruel and unfortunately for the Christ Crew they had cut the strategy a little too fine, and in burning too much fuel in the final stint without a top up came in underweight on the post race weigh in. The resulting 5 lap penalty relegated them to 3rd in class, and delivered a very well deserved first place to the Kart 48 team.
The Kart 48 team love their endurance racing, and after 3 seasons of hard racing and having a go it was fantastic to see the Precision Motorsport crew get their first class victory. Well done boys!! And very well done to RPG #90 in 2nd. They gave it a hell of a crack and came close to the top spot.
For the class A and outright win many contenders had come and gone throughout the day, but it was the combination of local knowledge, blisteringly consistent speed and the right fuel strategy that prevailed as the winning combination and delivered Awesome Racing's #10 another victory at Lithgow.
Above: Precision Motorsport #48 obtained their first class victory
pic - TEKA/BJR Photography
Keeping the pressure on throughout the day with equally consistent speed, Buildline brought the #9 home in 2nd only 11 seconds behind for a solid bag of points.
The fight for 3rd was a battle Royale till the final corner, with Kart 49 beating home a fast finishing 16 by just 0.4 of a second to claim the final spot on the podium.
Special mentions to Kart 4 who have had engine dramas every time they’ve hit the track, this time finishing well inside the top 10. Kart 7 had learned from last year and had stepped up level in terms of being competitive, and Kart 41 did a magnificent job of having fun, learning, and running their own race!
The Lithgow 444 has delivered yet another fantastically intense endurance race and a thrilling start to the season. Can't wait to do it all again in Bega!! See you all there…
- For any info or enquiries go to www.teka.com.au
