Lando Norris and Sam Marsh opened their 2012 Formula Kart Stars accounts with victories in the first Mini and Junior Max finals of the season. Following a successful pre-season test and race programme, the RL Racing drivers were able to recreate the form they’d shown over the winter and both won their finals at Kimbolton (7/8 April 2012) comfortably.
Norris’s Mini Max team-mates Flashman Finneran and Gaby Weyer got their campaigns underway with 9th and 12th respectively.
Marsh’s fellow Junior Max protagonists Josh White and Oli Norris finished inside the top ten (5th and 8th) to give themselves a solid platform on which to build their own title bids.
This would prove to be vital for Sunday’s second round, when the heavens opened. Heavy rain created trying conditions for all the drivers and inspired a series of crashes throughout the day. As team principal Steve Armstrong observed, “Sunday’s conditions made it difficult for the whole field, including the front-runners, so consequently threw up quite a few surprises.”
In Mini Max, Lando again fared well and after qualifying and the first heat, was very much the man to beat. For the final, tyre choice proved to be a crucial factor. With the rain easing, the soaking track had begun to dry leaving the drivers, mechanics and team bosses wondering whether to gamble on slicks and hope to have the advantage in the race’s latter stages, or go for wets and capitalise at the beginning.
A combination of a bold gamble on slicks and some great driving from the Glastonbury-based youngster produced an eventual 3rd place and the early championship lead. Flashman rounded out the top ten, whilst Gaby crossed the finishing line in 12th as she continues to adjust to life in the Mini Max class.
For their older counterparts, the second round proved to be a frustrating experience.
Neither Josh, Sam, Oli or their mechanics could quite found the sweet spot in their karts’ set-up and found themselves in a battle for each and every position. A somewhat controversial final, marred by more collisions, saw Marsh and White take the chequered flag in 11th and 12th with Norris a little further back in 16th.
In terms of the championship positions, Sam currently lies 2nd overall, with Josh 9th and Oli 11th.
“From domination on Saturday to not quite on it on Sunday,” Armstrong rued. “If I’m honest, I think we perhaps suffered from a lack of detailed local knowledge of Kimbolton. The key thing is, we’ve got points on the board and with two rounds completed but a further ten to go, everything is still very much to play for.”
This weekend (14/15 April) sees RL Racing Department up in Cumbria, contesting a club race at Rowrah in readiness for the Super One championships third round there on 16/17 June.
For more information about RL Racing Department visit www.rlracingdepartmentltd.com
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13 April 2012
