Phillips makes it 3 winners from 3 rounds in Mini X30
image © Karting Everything
This season’s Mini X30 championship has quickly become a 3 way fight between Gabriel Stilp, Leo Robinson and Vinnie Phillips. The trio have been the only drivers to make it to the final podium, and hold the top 3 places in the championship.
It looked like it was going to be business as usual in heat 1. But this time, Stilp and Robinson were able to push each other along at the front, while Phillips fought his way through from the back. Phillips ended the race 3rd, but over 7 seconds behind the leaders, showing the advantage of having clear track in front.
For heat 2, it was Robinson and Stilp’s turn to fight their way through. But fight they did. Phillips sprung to the lead on the opening lap, but quickly had Stilp on his tail. The Mad Croc driver made light work of the Fusion man’s lead, ending the race almost 2.3 seconds clear of him. 3rd went the way of front row man Henry Gregory after Robinson’s race ended in the opening laps.
The final heat of the weekend saw Phillips take a dominant win, pulling a 2.397 second advantage over Stilp. Stilp was chased hard by Jack Hobson and Robinson, with Hobson taking 3rd, just beating Robinson on the line. There was also a close fight for 5th, with Aydan Hassan loosing the place to Joseph Rippin in the closing laps.
The pre final would see a return to our usual programming. As Stilp, Robinson and Phillips took the top 3 spots and drove away from the rest of the field. Despite all the moves drivers were making into turn 1, Phillips lead every lap on route to pole for the final. Sharing the front row would be Stilp with Robinson stuck on 3rd. The 2nd row would be shared by Rylan Echberg after a strong run to 4th.
The final would end up as a tactical nightmare for Fusion. Phillips and Robinson took the early lead, but instead of working together to get away, Phillips defended early on into the race from his team mate. Despite Robinson’s best efforts to push his team mate on, Phillips wasn’t getting the message. His defensive line, was allowing Stilp to stay in touch with them, all while building a small gap over Gregory in 3rd.
Despite the hard defence from Phillips, Stilp bided his time, waiting for the final lap to make his move. He drove around the outside of Robinson at turn 1 to take 2nd and set about Phillips. The Fusion man defended hard, and managed to hold on for his first UKC win of the season. Robinson tried to get back at Stilp in the closing stages, but that just slowed the pair down, giving Phillips an 8 tenth advantage at the line. Gregory ended the race 4th while an impressive driver from Wesley Swain saw him come home 5th having gone for a jump over the kerbs at the valley earlier in the day.
Despite finishing 2nd, Stilp still holds the lead of the championship, with 9 points in hand over Phillips. Thanks to his poor heat results, Robinson occupies 3rd, but is 26 points behind Stilp. A further 20 points behind is Echberg in 4th with Gregory completing the top 5 heading into the final round.
