'I feel the need, the need for speed!'

Top Gun Round 3

Six drivers took to the grid for what was to be the third & final round of Teamsport Bristols inaugural TopGun series. This round would feature Teamsport staff champion Andy Collins as the 'expert' driver starting at the back of the grid, alongside other Bristol regulars Oliver Bayani, Mike 'Dutch' Westhoff, Lee Cooper & Krystian Matuszkiewicz. The event would follow the same format as the previous rounds, with a 5 minute practice leading straight in to a 45 minute non-stop race, with random grid positions & 'Nascar' style 2x2 rolling start. I must admit I was rather hoping there's had been more drivers competing on the night to get between Andy Collins & the pole man, but it seemed that whatever happened, Andy & Oliver were favourites to be taking the spoils come the chequered flag, with young Krystian being abit of a dark horse as it was his first attempt at the format.

After a quick briefing & kart allocation, we took to the track for a warm-up where as usual I simply tried to get familiar with my karts handling & gauge the grip level of the track. All too soon the flag was out, & as instructed the six drivers made their way around to the grid. I found myself on the outside of the front row alongside Dutch, with Krystian, Oliver, Lee & Andy behind. As Dutch lead us round to the main straight where the race would start proper, I did my best to get some heat into the tyres & brakes before the charge to the first corner.

Across the line, & it's foot flat to the floor as Dutch & myself are almost neck & neck, with him on the inside. I take the racing line through the fast right-hander, but Dutch holds station and I can't get alongside as we snake through the esses. Around under the bridge then up onto the flyover we go, but I still can't quite get by. Onto lap 2, going across the finish line & again I'm alongside Dutch, but he's driving down the middle of the straight & I'm stick on the outside! Through the fast right again, I'm hung out to dry as Dutch washes out infront of me, allowing Oliver Bayani to nip past, before clearing Dutch a few corners later. Once again my lack of aggression in the opening laps had let me down, & it was another whole lap before I passed Dutch after getting a run at him along the smaller straight before diving up the inside as we went under the bridge. Within a few corners, Teamsport staff champ Andy Collins surprised me with a dive up the inside going onto the main straight- I knew right there & then I was fighting for third place as Oliver had been pulling away rapidly.

I hung onto Andy for a handful of laps in the hope that he'd pull me away from the scrap between Krystian, Dutch & Lee behind me. I even that in some parts of the track I was quicker than Andy, but his consistency finally broke me & suddenly he was a couple of seconds down the road as I struggled to match his pace. Once again, it was traction coming out of the esses onto the shorter straight where I seemed to be losing out, & certainly not through the faster parts of the circuit.

Over the next few laps, I began to get a clearer picture of where the other drivers were in the race; Dutch it seemed had had an slight bump with Andy & fallen to the back of the field, Krystian was lumbered with a slow kart by the looks of things and was struggling to keep pace with Lee, who I was aware was closing me down by a few 10ths a lap. Lucky for me, as it reached a point where Lee might have started to think about attacking me, we came across Dutch, & I was able to lap him quickly & pull out a couple of seconds over Lee again.

Things then settled down until about 2/3rds into the race as we came to lap Krystian, who although was clearly struggling with a bad kart still had his elbows out. I managed to get past going through the switchback hairpins, but again I found Lee right behind me, desperate to make the final podium place. By this point, I was able to get a good view of the battle for the lead between Oliver & Andy, who were having a race of their own out front- with young Oliver amazingly still in front!

Lap after lap, I could sense Lee gaining ground but then losing it again as we completed each circuit. I knew his only real shot would be to have a dive up the inside going under the bridge, so almost every lap I was having a quick check back to see just how behind me he was. If he was close, I hold the inside, which compromised my corner entry but meant there was no was past. If he was a little further back, I'd take my normal line, & have another look back on the main straight just in case.

With the '5 Minute Remaining' board being shown, & with Oliver & Andy bearing down on us, I managed to pull out a couple of seconds over Lee as we came to lap Dutch one final time. I made a right meal out of getting past, which allowed Lee to close right in again with only 2 laps remaining!

As we came over the flyover on the penultimate lap, Lee was caught slightly off line & ran wide into the first of the switchback hairpins, dropping him into the clothes of Oliver, who himself had finally broken away from Andy after the staff champion had a half spin! Finally on this last lap I was able to relax a little, with a podium place almost guarantee- and I crossed the line with Lee only just over a second behind. After 45 minutes of non-stop close racing, and with only 4/100ths of a second seperating mine & Lees fastest lap, I really feel like I couldn't have achieved a better result!

As the overall finishing positions we're read out as the drivers gathered around the podium, I was frantically trying to work out where I would be in the overall points standings- until it was announced that the following month there would be a 'Night of Champions' TopGun event featuring all three of the Bristol Staff members that we had previously raced against! This event is now scheduled for 28th May, & should see some incredibly close battles as we all fight for the right to be called Top Gun.

Next up for me is the Elite Karting League round at Clay Pigeon in Dorset, driving for the Bristol Bandits team. I'm really looking forward to this event, as it will be my first in the EKL & may well form the foundation for my plans for 2015- I'll be sure to post a full report of the event when it's done & dusted!

Until next time, happy karting! :-)

Ben