Matt Mason dominates Larkhall S1 and TPM drivers figure strongly at Kart Masters
Reigning British Open Champion Matt Mason delivered a superb performance in the 5th round of the British Super 1 Rotax Senior Max championship when it visited Larkhall (24/25 July).
The teenager signalled his intent early on with the fastest lap during his timed qualifying session and was 3rd-quickest overall. His team-mate Ross Wylie also enjoyed a fine top ten performance, recording the 6th-fastest time.
In the following heats, Matt took a win and 2nd place, but after Ross’ initial good start – with 3rd in his first race – he ended up on the sidelines with a blown piston ring in the next.
Mason led the first of Sunday’s two finals from start to finish. In the closing stages, Scottish star Shaun Slavin - also on a CRG - bridged the gap to the leader, but ultimately settled for 2nd behind the TPM driver. Wylie made a good fist of it to finish inside the top ten after starting in the midfield.
Matt was made to work hard for his advantage in the early stages of the main final, but as the race neared mid-distance he began to ease away. Having the broken his pursuers’ tow, he cruised to another comfortable victory, with Shaun taking 3rd and Ross going one place better to cross the finishing line in 8th place after a gritty drive. “Larkhall was the most successful race meeting of my career so far, where the kart came into its own, the team coordinated well to give me a perfect kart set-up. The Ogden engine was also very strong due” said Mason, hailing the efforts of his team and the qualities of the Dark Knight chassis. TPM Team Principal Jason Parrott observed, “This result reflects the hard work that has gone into the material over the past months. Matt upped his game and really deserved his double victory.”
With barely any time to wash the podium celebrations champagne out of their clothes, the team returned to action just three days later at the annual Kart Masters event (30 July/ 1 August) at PFi in Lincolnshire. Also known as the ‘MSA British Grand Prix’, the meeting saw Matt’s regular mechanic Thomas Arme swap his spanners for a racesuit and make a successful return to competition. Unfortunately, Ross’ unfortunate run of luck continued, when his chain snapped during the out lap of his timed qualifying session.
Having come through the preliminaries to automatically qualify for the pre-final (without entry via the repecharge), Arme started the pre-final from P5 on the grid, with Mason 8th and Wiley on row 12. “Matt had a bad start but drove consistently to work his way through to 5th and set the second-fastest lap,” commented Jason, adding “Ross moved forward 10 places after a crash on the fourth lap to eventually finish in 19th position and set the fastest lap, whilst Thomas had a hard race but held on to take 7th.”
In the main final, and now racing to win the coveted ‘GP’ number plate, Mason started brightly but became embroiled in a battle that saw him lose ground to the early leaders. As the race progressed, he worked his way into 4th and was the fastest man in the race. Behind him, a fired-up Wylie stormed his way from 19th to 5th with Arme following him home in 6th.
In the hugely competitive Junior Rotax class Dominic Wheatley completed a fantastic weekend with a hard fought for and well-deserved 7th place. His team-mate Ashley Marshall joined him in the main final, the first time he has achieved this in a major event during his rookie year. “Dominic should be proud of himself. He had to start last in his heats but qualified on the 6th row of the grid for the pre-final. His 7th place showed how much he is improving as a driver,” observed Jason with obvious delight.
Mini Max driver Guan Yu Zhou joined the team for the first time on his English debut and exceeded all expectations to finish 15th in the MSA Grand Prix final. “Guan should be very pleased with this result, he progressed well over the weekend, although struggled with overtaking as normally he only races against 6 karts but showed a lot of raw pace!” commented Jason after the final.
Ahead of the Super 1 series’ visit to Shenington (28/29 August), Matt Mason laid down a marker for his rivals with a superb victory in yesterday’s club race at the fast Oxfordshire circuit. “Matt didn’t quite have the ultimate pace in the final but he made sure he got the most out of his equipment and drove brilliantly to take the win,” said a delighted Jason.Tim Parrott Motorsport uses the new 2010 CRG Dark Knight chassis.
