The special Junior Club 11-16 1200 race on the 12th of August was indeed special in all sorts of ways. Firstly despite a forecast of torrential and constant rain all day, it remained as near dry as makes no odds. Sure there were a couple of half hearted and short lived sprinklings but never enough to moisten the flap of an envelope. Secondly, the day was memorable for the number of times the lap record was broken and finally for the quality of racing in the A final which was worthy of the highest praise available from High Praise World PLC.
As is so often the case race one got things underway and here we witnessed Alex Tucker start his afternoon of with a maximum twelve points after swapping his P5 start for a win which he ensured by crossing the line fully ten seconds before anyone else. Smiley Ronnie Stracey flew up the order to take second place. Not bad considering he started way back in eleventh. Aymane Yacine has been particularly impressive since his first appearance at Buckmore earlier this year. He impressed again in this race by slipping by both Older brothers for third. Then came the siblings Darren and Matthew Older. It must get very confusing when someone asks which is the Older brother and both say in unison ‘We both are’.
As is so often the case race one got things underway and here we witnessed Alex Tucker start his afternoon of with a maximum twelve points after swapping his P5 start for a win which he ensured by crossing the line fully ten seconds before anyone else. Smiley Ronnie Stracey flew up the order to take second place. Not bad considering he started way back in eleventh. Aymane Yacine has been particularly impressive since his first appearance at Buckmore earlier this year. He impressed again in this race by slipping by both Older brothers for third. Then came the siblings Darren and Matthew Older. It must get very confusing when someone asks which is the Older brother and both say in unison ‘We both are’.
Toby Cook then decided that he’d like to be the lap record holder as well as the race winner so he achieved both in race six where he’d started from the very back of the pack. The new record now stood at 56.414 (for a few minutes anyway). Toby pulled a healthy six seconds clear of James Walkington who had picked up one place along the way. Third from twelfth is quite a target but one achieved by the dynamo that is Aymane Yacine. He only just made it though as Jay Rudd had his sights set firmly on that very place and at the line the margin was a miniscule cooper s uno tenthio. (sorry, I went mad then). When he arrived in cricket whites at the sign in desk I thought Connor Burdett had also gone mad but he clearly had a busy sporting day. In this heat he came home just a tenthling behind the aforementioned duo.
When you watch karts passing the window every day and have done for nearly eight years you can imagine it takes a fair bit to get me on the edge of my seat. The A final today did just that and even more amazingly it got Bill all excited too and he’s been at this karting malarkey for nearly half a century when karts were still in black and white. The race made F1 look about as exciting as last night’s Indian takeaway. It was stunning. It was stupendous. It was earth shattering. But enough of the superlatives, here is the story.
From pole Toby Cook led for a while before falling foul of a bit of intimacy from another competitor. I thought that was it as Toby was now way down the order there must have been an excess calorie enhanced woman with vocal attributes in the vicinity as it clearly wasn’t over. Our attention was at the sharp end where Seth James and Ivan May-Jones were locked in combat as they fought it out for control of the race. Then at the apex of hairpin one these two touched and the ensuing friction of sidepods touching took the speed right out of the pair and allowed first Aymane Yacine and then Toby Cook to rejoin the party. This four man cabaret kept us enthralled for the next few laps with no one driver appearing to have the upper hand. The screen twice flashed up “New Lap Record” but we couldn’t take our eyes off the circuit. Mere words fail me here as I try unsuccessfully to recreate the excitement and tension so I will cut to the final chase, the last lap. It was a toss up as they headed around Symes and out of our sight for the very last time as to who would come up the hill in front. The bets were evenly spread I have to say. As they headed back into view it was Seth James by a whisker over Toby Cook for first and second and a brilliant last lap saw the screen again light up “New Lap Record” and this time we knew it was Aymane Yacine with a brilliant 56.310 and a bronze trophy. Ivan May-Jones is never far from the sharp end and again here he finished a very close fourth. No prize perhaps but his reputation must have been enhanced by his performance in this final.
From pole Toby Cook led for a while before falling foul of a bit of intimacy from another competitor. I thought that was it as Toby was now way down the order there must have been an excess calorie enhanced woman with vocal attributes in the vicinity as it clearly wasn’t over. Our attention was at the sharp end where Seth James and Ivan May-Jones were locked in combat as they fought it out for control of the race. Then at the apex of hairpin one these two touched and the ensuing friction of sidepods touching took the speed right out of the pair and allowed first Aymane Yacine and then Toby Cook to rejoin the party. This four man cabaret kept us enthralled for the next few laps with no one driver appearing to have the upper hand. The screen twice flashed up “New Lap Record” but we couldn’t take our eyes off the circuit. Mere words fail me here as I try unsuccessfully to recreate the excitement and tension so I will cut to the final chase, the last lap. It was a toss up as they headed around Symes and out of our sight for the very last time as to who would come up the hill in front. The bets were evenly spread I have to say. As they headed back into view it was Seth James by a whisker over Toby Cook for first and second and a brilliant last lap saw the screen again light up “New Lap Record” and this time we knew it was Aymane Yacine with a brilliant 56.310 and a bronze trophy. Ivan May-Jones is never far from the sharp end and again here he finished a very close fourth. No prize perhaps but his reputation must have been enhanced by his performance in this final. 
Alex Tucker finished not last overall as he had predicted but in a very creditable fifth. A couple of tenths later Alice Goad crossed for fifth. All the way from the depths of the B final to sixth overall, that’s the rags to riches story of Alex Crump who led the remaining finalists home from seventh. Those following were James Walkington, Ronnie Stracey our visitor Connor Lewis who had been granted a promotion from the B as James Swatton had accidentally gone home too soon! Then it was Jay Rudd and Alex Nevill who found his kart had tired quicker than the driver. And so ends one of the best race days for ages. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we on the staff did.Report author: Alan Wood
Buckmore Park Lap Records:
No comments:
Post a Comment