Victory for 3DR at Kimbolton!

Tuesday, 10 June 2008 23:15

After success at the previous months Kimbolton meeting, the team arrived at the Huntingdonshire circuit early on Saturday morning hopeful of a good result. Team drivers Kyle Chesterman, and Dominic Russell were in action, and the club had decided to run circuit 2, a revised version of circuit 1 with a slow, technical section added on the back straight.

‘Circuit 2 is slightly different, so we will have to work hard to find a suitable gearing and balance on the karts here today. Kyle was unlucky last month after showing extremely good pace, so we are confident that he will run right at the sharp end. Dominic has never driven the revised, and relaid circuit here, so our test programme will involve the two drivers learning from each other,’ commented Team Manager, Tom Smith before the start of open practice.

No information could be gained during morning practice, due to drizzle and a damp circuit. Despite this, Kyle proceeded to lap the 900 metre quicker than anybody else, with Dominic around 2 tenths of a second per lap behind him. Luckily, the weather brightened up as the afternoon came around. Gearing and jetting were experimented with, and a good balance of power around the whole circuit achieved.

‘Dominic is struggling with the new part of the circuit, but his times are now very competitive. Kyle has previous knowledge of the circuit, and his confidence seems to be high this weekend. Although both drivers are 2 tenths from the ultimate lapping pace, we look extremely good for race day, and the whole team is expecting both of the drivers to feature in the race,’ Team Principle Don Russell.

The weather on Sunday was more reminiscent of a day at Lake Garda in Italy than a race track within 10 miles of Peterborough! The team were determined to use this to their advantage. With good experience of racing in the heat, and drivers that have been working on their fitness since January, no problems would be posed by a ‘rubbered in’ circuit.

Heat 1 saw Dominic starting 3rd on the grid. With an inside starting position, he promptly took 2nd at Turn 1, and then gained the lead of the race at Turn 4 on lap 2. He went on to drive away from the immediate competition and win by over 1 second. Kyle was caught up in an accident at Turn 4 on lap 1, but recovered to 9th, before running off the track exiting Turn 7. With the 2nd fastest lap of anyone, he recovered to finish 10th from a grid start of 19th.

A good drive from both drivers in heat 2 from 18th and 23rd on the grid respectively, saw Kyle finish in 6th, and Dominic 10th, after being held up in a collision on lap 4.

‘At 1 point, myself and Dom were working together after we came out very close to each other at the start. Unfortunately he got caught up by a driver defending his line and I had to take the position and then drive my own race. I think we are both satisfied with our finishing positions from our worst grid slots.’ Team driver, Kyle Chesterman.

Heat 3 saw Dominic driver brilliantly to 2nd from 16th on the grid. Avoiding accidents, and setting the 2nd fastest lap of the heat was to ultimately secure him a front row grid slot for the final. Kyle had a good start from 5th on the grid, taking 3rd by turn 4 on lap 1. However, the kart in 2nd suffered terminal engine failure exiting the fastest corner of the lap (Turn 10), and he had nowhere to go but off the circuit. Rejoining in 32nd and last position, Kyle managed to recover to 16th. This was a major disappointment, because a good finish would have secured 3rd on the grid. Instead, he would have to start 6th.

With 2 of the fastest karts on the circuit, grid 2 and 6 was an ok result for the team. However, with Turn 1 being a sharp right hand corner, the outside row start has proved to be fatal in the past. 3 times former Kimbolton champion, Marc Dawson was on pole, with Dominic outside of him. Starting on the first 4 rows of the grid were also former Le-Mans star Christian Vann, British F3 driver Adam Smith, ex TKM British vice champion and European Rotax competitor Luke Caudle, and Kyle on the outside of row 3.

A forceful start from Caudle would see Vann, Chesterman, and Mulley all off at the first corner. Unfortunately, Kyle was to retire with too much damage to continue. The bad luck continues for him. Dominic lost 2nd at the start, having to settle into 5th place at Turn 1. Pole sitter Dawson led from Caudle, Parker, Smith and then Dominic. By the start of lap 2, it was obvious that Dominic had more than enough speed to race the frontrunners, and passed Smith at Turn 1, followed by Parker at the hairpin (Turn 4). With only Caudle and Dawson in front, Dominic played a waiting game for a further 3 laps.

By lap 6, the front 4 had broken away. Turn 1 saw Dawson defending heavily from Caudle. The unaware lead pair subsequently let Dominic slide through into the lead of the race. Once set free by the lead pack, Dominic continued to lap quicker than the chasing pack, building a massive 2.6 second lead by the end of the 12 lap final.

‘After the whole team working closely with Dominic over the past 6 months, and his determination to succeed, his first senior win has been on the cards for a while. To drive away with such ease from top line drivers in todays final must be a massive confidence boost for him. With the important Superprix at Shenington next weekend, Dominic will be expectant of another top result. Well done to him for all of the hard work that he has put in this season!’ 3DR Motorsport.

A good weekend for all was spoiled somewhat by the demise of Kyle Chesterman in the final once again. He has played a vital part in the success of the team over the last 2 months at Kimbolton, with excellent feedback. His lapping and racing is up to speed, and hopefully his luck will soon follow!

Also, praise to Kimbolton for running such smooth race meetings over the past 2 months. The club has enabled full length finals by running efficient meetings. The new track surface is excellent, and the team will continue to support the good work by the officials at HKRC for the rest of the season.

3DR will go to Whilton Mill midweek to train Junior Rotax driver Will Blackwell-Chambers in the art of racecraft and overtaking. Danny will be making a return to the junior class for the test. The team will be supporting Dominic at Shenington next weekend at the Superprix, and will then go to Whilton Mill for Round 6 of the championship with Dominic in Senior Rotax, Will Blackwell-Chambers in Junior Rotax, and Jorgen Tveit in Minimax.