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Jones shines in Llandow summer thriller
publication date: Jul 23, 2011
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author/source: Craig Llewellyn and Hardy Rodde
 | | Photo
caption:
Driver of the Day Ryan Jones en route to Junior TKM
success in the June round of Llandow KC's summer series |
If
the fifth round of Llandow Kart Club's summer championship suffered a drop in
numbers due to a clash with the latest Formula Kart Stars event, the action on
track meant that there could be few complaints.
| The
Llandow meeting was boosted by the addition of the Honda Challenge, which
turned out at a venue renowned for the strength of its Honda classes over the
years, but also continued to highlight the closely-matched competition in other
categories.
The
usually-busy Bambino class was restricted to just two runners on this occasion,
with William Elswood taking advantage of the low numbers to get the better of
Ffion Rees on each outing.Former
Bambino pacesetter George Alp-Williams made his first appearance in the Honda
Cadet class but, with another 20 runners turning out in what was the biggest
field of the day, he always had his work cut out to repeat his previous
success.
Instead, it was left to familiar frontrunners Ryan Edwards, Brandon
Patrick, Hugo Holmes and Ross Thomas to lead the way, with Edwards triumphing
in the final after coming close in recent months. Patrick and Homes completed
the podium, while Thomas and Alex Rees claimed top five results.Comer
Cadet was missing a few regulars, but that only served to allow Louis
Griffiths-Walker and the similarly-named Lewis Griffths to set the pace during
the heats.
Griffiths-Walker claimed races one and two, with his near namesake
triumphing third time around, and it was Griffiths who again came out on top in
the final, after his rival posted a rare retirement on lap three.
That allowed
Lucas Wynne - a top three finisher throughout the heats - and Tom Rawlings to
end the day on the podium.
Junior
Honda was also reduced to just a couple of runners but, given his recent form,
it was unlikely that anyone would have provided much opposition to Daniel
Jones. Monty Gorridge did his best to stem the tide, but could not prevent
Jones from taking a clean sweep of race wins to extend his points lead.
With
Macaulay Austin and Steven Handford missing in FKS action, the road was open for
others to claim the Junior Rotax spoils and, after a string of frustrations,
James Johnson proved to be the one capable of doing so. So often strong in the
heats only to see his hard work go to waste in the final, Johnson got it all
right on this occasion, sweeping the three heats and then going on to lead from
start to finish in the main event, crossing the line four seconds clear of his
nearest rival.
This time around, this proved to be Jordan Hawkins, who backed
up two second place finishes in the heats with a similar result in the final,
while Minimax regular Rob Ellis completed the podium, denying the unfortunate
Scott Rose, who had been in the top three all day.
Junior
TKM featured half a dozen drivers, and three of those proved to be the main
contenders throughout the heats and final. Ryan Jones started as he meant to go
on by claiming the opening encounter, and would win twice more, including a
narrow 0.48secs success in the main event.
The man he denied, Niall Williams,
had previously taken victory in heat two, but was passed on lap five of the
final and could not find a way back to the front. Ross Chell, who had finished
each heat as runner-up, had to settle for third in the final while Yousuf
Ashraf, the only other driver to break the top three on the day, posted an
unfortunate DNF in the main event Senior
Honda was again without veteran Paul Saunders, but nothing was going to prevent
reigning champion Simon Evans from continuing his recent domination.
Fresh from
his narrow Welsh Championship success, Evans swept the board, claiming the
final by six seconds over runner-up Hugh Jones. Gareth Lewis, the third man in
the three-way scrap for national honours, had been Evans' nearest rival
throughout the heats, but lost out by 0.09secs when it really mattered, having
twice traded places with his rival. Senior
Max crept into double figures with eleven runners and, with new Welsh champion
Craig Mooney absent, Chris Davis and Josh Collings took full advantage to share
the race wins between themselves.
Alternating on the top step of the podium
throughout the day, Collings was best placed to claim victory in the final,
claiming a four-second margin of victory after passing Davis on lap three.
Gareth Taylor appeared on course for another podium appearance until retiring
on lap five of the main event, and his frustration allowed the hard-trying
David Entwhistle to claim a maiden class podium, having already finished second
in the final heat.
Dean
Arthur, meanwhile, picked up from where had left off at the Welsh Championship
meeting, claiming victory over Wayne Stone in each of the four races for the
Max 177 class.
The
visiting Honda Challenge enjoyed a double-header weekend in South Wales, and it
was the aptly-named Steven Welsh who came out on top on both Saturday and
Sunday.
Andrew Johnson and Steve Lyall shared day one's heat wins with Welsh,
but it was Chris Mealin who proved to be best of the rest behind the winner in
the final, with local club member Chris Lipscomb completing the podium. Welsh
again shared the heat wins on Sunday, with Lyall denying him a clean sweep
before going on to finish as runner-up in the main event.
Michael Kew completed
the podium second time around, denying Lipscomb, whose top three heat form
wasn't enough for a return when it mattered most. | Results | BAMBINO
1.
William Elswood (CRG)
2.
Ffion Rees
CADET
HONDA
1.
Ryan Edwards (Project One)
2.
Brandon Patrick (Project One)
3.
Hugo Holmes (Zip)
CADET
COMER
1.
Lewis Griffiths (Zip)
2.
Lucas Wynne (Zip)
3.
Tom Rawlings (Zip)
JUNIOR
HONDA
1.
Daniel Jones (MS)
2.
Monty Gorridge (7Kart)
JUNIOR ROTAX
1.
James Johnson (Kosmic)
2.
Jordan Hawkins (Tonykart)
3.
Rob Ellis (Tonykart)
JUNIOR
TKM
1.
Ryan Jones (CRG)
2.
Niall Williams (Intrepid)
3.
Ross Chell (Jade)
SENIOR
HONDA
1.
Simon Evans (7Kart)
2.
Hugh Jones (MS)
3.
Gareth Lewis (7Kart)
SENIOR
ROTAX
1.
Josh Collings (CRG)
2.
Chris Davis (Storm)
3.
David Entwhistle (Redspeed)
ROTAX
177
1.
Dean Arthur
2.
Wayne Stone (CRG)
HONDA
CHALLENGE
Saturday:
1. Steven Welsh (MS)
2. Chris Mealin (MS)
3. Chris Lipscomb
(Silverfox Jade)
Sunday:
1. Steven Welsh (MS)
2. Steve Lyall (MS)
3. Michael Kew (7Kart)
Best Novice:
Steve Grose (Senior
Honda)
Driver of the Day:
Ryan Jones (Junior
TKM)
| © Report:
Craig
Llewellyn | © Photo:
Hardy Rodde |
| |
Endurance racing
comes to the Castle Combe circuit this weekend of July 23 and 24 when the Britcar
MSA British Endurance championship rolls up with its Ferraris, Porsches and
other exotica.
Backed up by a full supporting programme, Sunday's two hour encounter
features pit stops and driver changes just like at the Le Mans 24 hours and
three circuit champions looking to make their mark.
Saturday's action begins with qualifying at 08:45, racing
gets under way from 13.15. Sunday morning starts with qualifying at 09-30, with
a Smart Car race at 10.55 and the endurance race starts at 13:00.
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