Karting Magazine had entered the inaugural
Daytona D-Max 500 endurance race (28 September), with a team featuring the
classic blend of youth and experience - Jonny joined KF2 stars, Mackenzie
Taylor and Jack Harvey, with Karting Magazine journalist and Kartmania supremo,
Martin Capenhurst completing the line-up.
As the team assembled in the
impressive pavilion club-house, it soon became apparent that they were facing
some serious opposition. Honda F1 fielded two squads, whilst Force India and
McLaren were also represented - all of them had ringers.
In qualifying,
the times were very close but Jonny nicked pole from Force India and Honda 2,
by barely a tenth of a second.
A glance across the pit-lane to the
Honda teams revealed that things were becoming like a Grand Prix as their crews
donned F1-style pit-to-driver radios.
Mackenzie was given the task of
leading the attack in the first hour, but a mistake on the unfamiliar hard
tyres allowed Force India's Sam Oliveira, to get in front. Mackenzie tracked
him and pegged the gap to just 1.4 seconds after 60 minutes. Showing the pace
that they were running at, the pair lapped team 10 in just 8
minutes.
Realising that - with Mackenzie and Oliveira's times so close -
passing on the track wasn't going to be an option, Jacks' father, Paul and
Jonny's dad, Charles decided that gaining track-position would have be done in
the pit-stops.
"We looked over at the refuelling bay and timed one of
the other teams who'd just come in. It was the equivalent of one lap. If you
were caught in a queue, you'd lose at least two laps," Jonathan explained.
"We sent dad to the pit-lane entry and worked out a signalling system
to either keep our driver on track, or bring him in if the pits were clear -
and it worked perfectly. We pitted early and cleanly, whilst a mistake by the
Force India lads saw them bring Oliveira in behind another kart."
This
allowed Jack to get the Karting team back into the lead with Force India now
2nd - albeit some way behind as Jack got the hammer down. Deciding to go with a
more fluid strategy saw Jonny's team again out-smart Vijay Mallya's men, and
whilst they pitted, Jack banged in another blisteringly quick lap.
Jonny took up the 3rd stint, but drama soon followed. Force India's new
driver span and seeing his opportunity, Jonathan went for the pass. The two
karts collided and for a few anxious moments, it looked like he might get a
penalty. Thankfully, the marshals let it go and Jonny survived to carry
on.
At the midway point, the lads had developed a 4-lap lead as Martin
took his turn at the wheel.
It was Jonathan who took the chequered
flag, with three laps in hand over Force India and Honda F1 (team 1) just 11
seconds behind them and 25 seconds ahead of their team-mates, Honda F1 (team
2).
He said, "That was great fun. It was great to race as part of a
team with back up from Paul and dad. The D-Max karts were very good and I'd
certainly race them again. I'd recommend them to anyone wanting to have their
first taste of 2-stroke karting."
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