All day things had been looking promising. The weather was now improving and the threat of rain had passed. It was building up to being an epic round of the EUMSC karting championships.  

The evening began with the customary safety briefing, and once the two stragglers arrived we were ready to get the evening’s racing underway. The first heat was a fairly close fought encounter, giving us an idea of what to expect from the rest of the evening, as Ian Munro and Nicolet Pierre overcame poor starting positions to make it past the pole-sitter, Matt Holland – who completed the top three. With Scott Craw and Calum Hughes pulling out some quick laps on their way through the pack, it became evident that no single driver was going to walk away with this evening’s spoils.

 The best thing about the first heat, over and above the fairly clean driving on display, was the improved nature of the Karts. The last time EUMSC raced outdoors we had a fairly rocky evening, with very little consistency between karts. No brakes, doesn’t turn, and atrocious top end speed were the mot juste. As those in the first heat clambered from the karts however, not a single one of these phrases passed anyone’s lips. Things were looking even more promising.

To access the current championship table, click here. 

 The next round is due to be held on the 23rd of February, details will be posted in the near future. 

The second heat was a little more formulaic. That is to say, there was a pile up in the hairpin on the first lap, which Crozier, Ozdogan, Holland and Cullens managed to avoid, giving them a great advantage. With Richard Crozier long gone in first, the battle for second was already red hot. Coming down the back straight on lap 2, Matt Holland got a great run on Eren Ozgodan, and was on the outside of the Turk as they headed into the fast right hand kink at the bottom of the hill. The track was still fairly slick, and Eren began to run slightly wide, pushing Matt wide as a result. It looked like they had both got away with it, when the left rear of Matt’s kart clipped the tyres, pitching the car head on into the barrier. The pack began to roar past, and by a miracle no-one in the first group hit him. Fortune was not on Matt’s side though, as Adam Corlett, fighting hard for 6^th place in a similar fashion to Holland and Ozdogan, had nowhere to go and broadsided the stationary kart at full speed. Time stood still for a moment as bits of karts flew over the track, but thankfully everyone was ok, with only a few large bruises to show for it. There was further panic though, as it became evident that the rear axle on Matt’s kart was terminally broken, and with the pack coming round again there were spins aplenty as everyone was trying to avoid the striken kart. Rekindling memories of Jenson Button at Monaco, albeit with Raceland not providing quite the setting of Monte Carlo, Matt sprinted round the circuit perimeter back to the pits to hop into the next available kart, and managed to go on to finish a creditable 12^th. Richard Crozier romped home to the victory, ahead of the dark horse Vicki Rutherford and the consistent Nicolet Pierre, who in turn was the first to break into the 1:01’s that evening.

Heat 3 saw a titanic race-long battle between Scott Craw and Ian Munro. With nothing to separate them in lap times, Scott just managed to squeeze home ahead of Ian, and both came off the track afterwards in fantastic spirits, obviously having enjoyed pushing each other to the maximum. There were some big movers up the pack, with Stephan Walls and Robin Kyle making up 9 places each. Calum Hughes continued to climb well, as he finished fourth from 12^th at the start, but Ross Mcaulay moved up 10 places to finish third, a great drive. His excellent lap times at the end had enabled him to catch the pair battling at the front, but he ran out of laps to make it a three way battle for the top spot.

Heat 4 was another Richard Crozier benefit, as he moved up from 9^th to take a commanding victory from the impressive Vicki Rutherford. Having been rather conspicuous by his absence from the top positions thus far, Antti Makela returned to the top three, holding off a determined Antoine de Mautor in the closing laps. Both Calum Thomson and Adam Corlett were unlucky as they slipped back 4 places from their starting positions, despite their pace being very good. There was an epic battle that lasted nearly all race between Kirsten Dallas and Matt Holland, with Kirsten driving very cleanly and precisely and not making any major mistakes which would give Matt a look up the inside. In the closing laps Matt got permanently past, but it was too late for him to do anything about Adam infront. Behind, there was a good battle for 12^th between Josh Knight, Wojciech Koziel, Mohid Hassan and Andrew Clarkson, with Mohib just coming out on top. 

The Scott Craw vs. Ian Munro battle was resumed in Heat 5, with Scott coming out on top again in their battle through from midfield grid positions. However this time at the flag they were separated by Calum Hughes, who put in a great run to pass and beat a very quick but inconsistent Ross Mcaulay, whom he had fought hard with in his previous heat. Further down the field there was a good battle between Pawel Milto, Finn Moore and Leslie Mabon for 10^th, with Pawel coming out on top to score some important points as thoughts began to turn towards getting a good position for the finals. The final heat was another story of the dominance of Richard Crozier, as he won at a canter after setting the fastest lap of the night thus far at 1:00.846. Behind him, the rest of the field battled hard to gain those all important positions to claw them into the final. The big winners were Ian Cullens and Stephan Walls, who both took large points hauls to move from 19^th to 11^th and 21^st to 15^th respectively in the points standings.

