Kart ace Ben moves into second spot

In what was to finish in hugely controversial circumstances, Ben still managed to maintain his season long climb to the top of the championship, eventually securing second place with 3 races left to run.

The long weekend brought rapidly changing weather conditions. Heat 1 began on Saturday afternoon with heavy rain marking the preparations to the race. Ben lined up on the third row, set up for a full wet race. As he negotiated the first corners the rain stopped and the hot sunshine began to dry the track.

Ben constantly changed his line searching for the increasing grip levels being offered by the track, successfully finding second place by lap 2 as the lap times tumbled. By lap 4, the racing line was fully dry and Ben was struggling to keep his wet treaded tyres cool, intelligently taking to the damp parts of the track to maintain his lap times.

The leaders tyres survived in much better shape and Ben was unable to pass for the lead before the flag. However, the race was not over as scrutineers found that the winner had been using illegal tyres, leading to his disqualification and handing Ben the win.

For Heat 2 Ben’s kart was prepared in a full dry setup but with 5 minutes to go torrential rain lashed down. With the entire grid frantically changing tyres, a problem with one of Ben’s wheels meant that he left the grid in last place.

As the rain fell Ben, dug in for a long and difficult race from the back. Determined to make up for the problems at the start, Ben took only 2 laps to pass 11 karts following that with another 2 places on the next lap.

The rain fell harder and the track became wetter and Ben began to struggle as his rain tyres, worn and overheated from the first race degraded, but Ben drove defensively and held onto 11th place at the flag.

With a good performance in Heat 2, Ben was confident for Heat 3, starting from 21st position. At the start Ben gained 4 places in the first corner and streaked up the hill taking another 2 into the hairpin. Climbing through the mid pack he rounded the final corner of lap 1.

Immediately in front of him 4 karts tangled in a huge accident. As one competitor almost rolled over the banking, another collided with the marshals post and rolled backward into Ben’s path.

The impact was massive and the race was red flagged to clear the track. With an injured ankle, Ben retired his wrecked kart to the pits and the days racing was over.

Sunday dawned with much better conditions and a rebuilt kart. Ben qualified 13th and was confident that he could charge his way to the front once again.

However, as the race got underway it was clear that the kart was still carrying some damage from the day before as he spent the race battling mid pack struggling for grip. Ben was grateful to pass the flag in 11th.

With more work complete on the kart, Ben lined up in a creditable 11th place for the Grand Final, within charging distance of a podium. Unfortunately, sitting in the mid-pack danger area in the first lap, Ben was cannoned off from behind at the hairpin as the grid concertinaed an spun into a distant last place.

Desperate to show his worth, Ben pulled out all reserves and single mindedly drove the hardest he has ever driven. Pulling back to the pack in half a lap, Ben then slashed through the field setting 3rd fastest lap and taking 14 places in 17 laps.

By the last lap, Ben was up to 7th place and chasing the disqualified driver who Ben took the win from in Heat 1 the day before. Ben quickly made a move into the ‘Boot’ corner, a quick left/right combination.

As he turned into the right, he was lifted into the air and thrown into the pit lane by a violent impact as the other kart drove into the side of him. Ben quickly recovered his battered kart through the pits and rejoined the track losing 7 places as the other kart retired with massive damage.

The subsequent inquiry found the other driver guilty of causing an accident and was subsequently penalised, however the damage to Ben’s race and championship points was already done.

As the day finished, Ben reflected on his superb performance in the Grand Final and what the result might have been had he not been the victim of what appeared to be a reprisal.

It is a demonstration of Ben’s maturity as a driver after only 31 races, that he has never been reprimanded, punished or allowed his feelings to affect his driving performance or sense of fair play.

For more details, please see Ben’s website at www.bentuck.com