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Location	Sandown Park, Surrey
Date	26/07/2010
Cost	£100
Spaces	36
Deadline	16/07/2010
Event Information	This event has now taken place.

Event Results Available

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Event Report

The second of 3 new venues for CSMA karting this year saw 34 drivers find their way over to Sandown Park Raceway, in the grounds of the Horse Racing Venue! Mind you, it was a miracle that anyone found the place. Not one road sign anywhere to it! I guess those that actually prepared ahead of time were probably OK! Note to self - next time, follow signs to "Ski Centre"



Still, once installed, other than a threatening sky, everything was looking very nice indeed. The morning practice sessions remained dry and everyone took the opportunity to get up to speed. Very few of the drivers had been to the track before but the top of the field got onto the pace quickly.

The Sandown track has a number of corners that tighten on exit and the ideal line was a compromise of flattening out the racing line and wasting time on a longer route.



Heat 1 was an interesting afair! Being a part of it and starting near the back, I didn't get to see everything happening at the front but by all accounts it sounded like a great race. Drew was out front on the last lap only to be be denied by a determined Russ, re-taking the lead on the final corner. A rain shower was enough to liven things up in the middle of the race. Plenty found the limits by crossing well over the other side! Chris made the most of a better kart and the conditions to make it from 14th on the grid to 7th and in the mix at the finish.

Heat 2 still had a greasy track for the first lap or so, but then the track was dry once more. Rob R made the best of his pole position and pulled a gap almost immediately. A gap that grew to nearly 9 seconds at the flag. Although the race spread itself out, there were still clumps of action through the field. 2nd to 5th were all within shouting distance at the end. Terry C found himself on the receiving end of a penalty after a case of mistaken identity. Luckilly, he just made it through to the A final!



The threat of rain disappeared and both finals were held in the dry. The B Final was up first and there were 3 places available through to the A final. The race itself was one of the best of the season so far. A number of drivers were out of place and therefore there was a lot of jigging that took place throughout the race. Early on, a train appeared behind Kevin W who held on for a good time, before slipping towards the end of the race to 7th. Sean O'C made his way thtough the train well early on and came out in first place, which he kept till the end. However, his lead didn't go unchallenged. Mark H made his way through the field after Andrew C spun him on lap 2. However, a last lap dive for the lead saw Mark spin once more and drop himself to 5th and out of the podium positions, and therefore missing out on the A Final. Gary P and Tony B took the final A final spots behind Sean, with John F not far behind at the line.

The A final saw an "intersting" opening lap. The first few corners were not too bad, but someone missed their braking point into the tight hairpin at the bottom of the hill and caused all kinds of mayhem! With everyone now versed with the track a clear defensive strategy was on show by many! Leaving the inside line into a number of corners was fatal for track position and although the tighter line saved a lost position, it did bunch the field up somewhat. Early in the running Rob R made a good start and lead a number of laps before sucumming to Alan and Steve. However, Drew failed an overtake and ended up spinning to 6th.A dtermined fight back saw him recover to 4th at the line, however, the race stewards reversed the result with Rob R whome he was adjudged to have dealt with a little too robustly. Rob had a great run keeping 4th at the end. Chris and Terry made their way from 14th to 7th and 15th to 6th respectively after good runs. However, out front, Russ H found his winning ways again finishing under a second ahead of a hard charging Steve K. Alan W was hot on their heals coming in 3rd. Lap times through the whole field were great and a testomony to the drivers speed. Well done all.



Over the lunch-break - with hungry eyes eagerly awaiting the bacon rolls, Allan created teams and drew grid slots - ably aided by his little helpers. And so began the 100min, 2 man enduro. It was really nice to have multiple laps to really get a handle on the track and to eek out those final few tenths. The first group out on track looked to be having a hoot early on. A large number of drivers were circulating in what can only be described as a "clump". The race did spread out after this group naturally found their place on track but it was great to watch. The teams were also a good balance - and those teams making up ground with a fast driver often found themselves right back in the action as the balance of team-mates worked itself through.



Alan W completed another very sucessful day finishing 1st along with Charlie and also setting fastest lap of the day. Rob R and James B came in second after a last minute pass. Tony A and Martin N finished in 3rd just 0.5s ahead of Terry and Mark. Congrats to all the podium finishers and many thanks to Allan Goddard for organising and Hugh for acting as santas little helper.

See you all at Thruxton! Get your entries in early.

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