After the success of the RHPK 2017 opener in March, the highly anticipated second round of the Championship opened it’s phone lines to a barrage of teams trying to get their place on the grid. We ended up with yet another capacity grid of 36 teams.

This month we welcomed back a couple of RHPK teams which we’ve not seen for some time. Stickies, Richard Hawcutt raced in RHPK back in 2002 and Team GKD who previously raced at RHPK in their first full season back in 2013, where they finished a very respectable 12th place overall in the Super class.

Morning Practice opened up to a very foggy track, the weather report looked promising for the day – expecting over 20c.

The fog cleared before the end of practice 2 leaving a perfectly clear sky which would continue throughout the race. The track was full of surprises, during the day Sammy Venables, Artifex Racing came across a couple of ducks who decided to take a walk on the track on Stadium – a first for RHPK!

 

 

Commentating this round was Alex Goldschmidt. Alex has recently been reporting on DTMs. He’s a Commentator for Downforce Radio and commentates on BRKC, run by Brad Philpot. This year Alex will be commentating on DMAX.

Unfortunately, the planned Jedi MK4 pace car for this month had to be canceled since it was damaged on track on the run up to Round 2. We expect it will return in the upcoming months to demo around Ryehouse. Jaunius Zukas from JnD Racing managed to source a worthy replacement on the day at such short noticed – a very special BMW Drift car.

Laba BMW E36 4.4 v8 supercharged
Power :400bhp+
Top speed: 160mph+

This month the Saturday Sausage Fest was cooked up by Stephanie Lutteridge’s uncle Bob and Dad, kindly sponsored by JnD Racing and ZJ Racing for all of our RHPK teams to enjoy!

Phil Lip from Polish Lambo will be sporting his new Sausage themed Helmet this month thanks to the support of the RHPK paddock.

Round 1 saw an interesting turn of events for Polish Lambo which resulting in a damaged helmet. Shortly after the event, Jose Carlos Ettwein from SJ Lambo created a Go Fund me page which raised an incredible £250. Phil agreed to have a sausage-themed Helmet as a tribute to the sponsors. It was issued to Phil in drivers briefing!

You can read the full story here…

 

Qualifying

Once again qualifying was incredibly close. The top 10 separated by less than half a second. This month Custom Rods put in a fantastic lap time early on in the session, a lap time of 41.388 secured them the pole. Helicopter Services just 0.112 behind took the spot alongside them on the grid and round 1 pole sitters, ABA Racing took 3rd followed by RPM 2.

In Clubman Team Eyrie Also took an incredibly close Clubman pole position with a 41.979 to Amigos 2 who were just 0.012 behind. Polish Lambo took the third spot in Clubman between a number of supers. LR Racing took 4th spot with a time of 41.165.

Clubman Round 1 winners, March Racing were in 5th. Super Team, JRH Racing who looked strong last round could only manage 18th on the grid, their direct rivals – Team JAM outpacing them and taking 9th.

Race

Alex Goldschmidt carried out the grid and was our commentator on both the qualifying session and race.

As the green flagged dropped Custom Rods lead the pack into the first corner, but not for long – Piers Prior from ABA Racing manages to find space and takes the lead. RPM 1 & 2 closely behind, going into the hairpins. Coming through to complete the second lap RPM 2 & Helicopter Services take Custom Rods for 3rd and 4th place.

In Clubman it’s the newly formed Amigos 2 leading the pack to Polish Lambo in second. KA Racing – without a doubt, a team to watch this year, jump 4 spaces in the first lap to be hunting down Polish Lambo for 2nd. Team Eyrie Also, despite their Clubman pole drop 10 places on the start and drop down to 22nd.

The biggest mover on lap one goes to NMA Racing who jump 5 places.

Lap 2 see Titan Motorsport take Custom Rods for 5th place. Spectre Racing moving up as well into 9th place taking the returning Team GKD in 10th.

Lap 3 Amigos take Custom Rods for 6th place. Amigos suffering a number of issues in Round 1 appear to be coming back strong than ever. Team Karting Magazine currently in 12th place on their brand new chassis.

Lap 4, Helicopter Services takes 2nd from both RPM teams and is now pushing to catch ABA Racing. SJ Lambo takes Team Eyrie Also for 22nd place.

Lap 11 Team Karting Magazine look to be pulling themselves through the field. Matt English is now 8th place after taking Custom Rods who are now 9th.

In Clubman it is a three-way fight between Amigos 2, LR Racing and Polish Lambo.

Lap 12 Helicopter Services take ABA Racing for the lead. GKD Racing & Focus Racing move up to 9th & 10th. JnD Racing takes SJ Lambo for 22nd.

Lap 14, disaster strikes for Polish Lambo. Before the race, the team had trouble starting one of their engines just as the grid was about to set off on the pace lap. They managed to finally start the engine to make the start. The team is crawling around the track to pit losing 17 places and ruining their chances of a podium spot this month. Such a shame for the team as they were the ones to watch after their strong performance last month.

Lap 35 there is a fantastic scrap between GKD, Karting Magazine and Focus Racing all battling for 8th place. Lap 70 Team Karting Magazine make a dash for the pits after a suspect puncture.

RPM 1 incurs a penalty for driving under the limbo bar, unfortunately, removing them from a chance of a podium this month.

A number of teams fall victim to mechanical issues. Team Jam losing a wheel bearing just outside the pits. The team looked so strong towards the end of the race. RPM 2 suffered a stub axel. Clubman R1 winners, March Racing also suffered issues removing them from contention.

