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Welsh kart racers breathing fire in Dragon Challenge
publication date: Nov 5, 2011
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author/source: Craig Llewellyn
The penultimate round of Llandow Kart Club's summer
championship was graced by sunny, if somewhat chilly, conditions, but the culmination of the parallel Dragon Challenge
competition ensured that there was some hot action on track.
The visit of both Senior and Junior Blue classes
helped swell the entry to a solid 79, with Honda Cadet again the most populous
with 19
|  | runners, giving commentator Henry Beaudette a few new names to get his
tongue around.
The Bambinos kicked things off but, with the class
split into two groups, four karts took to the track in the opening session.
Class veteran Alex Austin proved to be fastest on each of the group's four
outings, with Brooklyn Thomas and Marco Costanza both providing the closest
opposition and Ffion Rees never lagging to far behind the boys.
Group two featured three runners, with Alex Carrafa
starting out on top. In the remaining three sessions, however, it was Matthew
Rees who emerged as the faster runner, with Carrafa mixing it with Jack
Broughton for the remaining places.
The biggest field of the day also provided some of
the most exciting racing, with Ryan Edwards (twice) and Ari White claiming the
heat wins in Honda Cadet. Neither would feature on the top step of the podium
after the final, however, as Ross Thomas - twice third in the heats - came
through to claim victory - and the Dragon Challenge title - in a race that saw
three leaders. White and Ethan Ling completed the podium as Edwards could
manage only ninth, but the star of the race could arguably have been Harry
Gooding who, having brought out the red flag by inverting himself in the early
stages, battled through from the rear of the grid to finish in eighth place.
The Cadet Comer class may have had only a third the
number of runners of its rival, but still provided enough action upfront to
keep the crowd entertained. Lucas Wynne and Lewis Griffiths shared the heat
wins, before the latter went on to make it a hat-trick by claiming the main
event and, with it, the Dragon Challenge. Wynne and Tom Rawlings, meanwhile,
finished second and third on the day.
Honda Junior was even more depleted, but Monty
Gorridge and Jack Hixon resumed their battle from the September meeting with
gusto. Each race featured at least one lead change, but it was Gorridge who
ultimately ran out as winner on every occasion, cementing his Dragon Challenge
title.
Junior TKM, Minimax and Junior Blue saw their grids
merged into one field of 13 karts, but that could not deny the increasingly
impressive Scott Morris from completing a clean sweep of wins in the former.
Regular rival Ross Chell suffered a fraught day, twice DNF'ing, but sportingly
applauded his rival after he took the chequered flag and, with it, a second
Dragon Challenge crown. Yousuf Ashraf and Niall Williams were quick to take
advantage of Chell's misfortune, with the former claiming second in the final,
ahead of Myles Ayers.
Minimax boiled down to a head-to-head between Harry
Williams and Lewis Malin, with the former taking race one, but then having to
give chase for the rest of the afternoon. Second, however, was enough to
confirm Williams as Dragon Challenge champion.
Junior Blue belonged to Sam Dible, who won each of
the four races, with Ellis Jackson and Ben Sutton giving chase.
Like Dible, Macaulay Austin was completely in
charge in Junior Rotax, sweeping first place on every outing, while James
Johnson and Josh Gray vied for second in his wake. Despite Gray twice taking
runners-up honours in the heats, it was Johnson who emerged in second in the
main event, with his rival chasing him across the line. Austin's domination
also confirmed him as Dragon Challenge champion.
Senior Honda proved to be a familiar story with
Simon Evans again the man to beat as he ran out victorious in each of the four
races and swept to the Dragon Challenge title. Gareth Lewis finished as
runner-up in the heats but a first lap off in the final gave the former
champion too much to do, and he could only recover to sixth. That allowed
veteran Paul Saunders to claim second spot, with Jamie Warren completing the podium.
September's frontrunners were both present in the
Senior Rotax field, but the opening heat still threw up an unexpected result as
Sebastian Hutchinson headed home Matthew Dowers and David Entwhistle. Dowers
then claimed heat two from regular rival Chris Davis (above), while Paul Cleaver
triumphed third time out.
Dowers returned to the top step in the final,
beating Davis, who recovered from seventh to be just over a second adrift and
did enough to ensure he clinched the Dragon Challenge honours. Entwhistle,
meanwhile completed the podium in third place. Wayne Stone edged Simon Wheeler
for 177 class and Dragon Challenge honours.
Senior Blue belonged to Chris Derrick and Ian
Branfield, who were had to separate all day but finished in that order every
time. Paul Johns finished third on three occasions, with Robin Brotherwood
interloping in heat two. |
RESULTS | |
BAMBINO - 1
1. Alex Austin (Zip)
2. Brooklyn Thomas
3. Marco Costanza
4. Ffion Rees | BAMBINO - 2
1. Matthew Rees
2. Alex Carrafa
3. Jack Broughton
| CADET HONDA
1. Ross Thomas
2. Ari White
3. Ethan Ling
| CADET COMER
1. Lewis Griffiths
2. Lucas Wynne (Zip)
3. Tom Rawlings | HONDA JUNIOR
1. Monty Gorridge (7Kart)
2. Jack Hixon
| JUNIOR TKM 2-STROKE
1. Scott Morris (Tonykart)
2. Yousuf Ashraf
3. Myles Ayers | MINIMAX
1. Lewis Malin
2. Harry Williams
3. Rob Ellis
| JUNIOR BLUE
1. Sam Dible
2. Ellis Jackson
3. Ben Sutton
| JUNIOR ROTAX
1. Macaulay Austin (Tonykart)
2. James Johnson
3. Josh Gray | SENIOR HONDA
1. Simon Evans (7Kart)
2. Paul Saunders (7Kart)
3. Jamie Warren (Wright)
| SENIOR ROTAX
1. Mathew Dowers (Kosmic)
2. Chris Davis (Storm)
3. David Entwhistle
| ROTAX 177
1. Wayne Stone (CRG)
2. Simon Wheeler (CRG) |
SENIOR BLUE
1. Chris Derrick 2. Ian Branfield 3. Paul Johns | | | |
DRAGON CHALLENGE CHAMPIONS 2011
| | | Cadet Honda
- Ross Thomas | Cadet Comer
- Lewis Griffiths | Junior Honda
- Monty Gorridge | | Junior TKM
- Scott Morris | Mini Max
- Harry Williams | Junior Rotax
- Macaulay Austin | Senior Honda
- Simon Evans
| Formula Rotax
- Chris Davis | Rotax 177
- Wayne Stone |
© Words:
Craig Llewellyn Photo:
Hardy Rodde
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