Anglesey 9th/10th May
UK Cup Round 3 and 4 - MSA British Superkart Championship
Round 3 and 4 - BSA Div1 National Superkart Championship
Round 1 and 2 - BSA 125 Open National Championship
Qualifying and Results.
Report by Rob Willshire
This was the second visit to the circuit. Last year we all
were in Tee Shirts and shorts. This year it was jackets and hats. On the Friday
test we had horizontal hail. Saturday proved to be slightly better. No rain but
30 mph winds leaving Sunday to be fine. The drivers were out on the 1.55 mile
Coastal circuit for this meeting and for the drivers who visited in 2008 it was
the preferred layout with some challenging turns, quick fast curves and the cork
screw which all the drivers love. You have to driver it to get the feel.
Anglesey
is a well kept secret that drivers really enjoy from Cars, Bikes and Karts. Ben
Clucas FIA GT Racer and Ex Karter raced there recently in a car and he enjoys
the layout.
The first 2 races of each day were for championship points
and the Race 3 was a battle for the prestigious UK Cup, the winner of which can
take pride in racing with the number "0" for the remainder of the year
Saturday was for the 125 Opens, 210 Nationals and the 250 Clubman's classes and
Sunday followed the same format but was for the MSA British Championship 250
National class and the 250 Division 1 class.
BSA 125 Open
Superkart National Championships
The 125 British Superkart Championship campaign started
this weekend on the Anglesey Coastal Circuit in
North Wales
. With Paul Platt moving to the 250 class it was going to be a new era in the
class. Would it be the Louise Colin the lady from Swindon at the front or Danny
Edwards from
Chester
, last years 125 ICC champion who has moved to the open class or James Irvine
from
Northern Ireland
who was the defending UK Cup holder.
It was soon evident that the front runners were Colin,
Edwards and Ben Willshire. It was good to see Lee Morgan back in the class after
returning from his crash in
Germany
last year. James Irvine was struggling down in 7th. The top 3 in 125 open would
have been 10th, 11th and 12th on the 250 grid so they were on the pace. So it
was Colin with a 1.10:51, Edwards 1.11:85, Willshire 1.11:87, Morgan 1.12:13 and
Butler
5th on the grid with a 1.12:27.
A heavy down poor just before Race 1 meant the grid would
be starting on wet tyres but the track was soon starting to dry thanks to the
coastal breeze over the undulating Anglesey circuit. Willshire made a good
start, taking to the outside of Turn 1 and manoeuvring his way into 2nd by at
the Turn 2 hairpin but it was not to last long as Danny Edwards regained his
position coming out of the banked hairpin and onto the fast section of circuit
leading to Church corner. Edwards and Colin then began to pull a gap on
Willshire as the whole field began to struggle for grip from the wet weather
tyres on a now completely dry circuit. Willshire eventually crossed the line in
a solid 3rd place some 14 seconds behind Edwards and Colin but with a
comfortable 4 second lead over Lee Morgan in 4th. Talking to some of the drivers
it could have been a brave move to go on slicks. Even though the front tyres
were completely shot there were still patches of water that could catch you out
on the first 8 laps. The last 2 laps was a tyre preservation task as the circuit
had dried very quickly.
1
Danny EDWARDS F1/TM
2
Louise COLIN Anderson/Pavesi
3
Ben WILLSHIRE Anderson/SGM
4
Lee MORGAN Raider/SGM
5
Danny BUTLER F1/TM
6
Jason KITCHIN F1/TM
Fastest
Lap – Danny Edwards 1.16:03 (73.39 mph)
Race 2 didn't offer any confusion over tyre choice. The
track had now dried completely.
There was some bumping at the start when Willshire made a quick getaway from 3rd on
the grid only to have the door shut firmly in his face by Edwards which resulted
some bunching at the back. Willshire relegated back to 9th after the hairpin. At the
end of the first lap it was Edwards, Morgan, Colin,
Butler
, Kitchin, and Willshire in 10th.
By the end of lap 2 Willshire had disposed of Martyn
Turner to take 9th and was on a charge to regain his lost positions. Chris
Needham was next on Willshire's list and by lap 4 he was up into 8th and
following closely behind Ian Ried, Jason Kitchen and Daniel Butler. Out at the
front Lee Morgan was still leading. Louise Colin had taken 2nd and Edwards was
back to 3rd. Over the next few laps it was a case of trading places
between Kitchen, Willshire and Butler. On laps 7 the lead changed with Morgan
dropping to 2nd.
But behind the scrap between Butler, Kitchen and Willshire
With James Irvine having mechanical problems and Ian Ried
disposed of, Willshire was now in 4th and closing in on Race 1 winner Danny
Edwards who he managed to pass on the start of the last lap and take home a well
deserved 3rd place finish behind Louise Colin in 1st and Lee Morgan 2nd. The
racing was close, clean with action wherever you looked.