The tension continued to build as the temperature continued to plummet as main business of the evening was getting underway. Richard was feeling cautious before the final. “I’m in the kart I had in the final heat, and it was pretty quick. It’s not going to be easy though as these guys behind me are very quick too, and they know how to race.” He wasn’t interested in reports of a plan from the rest of the field to push him off at the first hairpin though, labelling the idea “predicable, really.” Ian and Scott were not giving anything away before the start, both wishing toeing the “let’s wait and see” line. Calum Hughes, when asked about his expectations for the race he answered “I expect I’ll crash.” And Ross Mcaulay gave an insight into his thoughts for the race by commenting “I should be up there (at the front of the grid) now, but I will be come the end of the race.” The final thoughts before the heat came courtesy of EUMSC’s karting pundit, Leslie ‘Eddie Jordan’ Mabon. “I think this is going to be a brilliant final. I remember when i used to run Jordan, we always used to have brilliant final. Actually, I thought our finals were the best finals on the grid. Enzo Ferrari came up to me and said “Eddie you run the best final on the whole grid.” So, yes this is going to be a brilliant final.”

While the top five then made their way slowly out to the grid, there were numerous problems getting the karts started in the pitlane. All the while Richard Crozier, Ian Munro and Scott Craw sat on the grid, thinking how to get the better of each other. 

The race started cleanly, with almost everyone holding station in their position, although Ian just missed the apex on the hairpin and Scott had a look up the inside. A daring dive from Ian at the next hairpin made up for this lapse in concentration, but by this time Richard was leading by over four kart lengths. The chase begins.

The laps flew by and each time the leaders raced passed the watching masses in the pitlane Ian was closer and closer. He had the magnets on, and was reeling off the fastest laps with seemingly little effort. They were so far in front of the chasing pack, led by an inspired Ross Mcaulay who had fought his way past Scott, they were in another postcode. Everything was set for a titanic battle for the lead. On the fifth lap, Richard slid sideways on the penultimate corner, losing momentum as they headed down the straight before the last corner, allowing Ian to close right up. There was nothing between them now. As they exited turn one, Ian made his move. He moved to the inside for the first hairpin, and Richard just managed to hold on around the outside. They continued side by side to the second hairpin, when in the braking zone Richard dived to his right in order to cover Ian. Ian doubled back and slipped up the inside, but taking the tighter line gave him a poor run onto the back straight. Richard hove back alongside and retook the position.

At this point the track falls down the hill, and so you cannot see the karts from the pitlane area. Rumours started flying around that Ian had made the move, and as they came into view on the approach to the final corner, sure enough, Ian was now leading. With Richard all over the back of him, he successfully defended his position up the inside of the first hairpin. Thinking Richard would be further back; Ian took a normal racing line into the second hairpin and would have been incredibly surprised to find Richard’s kart lunging up the inside. Seeing an opening, he had dived from a long way back and proceeded to barge the hapless Ian out of the way, in a move reminiscent of Damon Hill at Silverstone in 1995. As they were in karts at a fraction of the speed, there was not the accident there was in 1995, but it was a desperate move all the same. Now back in second, the wind had seemingly been taken from Ian’s sails as he had attracted the attention of Ross Mcauley in third. Richard had pulled away over a second, and so instead of continuing the fight for the lead, Ian would have to defend his second place. With only a few laps to go and everything settled down again the gap began to close. Could there be another battle on the last laps? Surely not?

Ian was reeling off lap records, but he just ran out of laps to do anything about Richard. A 0:59.991 on the last lap would be his consolation. “That’s grand (taking the fastest lap), but I’m feeling  bit bad as I got punted by Richard, but other than that, grand.” It was the new lap record for Raceland in these karts, no mean feat considering it was a January evening on a very slippery track. Ross Mcauley completed the podium, holding off a late challenge from Scott Craw and Nicolet Pierre. Richard was surprisingly modest after the race, “I’m feeling great! I’ve beaten the best driver in the business, so it doesn’t get any better.”

There was a tension in the air similar to the A final as preparations got underway for the B final. The main prizes may have been decided, but there was a lot of pride still at stake, so no quarter would be given, and none taken. The tension was broken somewhat by Matt Holland gently running into the barriers, and getting stuck, in the tight 270° corner in the pitlane as he headed out onto the grid. The start was surprisingly clean, but Matt Holland was too cautious into the first hairpin, allowing Pawel Milto and Sean Gibson to pass him. On the second lap, Sean spun on the penultimate corner – the very tight hairpin – and as he spun he must have been amused to see Matt spinning with him in sympathy. Both of them fell back down into the fierce battles raging down the field. Matt was on a charge now, passing karts on successive laps for 5 laps and getting faster and faster. Meanwhile, Pawel was too far in front and running a very impressive pace for anyone to do anything about catching him. Making up for a multitude of earlier misfortunes, Adam Corlett had charged through the pack from 9^th on the grid, and made no mistakes to end up with a well deserved third at the flag. No quite making the podium were Finn Moore, Leslie Mabon and Josh Knight, who were involved in an incredibly close throughout the whole race. 

In the trophy presentation after the race, the top three looked very pleased with themselves, a feeling that was entirely justified. In what was perhaps one of the most competitive and close fought rounds in the short history of the EUMSC Karting Championship, they had risen above the pack and come out on top. The key question now was, can they continue this form into the final two rounds and take control of the championship? 

To access the current championship table, click here.