Just as the Formula 1 Season was kicking-off, the Edinburgh University Motorsport Club Karting Championship was coming to an end. After six rounds and over ninety drivers taking part, the title was still in the balance as six drivers still mathematically had a chance of taking the honour of Club Champion. Last years Champion Calum Hughes had recently assumed control on top of the leaderboard, but with Pierre Nicolet, Richard Crozier and Scott Douglas still in hot pursuit there was a slim chance that he could still lose it.

The final round was being held at Raceland’s outdoor circuit, meaning faster karts, a longer circuit with a minute long lap time, and plenty of opportunities to over take. The first heat got underway and with Douglas on pole he soon took a commanding lead and on the way to victory set what would be the fastest lap of the whole race with a 1:00.752, three tenths faster than anyone else on the day. Behind him though Hughes, Ross McAuley and Vicki Rutherford used their experience to rocket up the order to finish second, third and fourth respectively.

  Douglas also won the second heat by a mammoth distance as he came from the middle of the pack. Behind him, after a bit of contact with previous race winner Eren Ozdogan, Kirsten Dallas finished an impressive third ahead of Callum Thompson and Nick Osbourne.

  To view the final Championship Standings, click here .

Heat three saw a classic battle between Hughes and Ian Munro develop for the win, Hughes just coming out on top after a close battle. Behind them Adam Corlett and Ozdogan drove consistently to bring the karts home in strong positions. Again McAuley drove well to come through the field to ensure that he would comfortably qualify for the final.

The Fourth Heat was won from pole by Rutherford, the experienced driver not letting a chance like pole position slip away, taking an easy victory. Behind them Munro again was in an interesting battle, but this time with Douglas – the two taking chunks out of each other as they fought for second, with Munro eventually out braking himself at the hairpin and falling back to fifth. Matt Holland and Leslie Mabon were the beneficiaries of this and were delighted to take advantage of Munro’s misfortune.

The next heat saw yet another impressive drive from the dominant Ross McAuley, taking victory from Hughes and Josh Knight who had followed others through the pack in a capitalising drive. Osbourne again climbed through the field showing form that would also guarantee him a place in the final of the round.

The last qualifying heat before the A and B finals was the last chance drivers had to ensure a chance of victory, and Holland kept his chances very much alive with a fantastic drive to first ahead of the impeccably fast Munro. Osbourne again proved his ability with a steely drive to third ahead of Marcos Constantini, who despite losing out from pole, would easily qualify for the final.

This decided the grid for the final race to decide who would win not only the event, but the Championship as a whole. Douglas was on pole but with Hughes in second it meant that barring a catastrophe Hughes would be crowned champion for a second year running. Ian Munro would line up third just ahead of McAuley and Holland, the order between them being decided on fastest lap as all had gathered the same number of points up to that stage. With Rutherford, Osbourne, Mabon and Dallas then in close pursuit it was set-up for a great race.

After the B final was won by Adam Corlett, the A final got underway with Douglas leading after the first lap from Hughes and McAuley. Munro dropped back instantly due to a rather poor kart, leaving a bit of a gap between the top three and those behind. Three laps in Hughes went for a daring move past Douglas into a double apexed right hander, and despite contact managed to pull it off. Despite both Douglas and McAuley remaining closely behind him for the rest of the race he wouldn’t buckle and took the chequered flag and the title of Champion. Behind Mabon and Holland had a shunt that would wreck both of their races, and Constantini and Ozdogan sliced their way through the field to take 6^th and 7^th respectively behind Rutherford and Munro.

After a typically great drive, Calum Hughes was then presented with the trophy for race winner and Club Champion, a wonderful effort from a brilliant driver. He’ll be back next year to see if he can make it three on the trot in the Karting Championship, which promises to be bigger and better than ever.