FRESHERS’ KARTING – Report
Traditionally EUMSC’s season-opening Freshers’ Karting has been described in glowing terms -
exciting, frenetic, often controversial, and above all a bloody good laugh. Yet it would not be without
exaggeration to say that this year’s event was perhaps the best ever. A mammoth 43 drivers (and a
limping Scott for moral support and pitlane totty) made met in surprisingly good time at 6pm sharp to
squeeze (just) into a variety of ably-chauffeured vehicles, ranging from a (borrowed) Porsche 911 to a
rickity Opel Corsa with a dodgy exhaust, to commence not only the 20 mile trek to the track, but also
the war which shall be waged over 6 races and 2 semesters – a war which shall crown the 2009-10
EUMSC Club Champion. The event, now beginning to find its spiritual home at Racing Karts
Livingston, would see a great mix of old hands showing how it‘s done, and some promising new talent
pushing its way to the fore. Many shone throughout the evening, but only one could walk away
victorious…
It was with this blend of experience that the evening’s racing got underway with Heat 1. With the
spectator fence lined from end-to-end with racers keen to see what the evening had in store, the lights
went green and last year’s “Dangerous Driver of the Year” (courtesy of some aerial acrobatics) Andrew
Clarkson stormed into the lead, heading a train of new hopefuls including David Chanturia, Antti
Makela, Stephen Walls, Alex Leppard, Marta Loman and Tomasz C. But after a somewhat slow start,
last year’s championship runner-up Richard Crozier was slowly but surely picking his way through the
field. In the dying laps he caught a relaxed Clarkson unawares, passing the lanky Lanarkshireman and
nipping away to take the first chequered flag of the season, and setting the initial pace with a fastest lap
of 19.55s.
Click ‘Read More’ for the rest of the report…
Photos from the night will be posted on the website and in the ‘EUMSC’ Facebook group but in the meantime check out the Championship Positions here. If you missed the first race, or didn’t do as well as you hoped, you still have a chance of winning the title as only your best 5 results contribute towards your final position.
Heat 2 was dominated by one man and one man only – the flying carrot-top himself, recent-graduate
Stevie Campbell. Streaking away from pole position, many on the sidelines were left remarking “who’s
that guy, he’s flying!” As indeed he was – the only man to break into the the 19s, he lapped all but two
other drivers en route to a commanding 12.69s margin of victory. Yet this heat would also give a taste
of the Fresher talent which would make its presence felt later in the evening – with Stefano Bonino and
Luc Warshaw rounding out the podium and staying on the lead lap, with Ewan MacMillan, Sam Gills,
Susanna Lia (turning in a respectable performance in her first ever time in a kart) and Finn Moore
rounding out the finishers.
In heat 3, continuing the trend of old hands leading the way was Scottish Ford Fiesta XR2 champion-
elect/multi EUMSC Driver of the Year Ian Munro. In a very high quality field, both Munro and last
year’s EUMSC Club Champion Calum Hughes battled their way through from the lower order to finish
1st and 3rd, just 2.25s separating them at the flag. But of greater importance was the man separating
them – local Livingston driver Euan Hunter turned in an impressive performance to give the pair a run
for their money, and would continue to impress throughout the evening. Similarly impressive was
Callum Thomson, recording a lap just 0.11s slower than Ian, but delayed by incidents to come home a
distant 4th. Just hanging onto the lead lap was that sly Bulgarian Lyubomir Yanev (or should I say
‘Yaner?’), with newcomers Antoine de Mautor and Andy Yule having mixed fortunes – de Mautor
giving Yanev a hard time, Yule struggling to get to grips with the kart and track, having several offs en
route to a DNF on what would sadly be his only outing of the evening.
If ever you needed proof at how much experience can mature a driver, Michael Stanyer provided it in
Heat 4. Occasionally erratic last season, the Aussie/Ulster/Irish/whatever-man put in a silky smooth
performance to take an 8.68s win, while Ford man Dan O’Neill battled through the field for 2nd,
breaking clear of a great tussle between Kirsten Dallas, Anton van der Stroom and man-of-infinite-
motorsport-knowledge Matt Holland, decided in Kirsten‘s favour, with only 0.64s separating the 3 at
the flag. The ever-entertaining Ewan Leeming came home 6th, with Tariq Nabi 7th, probably only as a
result of some malicious maneover by the Maths teacher, or something…
With 3 wins for the Scots and one for the <insert Mike’s chosen nationality here> so far, it was left to
Adam Corlett to strike back for the Manx, with an assured victory over the very impressive Pierre
Nicolet and Valtteri Hyvonen. Nick Roberts, Sean Gibson and Sam Main rounded out the finishers,
while island men sadly both headed and footed the standings, David Forrest failing to finish.
