The next televised TV Round, Round 4. The second of three to be broadcast on Motorsport TV. As we opened the lines on Monday Morning after round 3 we sold out in a record time of 25 minutes! One of the fastest selling rounds this year!

This month we welcomed a brand new team, Time Crisis. The team had been testing in the weeks leading up to the race gaining valuable experience for their first RHPK Round. Team GKD returned this month, their last race in March for Round 1 – The very strong super team were looking to make their mark this round. Returning back this year was 2016 season regulars Marcus Shepherd and his son Reece (Formally Team Wraith) teamed up to make. Lad and Dad.

Chris McCarthy was back again this round with a very special guest, Alex Goldschmidt. The duo would commentate throughout the day.

The month’s pace car was a Toyota Starlet running a full Burton race prepared aspirated Cosworth YB engine (non-turbo version of a Sierra Cosworth engine) It would be driven by  Tom Marshall … aka meathead!

New team this year, Stickies run by Richard Hawcutt make decals to support the Manchester Victims appeal. We raised a fantastic £163.07. Big thank you for all of Richard’s hard work in supporting such a worthy cause.

Qualifying

Qualifying was a little different this month, the One Lap Shootout returned from the positive feedback we had from the Winter Cup.

Just one lap counts and it is from the moment you pass the start/finish line from the pits on completely cold tyres. Chris McCarthy and Alex Goldschmidt brought the hour alive with commentary throughout.

One of the last teams to go ABA Racing jumped Titan Motorsport after their very strong 1 lap. ABA with a 43.352 and Titan Motorsport in 2nd with a 43.412.  RPM1 secure third place with a 43.515. 2016 RHPK Championship winners, Helicopter Services could only manage 6th place.

Despite being drawn first in qualifying, HRS2 took a very strong pole position in Clubman, 43.957. Newcomers, Time Crisis took a stunning second place with a time of 44.059, followed closely by Amigos 2 and Polish Lambo. Current Clubman leaders, JND Racing could only manage 9th in class and Artifex Racing ran wide on their cold tyres going into the first hairpin which placed them 28th on the grid – the one lap qualifying mixing up the order! 

Race

As the green flag drops 36 karts surge into Stadium, Custom Rods front nose cone gets hooks with Titan Motorsports bumper and remains joined until the first hairpin! ABA Racing retains their lead from RPM Racing 1 who makes up a position on the opening lap. Custom Rods drop 7 places due to their attachment with Titan!

In Clubman HRS lead the pack followed closely by newcomers Time Crisis and Amigos 2. Lap move biggest movers are SJ Lambo gaining 4 places on just the first lap.

Lap 2 JAM Racing take 23rd from Burton Power Racing. APL Racing take 25th from JND Racing. 

Lap 3 sees an almighty battle for 9th place, both Custom Rods and HRS1 jumping Amigos 2 and Time Crisis.

Lap 4, Karting Magazine,  on their new chassis take 10th after their slightly disappointing qualifying lap netting them 16th. Both Focus Racing and Team Lambo are close behind.

Helicopter Services take 3rd place from Amigos on Lap 10. Disaster for Polish Lambo on lap 11, attempting to overtake March Racing but running out of space in doing so – dropping 18 places!

A tight battle at the front between Titan Motorsport, Amigos, Custom Rods & GKD – Amigos being jumped by all 3 on lap 13.

Lap 26 Team CET who look strong this month take Burton Wags for 24th.

Lap 47 Custom Rods are limping around the track, their pace has dropped off significantly, after a lengthy couple of pitstops which ultimately takes them out of the running, one of the engines is at fault.

Lap 51 a fantastic battle for Clubman between Time Crisis, March Racing & Amigos 2 – all separated by less than 2 seconds.

As the race progresses Team Karting Magazine on their debut have brake issues, they are forced to pit which takes them out of the running for a decent result this round. However, their pace is strong and confident that they will be fighting back at the top next month.

A big incident between JRH, Silverline Racing and SJ Lambo on the straight prompts a red flag. SJ Lambo’s  Darrell Lowe comes out of the kart and is attending to by the medical staff. Darrell is well just shaken up. Big shout out to the medical team onsite who attended instantly – a real asset to the series.

All karts were lined back up and resumed the race back from the lap before the red flag incident.

ABA Racing who looked the team to beat and have done from the last couple of rounds suffered a penalty in the pits which took them out on contention for the race win.

As the chequered flag dropped after a very eventful Round 4 – RPM Racing 1 take the win. Titan Motorsport just 25 seconds behind took a very well deserved 2nd place and Helicopter Services took 3rd. Returning this month, GDK Racing took 4th place and Focus Racing completed the podium with 5th.

In Clubman, JND Racing took the win from a very strong Amigos 2 this round, fantastic pace from the Amigos team this round after their unfortunate luck over the last couple of races. March Racing missed out on the win due to a last minute spin which took them out of the lead – they recovered back with a 3rd spot on the grid. Polish Lambo managed to claw through the field to take 4th and ZJ Racing took the last spot on the grid with a very impressive 5th place – this month on the Hire 7Kart package and looked mighty strong.

A notable mention to Team CET who looked quicker than ever this round along with brand new Team, Time Crisis who finished a very respectable 9th in their first race with RHPK.

Chris McCarthy – Karting Magazine

As ever when the cameras come out for RHPK the drama comes with it. The return of one lap qualifying saw even bigger surprises this time as teams gambled on setups and tyres and paid the price with bad results, in particular, JND Racing. But cool as ever Piers Prior stuck ABA Racing on pole position with HRS 2 the surprise pole in the Clubman class.

