The wheels come off Warwick’s varsity motorsport challenge

Warwick Motorsport were cast aside by a ruthless team of Coventry racers at Whilton Mill on Friday evening. The floodlights shone and the rain poured as 20 drivers in 5 teams of 4 assembled for a wheel to wheel battle. As a member of the Warwick team myself I can say that there is absolutely no love lost between these two teams; particularly after our narrow victory in last year’s contest.

The Motorsport varsity competition works on the basis of teams finishing on the podium. Two points are awarded to each of the top three teams. Therefore, the objective for both Warwick and Coventry is to get at least two teams in the top three positions.

As the karts rolled out for qualification, the drivers had to quickly acclimatise to the treacherous conditions as well as setting a fast lap time in just 5 minutes each. It became apparent at this point that Coventry and Warwick were deploying very different strategies.

As a member of the Warwick team myself I can say that there is absolutely no love lost between these two teams.

Coventry opted to spread their top drivers across all their teams, aiming to build up a large lead at the start of the race before using any of their weaker drivers. Warwick, on the other hand, chose to put all of their top drivers into two teams chasing the podium and use the others as so called ‘rear gunners’, designed to protect track position for the top teams.

The different strategies led to Coventry taking the first four positions on the grid, with Warwick A and B qualifying fifth and sixth respectively for the 90 minute endurance race.

The race started well for Warwick, with the A, B and C teams climbing through the field thanks to a first corner incident for one of the Coventry teams. However, as expected, they soon filled out the first four positions and began to pull away unsurprisingly with their two lead drivers, both British Championship karters, streaking away at the front.

Indeed, by the end of the second stint, they led by almost 50 seconds, with Warwick A and B still lapping consistently, albeit slower than the front four in fifth and sixth. The rain had subsided now but the track still remained incredibly slippery, lap times 10 to 15 seconds off dry weather pace.

Warwick sadly crashed out of their Varsity contest again Coventry. Photo: Facebook.

This played into the hands of Coventry with their cohort more experienced in racing in the wet on dry weather tyres. For an event of this format, no wet tyres are provided. It was halfway through the race at the end of stint two where the race became interesting. Coventry now had to deploy their weaker set of drivers with the ever tenacious Warwick continuing on with their consistent approach.

In the second round of stops, Warwick A and B jumped up to fourth and fifth respectively and began to hunt down the podium lap by lap. Despite the 30 second deficit to third position, Warwick pushed on in relentless pursuit of at least taking some points away from the Coventry steamroller.

With every driver making mistakes in the wet conditions, it seemed entirely plausible that simply keeping the kart on the track for the duration of the stint could see Warwick climb up the standings. It proved impossible though to drive a flawless stint on such a sodden track, with spins aplently for both teams, meaning the leader board was fluctuating regularly.

As I myself climbed in as last driver for Warwick B, I was still hopeful that at least the A team could chase down the podium.

Warwick pushed on in relentless pursuit of at least taking some points away from the Coventry steamroller.

I found out for myself as I pulled out of the pits why the other drivers had been going off so regularly. This was compounded just a few laps into my stint as I hit the brakes going up into a hairpin; I lost the rear end under braking and ended up tens of feet into some muddy grass. Podium hopes gone.

The only quote worth printing from any of the Warwick drivers, including myself, that evening was; ‘There’s absolutely no grip whatsoever out there.” Valiantly, we fought on, but it was not meant to be as Warwick A and B finished fourth and fifth, 12 seconds shy of that illusive podium.

This is not to say that Coventry did not deserve their victory though, their entire team drove brilliantly and defeated some real class throughout the Warwick squad, particularly the A team. All I can say is that we will put our absolute all into taking victory again next year, a year in which we have the choice of track. This is a major advantage in the world of motorsport. I shall be honoured if I can once again be involved in such a titanic battle as, despite the result, it was a fantastic contest.