Winners crowned in karting league

(Cayman Karting): Motorsport action down at the Cayman Karting track continues to come thick and fast. The Autumn Premier League has reached its penultimate week whilst the new Tag Heuer Corporate League begins in two weeks time. The Premier League was designed to test the best karters on island. Qualification required team members to able to drive sub-35 second laps and the six round league included a variety of new driving challenges. Particularly demanding were the two races which took place in purposely wet conditions, one each on the Regular and Reverse Tracks. (Photo – DARR Racing League Winners)

These wet races proved a thorough examination of racing skill with the racing line drying out during the 70 lap race forcing the drivers to adapt to constantly changing track conditions. To focus minds a four spin-out rule meant that the any team leaving the track four times over the 20 laps qualifying or 70 lap race was disqualified. The league also included driving on the High Speed OuterLoop format of the track for the first time. This layout takes out the twisty inner section of the track and employs the pit lane to complete an outer loop. The new format was debuted in a time trial where each team drove the same kart in turn and tried to register the fastest lap on the new circuit.
To reflect the stricter standards of the Premier Leagues the Cayman Motorsports Association took over race supervision. Six marshals on the track ensured that high standards of driving were enforced. Bobby Hulse, CMA President, said “CMA was happy to play a part in making the Premier League a success. We hope to see karting as a teaching tool for the youth as well as a fun outlet for all.” Alasdair Foster of Cayman Karting replied, “We are very grateful to the CMA volunteers who came out to help prep the track and supervise the racing – they ensured a very professional level of competition. We are also extremely appreciative for the continued support from AI Rentals.”
The entrants in the Premier League included a number of corporate teams including Maples and Calder, Harneys and Premier Wines as well as several groups of friends who came together to form teams. Interestingly the league also saw two drivers go solo with one man teams. Stan Zholnin and Furius Whelan confounded sceptics by proving they were up to the endurance test of driving 90 laps in one session. Both drivers have produced some solid performances that leave them lying fourth and seventh in the league table.
One team has dominated the league and their four wins and onesecond place over the first five races allowed them to wrap up the title with a race to spare. DARR Racing consists of Daron Mclean, Alexander Conolly, Richard Crawshaw and Richard Johnson with reserve driver Jordan Seales. This has brought together a mixture of youth and experience: Daron is still studying, Alexander, Jordan and Richard Johnson all work at Butterfield Bank whilst Richard Crawshaw is an independent director. Daron proved once again to be the fastest driver on the regular track whilst Alexander was the fastest man and new record holder for the High Speed Outer Loop. The fastest man on the reverse track was however local racing legend Andy Bodden from the Caymaniacs team.

Holding on to second position is the constantly improving Harneys team of Kieron O’Rourke, Jenny Deacon, Nik Fox, Tim Clipstone and Steve Staatz. Jenny Deacon set a new fastest female lap time for the reverse track and the team will present a formidable challenge when the new corporate league begins. Behind them sitting in third is Team Valvoline comprising the considerable racing talents of Keith Tibbetts, Ajoni Ambersley, Michael Weatherford, Chad Phillips, Josh Rivers, Britney Nelson and Kelcey Huggins.
Next up at Cayman Karting is the Winter Corporate League which has been sponsored by TAG Heuer and Harbour Drive Jewellers. To add further incentive to the racing one member of the winning team will now receive a luxury TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch. Sign-up deadline is 29 November and the league will start on 6 December. Two weeks of racing will take place before a break for Christmas and the league will then continue until early March. New race formats for the TAG Heuer league will include a 100 lap endurance race, a night with two races where the grid for the second race will be the reverse of the first race’s finishing positions. There will also be a social night mid-league with food and music when a time trial on the Reverse High Speed Outer Loops will take place. This league will split mid-way through the season into two divisions so teams will be racing against similarly matched competition. Division One racers will, like their Premier league counterparts, have to face up to some races on a deliberately wet track. Further information is available on www.caymankarting.com.