Iame Winter Cup: Bart Harrison Steals the show in Juniors
The Junior X30 field saw quite a few drivers out of position after the heats were run. But one man in the position he wanted was Freddie Spindlow. The KR Sport man had a solid run through the heats and would lead the field away in the pre final.
Things wouldn’t end the way he wanted though. Spindlow had to contend with fellow front row man Daniel Guinchard, making is debut for KR-Sport. Guinchard managed to take the win ahead of the recovering Bart Harrison, who climbed 10 places and Aaron Waker who finished 3rd having started outside the top 15. Spindlow finished the opening encounter 4th ahead of Alfie Rigby, who was handed a 5 second penalty, dropping him onto the third row. Freddie Slater and Oli Pylka were at the sharp end as well, but also recieved penalties dropping them to share the 5th row in 9th and 10th.
It was quickly a KR-Sport 1-2 as Guinchard held the lead ahead of Alfie Rigby and Aaron Walker’s Strawberry machine. It was clear there were no team orders at play, as Rigby fired it to the inside of Guinchard to take the early lead. Fast Freddie Slater was living up to his name, having got up to 4th on the opening lap and challenging for 3rd. Slater quickly disposed of Walker on lap 2, getting onto the podium.
At the front, Guinchard could feel the pressure from the charging Slater. Rigby was not running quick enough for the 2nd place man while Slater was pumping in fastest laps. Guinchard eventually found a way passed at the 1st chicane and set about getting away at the front. The move allowed Slater to get onto the back of the pair, making it a three kart fight for the lead. Over the next couple of laps, Rigby and Guinchard swapped positions, all the while, Slater was getting closer. As Rigby took the lead on lap 10, Slater followed through, dropping Guinchard to 3rd and into the clutches of Walker and Harrison.
Slater quickly went for the lead, showing his nose to Rigby. His move slowed Guinchard allowing Walker to jump onto the podium. Walker quickly had a go at Slater, taking 2nd, signalling to Slater that they should work together. And work they did, Walker made the move at the final chicane on Rigby with Slater following through to take the top 2 spots away from KR-Sport. The truce didn’t last long, as Slater darted to the inside at T1 to take the lead from Walker, allowing Rigby back through to 2nd.
Slater was now defending for his life, running the inside line at every opportunity to keep the train of 10 karts behind him. Rigby tried to take the lead at the final chicane, but couldn’t get passed a heavily defending Slater. That left him slow off the corner and caused the pack to bunch up further. Rigby knew it was now or never, and with a slight nudge, passed Slater for the lead. Slater tried to come back at him, Rigby moved over to defend, but came across the front of Slater leaving the KR Sport kart off in the weeds, Slater held on to the lead but had a lot of work to do.
The Fusion man tried to run his defensive line, but got swamped by Guinchard on the outside, and Walker on the inside. The Strawberry man then ran around the outside of the Fusion machine to take the lead with just a handful of laps to go. Harrison managed to squeeze through as Walker signalled for the pair to build a gap. Behind the top three, the field was running 4 wide through the opening corner. The leaders worked together and worked away from the guys behind, that was helped by their fighting which left Guinchard off and down the order.
As the final lap started it was Walker, Harrison and Slater left to fight for the win. Slater made the move on Harrison for the lead and now had Walker in front. Walker defended down the back straight, which allowed Slater to close up. Slater chucked his Fusion machine over the kerb as both of them drifted wide. That allowed Harrison to slip through at the final corner to steal the victory by just over a second. Slater would cross the line 2nd, but was handed a penalty which dropped him off the podium. Walker inherited 2nd and Oli Pylka completed a fantastic fight back to claim the final podium spot.
