RL Racing Department kept up its rich vein of form with successful visits to Rowrah (14 April) and Larkhall (21 April), seeing Jack McCarthy claim the top honours in Cumbria and Scotlands Sandy Mitchell taking a fine 2nd place on home soil with team-mate Tushar Vivekanandan 3rd.
Round three of Cumbria Kart Clubs summer championship was RL Racing Departments rehearsal for this weekends (27/28 April) Rotax O Plate and the Super One series second round, a week later (4/5 May).
Mini Max front-runner Jack McCarthy put his name forward as one to watch with what his team boss, Steve Armstrong, described as a top job in the final. After starting on the second row of the grid, McCarthy hit the front on lap 3; he then underlined his superiority by further extending his lead in the last two laps.
His team-mate, Hugo Bentley-Ellis also ran well - setting the fastest lap before tangling with a backmarker as he diced for 2nd place. The incident dropped him out of contention and was scant reward for another fine performance throughout the day.
Sandy Mitchell, however, enjoyed another strong day behind the wheel. He took a heat win before crossing the finishing line 5th in the final. Jack Martins drive from the midfield into the top ten further delighted his team, as he took the chequered flag in 9th place.
The teams Junior driver Luke Knott stormed from the back of the grid to grab 2nd place with a terrific drive.
Buoyed by this, the team made the trip to Larkhall looking to build on their recent positive results. Steve was delighted to see his talented young squad open their account with an RL Racing 1, 2, 4 result in the very first heat.
In the following race, Tushar Vivekanandan claimed an eventual 3rd after challenging for the win, whilst Sandy Mitchell wasnt able to repeat his heat one victory and settled for 6th. Jack Martin battled from the rear of the grid to finish 11th.
Sandy returned to the winners circle in the third heat and thus claimed pole position for the final. A crash dented Tushars chances of a better grid slot but jack Martins 8th place result gave him p5 for the start of the final.
Sandy led the race through the initial stages but was caught and passed just after the midway point. Knowing that he was comfortable in 2nd, he maturely opted to bring his kart home safely, rather than scrap for the win. He was able to lead home Tushar, who had carved his way to a thoroughly-deserved podium, whilst Jack banked another top ten finish with his fine run to 8th.
Im pleased with the boys individual performances, said Armstrong. Sandy did the right thing and was very professional. Tushar showed pace and great determination, whilst Jack continues to improve, learn and go for consistent finishes. Theyre all in a very good place right now.
