Dunkeswell Kart Racing Club 2012

Championship - Round 4

After last month's horrendous wet weather it was good to be racing under blue skies again and the drivers made the most of the warm conditions during the Saturday practice in preparation for Sunday, writes Jim Bee.

Race day was equally warm and it was good to see some impressive grids lining up to go racing. First out were the Honda Cadets and three different drivers topped the time sheets with Tom Canning, Jordan Hurman and Scott Symons all taking heat wins. Canning's win in heat one was impressive as he came from 11th on the grid to take the flag. Hurman achieved a similar feat coming through from ninth in heat two.

The final was a hard fought affair as Tom Canning and Ryan Luscombe bolted at the start and broke away from the pack. It all looked good for Canning until a late lunge on the last lap saw Luscombe squeeze through to take the win, Jordan Hurman rounded off a good weekend with third place.

With numbers growing, the Comer Cadets were given their own grid and Alex Quinn dominated the class with three heat wins and an untroubled final.

The Minimax grid saw Fletcher Trueman take a brace of wins with Charlie Cudlipp taking the flag in heat three. The final turned into a battle between these two determined young drivers with Cudlipp getting past Trueman on lap two to secure the win.

The Junior TKM final was won by Brandon Patrick who secured all three heat wins in the process.

Four drivers were all in contention in the Junior Rotax class as Sam Morgan, James Moorcroft, Robbie Gallier and Lewis Bowles all finished in the top four in all three heats and the final! Morgan came out on top winning all three heats and leading from pole for the final. Behind him, Moorcroft got past Gallier for second with Bowles coming in a creditable fourth.

Boasting one of the toughest grids in the country, the Senior Max grid is not a place for the faint-hearted and Stewart Baker took a hard-fought brace of heat wins and Gemma Batstone inherited a heat win after Craig Mooney was docked two places in heat two. Strong heat finishes were vital for a good place in the final as the quality was such that the first four drivers were covered by just over one second! In the end, Baker dominated taking the win with Mooney making up for his heat two relegation to take second, James Clarkson rounded off a strong meeting with third overall.

A smaller than usual Senior Blue grid was dominated by class promoter, Ron Shone, who put on a masterclass for the rest of the competition across all three heats and the final.

Last up were the Rotax 177 class with a grid that has "experience" stamped all over it. Matt Isgrove's return to racing got off to a bad start when he was excluded from heat one, which was won by Rob Knight, for a technical infringement, however, he came back strong to win in heats two and three. Current champion, Darren Lane, was an ever-present threat with a hat-trick of second places which would secure him pole for the final.

The last race of the day saw Lane claim a lights-to-flag victory. Isgrove was on a mission making up seven places by lap five to get into third. On lap 11 he made his move on Knight to take second and held to the flag. Knight was third.

Final Results and Standings

Honda Cadet

1. 99 Ryan Luscombe

2. 42 Tom Canning

3. 46 Jordan Hurman

Comer Cadet

1. 39 Alex Quinn

2. 75 Clayton Ravenscroft

3. 53 Tommy Foster

Rotax Minimax

1. 23 Charlie Cudlipp

2. 30 Fletcher Trueman

3. 24 Sam Stephens

Junior TKM

1. 81 Brandon Patrick

Junior Rotax

1. 41 Sam Morgan

2. 21 James Moorcroft

3. 23 Robbie Gallier

Senior Rotax

1. 95 Stewart Baker

2. 83 Craig Mooney

3. 66 James Clarkson

Senior Blue

1. 11 Ron Shone

2. 74 Athur Thurtle

3. 47 Nathan Booth

Rotax 177

1. 28 Darren Lane

2. 25 Matt Isgrove

3. 33 Rob Knight