| 3DR Dominate at Whilton Mill! |
| Thursday, 04 September 2008 00:14 |
|
3DR Motorsport celebrated entering what is hoped to be a long term partnership with leading kart shop and Tony Kart supplier KKC at Whilton Mill in August. KKC are based at the Northamptonshire circuit, and both parties are extremely happy with the deal. The August round of the club championship, therefore, was important for the team both on and off the track!
With 4 drivers, including Danny’s return to racing, Henrys first outing as a Junior Max, and Nick Moss (owner of KKC), the weekend was set to be frantic. Dry testing on Saturday allowed the team to complete a full tyre test programme with Senior drivers Danny and Dominic Russell. The day ended with Danny on top of the timesheets, Dominic 1 tenth of a second behind just in front of a chasing group of drivers. Junior Rotax protégé Henry Jackson completed a trouble free first day as a Junior driver (up from the Mini max class), and ended lapping inside the top 6 on lap times by the end of the day. The team worked on evaluating his engine in Junior spec, and carried out a successful test on chassis balance. Meanwhile, 177 driver Moss spent Saturday running through engines and evaluating tyres ahead of Sunday’s race. ‘Today has gone well for the team and everyone involved on the whole. Danny has returned in what seems to be dominant style, and all 3 of the other drivers have shown good pace in areas. I think that Henry has been exceptional in his first full Junior test, and hope that we can turn speed into results for tomorrow,’ Team Manager, Tom Smith. A wet start to Sunday flustered everybody, and the team got off to a bad start in heat 1 with the 2 senior drivers. With the team involved in 8 of the first 12 heats, the morning was manic, but everyone pulled together and managed to escape the rush fairly unharmed. A wrong tyre choice for the Senior drivers meant 7th and 9th in their first heat, although Moss managed a 3rd and 4th from his first two races, a promising sign. Steady heats for all equated to P2 and P3 on the grid in Senior Rotax, P3 in Rotax 177 for Nick Moss, and P7 for Jackson in Juniors. Henry lined up on the inside of row 4 for his first Junior final, and a good start saw him consolidate 7th. With a strong grid, he settled into the train, and then started to move forward through the pack. A move on championship frontrunner Ben Walker, and then the next lap at turn 3 on Stars Of Tomorrow driver Aaron Woods saw him move up to 5th. With a top 5 finish looking a certainty, and a podium on the cards, Henry was unduly taken out at Turn 3 by a rather over-exuberant Woods on lap 8. A demoralised Jackson mustered 18th position by the end. Moss fell back at the start of the 177 final to 8th place. By lap 2, however, the KKC owner had made good progress back through the field. By lap 6 he overtook Lee Torrie (LT Motorsport), and pulled a good advantage. Unfortunately, the front group of drivers were just out of reach and Moss had to settle for 5th, with a fastest lap equalling that of eventual race winner, Luke Woodland. With Danny on P2 and Dominic P3 for the Senior Rotax final, tension was high. The ever looming clouds held off, allowing a dry, fair race. After being pushed off on Turn 1, Danny settled into 5th position on lap 1, behind Payne, Dominic Russell, William Priest, and Super 1 driver Danny Drew. With obvious pace over the field, Danny moved into 4th, and then 3rd on lap 2, before out braking Dominic into Turn 5 on lap 3. A move on race leader Payne into turn 9 at the Boot saw him take the lead. Dominic took advantage of Payne’s demise by moving into 2nd on lap 4. With a 3DR 1-2 on the cards, Danny didn’t look back, and, setting fastest laps every lap, moved himself into a 5 second lead behind Dominic. On lap 9, a hard move from Payne on Dominic forced him back into 6th position with only 3 laps to go. Unfortunately, he could only recover to 5th, leaving the championship still wide open. No drama for Danny, however, as he crossed the finish line some 3 seconds ahead of 2nd place Payne. With a strong on track presence this weekend, both 3DR and KKC feel that their deal will be a good long term venture. Both companies can now offer a more complete service to their customers, with a high quality of service both on and off track rivalling anyone else in the country. ‘The team have done very well this weekend. Danny has shown us why he holds number one status in the team right now, and the other drivers have backed him up well. It was a big shame for the other 3, who came so close to all finishing on the podium. Dominic will go to his next race on fresh equipment now, and Henry will contest the rest of the season in Mini max at Kimbolton and Shenington, alongside racing in Juniors at Whilton Mill. I hope that the steps that the team have made forward in the last month will see them well into the future, and help to cement the future of the company.’ Team Principle, Don Russell |
