Three Sisters - Final Round
After 4 consecutive wins in the previous months, Phil was hoping everything would go well again this month so that he could wrap up the championship.
On Saturday things didn’t go well. For the motors tv race, as had been the case most of the year, it was a last minute setup decision with the track changing massively in short periods of time. Unfortunately Phil didn’t change the gearing enough and found himself unable to keep with most of the pack as he was 1.5 slower than the fastest lap. Luke Caudle also decided it would be a good idea to not brake going into the hairpin on the first lap and slam into the back of Phil nearly ending his race, along with several other drivers. Showing why he really does deserve to sport a seeded number – not.
As Phil wasn’t fast enough he dropped back and let Paul Monks pass him, pushing Paul as hard as he could to try and help his championship hopes as much as possibl, as going into the round Paul had a chance of winning the series and Phil didn’t. The two of them were off the pace but managed to catch and pass Martyn Lyell, who also seemed to be having trouble. This almost sealed 3rd place in the championship for Paul but in the end he finished 4th, with Phil 5th.
All Saturday’s goings on added to the tension during Sunday, and efforts were doubled by all in order to make sure no stupid mistakes threw away a years hard work.
In the first heat Phil had grid 7 and in the first couple of laps he was leading with Alex Jones and Martyn Lyell close on his tail. The three battled for the 8 laps with a gaggle of drivers behind catching as a consequence. On the final lap Alex Jones was leading, as he had done for about half the race, weaving across to defend unnecessarily for one place. Going into the left onto Rogersons Phil let the kart drift left to attempt a lunge when he saw Jones go right for the racing line. At the last second Jones swerved infront of Phil and contact saw Jones go wide. Phil led into Lunar and a smack from behind saw him go wide, then another smack just to be sure it seemed. Phil was on the outside of the track on the slippery tarmac as karts streamed past, including Phil’s main championship contender James Duxbury, and Alex Jones appeared from behind Phil as they drove over the line. Both drivers were taken into the clerks office and cautioned for the contact made.
IIn heat two Phil started way down the order and knew he had to finish as close to Duxbury as he could to try and reduce the amount of points lost. Phil carved his way through the field setting the 2nd fastest lap after Martyn Lyell, who had borrowed Phil’s spare JKH kart for the day as he no longer wished to use the ARC after his contract had ended. Phil finished 7th and Duxbury won the heat.
For the final Phil was going to start 4th, with Duxbury on pole, Lyell in 2nd and Napier in 3rd. After working out the championship standings after the points already scored in the day had been calculated, it turned out Phil only needed to finish 4th, and he would win the championship no matter where Duxbury finished. It could be a relatively relaxed and easy race where Phil could sit in his position and still win.
Going over the start line Phil shot over to the inside through a gap into 3rd. With Duxbury and Lyell ahead of him, the three of them pulled away from the rest of the field and it looked like Phil was dropping off, with Lyell starting to pull a small gap on Duxbury. Phil was suddenly on the back of both of them and a furious 3-way battle started, with places changing on nearly every corner. The clinical move was at the end of the main straight where Phil dived down the inside of Duxbury to take the lead and Lyell followed him through. Phil defended into the hairpin, and so did Lyell, but Duxbury hung out wide to get more exit speed. This he did and he managed to slide underneath Lyell into the left hand bend onto Rogersons. When he made the move Phil pulled out 3 kart lengths on both of them and took the victory not only of the race, but the championship.
The clubhouse roared later on in the evening as Gary gave Phil a massive speech and presented him with his trophy, Phil took the opportunity to say a few well deserved thanks:
‘I want to thank Nick Abbot from Head 2 Head Motorsport for everything he has done this year, he’s been amazing and he’s a top bloke. More than him I want to thank my Dad for putting me where I am now, cheers Dad!’
So… a good end to a hard, but pretty good year, once again thanks to Nick for fantastic motors and karts all year that have been as quick as the best, both at club and national llevel.