1
Louise COLIN Anderson/Pavesi
2
Lee MORGAN Raider/SGM
3
Ben WILLSHIRE Anderson/SGM
4
Danny EDWARDS F1/TM
5
Ian REID F1/TM
6
Chris
NEEDHAM
Gold/VM
Fastest
Lap – Louise Colin 1.09:22 (80.61 mph)
The first two races of the day were point scoring races
for Rounds 1 & 2 of the National Championships.
Race 3 was a battle for the prestigious UK Cup, know as
the '0' plate, the winner of which can take pride in racing with the number 0
for the remainder of the year. Defending UK Cup winner James Irvine had a
torrid time in the championship races and was looking for a better result in the
UK Cup race.
The start was clean with Colin leading the first lap with
Lee Morgan in 2nd. Behind the pack was close and places changing all the time.
Chris Needham on an ICC outfit was among the pack and using the slipstream to
keep with the opens. Over the next few laps it was Colin, Morgan and
Butler
. 4th, 5th and 6th positions changing hands every corner.
On lap 5 the lead changed with Morgan in 1st and Colin in
2nd. Behind it was anyone's race.
Butler
had been demoted from 3rd to 7th. Kitchin in 3rd with Willshire in 4th. On the
last lap Willshire took 3rd but
Needham
who had been watching caught Willshire while he deposed the
Isle of Man
driver Jason Kitchin. Over the line it was Morgan, Colin, Needham (ICC),
Willshire and Kitchin in 5th. Good close, clean racing is what we needed
and that's what we got. Who said 125 open was dead and wouldn't last
!!!
1
Lee MORGAN Raider/SGM
2
Louise COLIN Anderson/Pavesi
3
Chris
NEEDHAM
Gold/VM
4
Ben WILLSHIRE Anderson/SGM
5
Jason KITCHIN F1/TM
6
Danny EDWARDS F1/TM
Fastest
Lap – Lee Morgan 1.09:06 (80.80 mph)
BSA 210 Challenge
The 210 driver were at the back of the 125 grid with the
250 challenge karts some 30 seconds behind on a split start. There were 5 out in
qualifying with Simon Bateman putting in a 1.20:57 (69.26 mph) Bob Pooley and
Don Thompson chasing hard for the pole.
Bateman made a text book start in race 1 and was pushing
some of the 125’s off the start. Don Thompson was following closely behind
with Charles Morris in 3rd. By lap 3 the 250 challenge karts were in amongst the
120’s which then split the pack. Bob Pooley was suffering with tyre problems
and had dropped off the pace and was cruising. This proved to sensible as on lap
6 Morris dropped out. By the end of the race it was Bateman, Thompson, Plain and
Pooley.
1
Simon BATEMAN Anderson/Nameta
2
Don THOMPSON Swift/Villiers
3
Lee PLAIN (R) Anderson/Villiers
4
Bob POOLEY Anderson/BPV
Fastest
Lap – Simon Bateman 1.22:82 (67.38 mph)
For race 2 the battle in the 210 was reversed and Thompson
lead Batmen with Pooley chasing in 3rd for the whole race. Only 3
finished.
1
Don THOMPSON Swift/Villiers
2
Simon BATEMAN Anderson/Nameta
3
Bob POOLEY Anderson/BPV
Fastest
Lap - Lee PLAIN (R) Anderson/Villiers 1:16.49 (72.95
mph)
The grid for the UK Cup we had five 210 Nationals which
were running of the back of the 125 Opens. Morris lead for the first 3 laps with
Batman chasing hard. Morris pulled off with Bateman taking up the mantle.
Following behind were Pooley, Thompson and Plain.
1
Simon BATEMAN Anderson/Nameta
2
Bob POOLEY Anderson/BPV
3
Don THOMPSON Swift/Villiers
4
Lee PLAIN (R) Anderson/Villiers
Only
4 finished
Fastest
Lap - Charles MORRIS Anderson/DMV 1:17.33 (72.16 mph)
BSA 250 Clubman
Challenge / 250 Masters
The 250 challenge and masters grid was bolstered by some
of the 250 National drivers so the paces was going to be fast. In qualifying
James tucker had topped the times and we noticed this gave the drivers a bench
mark. The fastest challenge driver was Paul Platt and the Fastest Masters Driver
was James Tucker. Some drives were having a busy weekend as they were registered
for the Challenge / Masters and in the MSA Championship races on Sunday.
Starting 30 seconds behind the 125 Opens and 210 Nationals
gap was going top prove crucial. Most drivers had elected to go on slicks. Were
they going to be fighting the 125 leaders as they came to the line?
