Tabs Motor to Victory
Oxford narrowly lost their Varsity Karting title after a thrilling and very close race at Daytona International in Milton Keynes.
With 10 Varsity entries and 15 teams from other universities in attendance for the 3-hour race, including virtually all the front-runners in the British University Karting Championship, competition would be very fierce and it appeared that the Oxbridge teams would be fighting it out at the back of the pack.
However, once qualifying got under way, both Oxford and Cambridge appeared to be up to speed, with Cambridge A taking 6th on the grid with Oxford A and D 9th and 10th. The race then got underway at a frantic pace, with Cambridge's Keith Collantine and Oxford's Will Turner and Rob Jacobs fighting it out inside the overall top 6 and at the head of the Varsity race.
At the hour mark, Cambridge B had surprisingly moved into the lead after both A teams dropped back with kart difficulties. Oxford D had slipped way down the order.
As the event progressed, Oxford A (the team also comprised Chris Haley, Alan Coombs, Dan Neale and Scott Johnston) moved back into the Varsity lead, pulling ahead of the Cambridge second squad who were steadily going backwards. They were unfortunately then forced to make an unscheduled extra pit stop, which ruined their strategy and cost time, dropping them back behind the now-recovered Cambridge A team.
For the final hour it was neck-and-neck between the two A teams, with Cambridge ahead but Oxford closing the gap at times. However, in the end it was not enough and Cambridge A took the victory. Oxford A would have been closer, but suffered the ignominy of breaking down on the second-to-last lap and having to jump into a spare kart.
The overall race was won by York A, just 0.38s ahead of Southampton A after three hours of racing. Warwick A finished fourth despite Andy Smith breaking the lap record four times during the race.
22nd May 2003