Driver and Team Boss reveal Fulbeck strategy
Fulbeck hosts the final round of the Super 1 season this weekend (17/18 October), and Strawberry’s Ben Cooper hopes to clinch the KF1 title at the Lincolnshire venue.
First, second or third will be enough for Ben to seal the championship and, having finished on the podium seven times already this season, he has the points advantage over his nearest rivals. However, he and the Strawberry Racing personnel know that it will be very much a fight to the finish.
Speaking prior to the event, Ben said “I’ve got to go to Fulbeck and finish third or higher in the first final to secure the championship, whilst Robert (Foster-Jones) and Mark (Litchfield) both need to win. But I’m not turning up just to finish third, I want to win.”
This weekend marks the return of the historic circuit to the MSA calendar for the first time since 2002 and is the first time Fulbeck has staged the season finale. The tight nature of the circuit means that qualifying at the front will be important, rather than run the risk of becoming bottled-up in the midfield.
“I haven’t raced at Fulbeck for a few years,” Cooper says, referring to his time in the Rotax classes. “I expect the racing to be very tight and close, so I’m aiming to put it on pole and drive away into the distance.” The newly-crowned WSK champion adds, “I really want to win the Super 1 title – to be the best in Britain. It would be a fantastic achievement in my first year in KF1, not just for me but the team also. We’ve already had a great year but this (winning the S1 crown) would complete it perfectly.”
Team Manager, Paul Spencer agrees that his strategy is simple, “It will be important for Ben to get out in front and disappear into the distance. That would be the perfect scenario but because we also have the points lead, we can afford to have a Plan B – avoid any trouble and try to bring the kart home in one piece.”
In the KF2 class, Chris Lock can improve on his current position in the table (4th). “The pressure’s off Chris,” Paul says. “I just want him to win the two finals. If he can do that, he can go to the last round of the WSK (at Lonato, Italy on 31 October/1 November) in a really positive frame of mind. I really do believe that he can do that.”
Since the penultimate round (at Larkhall, in September), the Strawberry team has been working hard to make sure that nothing is left to chance. Paul says, “No more effort could possibly have gone in. We have all the optimum sprocket ratios and the engines have been prepared specifically for the characteristics of Fulbeck. We’ve saved the best ‘til last, as they say.”
Timed Qualifying takes place from 1pm on Saturday and is followed by the first of two heats. Sunday will see the second heats run in the morning before the crucial finals get underway in the afternoon.
