Race Report: Clay Pigeon Raceway

The second round of the British University Karting Championship rookies took Mike Jeffs, Dom Bareford, Chris Milsom and newcomer Sam Jones to the Clay Pigeon circuit in Dorset.

Dom Bareford took the first bullet having shown good practice pace and started from 7^th on the grid. Dom kept a steady pace in 5^th, slipping to 6^th after the eventual 2^nd place Plymouth driver moved through the grid.

On lap 9 a spin off cost him 11 places and he had to start all over again. Bareford battled well managing to move back up to 10^th place, significantly outpacing those ahead of him, but another spin cost him another 4 places.  Three overtakes in the last three laps placed him in a very respectable but slightly disappointing 11^th place.

Having robbed himself of a Round 1 podium Chris was confident starting from 2^nd place on the grid. By the first corner he had taken 1^st and maintained a comfortable lead over Birmingham as they worked through traffic.

However, on lap 15 traffic caught him out as he passed under the yellow flags.  Although they were waved through the marshals misinterpreted the move and penalised him with a drive through penalty.  An infuriated Chris only managed to keep pace with those ahead and finished in 5^th place.

Team Captain Mike Jeffs took the wheel in Leicester’s third race starting from 20^th on the grid and had a superb first few laps reaching 8^th by lap 6.  A major lap 7 incident in what was by now an incredibly wet track pushed him back to 18^th.

Tricky conditions for the Leicester drivers.

Although his pace was promising, fighting through the seemingly constant yellow flags was never going to be easy. Another off on lap 15 pushed him down to 19^th and left it a race to forget for Mike.

With only half an hour’s experience in the Club 100 karts prior to Clay Pigeon, and none in the wet, simply gaining anything from his starting point at the back of the grid would be an achievement for Sam.

However he managed Leicester’s cleanest race and kept a consistent pace.  Although he was unfortunate to lose two places on the last lap, 17^th place was a solid first finish and he will be hoping to go better at Whilton.

Although perhaps a disappointing set of results for Leicester, it did result in a climb to 11^th in the championship and puts them in a great position for a top 10 standing.  With the potential for podiums in every race at Whilton Mill, there is no reason why the season shouldn’t end on a high. Here’s hoping for sun!