THERE were spills and thrills at the first heat of the inter-company endurance karting competition, the Formula 2e2 Challenge. Although the weather was not kind at The Track as 36 competitors battled it out in Karting Guernsey’s new 45mph-plus Sodi karts, the action was high octane with all at the same spec.
The racing was tight and with a light drizzle coming down midway through the hour-long race, there were a number of spin outs with some machines careering off the circuit.
But no one was injured and it was apparent that everyone had had a lot of fun.
One of the competitors was island tennis star Stefan Cloete.
‘It’s brilliant,’ said the South African. ‘The track is a bit slippy and there were a few crashes. But it was great fun.’
The format is similar to the Le Mans 24-hour race, as nine teams of four drivers tried to get as many laps under their belts within one hour, with drivers swapping every 15 minutes.
This led to some exciting changeovers in the pits as drivers scrambled over each other to get in and out of the karts.
The team that was at the top of the podium at the end was the 2e2 Green team who notched up 120 laps, just one more than second-placed Trident Trust. Third-placed Loose Screws came home with 117.
With fourth-placed Heritage team, they will all now go through to the semi-finals.
‘I’m very pleased with the win,’ said 2e2 Green’s captain Jason Connolly.
‘It was quite exciting because there were so many different standards of drivers. It made for very interesting racing and it was a little bit damp so there were some points where you had to avoid some drivers.
‘It has been a lot of fun and there has been a good atmosphere.’
The race got under in cloudy conditions but the light drizzle did not come until after 30min of racing.
During the early stages, the drivers seemed to have difficulties negotiating the chicane on the first straight.
But during the spell of drizzle, the Press Box corner was the problem. A number of karts spun out in spectacular fashion to harmlessly stop in the grass bank.
The fastest lap of the round belonged to Heritage’s Grant Mitchenall with an impressive time of 26.23sec, breaking the track record in a Sodi kart by 0.1sec.
The Heritage director of financial risk had been in a Sodi kart only once before and that was last week in a practice session.
He recommended competitors to have a go before they took part in the event.
‘I just think the karts are
very good,’ he said.
‘They are balanced and they turn in very well. It was a really good night and it was really well run.’
He now looks set to qualify for the individuals final which will see the nine quickest drivers from the competition fight it out on Sunday 15 July, starting at 2pm.
‘I need to lose about two stone if I want to win it,’ he joked.
‘If someone sets a real quick lap like a second under, then no, I won’t win. But it’s all about consistency.’
Event organiser Marc Laine was a happy man at the end.
‘Tonight was a fantastic evening to kick-start the Formula 2e2 Challenge,’ he said.
‘The great thing was the performance of the karts. They were so even, so it was all about driving skill.
‘It really highlighted the skills of the individual drivers. We also had a range of conditions - it started dry then it got damp and then it dried off.
‘There was a bit of carnage here and there.
‘From the start of the race all the way to the chequered flag, the track was awash with adrenaline and testosterone-fuelled male and female drivers who threw caution to the wind to give their team the edge.’
Article posted on 19th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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