Round 4 - Griffith
posted 28th June 2008 AKA Endurance Racing Hits Griffith!
TEKA heads to Griffith for Round 4 of the Australian Endurance Championship. Teams would be jostling for top spots on the championship ladder. Mid way through the season now’s the time they wanna be staking their claim, or making a claim for a decent position.
The Riverina Round would not disappoint, the racing was fast and exciting, the atmosphere and people were even better! The weather? Crisp blue conditions graced us all weekend!
Through practice on Saturday Dynamite were the team to beat nearly half a second quicker than the next. Mariners who are 3rd in the Championship were out for a good result and showed plenty of speed. A great return to kart speed from Buildline lapping 4th fastest in the first practice session, Road Runner currently held the Championship lead were never too far from the top filling their kart with a quality line up for the weekend. In B grade WAR again dominant with Sky Racing, seriously focused after a 2nd place last race, second fastest in practice. Ghetto were out to prove their worthy keeping the top guys honest.
Welcome to Kart 48 Automatic Fire Racing who joined us for the first time, and Kinetic Motorsport with Darrell, Ian (Santa) and Ryan returning after an absence. The second practice session saw Blind Men Racing flex some muscle and XLR8 were not too far behind. Toynton also not prepared to be ignored this weekend battled with Ghetto in the afternoon practice session for 2nd fastest team in B Grade. Team Canberra came prepared and were looking for a little luck, not having had much recently.
Qualifying was made interesting through combining the best time of two drivers in consecutive sessions. In B grade, WAR again too quick a total time 1.5 seconds ahead of Sky Racing closely followed by Ghetto. A grade sees For Sale (is it really?) put down some great times on new tyres and take outright honors followed by Road Runner who also benefited big time from the new rubber. Blind Men Racing rewarded for their consistency between two drivers with 3rd position. Dynamite 4th followed by Mariners and XLR8.
A beautiful day for the start of the epic 5hr sprint! The surprise in the carby session would be Kinetic Motorsport who jumped up to 2nd fastest, and Sky Racing who was one of the only teams to ever be quicker than WAR in B Grade.
The race start was clean; actually the entire first few hours were clean. Fast, smooth and consistent the teams sorted themselves out determining their race pace and position. The usual suspects competed for top spots Road Runner setting the pace and looking to consolidate their Championship lead. Dynamite were out to prevent it but had For Sale between them lapping extremely quick with nearly every lap under 44sec.
In B WAR Racing as usual looked solid until they struck mechanical demons which would require way to long to rectify, unfortunately. This left Sky Racing, Ghetto, Allied 2 and Toynton to fight it out for most of the race. Toynton have issues, Ice Tech reliable and consistent don’t quit and keep pressure on the top teams. Canberra also looked great for much of the day, but their luck wasn’t too change experiencing their own gremlins. In B Grade after the wash up of mechanical failures and penalties Ghetto take a well deserved win, Congratulations! Ice Tech Racing runners up, followed by Sky who raced hard all day. In a close race Automatic Fire Racing lead home Emus Racing in B2.
A Grade, Road Runner just too strong over the 5 hours taking the win! For Sale approximately 50 seconds behind also fast, really fast. Dynamite remaining in touch with the leaders in 3rd followed by BMR. A great performance from the heavy hitters (by that I mean overweight) Buildline earning 5th in the premier class.
Let the fight continue…at Eastern Creek July 20th!
Thank you to Griffith Kart Club and all the locals who assisted over the two days who helped make it one of the most enjoyable race weekends in a while!
Thank you also to Tony Castley for the exceptional photography.
Justin Sydenham
For any details on this infectious category of go kart racing call Justin Sydenham on 0417 330229.
Photos courtesy of Tony Castley. View the enitre set and contact Tony directly to purchase.
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