2007 EVENTS

GO KART CHALLENGE 

Camberley Teamsport

February 4th 2007

The South East Region of the MG Car Club MGF Register

We had travelled through the early morning fog to get to Camberley Teamsport Karting centre on time for our briefing and kitting up. The 2007 SEF Go Kart challenge was under way with twenty competitors all striving for that number one podium position. Last year's champion, Adrian Clifford, was here to protect his top trophy but there were plenty here waiting to topple him from the top of the pile. 

This was to be a Grand Prix 3 format with three heats and a semi final for every contestant followed by a Grand Final for the top eight winners of the Semis. The points gained in  the heats determined the position on the starting grid in your semi final. That's the rules out of the way so now it was down to the racing.

 Using Biz Karts on the 495metre long indoor track made for quite a fast and exciting race with some nice hairpins and longer bends that could be taken flat out . It wasn't long before drivers became accustomed to the circuit and the squeal of tyres could be heard reverberating around the walls mixing with the throb of pulsing disco music blaring from the speakers.

This was an easier driving circuit than last years tight cornering at Streatham and made for a faster race but the opportunities for passing were still slim and it was often a question of forcing the kart in front of you to make a mistake to get by. Some were a little too adept at this and several warnings for bumping went out during the course of the race but mostly it was run in good spirits. The speed of kart changeover is rapid and the pace frenetic for the two and a quarter hours of racing. It wasn't until the final that things slowed down when one of the karts failed to be recognised by the computer systems and had to be taken out of play whilst it was on the start grid delaying the final for several minutes whilst the finalists had to sit in their karts nervously waiting for the green lights. Finally they were off and the pace soon hotted up with Robin taking pole position and grimly hanging on to it for the entire race despite some spirited attacks from both Rick and Adrian who both held second place at various points until a mistake by Rick let Adrian and Mat through to take second and third place respectively. The second youngest person on the track ,Tom Ball, gave a strong drive rising from last on the grid to finish sixth whilst poor old Neil with a misfiring kart trailed behind the rest of the field to bring up the rear.

A word for our only female contestant this year, Joyce, who had never been karting before and despite her kart having a magnetic attraction to the tyre wall put in a good performance and was only nine seconds behind the leader in the fastest lap table.

Whilst on the subject of fastest lap Mat Chaplin had the best time at 31.89 seconds which was very close to the customer lap record at this track.

And the winners were........Robin Ball topped the tree with Adrian Clifford in second place and Mat Chaplin in third. Well done to them and everyone that took part.....see you next year for the 2008 SEF Go Kart Challenge .

Final positions were :-