New Karts were an awesome success on track

1 hour Enduro Light Division

Good Evening and welcome back to Kingston Park Raceway tonight we kick off the 2020 1-hour endurance season with round 1 around our 1100m Le Mans track. We had some of our last season regulars eager to make an impact early in the season with last years series winner Robert Dair very keen to repeat last years round one effort where he took out the win, that was also the only round he manage to win with the rest just being super consistent and never letting to many points slide. Andy Barber was very keen to start the season off with a bang as well being a fierce competitor in all our race events here at the raceway. Last years 2^nd place getter in the series Dylan Jones was also making his presence know he would also like to try and get a win which he is still yet to do and you can almost call him Mr 1 hour himself Daniel Martin who competed in 3 out of the 5 events last year and won all 3 of them and also held the lap record around the track for quite some time. The 1 hour race can sometimes be more of a war than a race if that’s the case tonight Harrison Dietrich the young army soldier will be in his element but he has reported he has been feeling a bit under the weather the last few days so he might be at war with himself as well as others on track.

With the new Schumacher karts ready to hit the grid everyone was very eager to get in and get going for qualifying and show they have what it takes to win this race. With eager eyes and some cameras out on track to capture the action in qualifying everyone was getting their game faces on for this one. Dylan Jones took the early lead in qualifying setting a 62.410 with Josh Wiffen just behind with a 62.488. Some of our veterans where taking a while to come to grips with the new karts with Daniel Martin, Harrison Dietrich and Robert Dair all failing to get into the top 3 Andy Barber was also having his hands full but on the very last lap of qualifying he rocketed up to pole position with a 62.117 with just only 10 seconds to spare wow he was cutting a fine line there.

With the race ready to get underway race control got everyone briefed up with the rules explained the kart change over procedure for all the drivers and made the rules of racing very very clear before getting tonight’s event underway. With some of the new track changes made the track is now not friendly to drivers running wide of corners or making mistakes with the new run offs drivers will now find themselves running off track if they do run out to wide or onto the dirty parts of the track which they will need to become accustom to since finding themselves stuck in the grass is just going to kill their chances of winning tonight’s event.

