Sandown D60 Winter Championship Final

Sunday 7^th February signified the final round of the 2009 Daytona 60 Winter Championship and the action and racing was as fierce as ever.
With the weather being dry and a engine pleasing temperature, the lap times were always going to be healthy, and so they were.

So with no further delay, we’ll get straight into the action and see how the finals played out……………………….

Qualifying

With a 10 minute qualifying session, it seemed everyone was keen to get their heads down and find some space for a hot lap. Having a grid of 21 drivers certainly made that job slightly more tricky. However, the man who got his head furthest down was Mr Ian Del-Pizzo in the Lights catogory, as on his 8^th lap he posted a very impressive 49.892. Following very closely in his tracks was, was Curtis Mitchell and Thomas McMurray, with times of 50.092 and 50.118 respectively. Another Lights contender was young Mr Kevin Merrick who through in a best lap of 50.287. Pole position for the Heavy department, and not giving very much away to the Lights, was Brian Alexander with a best lap of 50.726, he was followed by Austin Metcalf and Andy Mitchell on 50.762 and 50.977 respectively.

Race

With a 60 minute race this was always going to be about a blend of consistency and speed, which was certainly delivered. As the lights went green we seemed to have four karts blended into one at the front, with Ian Del-Pizzo, Thomas McMurray, Curtis Mitchell and Kevin Merrick all constantly swapping places. The pace was extremely impressive as all four of them consistently ducked comfortably under the 50 second barrier. After eight laps McMurray was forced to pit from the front of the pack due to a problem with his left hand engine, leaving Del-Pizzo, Mitchell and Merrick scrapping for every inch of track. All three had their eyes firmly on a good finish knowing it would effect their overall Championship points total. McMurray was put back out on track a lap later (with a lap given back to him), but behind the lead trio. Meanwhile, in the Heavies department, it was Martin Merrick, James Northfield and Brian Alexander who were chasing the lead pack hard, just a few tenths of a second shy on lap times. Behind them, and still in the Heavy category, was an awesome battle between Marques Riddell and Vinod Hirani, the pair of them swapping places lap after lap with some very clean and precise moves. Bill McMurray was having a very clean race with some excellent consistent laps, although may have been a little disgruntled when on lap 26 he got lapped by his hard charging son Thomas. The lead trio were overtaking each other so often that McMurray Jnr had been able to sneak up on them at some considerable pace slice past before they had time to blink. He then managed to get a break of a couple of kart lengths that left Del-Pizzo, Merrick and Mitchell fighting amongst themselves again. These three could not stop overtaking each other, maybe if they had McMurray would not have got away quite so quickly. Peter Nixon was another Light who was smashing in some great lap times and not too far away from the lead pack, lying in 5^th place and waiting for any mistake to grab a podium finish. It was a smart bit of driving from Nixon as he knew he was in the hunt for an overall Championship podium if he finished well. Eventually, and after 60 minutes of hard fought, and excellent racing the chequered flag came out. Thomas McMurray took the full points for the win as well as one point for fastest lap of the race, with a stunning 49.110. Following him across the line was Mitchell, K Merrick, and Del-Pizzo. In the Heavies, the man who came out on top was Martin Merrick with an impressive best lap of 50.112. He was closely followed by James Northfield and Brian Alexander.

Lights Race results:

1^st Thomas McMurray

2^nd Curtis Mitchell

3^rd Kevin Merrick

Heavies Race Results:

1^st Martin Merrick

2^nd James Northfield

3^rd Brian Alexander

Overall Championship Results (LIGHTS):

1^st Ian Del-Pizzo – 361points (with one dropped round)

2^nd Peter Nixon – 339 points (with one dropped round)

3^rd Tom Swed – 198 points (with one dropped round)