By this point many were hoping for the returning members’ stranglehold on victory to be broken, and
with 6 out of 7 drivers in Heat 6 being Freshers, things were looking good. And so it proved, with
Calum R taking the first newcomer win of the year, closely followed by Maxime Bielle, and the man
with the film start name, Jonny Jones in 3rd. Stephen McCay was 4th, Wojciech Kosiel striking a victory
for Poland over Germany by beating Nikolai Knopp to 5th, and Andrew Mooney in 7th.
‘Round 2’ for each batch of drivers commenced with Heat 7, a rematch effectively for the Heat 1 racers.
And it proved to have a similar outcome, with Crozier battling through from the midfield to take the win
ahead of Clarkson, but more of note was his fastest lap along the way. A 19.00s, a full 0.55 faster than
his previous benchmark, left many jaws agape as they stared at the timing screens, and would ultimately
not be beaten for the rest of the night. Alex Leppard put in a solid drive to take 3rd ahead of Bonino,
MacMillan, Tomasz C, Moore and Lia.
The most vivid example so far that ‘the new generation’ had truly arrived came in Heat 8 – last year’s
Freshers’ Karting star Calum Hughes waging a tremendous battle with the pretender to his crown, Euan
Hunter. In the end Calum’s experience shone through, but only by the tiny margin of 0.39s for the
closest finish of the evening so far, Euan right on his bumper at the flag. Nonetheless, keeping a
watching brief just behind was the equally impressive Makela, finishing just 2.48s down and with a
mid-19 to boot. Walls, Chanturia and Loman rounded out the finishers, all improving on their initial
laptimes.
Stevie Campbell again won at a canter in his second race in Heat 9, but more entertaining was the battle
for 2nd, with Callum Thomson delivering on the promise he showed in Heat 1, this time upstaging Ian
Munro to take the place, with Nicolet not far behind. Fellow Frenchman de Mautor was 5th, Warshaw
and Gills in close attendance.
Where earlier Hunter failed (just) to strike a blow against the old guard in his battle with Hughes,
Valtteri Hyvonen seemed determined that that would be no such repetition in Heat 10 – his calm but
firm defense of the lead under severe pressure from Stanyer earned him the victory by just 0.34s, and
had echoes of the ‘Iceman’ tag that so many of his compatriots have claimed over the years. Forrest
made up for his earlier DNF by coming through from the back to 3rd, his pink shirt looming large over
the shoulders of the lead duo at the flag. Controversial though was his fastest lap – supposedly equalling
Crozier’s 19.00 best, many shouted it out as a timing bug, but Forrest protesting it to be legit. Seeing as
who’s writing this article… keep dreaming Dave! Holland put in an impressive drive to 4th, avenging
his earlier defeat to Dallas by leading her, Main and Knopp to the flag, with 10.66s covering the field,
making it what would turn out to be the closest race of the night.
With the Scandinavians being the first mainland Europe to get off the mark, Yanev made sure to even
the score for the Balkans in Heat 11 – striding to a 6.27s win from a solid drive by Tariq Nabi, the two
men the only drivers in the race to break into the 19s. Van der Stroom came home 3rd ahead of Gibbs,
with Corlett disappointedly mired in the midfield in 5th, from Jones and Mooney.
Heat 12 marked the halfway stage, and a close race it was too – 7.58s covering the top 6 finishers. In the
end it was Dan O’Neill that got the nod from Callum R, with Kosiel nabbing the final podium spot just
ahead of Roberts, Bielle finishing a troubled 5th despite setting the fastest lap, and Leeming and McCay
bringing up the rear.
After his earlier impressive performances against the likes of Munro and Hughes, it seemed only a
matter of time before Euan Hunter claimed his first win. Heat 13 certainly didn’t prove unlucky for him
as he finally clinched it – and what a win it was too. With a 10s cushion built he cruised to the chequer,
while an equally flying Callum Thomson battled through the field to 2nd ahead of Makela. Hughes had a
troubled time of it to come home a disgruntled 4th, pursued by Chanturia, Warshaw and Loman, all
improving into the 20s.
