Due to inclement weather conditions, the meeting was regrettably cancelled.
The football was good though...............
ROUND 1, ELLOUGH PARK, 28/03/10.
Oh what a perfect day....so the song goes.
Like when a young man came from nowhere to win the Easykart World Championship in 2007, Ellough Park was to witness a performance of some power to clinch pole position in timed qualifying.
The qualifying heat was added with nonchalance along with the fastest lap of the race.
The pre final followed the same awesome script, and the main final was over the minute Will Smith pinged a chain, desperate to find the extra pace to keep up with the flying Pittingale.
His kart freshly liveried in the colours of new sponsor CCF, Barnaby produced an unbeaten performance and fastest lap every time he set wheels on the track........and he had plenty to spare too.
Oh what a perfect day....like Cervia 2007...Barnaby is back!!
Wise words from driver
coach Carson Alt.
ROUND 2, TEESIDE AUTODROME, 25/04/10.
It wasn't the outright pace of Ellough Park, but it was clever...
Qualifying went the way of a sprightly looking Gary Poynter by 0.07 second...with Barnaby alongside in p2, but normal service was resumed after the qualifying heat, with Barnaby seizing the lead at the start, never to be headed again.
The pre-final was duly delivered into the Pittingale piggy bank, and another win looked likely.
However, the start of the A Final proved otherwise. Barnaby bogged down as he approached the start line, and Poynter returned the favour from the qualifying heat, bombing around the outside and into the lead.
Lap by lap, Poynter ground out his lead and Mark Lawrence popped out of the chasing pack to join the party.
3 laps to go, and Lawrence did the unthinkable...relegating Barnaby to third place and took off after Poynter with Barnaby in his tyre tracks.
2 laps to go and Lawrence makes his move on Poynter....succeeding only in allowing Barnaby up the inside at the end of the straight and a rejuvinated Pittingale slid through into 2nd place. Poynter, clearly acknowledging the presence of the former World Champion, was next to feel the heat.
Last lap and through the infield section, he left the door open and quick as you like, Barnaby took his chance with his supporters screaming NOW!NOW! and he skipped the kart through the rest of the lap to take a well judged victory.
ROUND 3, CLAY PIGEON RACEWAY, 23/05/10.
Qualifying saw Barnaby pipped to pole position by 0.02 second AGAIN, this time by Firas Bilbeisi, an old adversary from 2006 returned to the Easykart family.
So when the qualifying heat began, it required a smart start away from the line to beat the pack into the first corner.....mission accomplished, a pretty standard win to maintain the unbeaten fun in qualifying heats this year.
The pre final saw Barnaby produce another peach of a start and remain pretty much unchallenged to the chequered flag.
Could he do it again in the final? You bet, although Adrian Ricardo Batty kept him honest for the first half of the race, until Barnaby eased his way to victory.
So to recap;-
3 rounds..3wins..3 qualifying heats won..3 prefinals won..3 finals won..surely 2010 is the year that Barnaby takes the British Title at last!!
ROUND 4, LLANDOW, 13/06/10.
Barnaby Pittingale’s runaway domination of the Heavy category was finally broken when his motor failed to fire. Before then, a wave of panic had swept the dummy grid as a sudden downpour forced the drivers and their mechanics to try and second-guess how long the rain would last and what tyres to go for.
With Pittingale forced to start from the pit-lane, Gary Poynter had a golden opportunity to take his first win of the season and close the points gap on Pittingale – if only he had chosen slicks. Almost immediately, Poynter went backwards, while Christopher Wright, Mark Lawrence, Will Gibson, Jack Bruce and Tim Hill made short work of dropping him.
By lap 4, Lawrence led and Wright too soon found a hitherto invisible reverse gear. Lawrence’s great friend and fellow Scot, Jack Bruce took up 2nd place whilst Pittingale, having passed approximately three karts per lap, was already up to 8th. A spin at the Hook put paid to Bruce’s chances of mounting a challenge for the lead and handed Lawrence a three second advantage over Hill and Gibson. As they scrapped over the runner-up spot, Lawrence maintained his cushion whilst Firas Bilbeisi began to claw his way up to them.
