There was action aplenty as the Slideways Enduro Series hosted its biggest ever field of racers at the sixth round of the 2017 season, with Global Action Photography picking up its third straight race win.
With the two most recent events held in wet conditions, rainy skies greeted competitors on race day, with the qualifying sessions held on a progressively drying circuit.
Josh Brown in the Global Action Photography kart topped the opening wet session with a time of 51.618sec, while team mate Pete Brown (45.245sec) was the quickest in the second, while TSR’s Michael Seeto snuck in with the quickest time in the dying seconds of the third 10 minute long qualifier, with a best lap of 44.000sec.
With the lap time from the nominated starting driver determining the grid, TSR sat on the pole position, from Global Action Photography, CTS Motorsport third, and the Slideways Young Guns in fourth, a team of competitors representing the Slideways Junior Racing Series, who were making their second ever Enduro race start.
The Rampart Lions started fifth, from the Old Dogs who put in a stout qualifying effort, with the CTS Heavies lining up from seventh, then the 1788 Kangaroos, the returning Bacon Sauce, Le Femmes Fatale, the second all-female team in the history of Endurance racing at Slideways Go Karting World, then B Amateur, Multi 21, Sunday Warriors, Team Toirkens and BFR.
TSR’s Seeto led the field away from the pole position, but came under immediate pressure from Global Action Photography’s Camron Robertson, who managed to forge his way past prior to the first round of compulsory driver changes.
An opening lap incident saw Le Femmes Fatale drop to the tail of the field, but a strong drive back through the pack saw Erin Shields hand over the kart to Tracey Overell in a solid position.
With track space at a premium as the capacity field circulated, the trio of Global drivers managed to pick their way through the traffic cleanly, making the most of the opportunities to clear out to a 10sec advantage at the chequered flag following 90 laps of racing.
It was the outfit’s third straight victory, following on from a trio of third place finishes to commence the season.
In second place, for the fifth time in six races was CTS Motorsport, while TSR’s third placing means that haven’t been off the podium in the five races they have contested to date in 2017 at Slideways Go Karting World, after winning the opening three races of the year.
Interestingly, the TSR team for the event included Swiss racer Romain Forte, who quickly came to terms with the 700m long circuit.
In fourth, improving four places from their starting position were the 1788 Kangaroos, who were the first team one lap behind the podium trio, leading home CTS Heavies, Old Dogs and the Slideways Young Guns, who have shown constant improvement since they commenced racing at the opening Junior sprint race of the year in April.
In eighth were the Rampant Lions, ahead of Team Toirkens, who were the big movers in the race, gaining a total of five positions, from B Amateur, Multi 21, Les Femmes Fatale, Bacon Sauce, BFR and Sunday Warriors.
In terms of the fastest laps of the race, Matt Hudson (43.402sec) from CTS Motorsport topped the times, ahead of TSR’s Mick Seeto (43.416sec), Global Action Photography’s Camron Robertson (43.430sec), and impressively, the Slideways Young Guns’ Liam Hydes (43.4328sec), who put in a strong first stint for the youngsters.
In total, 11 of the 15 teams registered times in the 43 second bracket, with the Les Femmes Fatale just missing out with a 43.001sec best lap.
Next up on the Slideways Race Days calendar is the fifth round of the Slideways Sprint Racing Series on Sunday August 6, with categories for Senior Heavies (over 80kg), Senior Lights (under 80kg), Juniors (aged 12-15) and Cadets (aged 7-11).
Following that, the seventh round of the Slideways Enduro Series is scheduled for Sunday August 20th, with another big grid expected.
September will see a pair of sponsored race days return to Slideways Go Karting World, with the extended length Enduro determining our entrants in the Pepsi Max National Hire Kart Challenge, while the Sprint event will see a return of the Monster Jam ® Race Day.
Full details on these exciting events will be announced shortly!
Photos
PHOTOS! All of the action from today's Enduro event! >> https://t.co/hHt86gxxbo #Slideways #GoKarting #GoldCoast #Brisbane pic.twitter.com/K96jPCfLU0
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) July 16, 2017
Videos
First Pit Stops
Race Start
We're off and racing! #Slideways #GoKarting #GoldCoast #Brisbane pic.twitter.com/tTdgrfx4Cb
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) July 16, 2017
Qualifying 3
Third& final qualifying now on track! #Slideways #GoKarting #GoldCoast #Brisbane pic.twitter.com/gWpLLMlvBh
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) July 15, 2017
Qualifying 2
Second round of qualifying #Slideways #GoKarting #GoldCoast #Brisbane pic.twitter.com/ui5vsbVATJ
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) July 15, 2017
Qualifying 1
Enduro qualifying now underway! #Slideways #GoKarting #GoldCoast #Brisbane pic.twitter.com/atsDbeWSGS
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) July 15, 2017
