6 R.A.F. drivers from the Vulcans karting team headed up to Teesside with kart 50 for their first British 24hr Endurance race on Saturday 10th August.  Each driver spent 4 hours in total driving in 1hr and 1.30hr stints.  Up against some of the best drivers in the country as well as from Europe, the race was tough but the team made it through to the end, despite a swiftly resolved mechanical issue at midnight.  With 1070 laps under their belt, the team finished 20th out of 89!

Armed Forces Karting Championship (A.F.K.C.) Round 5

Race Report from Cpl Thomas Haywood


"Pro Kart Endurance

Round 5 of the Armed Forces Karting Championship (AFKC) saw the team traveling down to the South Wales Karting Centre, Llandow. With the track being a regular fixture on the AFKC calendar in recent years, it was a familiar circuit for many of the team. 

Friday practice was full of important setup changes, aiming to cut out oversteer and the rear tyres sliding around. The rear track width and caster angle was changed which helped somewhat, but the biggest gain in grip came from setting abnormally low tyre pressures. 

Race 1 saw kart 50 qualify in 12th, meaning a tricky start into the first corner and the following chicane, which is just a short run from the line. Whilst one place was lost keeping out of trouble, this was regained shortly afterwards before settling into the rhythm of the race.   As the race went on and the tyres built temperature in the sunny conditions, some time was being lost, most likely due to tyre pressures being too high. With no chance to change this, drivers Cpl Tom Haywood and AS1(T) Tom Lucas pushed on to finish 9th, and 5th Military. 

A slightly better qualifying session for Race 2 placed kart 50 in 10th, with a consistent start holding onto the position. Improved setup and slick pit stops gave good race pace, crossing the line 7th overall and 4th Military. However, the 3rd placed Military kart was penalised for being 2kg underweight at the end of the race, promoting kart 50 to 6th overall and a podium place for 3rd Military. 

Kart 51 

Friday practice was a solid and productive day for kart 51 pairing John Blondel and Pte Bailey Vernon-Higgs. The day was spent getting up to speed with the track and refining the set up to make sure the kart was ready for Saturday race day. Both drivers believed that they had a good kart for Saturday. 

In qualifying for race 1, kart 51 qualified 20th overall and 7th in class. The 2-hour race started well, battling hard to gain a handful of positions to put the kart in a good place for the second half of the race. During the second half of the race, Bailey battled back after losing a few positions whilst avoiding a spun kart. By the end of the race, Kart 51 finished 15th overall and 5th in class. It was a solid race for the pair with Bailey catching the karts ahead at the end of the race, ultimately running out of time with the remaining laps limited. 

It was a similar story in qualifying for race 2 as kart 51 was 20th overall and 6th in class. This time Bailey started the race, fighting hard with the karts around him moving back and forth through the first half of his stint. During the second half of the race, John moved swiftly, gaining places to put the kart in a good position come the end of the race. In the closing stages, he was chasing down the kart that was in 3rd place in class, with the gap down to 3 seconds. Unfortunately, the race came to a close with the kart agonisingly close to what would have been a deserved podium in class, with the kart finishing 17th overall and 4th in class. However, a post-race penalty to the winning class kart meant that kart 51 was moved up to 16th overall and 3rd in class, a great result to secure a podium and to end a great weekend of racing. 

Kart 52 

Kart 52’s journey start a few weeks back while in preparation stages for round 5, on the strip down of the chassis for cleaning and inspections, a large crack in the chassis was found on the left main rear support. Any crack in a chassis is bad but the location and size of this crack meant the chassis had to go back to the manufacturer for repair. 

With no choice but to use an older chassis in its place, it was all hands-on deck. 

Friday practice day came, with Sgt Matt Daniel completing set up and testing before his teammate Cpl Will Wright could join later that day. 

After completing a final nut and bolt check, Will and Matt were ready for Race 1. Following qualifying 15th, Matt started the race and put in a strong start and maintaining a consistent lap time. After a quick pit stop and fuel taken on board, it was now Will’s first time out in the kart this weekend. Within a few laps, Will was putting in a competitive time and held position. Within the last few laps, positions were gained to finish 11th overall, 7th military and 3rd Super Category to bring home some more silverware. 

With some quick maintenance, chain tension checked and bearings cleaned and lubricated it was time for race 2. Matt again qualified, but with an unknown fault lurking in the background still managed to qualify 22nd. With a strong start again and gaining many places with in the first few laps, Matt settled into his stint of the race. With strategy the same as last race Matt pitted for a fuel stop and Will was back out and quickly on pace. Unfortunately, with 30 minutes left and on a dummy pit stop the front left tyre had a puncture, with a swift wheel change conducted in the pits. The unfortunate event had cost 4 laps knocking the kart out of getting a Super Category trophy. However, the drama did not stop there, with the lurking issue coming to the surface. The steering column support struts, an import part of being able to steer, had both snapped off just above the weld. Will tried to nurse the kart to a finish, but with only 90 seconds of the race to go, the kart became too dangerous to go on and had to be retired. Despite a disappointing finish, a good weekend of racing for Kart 52. 

