2004 Exchange and Mart Competition

[Racingdick]

http://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/mot...ers/index.shtm

1Round 2 - Karts
Online Editor Richard Neal reports from Birmingham Wheels

Glorious spring sunshine greeted the remaining 300 competitors as they took to the track of Birmingham Wheels karting circuit for round two of the 2004 UK F1 Drivers' Challenge on April 13-15.

Under the watchful eyes of the judges - event organiser Tim Matthews, MSA instructor David Wall, Formula Renault driver Nick Wilson and Patrick Dukes, owner of Birmingham Wheels - the competitors had three six-lap sessions to get to grips with the feisty twin-engined Bizkarts.

With two four-stroke 200cc engines and soft racing compound tyres, the top-of-the-range pro karts were capable of achieving up to 70mph on the warm, dry track.

As well as fast lap times, the judges were looking for consistent driving style, good track etiquette and continuous improvement over the three sessions.

Birmingham Wheels is a challenging little circuit - an F1 track in miniature with tight hairpins, tricky chicanes and long straights - and it gave the competitors every opportunity to demonstrate whether or not they had the ability to become a motor racing driver.

The standard of driving was very high, making the task of selecting those to go forward to the next stage very tough: indeed the number of places available for round three was increased from 80 to 90 to accommodate all the drivers with high style marks who had achieved the fastest lap benchmark of 34.7 seconds.

Round three (saloon cars) will take place in August. The eventual winner of the competition will be given the chance to race a Lotus F1 car in the Thoroughbred Grand Prix at Estoril, Portugal in October.

Qualifiers for Round 3:
Anne-Marie Amato, 23, Kent
Jack Anderson, 16, Newbury
Marco Arnone, 35, Potters Bar
Jon Atkin, 29, Leeds
Jon Baker, 24, Bristol
Ben Barclay, 32, Blackpool
Danny Basler, 29, Glasgow
George Bedford, 33, Burton-On-Trent
Andy Beever, 40, Malvern
Stuart Brierley, 31, Petersfield
Lee Burford, 34, Sawbridgeworth
Darren Burke, 18, Kent
James Callan, 19, Newbury
Garry Campbell, 33, Leighton Buzzard
Dan Caulfield, 20, Wiltshire
Tiffany Chittenden, 22, Kent
Michael Christie, 20, Newcastle
Mark Clews, 24, Shropshire
Keiran Crawley, 28, Stevenage
Mark Cray, 26, Leicester
Michael Crowther, 37, Huddersfield
Rui Dinis Chagas, 25, West Sussex
Kane Dysact, 26, Shipley
Jay Elliott-Purdy, 19, London
Jonathan Feakin, 35, Bucks
Steve Fish, 30, South Africa
Matthew Forbes, 20, Co. Antrim
Matthew Forkes, 21, Romford
Stephen Gill, 46, Doncaster
Nathan Gillingham, 27, West Sussex
Rupert Gordon-Watkins, 28, Herts
Tim Gorton, 27, Cookham
Peter Greenwood, 47, Heywood
Alasdair Hall, 20, Dunbartonshire
Alex Hamm, 25, Clapham
Daniel Hart, 17, Lincolnshire
Martin Hart, 46, Salisbury
Jordan Hill, 22, Isle Of Wight
Christina Holley, 25, Jersey
Paul Hopkins, 33, Shaftesbury
Clare Horner, 22, Bishop Aukland
Kevin Hunter, 23, Newcastle
Ben Hyland, 23, Newcastle
Brady James, 29, Andover
Jason Jones, 32, Wrexham
Mark Jones, 19, Wirral
Howard Kayman, 37, Stanmore
Peter Kelsey, 39, Weybridge
Anton Killick, 25, London
Dennis Kwok, 26, Darlington
John Langridge, 19, East Sussex
David Ledger, 33, Stevenage
Kyle Leitch, 23, Peterborough
Lee Mabbett, 20, Coventry
David Morris, 22, Beaconsfield
Jonathan Munday, 33, Leicester
Gavin Murphy, 21, Chelmsford
William Murray, 23, Swansea
James Narine, 26, St. Leonards On Sea
Stuart Pearson, 25, Holmfirth
Dan Porter, 19, Winchester
Stuart Pullman, 27, Milton Keynes
Craig Rankine, 30, Bristol
Dean Rawlins, 26, Hamphire
Paul Revill, 21, Chelmsford
James Robertson, 21, Northumberland
Brian Rose, 28, Surrey
Matthew Rudd, 23, Hereford
Tom Sage, 22, Fareham
George Scott, 24, York
Paul Seward, 19, Bristol
Craig Shelley, 32, Chelmsford
Andrew Skinner, 27, Nottingham
Sam Smeeth, 21, Lincolnshire
Greg Smith, 33, Farnborough
Mark Smith, 19, High Wycombe
Melanie Smith, 29, Hampshire
Richard Spedding, 24, Barnsley
Andrew Spencer, 16, Doncaster
Matthew Thatcher, 27, Surrey
Stuart Thorn, 39, Chalfont St Peter
Nigel Thurston, 34, Halifax
Damion Walker, 27, Oxfordshire
Minty Ward, 16, Notts
Raquel Waslander, 16, Spain
Adam Weller, 19, Bexhill-on-Sea
Mark Wemyss-Holden, 19, Clitheroe
David Whurr, 44, Llanelli
Charles Williams, 26, Cheltenham
Alan Wilson, 37, Co. Antrim
Dean Wood, 26, Chesterfield
Andy Woodvine, 20, Shropshire [/SIZE]