Strawberry and Cream

Not quite the summer yet, although the early arrival of Strawberry and Cream onto the first podiums of the year in the British Super One Championship, is definitely a good way to start.

With the opening Rotax round taking place at Whilton Mill last weekend, the Sheffield based Strawberry Racing Team delivered an exciting start to the new season, with podium finishes in nearly every final on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.strawberryracing.co.uk/2011_news/1d.htm

With a talented team of young drivers coming through the ranks, 2011 is likely to be a strong season for all concerned on the new Tonykart/Cream comination.

The opening round of the Rotax Super One 2011 National Championship was held this weekend at Whilton Mill, but with heavy rain in the morning, and a leaden overcast sky for most of the day, it stayed bitterly cold throughout the day. When the sun finally burst through the clouds late in the afternoon, it might have lifted the spirits, but it was too little too late.

Speaking with Karting magazine colleague Adam Jones track-side, and then again later with former champ Tristram Oman, the Senior Rotax Max victor, Edward Brand, won the final on his Strawberry Racing Tonykart, despite taking part with a suspected broken arm! It was a remarkable achievement by Brand, because to win any Super One Championship round is a significant achievement on a driver's CV, let alone when carrying such an injury.

My best wishes for a job well done goes out to Mr Brand, who on this performance, must now be one of the favourites to lift the Senior Rotax title in six months time.

Sad bereavement to OEKC team

Robert Bedwell (far right on the front row), has been in touch to inform me of the passing away of 'Chunky' (Graham), who is second from the left on the front row. This photograph was taken two years ago at the prestigious Wembley 24 hour race, when we raced the Daytona Rotax Max karts just before Xmas 2008.  'Chunky' was a quick guy and his passing will be felt deeply by his team-mates and friends.

As part of the Allstars team, when James and myself were part of the team led by Rick Parfitt (Jnr), we raced against the enduro experienced OEKC outfit, so can speak with first hand knowledge of just how quick they are.  Led by Russell Willcox from Box Technology (blue race suit back row), who both sponsors and organises the OEKC series, Robertn told me that without Russell's generosity and passion, it would be a very different series without his support.

'Chunky' received his final chequered flag on Saturday 9 October 2010, but in his memory, a memorial race is going to be held at Whilton Mill on 6 February 2011, when a copy of the photograph above will be on display. It is an event that will be an open endurance race, mainly for Rotax Max karts, although the Series regularly have Pro-karts and Bilands on the entry list, with each category receiving an 'equaliser' by way of a number of laps credit.  Robert informs me that this makes for a very interesting and exciting end to their endurance racing, as the different fuel strategies and reliability finally play out.

It sounds to me like a fitting way to remember a well-respected team-mate and friend, who will be sadly missed by all the OEKC competitors, and our thoughts are with his family.

TKM Festival (Whilton Mill)

Superb weather and excellent organisation at Whilton Mill, all contributed to some excellent racing at the 2009 TKM Festival meeting.

Sam Brown dominated the TKM Extreme final, took the top step of the podium, but already there were rumblings of a problem in scrutineering. Sorry folks but correctly completing a 'scrute' card is not rocker science - I have covered far too many races during the last 20+ years, where drivers who have performed superbly well on the track, end up being excluded from what was a major result in their careers. So step forward Rory Mowbray, the new TKM Extreme Festival champion.

As for the rest Ashley Jones was, in my judgement anyway, the 'driver of the day', with a stunning victory in Junior Elite - well done buddy! Oliver Hodgson meanwhile, whom I have already 'blogged' eslewhere after a well-deserved win recently at Kimbolton, was suitably awesome in the Junior Festival race after a difficult weekend. The 'Open' champ won as easily as Jones did in his race - it would have been worth seeing them have another head-to-head at Whilton...