The start was clean but out of sight something happened and the pole
Tucker sitter was way down the field in 6th by the end of Lap 1.
The fight was on and Tucker set about catching the leaders. Over
the line on the first lap it was Platt, Tuckley, O’Reilly, Clarke, Goodliffe
and Tucker. The order didn’t change until lap but Platt was edging out a gap
every lap and had managed to put some 125 and 210 in between himself and the
chasing 250’s. Tucker had started
to climb back up the leader board on Lap 5 disposing of Goodliffe. O’Reilly
had managed to close the gap on Platt and the pack was closing. Platt then upped
the anti and started to use the back markers well. But so was Tucker. He quickly
disposed of Clarke and Tuckley. Over the line it was Platt, O’Reilly and
Tucker.
1
Paul PLATT PVP/Honda
2
James OREILLY PVP/Honda
3
James TUCKER Jade/Honda
4
Keith TUCKLEY Anderson/Honda
5
Darran SMITH Anderson/Honda
6
Andrew CLARKE Anderson/Rotax
7
Martin GOODLIFFE (R) Raider/Honda
8
Mark VAUGHAN Anderson/Honda
Fastest
Lap James TUCKER 1:13.00 (76.44 mph)
With a dry circuit race 2 was going to be interesting. The
125 Opens and 210 nationals would definitely come in to play. Off
the line it was Platt and Tucker setting the pace. Behind the scrap was between
Tuckley, Vaughan, Clarke, Goodliffe. Jon Neville had been dropped at the start
but was putting in some quick laps back in 7th. By lap 3 Neville was
in 3rd and pulling away from the pack. Out in front it was still
Platt and Tucker. On lap 8 Tucker slipped in to the lead and kept the lead to
the flag with Platt and Neville behind.
1
James TUCKER Jade/Honda
2
Paul PLATT PVP/Honda
3
Jon NEVILLE Anderson/Honda
4
Sam MOSS Anderson/Honda
5
Mark VAUGHAN Anderson/Honda
6
Keith TUCKLEY Anderson/Honda
Fastest
Lap - James
TUCKER 1:05.66 (84.98 mph)
The final race of the day was a re-run of the battle
between Platt and Tucker. The rearguard being Clarke and Goodliffe. Richard
Dewart who had been having some problems during the day manage to finish the
final race in 5th so not a complete waste of a trip from
Northern Ireland
.
1
James TUCKER Jade/Honda
2
Paul PLATT PVP/Honda
3
Andrew CLARKE Anderson/Rotax
4
Martin GOODLIFFE (R) Raider/Honda
5
Richard DEWART Anderson/Honda
6
Paul FOWLER Anderson/Honda
Joint
fastest lap
Matthew
BETT Anderson/Honda 1:04.58 (86.40 mph)
James
OREILLY PVP/Honda 1:04.58 (86.40
mph)
Sunday
MSA British
Superkart Championships for 250 National Superkarts
Qualifying took place on a drying circuit with many of the
drivers electing to take to the track later in the session. Teenager James
Tucker headed the field for most of the session but last years 125 Open
Champion, Paul Platt, eventually topped the time sheets with a 1.05:65.
(85.00mph) with a gap of 0.4s over Tucker. James O’Reilly was 3rd with Craig
Fleming in 4th with defending champion, Jason Dredge back in 7th. Gavin Bennett
was back in 11th. Gavin recently won both opening rounds of the FIA-CIK Division
1 European Superkart Championship at Magny Cours and was expected to do well in
the MSA 250 National class.
The 250 National were sharing the circuit with the 250 Div
1 Superkarts. The starts were 30 seconds apart allowing the grids space to have
there own race.
Platt and Tucker were side by side off the line in Race 1
with both drivers giving no quarter. Tucker and Platt battled it out for 3 laps
before Tucker got the better of Platt on the exit of Church and stretched his
lead. On lap 4 O’Reilly joined the party, demoting Platt to 3rd momentarily
but from lap 5 onwards Tucker and Platt put daylight between the rest of the
pack. The battle behind was lead by Sam Moss was in 3rd place followed by Daniel
Clarke, Dredge, Fleming, O’Reilly all finishing within 1.5 seconds and a few
seconds behind was Gavin Bennett.
Results
1
James TUCKER (Jade/Honda)
2
Paul PLATT (PVP/Honda)
3
Sam MOSS (Anderson/Honda)
4
Daniel CLARKE (Anderson/Honda)
5
Jason DREDGE (Anderson/Honda)
6
Craig FLEMING (Anderson/Honda)
Fastest
Lap James Tucker 1:04.04 (87.13mph),
Tucker dominated Race 2 with an outstanding drive to take
the win by almost 10 seconds. Off the line it was Tucker, Moss and Platt. Platt
moved in to second on lap 3 with Dredge following Platt through demoting Moss to
4th. Dredge was back on form, taking 2nd place from Platt on lap 8. Sam Moss
held 4th fending off Daniel Clarke who took 5th. Our Thruxton winner Fleming
unfortunately retiring on lap 8. Bennett was out on lap 3 a disappointing
weekend for the pair.
