Raceland’s indoor circuit was the venue for Round Three of EUMSC’s karting shenanigans with the less-than-impressive karts that probably saw action before Jacques Villeneuve started releasing ridiculous Quebecois folk-pop albums. The good ol’ days for our ears perhaps, but certainly not for the karts which have clearly spent a bit too much time on active duty. Accepterais-tu? Not these karts I’m afraid Jacques. The poor quality vehicles were an interesting variable that, coupled with the absence of three of the championships top six drivers, created an opportunity for new title challengers to stake their claims to the coveted accolade. And they wasted no time in doing so.

     Calum Hughes quickly reminded us of the damage he inflicted last year by driving to a comfortable victory from pole in Heat One and threw down the gauntlet for the evening’s fastest lap with an impressive 20.30 sec. Eren Ozdogan made an impressive season debut and turned heads as he ploughed through the field in this heat from seventh to second place.

For the rest of the report, click 'read more' or to check out the current championship table here.

Heat Two was a race dominated by the EUMSC veterans. Ian Munro won from pole while Richard Crozier skipped from seventh to fourth with ease. Scott Douglas kept his nose clean in finishing third behind an admirable performance from newcomer Christopher Thompson in second. Championship novices Alex Balfour, Nick Osborne and Arzu Ayyildie stood little chance against the heavy-weights but there is certainly no shame in being beaten by the best.

     Title contenders Stephen Walls and Sean Gibson showed that they were still very much in the running by racing to comfortable fourth and fifth places in Heat Three. But the action was to be found at the front of the grid as Bruce Holborn again floundered in the face of persistent pressure and fell from pole to third as Hughes shot past like a Hellfire missile on its way to a cave in Waziristan to win the heat, and Steven Campbell bludgeoned his way into second. Andrew Clarkson had a disappointing finish in last place after a spin ruined his likely second place finish.

     Current championship leader Pierre Nicolet had his first race in Heat Four and drove superbly from fifth to second, just missing out on taking first place from pole sitter Nick Roberts. Munro was poised to attack the top half of the field from his starting position in fourth, but a mid-race spin ended any hope of mounting a serious challenge and he finished in seventh place ahead of Ewan Leeming who couldn’t capitalise on his bad luck. Amongst the carnage, Kirsten Dallas kept a level head and netted third place, her best result of the evening.

     Ozdogan proved that his Heat One success was definitely not a fluke as he stormed from last on the grid to finish second in Heat Five. Crozier was the eventual winner as Wojciech Koziel struggled to hold on to his pole, sliding slowly down the field to finish in last. Nikos Lykakis and Mikhail Borozdin wasted no time in gaining places at Koziel’s expense, finishing in third and fifth respectively.

     Heat Six was rather uneventful apart from another disappointment for Clarkson as he fell from third place to seventh in a kart that refused to travel in a straight line. The field remained boringly static otherwise despite a close run fight at the front of the grid where Sean Gibson simply couldn’t get past an on form Finn Moore who took the chequered flag. 

     There was no shortage of action in Heat Seven with the running-order changing more times than the status of the British Grand Prix. Leeming started from pole but couldn’t hold off the relentless onslaught from Campbell and Lykakis who charged up the grid to take first and second place. Adam Corlett was in the thick of it aswell, fighting hard to retain his third place on the starting grid. Title hopeful Walls had a disappointing race starting and finishing in last place.

     It had only been a matter of time before Ozdogan took a heat win, and this was achieved in Heat Eight as he cruised from pole to an effortless victory. Further down the grid Moore overtook Crozier after a tense battle over second, and Douglas gained two places after snatching them form Holborn and a behind the pace Borozdin.

     Nicolet again showed his dominance by racing to a win in Heat Nine ahead of a blindingly quick Roberts and an ever-rapid Campbell. He remained under pressure throughout the heat and came close to Hughes’ standing fastest lap by posting a 20.54 sec. stunner. Newcomer Balfour managed to grab two places at the back of the field, fighting his way to a sixth place finish.

     Heat Ten pitted the two top placed men, Ozdogan and Hughes, against each other in a tense round of racing. Ozdogan fought hard to pass Lykakis and Osborne and secure second place, but Hughes was right on his tail and drove fantastically from last place to third. Walls stayed cool at the front and kept his front place start firmly underneath him as he posted the fastest lap of the heat and held Ozdogan and Hughes at bay.

     Douglas and Munro proved that they should never be forgotten about in Heat Eleven as they drove to first and third respectively. Munro’s result all the more impressive considering his last place slot on the starting grid. Corlett managed to hold off the veteran though and took second place after starting fifth. The casualty of the vicious infighting amongst the season karters was Stephen Mcay who fell from first to seventh place.

     Heat Twelve played host to a surprising turn of bad form from Campbell as he fell from a second place start to sixth at the finish. The winner from this was Balfour who used the commotion behind him to drive on to victory despite Nicolet once again charging around the track, desperately trying to catch the front-runner after passing the floundering Campbell, and completing another lap that came incredibly close to topping Hughes’ still standing fastest. Crozier was never far from the racing as he held his nerve and finished the final of the evening’s heats in third.

     With the Heats now completed it was time for the three Semi-Finals. Ozdogan was emerging as the evening’s fastest man and started Semi-Final One from pole ahead of Championship leader Nicolet, but he was clearly feeling the pressure as he was overtaken by both Nicolet and Lykakis and had to settle for third place. Further down the field experienced karters Clarkson and Corlett fought their way into fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Moore, Roberts and Balfour. 

     The line-up for Semi-Final Two was dominated by the EUMSC veterans. Hughes started from pole and was forced to defend against a stunningly fast Douglas who set a new fastest lap for the evening, 20.03sec, in his efforts to take first place. Behind them, Crozier, Campbell and Munro fought hard for third with Munro eventually triumphing. At the back of the field there was severe disappointment for Thompson who chose to retire his kart after discovering, the hard way, that his machine had malfunctioning brakes.   

     Semi-Final Three was full of action as the best-of-the-rest battled it out. Holborn started from pole but was quickly shown who the daddy was as Osborne flew past in the opening laps. A thrilling fight with Gibson then ensued for the remainder of the race with Holborn literally crossing the finish line inches ahead to clinch second place. Mcay raced hard to climb from sixth to fourth ahead of Borozdin, Koziel, Leeming and Ayyildie. 

     The evening’s Grand-Final now loomed as the racers lined up on the grid to the now clichéd sound of the strings of McVie and Buckingham. Ozdogan on pole, Hughes second, Nicolet third, Douglas, Lykakis, Crozier, Munro and Campbell filling up the rest of the grid. Hughes had a tough race sliding down the grid to seventh, fighting hard for each spot as he went. His tenacity allowed Ozdogan to build up a significant lead that no one could reduced enough as the laps were quickly completed. Douglas slotted himself comfortably into second place ahead of a charging Munro who fought his way up form seventh into third. Despite setting a flying new fastest lap of 19.99sec, Crozier had to settle for fifth place behind Campbell who wasn’t giving him any space to even think about passing. Nicolet, Hughes and Lykakis completed the field after racing as best as they could against the juggernauts of karting at the front.

     A superb evening of racing saw a new winner emerge in the shape of Eren Ozdogan who dominated the races. But even his stunning display of racecraft couldn’t dent Pierre Nicolet’s championship lead which, after his sixth place finish, now stands at a healthy 24 points as we go into Round Four of the EUMSC Karting Championship in January. 

To check out the current championship table here