In the last hour of the race, all eyes are on ABA Racing and Helicopter Services. After the round of pit stops, ABA is leading Helicopter Services by just 13 seconds. Over the last hour Helicopter would pull in on them but not enough – just 8 seconds in front after 4 hours, as the chequered flag drops ABA Racing take a well-deserved win! Helicopter Services settle for 2nd and Titan Motorsport who looked much quicker this month take 3rd place. Pole sitters Custom Rods do well to recover 4th place and the newly formed team of Spectre Racing take 5th.

In Clubman JnD Racing take the win over a mighty quick Team Eyrie Also this month in second. KA Racing take a fantastic 3rd place – a stunning result for the team who looked quick last month. Burton Power Racing takes the 4th spot and an incredible drive from both Wayne Edwards and Josh Harrison in Evolution to take a stunning 5th place on the podium!

Evolution had some bad luck on the run up to Round 2, also a last minute step in from Josh as Paul Allan was unable to make it.

SJ Lambo just missing out on a podium in 6th place, their best result so far – no doubt we will be seeing the team on the podium this year. A notable mention for Artifex Racing who all drove well to take 7th just behind SJ Lambo.

 

Round 2 - April 2017 Qualifying

Pos	Kart	Team	Class	Laps	Best	On
1	2	Custom Rods	Super	40	41.388	10
2	1	Helicopter Services	Super	29	41.5	19
3	3	ABA Racing	Super	30	41.538	28
4	18	RPM 2	Super	22	41.652	22
5	17	RPM 1	Super	29	41.713	26
6	22	Amigos	Super	28	41.726	22
7	19	Titan Motorsport	Super	12	41.77	12
8	24	Spectre Racing	Super	34	41.812	31
9	7	Team JAM	Super	11	41.934	10
10	25	GKD Racing	Super	24	41.964	22
11	6	Focus Racing	Super	14	41.971	10
12	42	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	25	41.979	19
13	59	Amigos 2	Clubman	23	41.991	23
14	10	Karting Magazine	Super	28	42.023	17
15	32	Polish Lambo	Clubman	40	42.041	18
16	14	HRS 1	Super	13	42.09	11
17	8	Lambo Racing	Super	24	42.12	11
18	4	JRH Racing	Super	39	42.142	21
19	50	LR Racing	Clubman	31	42.165	23
20	36	KA Racing	Clubman	37	42.277	34
21	53	March Racing	Clubman	22	42.292	11
22	55	JND Racing	Clubman	20	42.322	19
23	43	Evolution	Clubman	36	42.454	33
24	41	Artifex	Clubman	15	42.523	5
25	31	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	15	42.571	14
26	57	SJ Lambo	Clubman	38	42.673	36
27	33	Silverline Racing	Clubman	20	42.851	18
28	35	Team CET	Clubman	15	42.911	13
29	54	Burton Power WAGS	Clubman	25	42.93	25
30	56	APL Racing	Clubman	32	43.045	8
31	37	Pelam Racing	Clubman	27	43.089	25
32	34	NMA Racing	Clubman	11	43.538	10
33	67	Sticky Dickies	Clubman	17	43.58	9
34	58	HRS 2	Clubman	12	43.594	6
35	38	ZJ Racing	Clubman	19	43.968	10

Round 2 - April 2017 Race

Pos	Kart	Team	Class	Laps	Behind	Best
1	3	ABA Racing	Super	341		41.582
2	1	Helicopter Services	Super	341	8.426	41.439
3	19	Titan Motorsport	Super	341	36.452	41.609
4	2	Custom Rods	Super	340	1 Lap	41.521
5	24	Spectre Racing	Super	338	3 Laps	41.711
6	25	GKD Racing	Super	338	3 Laps	41.832
7	22	Amigos	Super	337	4 Laps	41.729
8	4	JRH Racing	Super	336	5 Laps	42.064
9	6	Focus Racing	Super	336	5 Laps	41.786
10	55	JND Racing	Clubman	334	7 Laps	41.974
11	10	Karting Magazine	Super	334	7 Laps	41.941
12	42	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	332	9 Laps	42.268
13	36	KA Racing	Clubman	331	10 Laps	42.003
14	31	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	331	10 Laps	42.277
15	8	Lambo Racing	Super	331	10 Laps	41.956
16	43	Evolution	Clubman	330	11 Laps	42.295
17	57	SJ Lambo	Clubman	330	11 Laps	42.42
18	41	Artifex	Clubman	329	12 Laps	42.486
19	35	Team CET	Clubman	329	12 Laps	42.617
20	54	Burton Power WAGS	Clubman	329	12 Laps	42.46
21	37	Pelam Racing	Clubman	328	13 Laps	42.724
22	7	Team JAM	Super	328	13 Laps	42.193
23	56	APL Racing	Clubman	326	15 Laps	42.862
24	33	Silverline Racing	Clubman	325	16 Laps	42.481
25	14	HRS 1	Super	324	17 Laps	41.904
26	50	LR Racing	Clubman	321	20 Laps	42.033
27	67	Sticky Dickies	Clubman	317	24 Laps	42.981
28	34	NMA Racing	Clubman	249	92 Laps	43.116
29	59	Amigos 2	Clubman	227	114 Laps	41.995
30	17	RPM 1	SP	225	116 Laps	41.752
31	18	RPM 2	SP	138	203 Laps	41.56
32	53	March Racing	Clubman	114	227 Laps	42.179
33	38	ZJ Racing	Clubman	58	283 Laps	43.771
34	58	HRS 2	Clubman	30	311 Laps	43.399
35	32	Polish Lambo	Clubman	14	327 Laps	42.378
DNS	39	Neptune Motorsport	Clubman	0	-

 

  Alpha Timing Results