Kart 54 

Taking advantage of the extra session for novice drivers to begin testing day, Sgt Rob Baptista consolidated the track walk and soon got to grips with the track layout. 

With the kart already balanced and running well, the remainder of the day saw both Will Fletcher and Sgt Baptista bringing down their lap times as they adjusted tyre pressures and sprocket sizes. The latter found the best gearing to maximise engine performance and find the best pace for kart 54.   

Will Fletcher saw himself in his first qualifying and race start in 2 years for race 1. With just a 6 mins qualifying session, Will soon found some space and managed to put down a time on par with his best practice session lap times and managed to qualify 30th. Following the driver's brief earlier, the drivers had convinced the clerk of the course to use the first chicane on the first lap, as there were concerns with the whole grid being able to get through the tricky first few corners without incident. With everyone making it through the very tight first chicane successfully, everything settled down quickly after. Having a slightly different strategy than the other 3 Vulcan karts meant that both drivers would do alternating 40 mins and 20 mins stints for the 2-hour race. Having completed all stints without incident and keeping some consistency with pace throughout the race, Sgt Baptista was able to bring kart 54 home in 24th, gaining a respectable 6 places.   

Sgt Baptista took the helm for the Race 2 and started the race, as both drivers switched roles while keeping the same strategy. Baptista tried finding some space at the rear of the pack by allowing the karts ahead to pull away for the first couple of last before trying to push for a quicker lap time. Not quite achieving a lap time as good as his previous best over the weekend, Baptista qualified in 33th place. With a much more competitive grid for this second 2-hour race of the afternoon, Baptista and Fletcher still managed to gain a number of places in an incident free and clean race. Having successfully completed all pit stops and keeping to the strategy, Fletcher was running in 28th, before disaster struck and his front left tyre decided to come off the rim, leaving him beached on the grass at the far end of the track. With less than 10 mins until the end of the race, it would not be possible to recover the kart and repair it in time to get back out and finish the race. With this being the final piece of action of the weekend the kart was recovered post-race and in 33rd place ahead of last place of kart 21 from RAF Leeming who also suffered a mechanical earlier in the race. 

Premier 

Testing day started well for Flt Lt Ling in the 2-stroke class, adapting setup to the warm track conditions. However, after the lunch break mechanical gremlins appeared, with no electrical power getting to the engine’s starter motor. After closer inspection and checking all wiring in the system, the battery was found to be at fault. Thankfully, a spare was sourced prior to race day. 

Ling would start Heat 1 in 2nd position, but faced a cut out engine just metres from the start line. After troubleshooting in the pits, the Clerk of the Course was happy for him to re-join mid-race on lap 6. Whilst a last-place finish was always going to happen, 10 seconds were gained on 5th place in the 6 remaining laps of the race, showing decent pace. 

Heat 2 was started in 4th, holing position throughout the race. Despite following the battle ahead for 3rd, Ling was unable to find a suitable gap for an overtake and finished within half a second of 3rd. 

Heat 3 would be started from pole position, unfortunately dropping a place into the first turn. The next 4 laps was spent using a balanced approach to racing; looking for overtaking opportunities ahead, whilst equally driving defensively to try and hold off an experienced local racer behind. Despite the valiant effort, Ling dropped to 3rd on lap 5, now being pressured by the 4th placed racer behind. After an unexpected move into the fast right-hander, the two karts raced side-by-side into the tight chicane before Ling had no choice but to back out and let the place go. Whilst frustrating to lose the position on the final lap, the close, fair, and respectful racing meant there was no real disappointment. 

With poor finishing positions across the heats, Ling would start the 12-minute final in 4th place. Holding position at the start, he spent the whole race sat on the bumper of the kart ahead, with the timing gap never more than 0.65 of a second for the duration of the race. With the pace pretty much identical, there was no opportunity for a safe overtake, meaning Ling had to settle for a 4th placed finish and miss out on a podium. 

A slightly disappointing race weekend where engine issues yet again reared their head; however, more points for the AFKC standings. Ling retains 3rd place in the Championship, with 2 rounds to go. 

Final Thoughts 

The continuous dedication from all members of Waddington Vulcans paid off again in round 5, bringing home 3 bronze trophies; Kart 50 finishing 3rd overall in Race 2, Kart 51 3rd in the super category in Race 2, and Kart 52 taking 3rd in the super category in Race 1. 

A good haul of silverware considering the 60+ entries the AFKC sees at each round. 

We would like to thank our sponsor, tlmNexus their continued support throughout the season, supporting our current position in the championship.

We look forward to the penultimate round of the 2024 season at Bayford Meadows Kart Circuit, 30-31 Aug."

With thanks to John Blondel, Thomas Haywood and team for text and photos.