Under glorious skies Stott continued his fine weekend in Qualifying, setting fastest time from Zak Fulk, Shanaka Clay, Group 1 leader Barnicoat and Anderton, all five separated by 0.4s. Stott held on grimly in Heat 1 although eventually conceded to Caroline, Norris, Martin and Anclerton while Barnicoat dominated Heat 2 only to fall foul of the chainguard rule. Therefore Clay’s last lap pass on Zelos, initially for 2nd, proved to be the winning move. In a dramatic twist Zelos then inherited the Heat 3 victory at Stott’s expense, who joined the list of ‘chainguard’ casualties. Caroline made it two out of two in Heat 4, passing Ticktum with three laps to go. For Ticktum, 2nd was much needed after a spin in his first heat left him 20th. Brown also got a decent result (3rd} just when he needed it after a DNF in his first race. But while Ticktum scraped into the A Final, Brown would have to make do with a place in the B which he proceeded to win. With so many contenders starting near the back, pole man Caroline tried to escape in the A Final. However he was soon pegged back by Macdonald, Zelos and Norris and when he snagged his nosecone on Zelos’ bumper he slipped to 6th.
Luckily for Caroline none of his rivals could decide who was going to lead and Caroline was able to claw his way back up the order and retake the lead on lap 14 with Luke Barker slotting in behind to act as rear gunner. They pulled away and Caroline recorded his first FKS win by a kart length. Norris tried to bridge the gap to the leaders in the final stages but came up short and had to settle for 3rd. Ticktum’s charge from 21st came to an abrupt end on lap five when he was spat into the tyres coming out of the Stewart Esses while a thrown chain accounted for Brown and a spin dropped Stott to 24th.
Karting Magazine June 2011