Sodi Sorts The Wood From The Trees At Forest Edge
By Karting1 ~ May 4th, 2011. Filed under: Announcements.
After a week away in the sun the Taylor International Motorsports Team came back fighting fit and ready to take on the locals at Forest Edge. With the prospect of a three-day weekend and the draw of the gearbox boys down for their second round of the Super Four, the meeting attracted a staggering 266 drivers.
Returning to his duties was Henry Easthope in Senior Max, Paul Warrenner in 177s and Jake Blackledge in Comer Cadet. With the choice of either watching the Royal Wedding or testing on Friday, Jake chose to test and it paid off as he clocked up some very fast times. On Saturday, both Henry and Paul took the opportunity of making several chassis changes to find the optimum set-up ahead of the Finals on Sunday.
Sunday dawned bright but with lower temperatures and the threat of showers. Heat 1 showed Henry 32nd on the grid with it all to do but by Lap 2 he had made his way to 13th place only for the race to be red flagged after a crash. With a full re-start seeing him back in his original 32nd place on the grid, Henry made his way cleanly through the grid as easily as a warm knife through butter to finish in 10th place, another impressive result. Heat 2 saw us start 3rd on the grid and finish with a convincing win of 10 seconds. On to Heat 3 – a good finish would see us on Pole for the Final but things didn’t really go to plan. Starting 15th on the grid Henry got off to a good start but a move on Lap 2 through the chicane saw him vault another driver and the chicane and leaving us dead last but not to be deterred Henry battled his way through to finish 18th. Just enough time before the Final to make some vital repairs!
Gridded 6th and with all repairs successfully completed, the Final saw us battling for and eventually taking 3rd place and then closing the gap to take second but Michael Cheek was able to take full advantage of the squabbling behind him to take a considerable lead. Undeterred Henry just kept his head down and pushed on to close the gap but unfortunately he ran out of laps – another fantastic drive.
Back in 177s, Paul struggled all weekend with a mysterious electrical/engine problem. A complete change before the Final was enough to put a smile on Paul’s face and prompted him to comment on how good the chassis felt and confirmed that the problem was down to the engine.
On to Cadets, and once again Jake Blackledge showed a strong, confident performance throughout the weekend: Heat 1 and 16th on the grid to finish 5th; Heat 2 started 6th finished 3rd; Heat 3 started 12th and finished 1st. These fantastic results put Jake 3rd on the grid for the Final and a four-way scrap saw all eyes on the front four swapping places lap after lap with Jake grabbing third place on the line – a fantastic race!
The Team now moves on to Kimbolton – should be another great weekend for Sodi and Taylor International Motorsports with Rob Gilford and Jamie Garvie back to join us in Senior Max.
Anyone wishing for more details please ring Tim on 07811 252949 or Josie on 07973 911148.
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