Dramatic Dan Clark – 250 Superkarts Anglesey

Anglesey Hosted the MSA British Superkart Championship 250cc the other weekend (19th/20th July) with Dan Clark collecting a win in dramatic style and a second place to increase his lead in the MSA British Superkart Championship. Gavin Bennett ended the day with the O plate after a troubled first race.

Qualifying

It rained for most of Saturday but by the start of the session it had stopped and the track was drying out. Everyone went for the safer option of wet tyres with the chance to change to slicks later. Gavin Bennett went quickest after two laps with a 1m 11.7s and then pitted after four laps to change tyres. While he was in the pits Dan Clark stayed out and got some clear track to set a pole time of 1m 11.562s. He then pitted to change tyres but left it too late and couldn’t improve on his earlier time. “The handling of the new Anderson chassis is ‘spot on’. I hope it’s wet tomorrow,” he said. Bennett went back out on slicks and improved on his time but his 1m 11.626s wasn’t good enough to take pole position. For the second weekend running he had missed out on the top spot by a narrow margin. Louis Wall didn’t go out at the beginning of the session but with one minute of the session remaining he popped in a time of 1m 12.245s to go third quickest. He was joined on the second row of the grid by Stephen Clark (1m 12.713s) on the 450cc KTM. The third row had Toby Davis (1m 12.797s) and Trevor Roberts (1m 12.991s) showing off the new E plate for the first time. Mark Vaughan (1m 13.416s) had a good session to finish 7^th quickest just ahead of Andrew Gulliford (1m 13.474s) on the second of the four strokes. Julian Davies (1m 13.668s) was continuing to make progress with the new THR engine and he headed row 5 with James Hassall (1m 13.697s) alongside.

Reigning champion Paul Platt (1m 14.164s) could only manage 11^th quickest after gear selector problems on the Gas Gas. The problem was serious enough that the Honda would be used on race day. Sam Moss (1m 15.664s) was down in 16^th place after trying a different carburetor. “The motor was flat coming out of The Banking and I had no power along the straight,” he explained. His original set-up would be used for the races.

Race 1

Clear skies greeted early risers on Sunday morning but by 10am the sea mist had rolled in. With poor visibility a decision was made to delay proceedings and take an early lunch. At 11.45am the Superkarts were ready to go.

There was drama before the race when pole man Dan Clark spun on the warm up trying to get heat into his tyres. He managed to get going again but would start from the back of the grid. When the lights changed Gavin Bennett took the lead followed by Louis Wall. But Bennett also struggled with cold tyres and spun away his lead at the Rocket complex. Toby Davis took over at the front and at the end of the opening lap was nearly a second clear of Trevor Roberts. Next were the four strokes of Stephen Clark and Andy Gulliford followed by Wall, Vaughan, Platt, Moss, Layton and Hassall in one long snaking mass. Bennett crossed the line in 28^th place, 1.626s ahead of Dan Clark.

Moss was the man on the attack and he passed Platt and Vaughan at Rocket on lap 2 and dispensed with Wall at the same spot on the next lap. Davis was coming under pressure and on lap 4 Roberts, moved past Stephen Clark and Davis along the back straight to take the lead. Martin Goodliffe spun on lap 4 and Bennett had his second spin of the race trying to avoid him. Both continued with Bennett down in 23^rd place. Meanwhile, Dan Clark had been setting some blistering lap times and was up to 14^th spot.

Wall spun at Rocket on lap 6 and was collected by Davis. The damage was sufficient to end both drivers’ races. Stephen Clark took over the lead on the road with the 450cc KTM on lap 6 and steadily pulled away from the rest to cross the line comfortably ahead. Another dominant performance.

In the MSA Championship it was anyone’s race. On lap 10 Roberts and Moss were fighting for the lead and swapping positions while Dan Clark was closing in at over a second per lap. Roberts race ended on lap 11 when an ignition wire broke and Moss couldn’t hold off Clark. On lap 12 the Redspeed Honda swept into the lead and reeled off the remaining laps to secure the win. “Everything felt right,” explained Clark after a brilliant drive from the back of the grid. Moss continued to lap consistently to the finish, collecting his best result of the season, but couldn’t match the pace of Clark. Hassall secured third place while Bennett recovered from his second spin to put some quick laps in and haul himself up to 4^th place, passing Platt with two laps to go. The reigning champion had a quick spin at the Corkscrew on lap 10 which dropped him behind Hassall and also struggled with the wrong gearing on his Honda.