As the drivers set off for their formation lap, they all bunch up as they make their way around the track, they all get into formation as they make their way through the last 2 corners and as the lights go green they are off! Andy Barber gets thru the first corner first having to defend hard from Dylan Jones who wants to make a move for 1^st early Daniel Martin has found himself into 3^rd from 4^th in the first lap and Robert Mortensen has jumped a bunch of spots early on from 10^th. As they come down to complete their first lap Dylan Jones is hounding Andy Barber for the lead but Andy is defending hard he isn’t prepared to give up the lead early Daniel Martin sees this as an opportunity to run these 2 down but last years champion Robert Dair is all over the back of him he wants to win the first round 2 years in a row he gives out roadworthy certificates by day race go karts by night what a life. Within the first 5 minutes of the race we see Dylan Jones try to make a move on Andy Barber into turn 5 but Andy covers Dylan has a run through 6 now into turn 7 he’s going to have to go the long way around here but it works as they get to turn 7 he has him covered and what’s this Daniel Martin gets through as well sweeping around the outside at turn 7 having the inside line at turn 8 to take 2^nd Andy in the space of 2 corners has gone from 1^st to 3^rd. As we get further into the race Daniel Martin has bolted from the pack Dylan Jones is trying to stay in touch but Robert Mortensen is in hot pursuit of him he has moved passed Andy Barber and Robert Dair who are left to fight over 3^rd and 4^th with Harrison Dietrich not far behind. The pit window is now open for drivers to come in and do their mandatory kart change over and Andy Barber tries to make the most of it and comes in but he has a competitor to his left that doesn’t want to come in he’s boxed in he has to bale on that idea and keep going he was almost turned right around in the process. Harrison Dietrich on the other hand by being behind that little battle was able to come in and get a clean service with Robert Dair joining him as well. These 2 regular competitors did very good change overs and got back out there to continue their battle which I don’t know about you but I would rather not be battling right now in this pit stop sequence since it gives your opponents the chance to over or under cut you in the pits. As always the pits become a very very crazy place to be in the early stages Daniel Martin knows this all to well and is trying to run long as he usually does Andy Barber now gets a clean opportunity to come in which he missed before so he takes it comes in and does one of the quickest stops we have seen tonight only just about 2-3 seconds in the clear of the 60 second time barrier. Robert Mortensen is really making some head way he has passed Dylan Jones for 2^nd and now is in the lead since Daniel Martin has decided to come in for his stop although he is over 20 seconds in the lead so a big stuff up or a mechanical will be the only thing to stop him from taking a commanding victory. Robert Mortensen has decided to come in for his stop one of the last drivers to do his stop but he has gotten a bit confused at what to do by the time he is ready to go he has gone over the 60 seconds by almost 50 seconds that’s putting him well down the order now he will struggle to get onto the podium now. Dylan Jones comes in just in time before the window ends he stays in a little longer than he should about 12 seconds longer and he comes out in 3^rd just behind Andy Barber who has found a lot of pace in the last half of this race although Daniel Martin is still the quickest on track just driving away from the field he is 30 seconds ahead of Andy now. We have about 15 minutes left and Andy Barber and Dylan Jones have been in an epic battle for 2^nd for quite a while now with lap traffic getting involved neither can get away from the other as they come out of the last corner Dylan Jones is as close to Andy Barber as he has been all race tries to make a move down the inside but Andy goes to cover but it’s a little to late Dylan is already there they make contact almost taking each other off track but they just save it. They get back up to racing speed again and about 3 laps later Dylan makes his move Andy was holding on for so long but just couldn’t stop the onslaught that Dylan was giving him but we know Andy there is still 10 minutes left and with the lap traffic around the track the battle for 2^nd is still on here. Every lap the gap changes one lap Dylan Jones is a little bit ahead but then they catch lap traffic and Andy Barber is right on his tail again with Harrison Dietrich in 4^th he could pick up some scraps here but these 2 are just that bit to far ahead and with Robert Dair a bit behind Harrison in 5^th this is the battle to watch. Every race marshals’ eyes are on it neither Andy nor Dylan are giving an inch they are both going for it. With only 5 minutes to go Dylan Jones get caught up big time Andy now has his best opportunity, but Dylan just gets passed the lap kart meanwhile Andy gets stuck for about 3 corners. By the time Andy Barber gets passed the slower kart Dylan Jones has put another kart between the 2 of them I think that’s the nail in the coffin folks and with the last lap to go our intention goes back to Daniel Martin who has now hit the cruise control button a few laps ago he drove passed the pitlane giving the one finger symbol asking race control if he was in first they gave the thumbs up and I think from that moment he knew it was his to lose.

Coming down the straight to take the chequered flag Daniel Martin wins it by over 45 seconds over Dylan Jones in 2^nd who just edges out Andy Barber for 2^nd by just 2 seconds. Harrison Dietrich comes home in 4^th after not only battling the drivers but himself an absolutely super human effort from him good to know we have people like him defending our country and finishing 5^th our reigning champion Robert Dair he will have his work cut out for him if he wants to win this championship that’s for sure.

1^st Daniel Martin

2^nd  Dylan Jones

3rd  Andy Barber

Fastest lap of the night honours did go to Dylan Jones though with a 61.216

Well that concludes our first round in the lightweight category for the 1 hour enduro Daniel Martin takes an early lead in the championship with that win as he goes for championship glory this year but he has some very stiff competition with Dylan Jones only 2 points behind in 2^nd and Andy Barber sitting in 3^rd. If you think you have what it takes though to be on the top step of our coca cola podium and can take on our 1100 metre le mans track make sure you get your name down for round 2 for our 1 hour enduro challenge until than I hope you all have one hell of a day out!

Entries for round 2 on the 23^rd April 2020 are now available on line