For Fox Sake, they are champions

Although there was a mathematical chance of AAA Taxi doing the job, in reality there were only 2 teams that came into the final rookie race with a chance of taking the title. For Fox Sake and Racewear.co.uk were virtually even on points so it was largely a case of who finished ahead would take the spoils.

There was a huge surprise in qualifying as the front row was locked out by 2 unfamiliar names. Pony Express, usually propping up the rear of the grid, took an astounding pole position ahead of Mango Racing. For Fox Sake and Racewear were only 18th and 25th respectively.

Marco, Richard and Lars of Pony Express were immensely surprised but nonetheless pleased with their performance.

“We’re just quick today. I don’t understand it. It must have been something we ate at breakfast. We’ll try and make the most of this performance and try to translate it into race pace. We’ll find out at turn one if that works.”

The Fox boys admitted to pre-race nerves on the grid.

“We are a bit nervous. We have to finish in the top four so basically we need to try and stay out of trouble.”

It seemed to. Pony Express led the rookie field for the first 4 laps before being passed by AAA Taxi. They led for some time before they decided to press the self destruct button again. Justin Buck explained what happened.

“We were leading and the Kev apparently punted someone off and they both spun off. Kev then had to come in for a penalty so that was it really. It’s a shame because we were really on for it today. The kart is really rapid so it’s a big blow. Championship hopes over I think.”

The Skid Marks and Meander Club looked racy in the early part of the race. However, the focus was on the championship and, despite an early spin, For Fox Sake were showing relentless speed and surging their way up the order. Racewear were following them up the order as well but, alas, a broken exhaust probably caused by running over a Fox Hole (get it?) ended their afternoon and pretty much spelt the end of their championship.

”I heard one of the karts going around with a loud exhaust and the next thing I knew our man was driving in to the pits. We had to have the flex changed which cost us a lot of time. It’s a real shame because we were looking in fantastic shape. AAA binned it, For Fox Sake had a spin with papa Fox and were behind us so we were quite pleased but it’s all gone a bit wrong.”

Runtime Exception Racing were looking strong during the middle phase of the race. They were running well in the top four and looking on course for a good load of points. STOaT Racing were also well up. The JaBokers were also looking fairly racy at one stage but they disappeared of the radar later in the race. Sadly Pony Express couldn’t maintain their pole winning pace. Coupled with having to queue in the pits when their man got confused by some pit signals, they soon slipped down the order and into familiar territory near the back of the field.

With the demise of AAA Taxi earlier in the race, Slick Speed had got themselves into the lead by half distance and had pulled out a good lead. Rich Ward was confident of his team’s chances.

“We’ve kept out of trouble, our pace has been good and I think we can keep at the front.”

They looked quite comfortable and continued to lead the way but a spin late in the race handed the lead to a grateful Fox and they duly crossed the line to take another victory and, with it, the championship title.

Behind the Foxes, Meander Club took a well deserved second place. Slick Speed’s later race spin meant they could only finish third ahead of Runtime Exception Racing. However, they were disqualified for being underweight (as were Lots Motor Club) so The Skid Marks were promoted to fourth and the Grasshoppers rounded out the top 5.

“At the start of the year we didn’t think we would be in this position so it’s great. We had a good start and got up to the front but then Dad had a spin and that put us near the back but after that we just put in quick and consistent laps and all our pit stops were pretty good. It’s obviously bad luck for Racewear but we had a chain go at the last race so I guess things even out.”

It has largely been a tale of two halves this year. Racewear dominated the first few races and For Fox Sake have been the class of the field in the latter part. In fairness, I think the best team won in the end. Their consistency and outright speed can’t be denied and it’s also nice to see a team comprising of an entire family winning the championship. Plus they bought a copy of my book so they deserve the championship even more!