Crozier made it a hat trick with another win in Heat 14, but with Hyvonen not too far behind. Bonino
lead home a frantic battle for 3rd, edging out MacMillan and Knopp, with Lia and Gills following home.
Perhaps spurred on by seeing his old rival Crozier racking up the wins, Ian Munro wasted no time in
doing the same in Heat 15 to take his second of the night, but Matt Holland continued his steady
improvement throughout the course of the night to take 2nd, just 2.49s to keep Munro honest. In a rather
spread out race, Bielle rounded out the podium followed by Clarkson, Gibson, Leppard and MacMillan.
Stevie Campbell became the second driver to make it 3 from 3, winning from Calum R and Yanev.
However, the race was most notable for being marred by the only red flag of the evening, to warn all
drivers over excessive contact, with particularly attention being paid to “the driver with the red helmet”
(*cough* Ewan *cough*). In spite of all the bumps, all the field made it to the end, with a steadily
improving de Mautor 4th ahead of van der Stroom, a certain Mr Leeming, and Roberts.
By this point it had been a while since the last time a Fresher led the field home, but Pierre Nicolet
bucked the trend in Heat 17. A confident display saw him pull away to win by 6.59s over the
experienced pair of David Forrest and Dan O’Neill. Nabi, Dallas, Moore and McCay followed the top
trio home.
Michael Stanyer continued his impressive form in Heat 18, though not quite as fast as earlier races he
still romped to an 11.75s win, taking advantage of the fact he had few experienced challengers up front.
Stephen Walls came through for his best result so far in 2nd, just pipping Adam Corlett by 0.28s. Kosiel
and Tomasz C had a fierce battle with lots of contact to claim bragging rights as top Pole, decided in
Wojciech’s favour, while mates Sam Main and Jonny Jones also had a good friendly battle for 6th.
In spite of all the other goings on of the evening, perhaps the most emotional and heartening moment
came in Heat 19. Driving the race of his life, Ewan Leeming took advantage of starting from the front,
broke away thanks to the carnage behind him, and by mid-race had established a commanding lead.
Older members both on the fence and watching the timing screens realised the historical significance of
the occasion, and were willing him on as he started his last lap – some praying, others in tears, others
too nervous to watch (NB. All of the above is hyperbole. But we were reasonably excited anyway). And
twenty long seconds later, he did it. Punching the air like he’d just won the world championship, his
screams from within the helmet drowned out the rest of the karts as he drove past the packed spectator
fence (and for those that are wondering, yes, the Doppler effect on a scream sounds seriously weird).
Leaping from his kart as he parked up in the pitlane, hugging his adoring fans (before realising this was
a little bit gay and ceasing immediately), the most tenacious of drivers sat down to contemplate that his
name had finally been etched on to the list EUMSC karting winners. Behind him it was MacMillan that
made it a Ewan 1-2, with Bonino edging out Leppard for 3rd by all of 0.23s at the line. Clarkson bested
Chanturia for 5th, with Mooney rounding out the finishers.
Where the previous heat saw an emotional win fuelled by history, Heat 20 perhaps gave us a glimpse of
the future. After his impressive performances in earlier races, including two 2nd places, Callum
Thomson rounded out his heats by taking his first EUMSC win, and convincingly so. Nick Roberts
finished an excellent second, his best race of the evening, while Matt Holland, though quicker at the end
of the race, was unable to find a way by. Pacesetter Stevie Campbell had an incident-filled race and
finished a disappointed 4th, having just nipped past van der Stroom in the closing laps, with Gills and
Lia following them home.
Up until this point the evening had yet to witness any good hard battles between last year’s established
front-runners. Heat 21 laid that to rest. Calum Hughes and Ian Munro both skilfully worked their way
through the field, with Hughes cheekily snatching the lead on a restart, never to be headed again. The
pair circulated almost the entire race nose-to-tail, providing a great spectacle and example to all other
watching drivers in how to race hard, close and clean. Euan Hunter further boosted his reputation by
keeping right on the tail of the lead duo, finishing just 1.48s down. Yanev too put in a good drive to 4th,
Dallas also lapping in the 19s for 5th, with Moore and Loman hanging on, in what was an exceptionally
fast field.
Heat 22 promised a repeat battle between some old heads, with Dan O’Neill, Mike Stanyer and David
Forrest all ready to make their mark in their last race of the day, but sadly it wasn’t to be quite such an
epic, as O’Neill got the break and drove to a safe victory, Stanyer leading Forrest across the line. Tariq
Nabi and Antoine de Mautor both put in great drives to keep the top three in sight despite having a
terrific battle, with Stephen Walls also keeping in touch.
