EKL RACE REPORT
There is loads to tell you about the Elite Karting League (EKL) race that took place at the weekend! Firstly, guess who stepped into the TeamSport Titans team?
Only our Bruce and what an amazing performance he put on! He played a big part in helping the team win ‘overall team of the day’! There were 27 teams taking part in the race at the Clay Pigeon Raceway in Dorset where the Titans achieved ten top 10 finishes out of 12 sprint races. They also won one endurance race and came third in another.
Sister squad Teamsport Tornadoes also had a successful day with nine top-ten finishes including two fastest laps in the sprint races. The Tornadoes managed tenth in both endurance races. Their points have now moved them up to fifth in the table. A new third team based at the Teamsport Brighton Kart track that debuted is the Worthing Warriors who’s highlight for the day was a third place in a sprint race.
BRUCE GIVES IT HIS ALL
Bruce’s skills were really put to the test as he came up against World easy kart Champion Luca Hirst, but he did not disappoint! Bruce led the 27 kart field up to the line but it was Hirst racing for the Worcester Raptors who got the jump on Bruce down the inside into the first turn. It was here that Matt Dorrington for the Teamsport Tornadoes got pushed wide, moving him down the order. However it was entertaining stuff as Bruce and Hirst had a great scrap swapping positions several times over the next 2 laps before Luca made a decisive move into the lead and cleverly defended leaving Bruce no way through as the pair headed to the chequered flag, locked together and separated by just thousandths at the line. It was better news for Teamsport Brighton mechanic, Matt Dorrington who impressively fought his way back to a creditable 6th position for the Tornadoes. Jack O’Neill, Teamsport Titans said:
We’ve had a great day. I don’t want to give all our race strategy away but the endurance race win was helped by a really good pit-stop where we think we gained about 20 seconds. We also think the team meal of Italian salami and our mascot Rolo [the Cavalier King Charles/Jack Russell/Basset cross dog] were big factors in our success.
RACE OF CHAMPIONS In the Race of Champions, the last race of the day at each of the EKL events, Titans narrowly missed out despite having qualified on pole and leading for just over half of the race. A strong challenge from the Worcestor Raptors caught out the Titian’s Jack O’Neill with a lunge going into a corner and the Littlethorpe contender couldn’t find his way round before the flag. The Tornadoes had qualified well, on the front row alongside the Titans, but it wasn’t to be their race and they crossed the line in eighth. There was £675 up for grabs as this race provides teams the opportunity win their entry fees back. The amount varies each time as it is proportional to the number of entries.
TEAMSPORT TEAMS
The squad are based at Lancing’s Teamsport Brighton kart track. The Titans are Damien Hickman (25, Ashington), Owen Jenman (30, Crawley) and brothers Jack and Andy O’Neill (20 & 17, Littlethorpe). Driving for the Tornadoes were Matt Dorrington (23, Hove), Ben Goodwin (27, Lancing), Ed White (16, Uckfield) and Adam Bellas (26, Lancing). Worthing Warriors are Shayne Cuthbert (41, Lancing), Joshua Lambert (17, Horsham), Tom Eastwood (33, Uckfield) and Keith Robertson (36, Lancing).