As Hill, Gibson and Bilbeisi barrelled towards the hairpin, one of the tail-enders found himself with nowhere to go and must have shut his eyes and hoped for the best as the hard-charging trio rushed past.
Pittingale constantly shifted himself in his seat, as he urged himself on. With three laps to go, he had alleviated Bruce of 5th and was catching Gibson at a remarkable rate. Lawrence’s comfortable lead evaporated when James Cockerham – absorbed in his battle with Stig Elboth – blocked the leader. Seeing the blue flags, Elboth had pulled wide only to see Cockerham pass him and in doing so, hold up Lawrence – albeit temporarily.
Mark was understandably overjoyed to take his first win on the road (he was awarded the win at last year’s aborted event at Rowrah) and move into 2nd overall in the points race. Bilbeisi’s typically flamboyant and entertaining drive was ultimately rewarded with a fine 3rd and was his first appearance on the podium since 2008.
ROUND 5, WHILTON MILL, 18/07/10.
Will Gibson has always looked like an exciting, classy and blisteringly quick driver, but incredibly has never brought all these qualities together to triumph over his rivals. He finally put this right to take an emotional and popular maiden victory. It might have been a different story though. In the heat, Nick Moss crossed the line in 1st place, but the newcomer was later penalised for what was controversially judged to have been an unfair move on Barnaby Pittingale. Moss was given a time penalty which handed ‘Sir’ Tim Hill the win, with Gibson in 2nd. From the front-row Will aced the pre-final and showed another Easykart debutant, Michael Roots ‘Manuva’ the way home. Tim Hill’s eventual 3rd place enabled him to close the gap to points-leader, Barnaby Pittingale who despite ‘struggling,’ showed why the Italians nicknamed him Il Dominator - after his 2007 World Finals victory - by powering his way from the midfield up to 4th and just over a second behind Gibson. A lost nosecone compounded early title protagonist Gary Poynter’s forgettable weekend, but it is indicative of the nature of this championship and the characters in it, that he maintained a philosophical smile, despite his obvious frustration.
ROUNDS 6 & 7, ROWRAH, 21/08/10 & 22/08/10.
The Lake District has often been the graveyard of Barnaby’s title aspirations with it’s slow hairpins and fierce downhill swoops, but not this year. Buoyed by his CCF sponsorship, there has been steely determination in every performance this year, so it was to be at Rowrah, where the job needed finishing off.
Saturdays round started with a qualifying battle between Barnaby and Adrian Ricardo-Batty, just shaded by Adrian by 0.01 of a second!!! The qualifying heat saw Barnaby sail past on the first lap and hold on to the lead under immense pressure from the clearly faster Batty.
The pre-final and honours were even, as Batty took the lead mid way through the race to hold on with this time Pittingale in his tracks laying the pressure down, and much thinking to do before the final.
With his fast starting technique nullified by the possibility of jump starting the less experienced Batty, Barnaby had to hold back into the first chicane, and a collective breath was held as Ken Steward appeared alongside, only to spin out of contention almost collecting Barnaby at the same time!
Having escaped that particular disaster Pittingale set about catching the flying Batty but could make no impression, beaten by nearly 6 seconds, but the best was happening further down the grid. Main championship contenders Tim Hill and Mark Lawrence got tangled up, leaving Barnaby with just a top 8 finish required on Sunday to claim the title he so clearly cherishes.
Barnaby chasing Batty - as usual!!
Sunday Barnaby could afford to sit back and let Batty claim another victory……no chance! This time in qualifying the gap set by Batty was 0.21 of a second, a much more worrying time, but again Pittingale got the jump on him during the qualifying heat to win with Batty right on his tail again.
In the pre –final Pittingale controlled the start, knocking Batty back into the pack and then hightailing it for all he was worth. Slowly Batty reeled the leader in, and again finished in second place right on his back bumper, these two were racing like they were joined at the hip, destroying all other opposition.
The final was again a master class of tactical starting, with Pittingale orchestrating a big early lead, and Batty hauling himself back into contention with his blinding pace. They fought side by side corner by corner, and once just once, Batty slid up in the inside of Pittingale, but Barnaby roared back down the inside of Batty coming out the corner to take victory and the title in fine style.
A clearly chuffed Barnaby with runner up Adrian Ricardo Batty and 3rd placed Mark Lawrence.
