Going in to the final round of the British Championships Lucas has shown great pace and is driving very well so let's take stock:-
6 Rounds completed so let's see the results from the more recent
Buckmore Pk - 1st S1 visit to circuit, led the final and took home 2 Trophies for 4th & Top Rookie and was 3rd highest points scorer in meeting.
Fulbeck - In pre-final made up 21 places after being knocked off at turn 1 in heats to start P4. Another trophy for 5th and fastest lap in final.
Larkhall - 1st S1 visit to circuit, P2 in both heats and let HT past to finish 3rd in Pre-Final to ensure inside P3 start for main final. Took home 2 Trophies for 2nd & Top Rookie in main Final and was 2nd highest points scorer in meeting.
Shenington -1st S1 visit to circuit, took home 2 Trophies for 2nd & Top Rookie in main Final and was 4th highest points scorer in meeting.
PFI - Being a home circuit we were hoping for a strong finish to the championship and sitting in 4th on the table hoped to close the gap to 3rd and see if we could get a result.
Timed Qualifying - With 11 classes racing it was a very busy weekend with Timed Qualifying being run on the Friday afternoon as opposed to the normal Saturday morning......this was very close with the top 20 drivers being covered by less than 1 second. Lucas qualified 6th in group which was disappointing but only 15/100ths off of the pole man.
Heat 1 - Qualifying put Dude P4 on the grid and with the championship of uber importance we were looking to have a strong but sensible drive to ensure good points and a good starting position in the finals....Lights out and away only to be swamped on lap 2 and drop to 5th. No major panic yet as a long race and time to deal with it...Lap 3 up to 3rd, Lap 5 into 2nd and now time to see if he could work with the leader to break the pack. It was not to be though the pack just about held on until Lap 9 when the pressure showed and the Lucas and the leader broke away. Thinking of the points Lucas signalled the leader to confirm he would push to the finish and that's the way it went....Lucas 2nd with good points.
Heat 2 - The 2nd heat had all the big names in it so was going to be a much harder affair.......Cracking start and on lap one took two scalps to slot into P2and start to gap the pack but by Lap 6 Thompson was dragging the 7 kart train back at the leading pair and Lucas was directly in the firing line in P2 so he went for the lead and displaced the O Plate driver to 2nd for a brief run into hairpin 1 where the GP and O plate drivers went through again and in the process cost Lucas some time. And so on Lap 8 the E plate driver caught Lucas....this was getting concerning as time was running out and the E plate and Lucas were 1.5 seconds behind the lead pair.....time to work and salvage something.......in 1.5 Laps Lucas and Wesley Mason pulled back the defecit, posting a lap time nearly 3 seconds quicker than the leading pair on the last lap to push across the line 1st and 2nd.
Final 1 (Pre-Final) - Sunday was wet and it was not drying quickly so it would be a wet pre-final.
Lights out and Lucas gets away in P4.......into hairpin 2 and goes in to P2......next corner is the chicane and turns in and gets spun out by a driver hitting him in the inside rear bumper.....2nd to 32nd in a few seconds, and for no need whatsoever!
What was sitting in 3rd on the championship table with a points gap (before dropped rounds) was now major damage limitation and points claw back....to try to hold on to our position going into the meeting.
The only positives we can take at this point is it is wet and there's most of the race left to run so head down and let's see if we can get anywhere near the front pack. Lucas calmly goes to work.....Lap 2 - 32nd, Lap 3 - 23rd, Lap 5 - 20th and over the next 5 Laps took 5 more places to finish 15th. A devestating blow with 17 places gained but could have been more if the drivers used their heads and did not keep trying to race for a minor place in the early to mid race laps.
The Main Final was going to be very difficult at one of the hardest circuits in the UK starting on row 7 midpack.
Main Final - So, this was it, the last final of the year and it would decide who gets where in the Championship. Going in to it hopes of P3 have gone, P4 is a vague possibility but would take misfortune to other drivers to achieve. The main aim was to maintain P5 in the British Championships and secure the Rookie Champion position.
The P6 driver, current E plate holder Wesley Mason was only 6 points behind but was starting P6 so off the lights Lucas was effectively 5 points down in a virtual position of 6th so he needed to move forward and do it quickly but the concern is the same as the Pre-Final....drivers who are happy to battle race long for thie mid-field position......we would see the outcome soon enough though.
Lights out and a great start taking 3 to go P12 after Lap 1 another on Lap 2 but then lost 4 places on Lap 3 due to a move by his teammate...not good but early days, we need these points so work forward ASAP. Lots of position changes over the next 7 Laps taking him up to P10 but still 8 places behing Mason and not enough points...10 points difference so now...need to get forward....over the next 2 laps Lucas had a major push and pressured the drivers in front to gain another 2 places, 2 points pulled back.....still not enough but at the front Mason had been shuffled to 3rd which meant he lost 2 points and that was how they went over the line.... Lucas P8, Mason P3......
So how did this leave the Championship Points?.........nail bitingly close so Mike and Lucas went to see the Championship organisers for clarification and points stood at 1008 each...a tie!
They came back to the awning with confirmation, Lucas had 5th in the Super One British Honda Cadet Championship due to his dropped round score (out of the 7 rounds one round, the lowest scoring, is dropped from the final scores). If a tie ensues then the dropped scores between those tied are compared and Lucas' being higher than that of Mason; 142 against 132 gave him the place.
So, not the podium end we were really hoping for but sometimes the actions of others dictate the outcome but let's now dwell on this and focus on what a fantasic achievement Lucas has made in his 1st year in one, if not the toughest national championship in the world - now ranked 5th in Great Britian and Top Rookie!
Well done Dude, you've always been capable, now you are mentally strong and driving how you can I am sure you can have a shot at the title next year.
Can we say thanks to
Global Karting (Rob Hanscomb & Mike Spencer) for all their assistance and work over the last year, a more focussed & dedicated team you will not find.
RPM Engines (Roger, Wilco & Sam) without their services this would not have been possible. For the best power there is only one place to go.
Zip Karts for their assistance this year and a chassis that will deliver.
And to all the others for providing help, assistance and the positives to keep us going this year.