1 James TUCKER (Jade/Honda)
2 Jason DREDGE (Anderson/Honda)
3 Paul PLATT (PVP/Honda)
4 Sam MOSS (Anderson/Honda)
5 Daniel CLARKE (Anderson/Honda)
6 Matthew BETT (Anderson/Honda)
Fastest Lap James TUCKER
(Jade/Honda) 1.04:31 (86.77mph).
The UK Cup race was a different matter for James Tucker
and Fleming. Craig Fleming was not at the starts and Tucker didn't make a lap
and pulled in to the pit lane. Luckily this was not for championship points.
Paul Platt made a good start and by the end of the first
laps in the lead. The on lap 3 it was all change. O'Reilly made his move with
Dredge and Bett following O'Reilly through leaving Platt back in 4th. Sam
Moss was pushing Platt hard all the way to the line. Back in the pack it
was Daniel Clarke leading home Jon Neville, Don Kennedy and Martin Goodliffe in
9th. After lap 6 the race was already in the bag for James O’Reilly
as he kept his head and who will now have the “O” for the year.
1
James OREILLY PVP/Honda
2
Jason DREDGE Anderson/Honda
3
Matthew BETT Anderson/Honda
4
Paul PLATT PVP/Honda
5
Sam MOSS Anderson/Honda
6
Daniel CLARKE Anderson/Honda
Fastest
Lap - James TUCKER Jade/Honda
1:05.40 (85.32 mph)
BSA 250 Division 1
Superkart National Championships
The 11 “Twins” were depleted due to a race in
Europe
the following weekend. However it didn’t deplete the quality of drivers. We
had some of the best drivers in
Europe
out on the circuit. Malcolm Crowe threw the gauntlet down in Qualifying with a
1.04:37. Current National Champion Dave Harvey taking second on the grid. The
“Twins would start on the back of the 250 MSA class.
The start wasn’t the cleanest I have seen with
Bagley and Kinsey coming together in turn 1 when Steve McAdam got out of shape.
This split the runners in to 2 packs. Out in front was for the first lap was
Crowe. Behind the scrap for second was hard fought and places were changing
hands several times.
Harvey
overhauled Crowe with Hulme following him through on lap 2. It seems that
places were changing several times coming out of Church on the run up to the
tight laft hander at Rocket. The mechanics on the pit wall were really enjoying
the scrap. Owens was settling down by lap 4 and moved in to 2nd
behind Hulme. For the last laps it was Hulme, Owens, Crowe and Harvey.
1
Carl HULME Anderson/FPE
2
Mark OWENS ADE/DEA
3
Malcolm CROWE Anderson/FPE
4
Dave HARVEY Anderson/FPE
5
Steve WHITE PVP/FPE
Fastest
Lap - Malcolm CROWE Anderson/FPE 1:04.21 10 86.90
The second race for the twins was a race of attrition
with only 4 out of the 10 starters finishing the race.
Owens was away from the line with Hulme chasing. On lap 4 Hulme managed
to pass Owens. Then it was
Harvey
’s turn to pass Owens. On the last few laps the attrition rate increased and
at the line it was Hulme, Dickinson, McAdam and Bagley. Owens pulling off just
yards from the line with a blown engine.
1
Carl HULME Anderson/FPE
2
John DICKINSON Anderson/PVP
3
Stephen MC ADAM ADE/FPE
4
Neil BAGLEY PVP/Rotax
Fastest
Lap - Carl HULME Anderson/FPE 1:03.32 (88.12 mph) - Outright Lap Record for the
Coastal Circuit.
The UK Cup race for the “Twins was all change except
for Hulme how proved to be the man to beat. Steve white and Paul Kenning who in
races 1 and 2 had been suffering from performance issued seemed to have solved
the issues and were on the pace from the start. Kinsey who had 2 DNFs was also
on form. Hulme lead from Flag to Flag winning the O plate in style. Behind the
drivers were trading places every lap with White taking 2nd at the
line with Kennings in tow.
1
Carl HULME Anderson/FPE
2
Steve WHITE PVP/FPE
3
Paul KENNINGS Anderson/FPE
4
Carl KINSEY Anderson/Rotax
5
John DICKINSON Anderson/PVP
Fastest
Lap - Mark OWENS ADE/DEA 1:03.49 (87.89 mph)
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