Controversy rains at inclement Tranent

Reigning champion Yati Durant took the chequered flag to win the grand final, but he was immediately disqualified for crashing into Scott Douglas whilst relieving the veteran of his lead.

That was small consolation for Douglas, who dropped initially to sixth before being spun again and losing another position. The tumult allowed the consistently fast Calum Hughes, Stephen Walls and Ross Hughes to take the top three positions in that order – the former double-champion crowning his win with the fastest lap of the night (1:14.120) in the final.

The result keeps the top three championship challengers – Douglas, Finn Moore and Felipe Pinzon – within a point of each other, whilst keeping old-timers like Calum and Ross Hughes on course for a late sortie at the title.

The unpredictable nature of the rain-soaked Tranent track made for fantastic racing, and no small amount of flair was on show as the drivers coaxed their karts through the corners. Powerslides, wide lines and late braking were required and there were remarkably few instances throughout the field of drivers really losing control. The competition was incredibly close, with many in the ‘B’ final only a slice of poor luck away from making the cut.

Highlights of the heats included lights-to-flag victories for Moore and Douglas, as well as club captain Kirsten Dallas. The latter elsewhere put in one of the finer drives from the back of the field (eighteenth to fourth), alongside that of Durant’s in heat one (eighteenth to third) and Nick Roberts’ in heat four (fifteenth to sixth).

Come the grand final, Roberts’ chances were ruined as he suffered kart damage in a heavy first lap crash involving Gibson and Adam Corlett. Whilst he remained mired in seventeenth, Gibson recovered to fifth. Although the leading pack initially pulled clear, they had Gibson, Pinzon and Sally Skinner hurrying them to the line as they got bogged down in late scrapping.