Week Fourty Three
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Sandown Park
Superchamps
SODI
Round 5 at Sandown Park in the SODI category brought about a thrilling race, particularly in the Lights division. Luka Nik made a strong start, establishing a significant lead early on. However, as the race progressed, his lead began to shrink, especially in the midsection.
The most exciting battle unfolded between Luka Nik and Jack Harrison, who had a remarkably close race. Behind them, Erti Sulko, Antonio Sholin, and Rafael Blanco Bush engaged in a fierce three-way battle, with positions constantly changing.
Unfortunately, Erti Sulko's race took a turn when he was spun around while trying to overtake backmarkers and fighting for position. He had to work hard to rejoin the battle with that group. Eventually, he managed to pass them and started closing the gap on the two leaders who were fiercely battling for first place.
Jack Harrison had managed to move ahead of Luka Nik in the final few laps, but an incident occurred as they made contact on the sixth corner, leading to both drivers spinning out. Jack Harrison pulled away in the lead once more as Luka Nik waited for Jack, waving him ahead. Then, in a dramatic twist, Luka managed to cross the finish line just three hundredths of a second ahead of Jack Harrison. It was a surprising and exciting conclusion as Luka Nik snatched the victory from Jack in the final moments.
DMAX
The DMAX race got off to a strong start, with Tom Brown and Karlis Elmanis making excellent getaways from the front row. They engaged in a close battle for the top spot, and things became even more intense as they encountered some backmarkers. Unfortunately, Tom Brown found himself stuck on the inside of the second corner, requiring assistance from the marshals. This setback cost him valuable time and handed the lead to Karlis. Tom dropped all the way to 9th place overall.
However, Tom displayed remarkable composure and skill, making a strong recovery drive that saw him climb back to fifth place. Karlis, with the lead firmly in his grasp, began to pull away from the pack.
In the DMAX category, the battle for third place unfolded as a fierce contest among Bobby Trundley, Henry Lopes Gracey, and Max Sheldon Heywood. These drivers were closely matched and fought hard for the position. Bobby Trundley had to work hard to pass the two lighter drivers who were engaged in their own duel. After a few laps, Bobby managed to secure second place overall and began to chase down Karlis. However, as both drivers encountered traffic, Bobby was unable to close the gap further, leaving around a 5-second difference between them at the end.
In the Heavy category, the race was a captivating showdown between Jamie Welsh and Justin Hammond, with frequent swaps in position. Jamie Welsh mostly led the way and eventually claimed second place in the Heavy category.
It's worth noting that Max Sheldon Heywood received a single-place penalty, affecting his final position in the race. Despite this, the race offered plenty of excitement and competitive driving.
In the end, Karlis Elmanis led the race from the front and secured a dominant victory. Bobby Trundley, the winner in the Heavy category, showed remarkable pace but couldn't quite catch up to Karlis. Tom Brown's recovery drive was commendable, as he managed to regain positions ahead of some other Heavy and Light drivers.
Milton Keynes
Thursday Night League (26th October)
On a windswept, cold, and damp Thursday evening we welcomed 24 drivers to the circuit for our sixth instalment of the SODI Thursday Night Sprint League, and 14 drivers joined us for the DMAX race. The track layout for this week was National, which cuts the traditional international layout in half, and gives the drivers a challenging double left-hand corner to negotiate before coming back to the final section of the lap.
In the SODI Race, it was very closely contested by James King and current championship leader Jimi Holder, who both fought hard to pass the lapped traffic, the race finished with just 0.555 of A SECOND BETWEEN THEM, James took victory from Jimi in second, Ash Chivers had another strong showing and collected third place and cemented his position as a front runner in the SODI championship.
Over in the DMAX category, Jack Stewart, Lee Schnitzler, Paul Studd, Barry Morris and Yousuf Bin-suhayl all looked poised to challenge each other for victory! Jack Stewart, fresh off a full 61-point round in SuperChamps, took pole and would go on to take victory by 17 seconds! Lee Schnitzler was able to benefit from a collision between Barry and Yousuf at the final corner of the final lap and take second position after a race long battle, Barry Morris completed the podium with a great showing.
InKart
Overnight rain has meant that the thirty-one drivers present for the fifth instalment of the Junior & Cadet InKart Championship had a greasy, unpredictable circuit to negotiate. This round proved to be a true test of driver skill and ability to handle changing track conditions and keep it on the road! We have surpassed the half way point in the season and the championships are beginning to take shape, and both leaders were present in the form of Blake Southan for the juniors, and Dexter Hazeldine for the Cadets.
In the ‘heats’ phase of the morning, all title contenders managed to take race victories with four different winners in the Junior category, Blake Southan would win Heat 1, Charlie Csepreghi won Heat 2, Jacob Csepreghi won Heat 3, and Louis Bishop claimed victory in Heat 4. In the Cadets, Alexander Karadzhov picked up victory in Heat 1, with Rayaan Malik returning to form and the top step for Heat 2, Gillen Townshend picked up an impressive, wet weather victory in Heat 3, and Caelen Keith struck back against Rayaan in Heat 4.
The ’B’ Final was, surprisingly, fairly tame, which is a testament to the quality of drivers for our InKart Championship, Tyler Rickard claimed victory in the Juniors, followed by Luca Dunford in second place, and Brandon Edwards in third. The Cadets saw Dexter Hazeldine take victory, followed by Richard Marks and Jacob Kent.
In the ‘A’ Final, there was drama right from the start, Arthur Caluch picked up a 3-position penalty after an incident on lap one, which meant his work was cut out for him during the race, but Arthur, pulled away from the battle behind between Zayn Perry, Ethan Anderson and Jacob Csepreghi. However, Louis Bishop took a phenomenal victory, 11.5 seconds clear of Blake Southan in second place, and Charlie Csepreghi. In the Cadet race, Alexander Karadzhov took a brilliant victory after driving very well all day, followed closely by Caelen Keith and Rayaan Malik, who had a very hard battle through-out the race.
The championships are wide open, Louis Bishop has closed in on Blake Southan at the top of the Junior standings, and Dexter Hazeldine and Gillen Townshend are making steady progress in the Cadets, Rayaan Malik and Caelen Keith still have a chance, after the drop rounds the scores will even out and it is all to play for!
Junior Sprint League
On a bright, sunny October morning we greeted 16 drivers back to lift the veil on the second half of the third season of Junior Sprint League this season. The three championship contenders were all in attendance. Blake Southan, Charlie Csepreghi and Jacob Csepreghi all looked focused and ready to take on the second half of the season. The track layout for today’s race was ‘Cliff-Drop’, which adds an off camber, challenging chicane between the seventh and eighth corner of the international layout, with damp conditions around the circuit from overnight rain, it really was all to play for.
In qualifying, Blake Southan set the pace with a 1:42.508 and was 0.355 of a second ahead of Solomon Adeniji who joined him on the front row. Jacob Csepreghi claimed third position, with Callum Franklin and Louis Bishop just behind. A surprise was Charlie Csepreghi who started only ninth after a difficult qualifying session. The ever-changing track conditions with a jumbled-up grid made for much excitement for the race!
In the race session, Blake Southan was able to master the tricky conditions and convert his pole position into the race victory, by fifteen seconds over Jacob Csepreghi in second place, and Callum Franklin in third, Louis Bishop was also able to move up into fourth, with Solomon having a tough race, and falling to fifth position. Blake Southan was able to claim maximum points for the third round in a row, as he also took the fastest time of a 1:36.433 which was over 1.5 seconds faster than any of his rivals.
Photos:
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