Social Race 4 - Sutton Circuit
With Sutton Circuit being an outdoor circuit, it only felt appropriate to go for a proper outdoor format. Each driver would be placed in a random group with an individual practice and qualifying session, with the best times from all groups determining the grids for the A, B, C and D finals. The groups were as follows:
Group 1 - Scott Gouldthorpe, Jamie Thornton, Hyunjun Jang, Oliver Morris, Oliver Evans, Jack Finch, Tegan Reynolds, Aaron Johnson and Sarah Smith.
Group 2 - Raja Zeshan Haider, Oscar Leahy, Joshua Read, Marcus Hesketh, Asha Pickles, Kyrstal Wu, Fred Lee, Ben Horne, Alex Wilson and Muhammed Nurgat.
Group 3 - Ethan Hurford, Ric Wong, Spencer Staley, Harjot Sahota, Toby Johnson, Nicole Sharples, Chloe Lau, Mr White [because he’s special] and Tunveer Mangat.
Group 4 - Nathan Styles, Ed Bill, Adam McGuinness, Bartosz Swedziol, Ben Boros, Zac Weitzkorn, Khalil Ibrahim, Fraz Khan and Rory Smith.
Both practice and qualifying sessions were hectic with our experienced drivers pushing the limits of a very very enjoyable circuit. The high speed double apex final corners being a noted favourite of theirs. Meanwhile our newer members got up to speed with their first outdoor race on a dry track with Turn 1 being a troublesome corner for many. Before we knew it, it was time for the finals.
An incredibly dominant drive from Oscar saw him turn his 2nd place at Full Throttle Raceway into a 1st at Sutton circuit, securing the fastest lap and winning by 6.797 seconds over 2nd placed Oliver E who was pressured the whole race by Ed. Congratulations to Krystal and Chloe for taking part in their first races with UBMRC.
The C final saw Bartosz claim first place with a combination of speed and consistency as he won by 2.822 seconds over Joshua with Khalil claimind 3rd closely behind. It was a case of what could have been for Muhammed as he banged in the fastest lap only to have difficulties navigating through the pack and could only finish 6th.
Our B final was a very entertaining affair with there being numerous incidents and carnage throughout. Nicole claimed she had a bad kart in practice and qualifying (something that statistically looks likely as Kart 6 was by far the worst on the day) and started in last place but drove through the field to finish 3rd, less than a second behind the winner. Alex finished in 2nd place and BUKC captain Josh took the win but not before complaining about his kart of course!
The A final was a fiercely competitive affair. The race start was clean but there was a race long battle for the lead between Rory, Fred and Ben in an affair that saw half a second cover the three of them at the end of the race. Frustration grew for Fred as he clearly had the pace to pull away at the front (evidenced by his fastest lap) but under normal circumstances overtaking Rory or Ben are difficult tasks. Overtaking them both in the same race? Nigh on impossible so despite his best efforts (and one fingered salute of friendship), Fred could only manage 3rd, while Ben claimed 2nd and Rory took 1st once again (how many race wins does this man have??). Elsewhere Tunveer showcased his speed by finishing 5th, ahead of several BUKC drivers so he’ll be one to watch going forward.
