Oxford Driven to Distraction
Last Wednesday saw Oxford's first entry into the Inter-University Karting Championship.
The event is a hi-tech and high-speed championship, with machines that accelerate from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds. With a top speed of around 80 mph and no seatbelt, this sport is not for those of a nervous disposition.
The team suffered a disappointing start to the four-round championship, partly owing to a lack of experience of driving the 2-stroke machines in the wet conditions which soon swamped the Whilton Mill circuit in Northamptonshire after qualifying began.
The team - of captain Patrick Nicholls, Jon Snell, Marcus Haggers and Martin Gilmour - could only qualify 27th out of the 32 teams competing, and as such had their work cut out for the two hour team endurance race.
The race began under a rolling start (rather than from a stationary grid, as used in Formula 1), and Patrick Nicholls used some canny and careful driving to gain places and avoid an accident further up the field. He managed to move the team into the top ten.
However, this was not to last, as soon a series of very costly spins by he and the other drivers dropped the team to 31st position at the half-way point; a long way behind the leading teams.
At this point, the team refuelled for a second time and improved their driving. They managed to gain several laps on the opposition and move up into 27th place, which was credible given the calibre of the opposition (several semi-professional racing drivers were competing). This put them ahead of arch - rivals Cambridge, who had started further up the order.
Unfortunately, team member Marcus Haggers then suffered contact lens-related trouble and spun off the circuit, dropping the team back to 30th place again.
Promising newcomer Martin Gilmour took over the kart for the final 15-minute stint, and managed to gain one place back, raising the team to 29th place at the end of the race. Sadly, this was just 20 seconds behind Cambridge, who had started out as the much more fancied team.
The Championship continues in 8th Week at the Buckmore park circuit in Kent, with the team looking to find more consistency, which will hopefully yield top-15 or 20 positions, and victory over Cambridge in the process.
To find out more about Oxford's rapidly expanding motorsport activities on the web, see the <a href="http://www.oumdc.co.uk/">OUMDC website</a>.
28th Feb 2002