Steve Armstrong, owner of RL Racing Department, declared himself to be extremely positive after his young squad enjoyed another strong weekend.
With the opening round of the Euro Max Challenge barely three weeks away - and the British Super One title battle getting underway a week later - RL Racing Department gave its drivers more vital seat time at PFi (3 March) and again, the signs were good.
In Mini Max, the team fielded the highly-rated Jack McCarthy, Sandy Mitchell and Hugo Bentley-Ellis with new signing Jack Martin completing the line-up.
After watching McCarthy lead Mitchell and Bentley-Ellis home to complete a 1,2,3 in the first heat, Armstrong admitted that he was a little embarrassed at the spectacle: It looked like we were cheating, he added jokingly.
Things became tougher for the team when McCarthy was hit from behind, bending his axle and forcing him out of the race. Mitchells 2nd place in his second heat gave him pole position for the final, whilst Bentley-Ellis secured the 7th spot. McCarthy 16th and Martin qualified straight into the A final by virtue of two solid drives in his heats.
Hugo rapidly worked his way to the front of the field and led for much of the race but, as the chequered flag was readied to be waved, he succumbed to the pressure from behind. By this time, Jack had charged up from the midfield into 4th with Sandy just behind.
At the second hairpin, Mitchell was shoved heavily from behind and tipped straight into his team-mate. Both survived, with McCarthy so fired-up that he was able to take 2nd before challenging for the win on the run to the finish line.Its another weekend where one of my lads has been smashed from behind, costing us a possible win. Still, the drivers all learned valuable lessons and our kit looks really good. Jack Martin did really well, as this was his first proper go at a big meeting, so theres lots to be happy about.
Senior Max returnee, Oli Norris, also gave Armstrong even more reasons to be cheerful. Oli hadnt driven a Rotax kart for something like four months and hadnt even seen PFi for over half a year, but it was like hed never been away, said Armstrong. Norris opened his account with a fine 3rd place in his first heat and repeated the result in the A final. He did a great job against a pedigree field. The guys he was mixing with will all be championship contenders, so to turn up after such a long lay-off and take a podium was just terrific.
He added, It was a great way to mark our switch to Cream-prepared engines for our senior Max drivers and my thanks go to Warwick Ringham and his colleagues for giving us excellent motors. Overall, Im looking forward to the season getting underway, its all looking extremely positive.
