Round 5 - Eastern Creek
posted 17th August 2008 The competition hots up!
The racing is always close at Eastern Creek and Round 5 of the AKA Endurance Series would be no different. The two karts leading each grade were desperate for good results, Road Runner (1) to increase their slender lead, and WAR (35) to show dominance again after a mechanical failure caused a poor finish the round prior. The problem – the numerous teams behind them hungry for a win and all that comes with it!
Practice was an indication of how close things would be and just how determined the lead teams were! Road Runner (1) and WAR (35) were fastest separated by 5/100ths over the one kilometer track! Biting at their heels although without the blistering speed were Trouble Makers (811), Mariners (49) and Blind Men Racing (42) in A grade. Sky Racing (7), Toynton (81) and newcomers Colmac Excavations (99) were also fast trailing WAR in B grade! Another great effort worth mentioning was Grey Ghost’s (4) 9th place. A huge effort in a top quality field of 33, bear in mind the average age of the team is over 60!
Dynamite (27), Baby Bonus (17), and Ghetto (91) were expected to be further up the time sheet if they were to continue their fight for a Championship podium.
Qualifying was short and sweet, well maybe for Road Runner who again were unbeatable coming in 1st and earning the pole position point! Amazingly they were a whole 3/10ths faster than the next team who also earned themselves a spot on the front row of the grid Blind Men Racing in their BRM. The teams who were also going to make a good fight of it were For Sale (55), Trouble Makers, WAR (1st in B), Mariners (who needed a good result) and Dynamite (same) filling positions 3 – 7. Colmac were next with a great result managing 2nd in B grade.
The start was a bit of push and shove but otherwise clean! Pretty exciting to see a line of karts 33 long trailing each other down through the right hander onto the front straight – yeah!
Road Runner and Blind Men had the speed to dominate early and would continue to do this throughout most of the race. WAR were never too far behind definitely dominating B grade. Also in B, Grey Ghost Racing 2 were having a fast trouble free run along with Colmac who showed great speed but would ultimately be penalized through needing an extra fuel stop. Horsepower 888 were also travelling well continuing where they left off last time they competed. Aside from WAR, the rest of the top four B Grade Championship contenders were not fairing so well, circulating further back in the field which was unusual.
In A grade Dynamite would have to rely on their consistency and strategy, on this occasion they lacked the outright speed of the two lead karts. Trouble Makers were having a great race after an absence from the series, and Baby Bonus (17) were making their championship hopes known with one of the quickest karts late in the race. While making a charge for the leaders they were struck by a back marker and dropped a chain, and not long after a muffler. Regardless they were able to make the necessary repairs and get back out only dropping a lap or two. They were fast, real fast!
Grey Ghost Racing who had been running in the top group for most of the day after their solid qualifying had lost speed possibly through ‘older than average’ throttle cables making it tough for them to keep up an appropriate speed for the remainder of the event.
The finish couldn’t have been more exciting with the two A grade karts who had been fighting all day and the dominant B kart all on the lead lap and only seconds apart. Road Runner had a spin and re gathered with about 20mins to go which would drop them just off the back of Blind Men Racing. On the last lap the B grade leaders would overtake BMR to cross the line first and take honors in the B Grade race!
The A Grade battle which raged all day saw the Blind Men finally get the result they knew they were capable of 1st! Only 3.61seconds behind, the other team who’d been dominant all day, and were current Championship leaders Road Runner home in 2nd place. Dynamite’s plan and consistency had paid off to finish a tough race for them in 3rd position.
Grey Ghost 2 (8) and Colmac were runners up in B Grade with Automatic Fire (48) taking out B2 class in only their second race followed by Emu’s Racing (80) who are on the improve big time!
See you all next at Lithgow, then for the epic 7 hour Enduro over two days at Newcastle on the 19/20th October were the Championship could really be decided!
Justin Sydenham
For any details on this infectious category of go kart racing call Justin Sydenham on 0417 330 229.
Photos courtesy of Sabaar photography.
View the great shots from Eastern Creek and purchase directly from their web site.