For the fourth round of the CUAC championship we returned to Rye House for another heats event. This time the format was a little different, this time we always had the same drivers in the odd/even numbered heats, starting with a random order, then a reverse grid based on the results of the first heat for that half of the drivers, then a third heat with the starting positions given by the sum of the results of the previous two. I think their computer might not have been able to handle us having an odd number of drivers!
The odd and even heats were then combined to give the grids for the A and B finals, which are the results for the round.
Once again the track itself was dry, but with the recent rainfall the runoff areas were still pretty wet, with some puddles behind the kerbs. The most treacherous was the one at the second apex of the looooooong turn 1, where a couple of times drivers dragged water on to the track, bringing out the slippery surface flags!
The heats were eventful races, with some brave overtakes around the first corner and into the hairpins. A few penalties were dished out, a consequence of the mixed up grids and the short races. One driver (not naming any names, Xu Han) even managed to end up into the car park! In my (Adam) third heat an inconveniently-placed backmarker gave James Fraser the run on me towards the line, with only 0.001 seconds between us across the line! (I think my transponder might have been mounted slightly further forward on my kart...)
The B final was a comfortable win for Kai Tanna-Shah, and Ayan Shoaib fought through to take second on the closing stages. The A final was a less comfortable race for me, with Valeriu Ohan right on my tail for the first half of the race. He was driving kart 3, which was a rocket ship on the straights, however I'd learned my lesson from heat 1 where the same kart in the hands of Alex had slipped past me out of nowhere, and took a defensive line into turn 1 for the first few laps.
Full results can be found on alphatiming, and the championship table can be found here. Next term we will have the college cuppers race, and hopefully squeeze in one more individual round.