After such demonstrations from the experienced members, Heat 23 saw an unprecedented Fresher 1-2-
3, Valtteri Hyvonen leading Pierre Nicolet and Sean Gibson to the flag, with Adam Corlett in 4th, the
top 4 separated by just 2.32s. Sam Main was 5th ahead of Warshaw, with Kosiel further back in 7th.
All eyes were on Crozier for the final Heat of the evening, Heat 24. Starting from pole position, could
he make it a clean sheet and win 4 from 4. It would take lot to stop him, but a field comprised entirely
of feisty Freshers’ were up to the task. As the lights went out – drama! Crozier’s kart’s clutch slipped,
the kart almost stalling, and his arm thrown aloft to warn the following drivers and marshals. But just as
it looked all was lost, the motor regained power and he was able to get going, and with his inside line to
T1 was miraculously able to maintain the lead. Determined to beat his own fastest lap from earlier and
become the first man to record an 18, he set off on a succession of qualifying-style laps, pulling out a
large lead in the opening laps. However it wasn’t to last. A slight rub when lapping Tomasz C late in the
race riled the Pole, with a revengeful lunge resulting in a hefty whack sending the leader spinning at T1,
and allowing a glimmer of hope for the rest of the field. However, such was the size of the lead he had
build up that he was able to rejoin and still cruise home to a 4.28s win, taking the maximum 36 points,
if only for the sake of bragging rights. Of more significance as far as the Final was concerned was the
battle for runner’s up spot – with Hyvonen’s defeat of compatriot Nicolet still fresh in his mind, Maxime
Bielle took revenge for the French by beating Makela. Behind them followed the closest finish of the
evening, Callum R edging Jones at the line by inches – 0.10s! Knopp bested Tomasz for 6th, with
McCay 8th in one of the larger fields of the evening.
And so, after 24 races of gruelling ‘qualifying’ races, the older members stepped aside and took their
places on the fence to watch the top 6 Freshers duke it out for the title of Freshers’ Karting Champion
2009-10. And what a field it was – some drivers that have already proven themselves worth adversaries
of some of the best drivers the club has to offer, not to mention one of the most international fields seen
in years – 3 Brits, 2 French, a Finn and an Italian. The expectations were that this would be the
showdown to end all showdowns, and so it proved… Hyvonen lead away from pole position, the field
racing through the first corner complex with the minimum of incident, displaying maturity as well as
their proven speed. Settling down into a very close train early on, the top 3 began to edge away ever so
slightly, right on each others bumpers – Hyvonen from Nicolet and Hunter. Nicolet was visibly a little
faster than Hyvonen, but the Finn displayed the same calmness under pressure, driving a fast but
defensive line, making no mistakes and leaving the two behind little chance to edge through. Eventually
Nicolet knew he had to pounce, and duly did so, but in doing so lost momentum and allowed Hunter
through. With Nicolet attempting to regain composure, Hunter picked his moment beautifully and made
a decisive pass on Hyvonen for the lead. Nicolet was quickly back in contention, and proceeded to
renew their battle from Heat 23. Eventually this was resolved in Nicolet’s favour, but meanwhile
upfront Hunter had got his head down and pumped in the fast laps in clean air when it mattered, and the
race was all but over. Hunter streaked away to a richly deserved, mature and highly tactical win, with
Nicolet and Hyvonen worthy podium-sitters. Behind the lead battle Bielle lead Bonino home for 4th,
with the two Cal(l)um’s, R and Thompson, rounding out a very impressive field.
And so it was. After a long and hard evening, fully of tension, drama and emotion, Euan Hunter
emerged from all the chaos as a worth Freshers‘ Karting Champion. Impressive performances were put
in by both Freshers and returning members alike, and above all everyone had a fantastic time, and with
such a large field the event delivered on its billing as perhaps the best Freshers’ Karting of all time.
But this is just the beginning. As the first event in a six-round championship, the Freshers are off to a
flying start on their quest to become EUMSC Club Champion. But from the next round onwards, the
returning members will be out to stamp their mark, and show the newcomers who’s boss. Will they
succeed? Will the French ever surrender to the Finns? And have the floodgates now opened for Ewan
Leeming to rack yet more victories? Join us next month to find out!