Race 1 Results for MSA British Superkart Championship:

1. Dan Clark Anderson/Redspeed Honda

2. Sam Moss Anderson/Honda

3. James Hassall Jade/Honda

4. Gavin Bennett Anderson/DEA

5. Paul Platt PVP/Redspeed Honda

6. Aaron Sifleet Anderson/WIWA Gas Gas

Race 1 Results for F450 Clubman Challenge:

1. Stephen Clark Anderson/KTM

2. Nick Wilcox Apex/KTM

3. Andrew Gulliford Apex/KTM

Photo Gallery info:

Number 17 is Mark Vaughan who finished 9th in race 1 but retired with a broken steering arm in race 2.
Number 1 Paul Platt chasing Louis Wall in the early stages of race 1.
66 Stephen Clark about to cross the line to complete another lap.
2 is Louis Wall who spun off in race 1
6 is Dan Clark making up ground from the back of the grid.
111 Gavin Bennett on his way to winning the UK Cup
31 Sam Moss keeping off the kerbs through the Corkscrew in the wet
1 Paul Platt during a wet practice session.

Race 2

There were no dramas at the start of the second race as Dan Clark led away from Bennett but the positions were reversed along the back straight on the opening lap. Davis, who had repaired the damage after the incident in race 1, was up to third place ahead of Platt. Bennett set the fastest lap of the race on lap 2 and increased his lead over Clark who had pulled clear of Platt. Davis had spun down the order to 28^th place, so Moss took over fourth place just ahead of Stephen Clark and Hassall.

By half distance Bennett had a lead of 3.013s over Dan Clark, both drivers lapping in the 1m 5s bracket. They were well clear of Stephen Clark who had a 3s gap over Hassall. Moss was losing places as his front seat mount had broken and he would eventually finish in 8^th.

Bennett’s lead was up to 4.494s with two laps to go, but during the final stages he encountered traffic. At the Corkscrew for the final time he was held up and this allowed Clark to close in. However, at the flag the Redspeed Honda was still 2.302s behind the DEA. Stephen Clark couldn’t find the same pace from his KTM in this race and had to settle for third on the road and first in class by a long margin. Another solid drive saw Hassall collect third place points in the championship and his best weekend of the season. Platt soldiered on with the Honda but lost ground in the championship and can’t wait to get the Gas Gas repaired. He was chased by Roberts for 7 laps but the English Champion couldn’t get close enough to mount a challenge while Wall held off Gareth James to claim sixth spot. James now has a commanding lead in the F250 Challenge.

Race 2 Results for MSA British Superkart Championship:

1. Gavin Bennett Anderson/DEA

2. Dan Clark Anderson/Redspeed Honda

3. James Hassall Jade/Honda

4. Paul Platt PVP/Redspeed Honda

5. Trevor Roberts Raider/PFP Honda

6. Louis Wall Anderson/RW Honda

Race 2 Results for F450 Clubman Challenge:

1. Stephen Clark Anderson/KTM

2. Kevin Ridley Silverstone/KTM

3. Nick Wilcox Apex/KTM

MSA British Superkart Championship 2014 – Positions after 6 rounds

1. Dan Clark 220 pts

2. Paul Platt 173 pts

3. James Hassall 150 pts

4. Gareth James 144 pts

5. Sam Moss 139 pts

6. Gavin Bennett 130 pts

BSA F250 Clubman Challenge 2014 – Positions after 6 rounds

1. Gareth James 220 pts

2. Steve Burton 148 pts

3. Martin Goodliffe 137 pts

BSA F450 Clubman Challenge 2014 – Positions after 6 rounds

1. Stephen Clark 240 pts

2. Nick Wilcox 193 pts

3. Charlie Johnson 167 pts

Words by Gary James & photos by Dave Robinson.

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