As for the race itself, Lambo Racing were one team to get delayed in the first lap melee and Custom Rods were quickly into the pits with an engine problem. SJ Lambo was a team on the move in the clubman class but their race, unfortunately, came to an end after an incident with Silverline Racing with JRH just able to keep out the way. The red flag brought a change of tactics and as ABA Racing came into the pits they exited with a five lap penalty after an ‘incident’ up at the fuel bay.

That left RPM as comfortable winners with Titan doing well to finish 2nd despite a bent track rod. Helicopter Services were 3rd but the most impressive performance came from JND Racing who gained 18 places to finish 5th overall and win the Clubman class after HRS 2 hit problems and March racing cracked under the pressure just a few laps from the flag. Just behind Amigos 2 finally got their well-deserved podium after a difficult start to the season.

A big shout out must go to ZJ Racing who gained 19 places to finish 14th, the biggest movers in the field. Apart from the racing the hot dogs were on par as ever, the weather was perfect and the spirit of RHPK high.

Alex Goldschmidt

RHPK is still one very competitive series, even with the fact that the categories for this season have been frozen until 2018.

The new one-lap qualifying shoot out format for Round 4 really added extra drama to the event, with my initial predictions of the pole position lap time being blown right out of the water. The race itself had everything – great action and clean battles, dramas for some, especially with the red flag, and lots of excitement throughout. RHPK never fails to disappoint every time they hit the track.

 

Round 4 - June 2017 Qualifying

Pos	No	Team	Class	Laps	Best
1	3	ABA Racing	Super	1	43.352
2	19	Titan Motorsport	Super	1	43.412
3	17	RPM 1	Super	1	43.515
4	2	Custom Rods	Super	1	43.618
5	22	Amigos	Super	1	43.635
6	1	Helicopter Services	Super	1	43.7
7	25	GKD Racing	Super	1	43.904
8	58	HRS 2	Clubman	1	43.957
9	14	HRS 1	Super	1	43.964
10	24	Spectre Racing	Super	1	44.025
11	62	Time Crisis	Clubman	1	44.059
12	4	JRH Racing	Super	1	44.221
13	59	Amigos 2	Clubman	1	44.348
14	32	Polish Lambo	Clubman	1	44.399
15	42	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	1	44.414
16	10	Karting Magazine	Super	1	44.454
17	21	Lad & Dad	Super	1	44.476
18	6	Focus Racing	Super	1	44.532
19	36	KA Racing	Clubman	1	44.635
20	8	Lambo Racing	Super	1	44.73
21	53	March Racing	Clubman	1	44.749
22	31	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	1	44.751
23	55	JND Racing	Clubman	1	44.784
24	33	Silverline Racing	Clubman	1	44.846
25	7	Team JAM	Super	1	44.891
26	35	Team CET	Clubman	1	44.91
27	56	APL Racing	Clubman	1	45.14
28	41	Artifex	Clubman	1	45.179
29	54	Burton Power WAGS	Clubman	1	45.264
30	57	SJ Lambo	Clubman	1	45.39
31	40	BMH	Clubman	1	45.47
32	37	Pelam Racing	Clubman	1	45.498
33	38	ZJ Racing	Clubman	1	45.651
34	67	Sticky Dickies	Clubman	1	46.247
35	43	Evolution	Clubman	1	46.569
36	60	Chess Racing	Clubman	1	46.707

Round 4 - June 2017 Race

Pos	Kart	Team	Class	Laps	Behind	Best
1	17	RPM 1	Super	293		41.49
2	19	Titan Motorsport	Super	293	25.907	41.606
3	1	Helicopter Services	Super	291	2 Laps	41.762
4	25	GKD Racing	Super	290	3 Laps	41.9
5	55	JND Racing	Clubman	289	4 Laps	42.013
6	6	Focus Racing	Super	289	4 Laps	42.011
7	4	JRH Racing	Super	289	4 Laps	42.072
8	59	Amigos 2	Clubman	289	4 Laps	42.111
9	53	March Racing	Clubman	289	4 Laps	41.884
10	3	ABA Racing	Super	289	4 Laps	41.417
11	8	Lambo Racing	Super	289	4 Laps	41.884
12	7	Team JAM	Super	288	5 Laps	42.213
13	32	Polish Lambo	Clubman	288	5 Laps	42.049
14	38	ZJ Racing	Clubman	286	7 Laps	41.987
15	36	KA Racing	Clubman	286	7 Laps	41.948
16	41	Artifex	Clubman	286	7 Laps	42.154
17	35	Team CET	Clubman	286	7 Laps	42.253
18	14	HRS 1	Super	286	7 Laps	41.758
19	62	Time Crisis	Clubman	285	8 Laps	42.082
20	22	Amigos	Super	285	8 Laps	41.704
21	54	Burton Power WAGS	Clubman	285	8 Laps	42.532
22	31	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	284	9 Laps	42.261
23	56	APL Racing	Clubman	283	10 Laps	42.509
24	10	Karting Magazine	Super	280	13 Laps	42.088
25	37	Pelam Racing	Clubman	277	16 Laps	42.899
26	67	Sticky Dickies	Clubman	275	18 Laps	43.264
27	40	BMH	Clubman	273	20 Laps	42.587
28	58	HRS 2	Clubman	272	21 Laps	41.991
29	60	Chess Racing	Clubman	228	65 Laps	43.647
30	2	Custom Rods	Super	211	82 Laps	41.587
31	21	Lad & Dad	Super	155	138 Laps	42.168
32	57	SJ Lambo	Clubman	120	173 Laps	42.111
33	33	Silverline Racing	Clubman	119	174 Laps	42.182
34	42	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	104	189 Laps	42.427
35	24	Spectre Racing	Super	65	228 Laps	41.766
36	43	Evolution	Clubman	35	258 Laps	43.573

 

 

  Alpha Timing Results