Chassis Dominate Yet Again
GCU Racing Karting Championship Night 3 Recap
21 Drivers took to the track in Clydebank tonight for Round 3 of The GCU Racing Karting Championship. Tonight’s format featured a Grand Prix layout with 3 Qualifying heats followed by 3 races, with 7 drivers featuring in each. This meant that only 7 drivers would end up earning their place on the grid in the Grand Final to race out for P1 and the night win. A tricky night was in store for the drivers with a low of -5oC reported during the evening. This caused major issues for drivers with some drivers reporting not being able to feel their fingers at the end of their stint.
The cold track didn’t slow down the drivers though, with Paul Atkinson setting a blistering 24.578. Paul taking the GCU Racing lap record in the process of putting himself on provisional pole. It was Robbie McGregor who finished 2nd in heat 1 setting a 24.760. Issues hampered Robbie’s progress in the session with a loose seat causing him to pull into the pits halfway through the session costing him track time and tyre temperature. Christopher Jackson, Connor McLeod, Joe Abbot & Cara Edgar all put in very respectable low 25s in their quest to qualify for the Grand Final. Stuart Hamilton posted a 25.692 to put him provisionally in P7 and the driver at risk of dropping out of the Grand Final.
The next group of drivers then took to the track in their quest to qualify on pole. Drivers were quick to put in fast times before a couple of yellow flags gave drivers a few laps to reset and go again. It was Aran Friel who was quickest in heat 2 with a 24.810 almost guaranteeing himself a shot at the night win. Artur Pawlicki followed closely with a 24.852 which he felt would comfortably see him through to the grand final. TJ Scott, Rhys Miller & Ethan McColl all set 25 dead’s just half a tenth separating them. Sadly for Ethan he was the slower of the 3 and therefore sat P9 after 2/3 heats, with regular Grand Final driver Connor MacLeod getting knocked out by Rhys Miller who was P7 when the final heat headed out on track.
As the final heat headed out TJ & Rhys watched on nervously as last round runner up Christopher Scott looked to take pole position off of Paul. Sadly for them Chris didn’t take long to set a lap in the 24s knocking Rhys out of contention. As the session progressed and the times started to fall, 3 more drivers were able to break into sub 25s territory. Calvin Turner, Murray Thomson & Pawel Baran set the blistering laps but with Artur sitting comfortably in P5 with a 24.852, there was only room for 2 of them in the Grand Final. Pawel Baran was the one to miss out, but did inherit pole in the 2nd final and restricting his best possible result for the night to be P8. Cara Edgar was also watching the timing screens closely but sadly missed out on the 2nd final, but was therefore presented with the opportunity of converting a pole to a win for 5 bonus points. Chris Scott eventually was able to set a 24.365 beating Paul to pole position by 0.013 and taking the new GCU Racing Lap Record in the process.
The 3rd final took to the track and those in the paddock watching didn’t have to wait long for action. Polesitter Cara Edgar ended up facing the wrong way on the exit of T1, costing her shout at the win. It was Stuart Hamilton who emerged as the race leader, a title he was able to keep right to the end of the 15 minute race. James Waddell & Aidan Imrie were able to join Stuart on the podium. Cara Edgar & Kyle Williamson were the other drivers able to finish the race. Sadly Sarah Williamson & Gregory Hamilton didn’t complete the race, this was due to just finishing their Qualifying sessions and then having to head straight back out on track. Kyle Williamson took 5 bonus point for fastest lap with a 25.253
The 2nd final brought a stream of faster drivers, most of which disappointed to miss out on the Grand Final. This didn’t dishearten most with a cracking display put on by the drivers. TJ Scott who started in P2 got a lightning start and was able to take T1 in the lead where he would go the next 35 laps to the end unchallenged taking the 2nd final win and P8 overall on the night. Rhys, Chris & Pawel put their fastest ever times in an attempt to catch TJ but came up short. Their hope of catching was extinguished as TJ had spent the 2nd half of the race trying new lines and experimenting on where time could be gained next time out. Ethan MacColl, Joe Abbot & Connor Macleod closed out the race. Rhys Miller scored fastest lap in this race with a very impressive 24.545. A lap time that would have been good enough for pole.
Then it was the turn of the Grand Final. Christopher Scott & Paul Atkinson lines up on the front row, followed by Robbie McGregor & Aran Weir, Artur Pawlicki, Calvin Turner & Murray Thomson lined up behind. As the lights went out it was Robbie who was quickest off of the line giving him enough of an advantage over Paul going into T1 to take P2. As the guys drove off towards the back end of the track Chris lead with Robbie closely behind, Paul hot on the heels of the pair of them. Sadly for Chris he couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature quick enough and Robbie was able to manufacture an overtake for the lead on lap 3. As Robbie moved forward, Paul moved back after spinning in front of the pits dropping to the back. The race went on with relatively little drama. Halfway through a mistake for Calvin Turner let both Artur & Murray through. Things got even worse for Calvin as he lost another position with 3 laps to go to Paul, dropping him to P7. Chris Scott in his pursuit of Robbie was able to clock a fastest lap of 24.442.
Chris was able to make a late charge but wasn’t to be which meant Robbie McGregor took home a second race win in a row to extend his lead at the top of the drivers standings. Rounding out a consecutive 1-2-3 for the chassis team was Chris Scott & Aran Friel. Murray Thomson claimed P4 followed by Artur Pawlicki, Paul Atkinson & Calvin Turner.
After the podium celebrations, in the post race podium interview it was revealed the chassis team had agreed on Chris to lead a 1-2-3 for the team. Robbie’s 3rd lap overtake then being revealed as unexpected for Chris. Robbie apologised to the Chassis team for his actions but did mention that he couldn’t promise that it wouldn’t happen again. These revealing’s sounding like Red Bull’s Multi 21 fiasco in Malaysia back in 2013.
Driver of the Day goes to Rhys Miller of the Chassis team for his improvement and blistering fastest lap in the 2nd final. This adds to Rhys’s massive haul for the evening which means he managed to pick up more points than 3rd place from down in P9.
As the Drivers Standings go it’s Robbie McGregor who extends his lead to 55 points over Chris Scott who moves into 2nd place. Artur Pawlicki falls to 3rd. Murray Thomson retains 4th place with another consistent performance with Aran Friel chasing him down in the standings now climbing to 5th.
In the Teams Standings Chassis stretched their lead at the top of the table, they averaging a whopping 27.7 points per driver per event. Suspension follow with 21.1. The rest of the teams have their work cut out for them to catch up over the rest of the championship.
That was the last night of karting before we welcome in the new year, with the next event on an undecided date in January. It hopes to be an exciting new year of Karting where we will crown someone as GCU’s fastest driver.