2023 Club100 Senior Championships
Lightweight Sprint - Final
Round 10
Buckmore Park
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| Photography by @johnnyp5000 |
Overview
Final round. We're back at Buckmore Park, where we started this campaign in February. 7 months later, 9 out of 10 races entered, I'm fourth in Novice Class 3. With third still possible, my aim is to finish Top 5 in class. So without further ado, this is the 2023 Club100 Senior LW Sprint Championship finale.
Format
3x 7-minute heats, results from which qualify the grids for the 12-minute finals. The grids for the heats are random and released midweek, novices towards the back. I'm in Novice Class 3 (NC-3), and for the for the final round, start the heats in P15, P17 and P14.
Whether you're an NC-3, intermediate C2 or experienced C1 racer, it's your average finishing position that determines whether you make the C final, B final, or fastest A final.
Heat 1 (Heat 3) P15 > P13 | P4, NC-3
Featuring almost every Class 3 protagonist. From P2 to P5 in standings, it's Sheargold, Brittain, myself and Earl in this one. The random grid generator not ramping for the season finale. So neither am I.
No positions gained on the opening lap, but a couple moves have me up into P12 on Lap 2. Next up, class rival Kart 89 - Harrison Earl, who trails by only four points in the championship. So I need to get a move on. Especially with C3s Lewis Marchant and Adam Sheargold closing in on us.
On Lap 4, I complete the move on Mr Earl into P11. But Marchant and Sheargold make their own advances the following lap. So the pressure from behind continues. But we focus; next ahead, 78 - James Brittain, P3 in standings. My target rival, before Whilton sent the proverbial to the wind turbine.
I have pace, but struggle to overwhelm Brittain's defences. And after a few laps, my best attempt yet only opens the door for Marchant and Sheargold to bump draft a way through. I drop back to P13 and finish a rather good race an underwhelming P4 in class.
Heat 2 (Heat 5) P17 > P9 | P2, NC-3
Again, we have N-C3 protagonists in leader, 86 - Tommy Lee, and Harrison Earl. Also, note this is my lowest grid start. So what a frigging drive this was!
I clear a handful of karts early, including frequent on-track sparrer 143 - Mortaza Hassan, to complete the opening lap up in P13. An as yet untried exchange follows with C2 Kart 80 - Kym Eley onto Lap 2. We clear another C2 in Sector 1, so that's P12. Then I brave a send on Eley into Paddock for P11.
Except, Eley's having none of that. She barges through next corner to retake position and leave me squandering for traction off the damp stuff. Tommy Lee enters the mix as I out-brake Eley into Hairpin 1 onto Lap 3. I open the steering cautiously early to avoid unsettling the rear end, but this opens the door for Eley to cutback and retake the position again.
A reminder of my previous lap's advance might have informed Eley's super defensive line into Pullman's this tour, but their exit is compromised. I explore the outside for Garda on exit ... and actually make the move stick! First time I've dared a move like that there. Against a fierce opponent, too. Super pumped by that one.
Lap 4. I clear another C2 out of the hairpins, but then go wide exiting Pullman's. Tommy Lee capitalises into Garda. However, two laps later, Lee himself is forced into an error here from advancing on the kart ahead. As Tommy veers off-line mid-apex, I display an exhibition switchback to re-assert P10 off our class leader - and eventual class champion.
The kart ahead is wearing dark green overalls with yellow streaks. Just like Harrison Earl, who I'm a tenth up on pace. But in fact, it's C2 Tony Philbin ahead. This would bare consequences for what unfolds next. For now, we reflect on this heat.
A remarkable drive, from P17 to P9.
Exactly the same result I achieved in my very first heat here back in Round 1.
Heat 3 (Heat 12) P14 < P15 | P4, NC-3
The random grid generator completes its desires for drama with direct rivals James Brittain and Harrison Earl, P3 and P5 respectively in class, lined up in this one.
Hairpin 2 is where I make my gains on the opening lap into P12. I shadow a Class 1 into Pullman's, but James Brittain slips through into Paddock. We're wheel-to-wheel from Garda all the way up to Turn 1, but it is Harrison Earl who comes out ahead onto Lap 2. I keep Brittain behind, but Kart 58 - Rich Jones also fancies their chances and capitalises off us into Hairpin 1. Alas, I retake P11 from Jones on Lap 4.
Fast forward to Lap 6 and Mister dark-green-overalls-with-yellow-streaks is ahead. I'm attacking, thinking it's Harrison. It's actually Tony Philbin. Either way, I'm making strong advances in Sector 2 and after a couple laps of refuted attempts, know this is where I can make the move. Frustratingly, a late dive by James Brittain into Garda, in Sector 2, shunts me down into P13.
