It was a bright if cold day for the second round of HKRC’s 2010 Championships. The timed format of the meeting again gave drivers excellent value for money with 13 lap heats and 21 lap finals typical of the day.

Cadet Libre and Honda Cadet: The Cadets raced in two groups with the Hondas out front. Luke Knott led this group from the off, finishing over eleven seconds ahead of Aaron Drury and Harrison Huggan. Both Knott and Drury were found to be underweight at the end, so Huggan was promoted to first, with James Waite and James Hillery also moving up onto the podium.

Anderson Chilcott Pic by Pixelero

In Cadet Libre Lewis Taylor and Ellis Hanks lost out in the opening corner, dropping to fifth and sixth respectively. Taylor was soon on the pace and passing karts with ease, he took over at the front of the field by lap eight. A three kart battle developed behind him with Cory Stevens, Ronan McKenzie and Greg McKenzie involved. This became two karts when Stevens slowed with Greg ahead of Ronan.

Hayden Edmonds Pic by Pixelero

Junior TKM: This final ran for 21 laps and there was a position change for the lead on virtually every lap as Jack Partridge and Richard Woolmer diced for first and second. On the last lap Woolmer tried to go round the outside of Partridge on the left-hand section of the Bus Stop hoping to take the inside line for the right hander, but he mistimed the move and had to slow to prevent him crashing into his rival. This allowed Partridge to pull away and take the win comfortably. Jamie Tyler worked his way up to third by lap four and kept the place to the end. Matthew Hayes won the novice trophy.

Jack Partridge on his way to a maiden victory. Pic by Pixelero

Mini Max: Luke Hughes had a relatively easy afternoon as he led from start to finish. For the first four laps, James Webb led the pursuit. Then Ben Tuck moved ahead of him and Webb spent the rest of the race in Tuck’s wheel tracks. A last lap move at Stow was successfully repelled by Tuck but there was less than a kart length in it at the line. Jai Nijjar watched on from fourth but wasn’t able to join in the fun.

Junior Rotax: Karl Cocca had things sown up throughout the 21 lap final. Pulling away in the early stages, he set up a commanding lead which served him well later in the race. Michael Dean kept Alistair Bray at bay for several laps, but when Sam Jackson and Liam Ferguson and Bobby Neil joined in the order kept changing. Eventually Neil worked his way through into second, with Jackson following. Neil was now substantially quicker than Cocca, but he ran out of time as Cocca took the flag just over a second ahead. Christopher Lee took the novice award. Gearbox 125 and 250: The 125s took a few laps to settle down with Chris Thexton, Paul Lawson and Richard Palmer taking turns to lead.

Tom Pettifer Pic by Pixelero

Once Palmer hit the front though, he got his foot down and motored off into the distance. Martin Smith looked like the only man capable of matching Ron Stamp, but his equipment let him down and Stamp had an easy run to the flag. Adam Tanner took second with Jason Tucker third, a lap down.

Sam Jackson Pic by Pixelero

Rotax Senior: Hector Hurst dropped down to 23rd from his grid 2 starting position, robbing us of a race between him and Layton Milsom. Marc Dawson took up the cudgels, but Milsom always had plenty in hand to match the threat. Andrew Winter spent a few laps behind Chris Hook, eventually grabbing third on lap ten. Peter Masters and Aaron Charles followed closely, both demoting Hook down the order. Hurst worked his way back to eighth by the end and Thomas Lamb took the novice award.

Rotax 177: Lee Torrie was able to control the race from the front, matching anything that Andrew Gosling could throw at him. Scott Clee was a lonely third whilst James Darch, who had spun out from fourth on lap two, set fastest lap on his climb back to eighth. Guy Bowden took the novice award.

Rotax 177 Veterans and TKM Extreme: In Veterans, Steve Sawford took an early lead and seemed to be running away with it. Martin Reader passed Martin Gadd for second, and we thought that was it, but whether Sawford relaxed or Reader was quick, the large lead Sawford had built up rapidly diminished. With two laps to go Reader passed Sawford at Stow, giving the latter a wake-up call. Sawford responded and retook the lead, holding it to the flag. Leigh Pettifer won the novice award.

Martin Reader getting airborne! Pic by Pixelero

Despite the low numbers, TKM Extreme vied with Junior TKM for one of the most exciting races of the day. Sam Grogan, James Harris and Michael Cornell went head to head, Cornell getting a close up view as Grogan and Harris constantly swapped places in front of him. This continued till lap nine when Harris lost a chain. Cornell now began to put pressure on Grogan and several times had his kart in a position to strike at Stow, but Grogan was wise to the impending moves and held the racing line. Two laps from the end the pair came upon Veteran back markers and Cornell was badly baulked leaving Grogan a comfortable winner. Third place was disputed between Dan Hoy, Ashley Carter and Ashley Ruggles, with Carter just failing in his bid to snatch the place on the line.

Thanks to Pixelero for the images