Club Champs Round 2 (Clubsport 120)
25 August 2011
Despite a shocking forecast that included rain, sleet and freezing cold southerlies, an excellent field of 17 hardy Raketeers turned up for the second round of Kartsport Manawatu's four-round club champs, held on 14 August. The field included six drivers new to Raket racing - welcome to Glenn Evans, Daniel Sloan, Aaron Walker, Philip Griffiths, Jamie Holtham and Ashley Higgins. It was great to see Keith Donovan from Taranaki join us, once again using the excuse that he had popped across to Palmy to visit the grand children!
Practice was dry however the heavens opened 20 minutes before the first race and the scramble was on to get the wets on and any set-up changes made that could be squeezed in. It was at about this time that several of our new Raketeers realised that a rain suit would be a handy addition to the equipment list...they looked bloody cold by the end of the day! There was some great racing enjoyed throughout the field during the day. Of note, there were no major engine issues throughout the day, and everyone seemed to escape damaged stub axles, rear axles and side pods - a good effort for 17 karts on a very wet day!
Shaun Clark narrowly beat Peter Dicks into first overall for the day, closely followed by Peter Sarjeant, Henri Ham, and Brent Robinson, all three of whom showed excellent pace and consistency throughout the day. It was great to see John Paddy turn up for a rare club day. JP was right on the pace, but DNFs in the first two heats hurt his points tally, leaving him in sixth place for the day. Andrew Managh, a recent arrival to the Raket ranks, had a great run throughout the day to finish seventh overall.
The drive of the day came from new racer Glenn Evans in heat two. In his first race meeting, and having driven in the rain for the first time only 45 minutes earlier (in heat one), Glenn drove through the field from his 12th place starting position to finish in a fine fourth place, setting the third fastest lap of the race along the way. Glenn finished the day in an excellent eighth place, and was closely followed by Dan, Ashleigh and Aaron, who quickly got to grips with the wet conditions - an outstanding effort from our newest Raketeers in their first meeting.
Andrew Worth, Marcel Stiefel and Kevin Groves filled the next three positions, followed by Jamie and Philip. Despite looking like a drowned rat at the end of the day, Phil had a big smile on his face and had certainly had a great time! Keith Donovan rounded out the field, deciding after the third heat that the Manawatu weather was a bit wild for him and that maybe he would visit the grand kids after all!
Club Champs at end of round 2 - 1st Shaun Clark 11, 2nd Peter Sarjeant 22, 3rd Peter Dicks 23
YouTube footage at:-