And it all starts to get messy with two laps to go. Philbin closes the door very sharply on an advancing Brittain into Turn 1, forcing the latter into a spin. Jones and I pass through cleanly, and I immediately pounce on Jones to retake P11 for the second time this sprint. Now to negotiate - not Mr Earl, but - Philbin. Unfortunately, I'm thinking this is Earl so this move is crucial for the championship.
In fact, it's Mr Philbin ahead, coming out of Paddock bend with the worst exit all race. While Jones sweeps on through, my followthrough is punished by a recovering Philbin whose borderline defences, like James Brittain earlier this lap, sends me onto the damp stuff and into a spin. I'm now down the order, having to defend from Brittain again. I hold him off, but from a solid P11 into the penultimate lap, it's P15 at the flag.
The difference between a B Final ... and a C Final.
C Final P6 < P12 | P7, NC-3 | P13, NC-3 overall
I'm vex. Aggrieved - at Harrison ... in hindsight, Philbin. Worse, James Brittain was excluded from that previous heat. So, not only was I actually in a position to qualify straight into the B Final; I was also, most crucially, in a position to revert the flawed round at Whilton and put myself right back in contention for P3 in the championship. Instead, Harrison Earl, trailing me in the standings in P5, has qualified for the B Final.
I'm starting P6 for the C Final.
And it has started to rain. I'm starting on the outside ... with low grip levels, everyone on the inside is going to understeer into us. Fortunately, I position myself in a way that I emerge out of the first corners in clear air. Karts going off circuit, only one is ahead on track. I'm projecting P2 into Hairpin 1.
Suddenly, I am T-boned ... in a straight line! How?
Lewis Marchant keeps a nose alongside my left rear, while Andy Orford recovers back on track beside me. This generates an impact so abrupt only instinct explains how I kept control, in the wet, slick tyres, mid-braking ...
... to assume P1 on exit!
I am briefly challenged for the lead into Hairpin 2, but my inputs are in harmony with the limited grip levels on exit to clear the field.
Then, I see a false start flag being waved.
Suitably featuring "Firestarter" by The Prodigy.
I am LIVID. More so about the whole altercation, but that's yet another exceptional start nullified false. Furthermore, I have a feeling the whole starting-on-the-outside-for-Turn-1 in the wet is going to undo my progress on the restart.
I would be correct. Down to P10 on restart. Eventually, I climb back up to P6. But then struggle with confidence off-line to clear another novice. So C2 Kym Eley shows us how it's done and initially overtakes me, then the kart I'm struggling to clear. I expect myself to follow through, but I just can't.
And to make everything worse, with two laps to go, the kart ahead brakes much earlier than I anticipate into Hairpin 1. It's raining - I cannot be reactive on the brakes, or make evasive action on the steering, without spinning out. I end up coasting into them, forcing them to a halt. Penalty. 6 places deducted from my finishing position. P12, penalties applied - chequered flag.
Ironically, the only worse result this season was Round 1: P13, here, at Buckmore Park. After spinning out at Hairpin 1, the very same place the final sprint race of the season came to an end for me. Post-race emotions went from rage, to completely dejected. Yusef Soeharjano, P6 in the championship, had made it through from the C Final to the B Final. I could not watch from the sidelines as potentially Top 5 was no longer on the cards.
As it turns out, James Brittain finished P10 in the C Final. Yusef Soeharjano did not make much ground in the B Final, so the points have it so that concerns were fleeting. But Harrison Earl did do enough in the B Final to take P4 away from me in the championship. So all things considered, I come away just relieved to complete my season objective. Top 5, with 5th place in Novice Class 3.
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Top 5 Honours. 2023 Club100 Senior Lightweight Championship - Novice Class 3. From L to R: Harrison Earl (4th), Adam Sheargold (2nd), Tommy Lee (1st), Isaiah Egwuagu (5th), James Brittain (3rd). |
In my first year in club racing, in the premier sprint series at Club100. Obviously, P3 was the target. So I am a bit disappointed I was unable to optimise in this regard, especially given I had the pace and was in a position to do so. However, having missed a round, with some misfortune including a mechanical DNF and two chaotic final rounds, I think I can settle for your 2023 novice class Top 5 selected.
All-in-all, what an incredible development pathway Club100 has proven to be. A level-playing field, inviting a podium as early as Round 2. Before four Top 10 finishes in the B Final, all remarkably at circuits I had never visited beforehand. Including that fastest lap at a wet Llandow. The prospects of an A Final showed up that round. I guess that should be my first objective for the 2024 race season.