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In a gripping race at Sandown Park on 17th September, Seth took a dominant win in front of close championship rivals Carla Wellings and Ryan Presley, to extend his championship lead further with only two rounds to go.
It was a chilly morning when he arrived at the Sandown Park kart track early on Saturday. This was the first really cold race they had had for a long time and the competitors weren’t enjoying it! Race winner James Holden had returned to the Royale grid but only for this one race, and Sam Holt was also back after an injury kept him away from Clay Pigeon.
The temperature was slightly warmer as the Junior Royale grid went out for practice and Seth found no faults with the kart. He had good pace in practice, so the team decided to leave the kart as it was.
Seth started on pole position for the first heat but Jamie Haines managed to get in front of him in the first corner, and then a lap later pushed him wide as Seth attempted to overtake, allowing Presley to slip past to take second and then a lap later first position. Seth carried on pursuing Jamie but every time he tried to draw alongside there was blocking and weaving to contend with so he had to settle for third place. Jamie was given a formal warning by the officials after the race, for repeated contact on the main straight. Seth was disappointed that Jamie's punishment was so lenient, and still can't understand why another driver should have it in for him in this way.
For the next heat Seth started sixth. He wasn’t expecting a good result but after avoiding an accident in the first corner found himself running right behind the leader Ryan Presley. After a few laps Ryan went wide going onto the straight and Seth managed to slip up the inside of him in the next corner. Seth then put the hammer down and managed to win the heat by over 5 seconds.
For the final heat he was starting near the back of the grid in eighth position. Seth made a good start and got up to fifth position but Jamie Haines was holding up a long queue behind him. Michael Gibbons squeezed his way past but didn’t pull away. Then on the second to last lap Seth managed to slip past Carla as she tried to pass Jamie. Seth then tried to take third from Haines but there wasn’t enough time.. Seth finished fourth behind Holden, Gibbons and Haines. Presley suffered a puncture in the early laps leading to a DNF – bad luck which left him well down the grid for the Final.
Seth started on pole for the final with Jamie Haines joining him on the front row. After two false starts the race got underway. Seth led in to the first corner and by the end of the first lap already had a two second margin over the rest of the pack. Jamie Haines tried to keep the pack behind him but Carla found a way past on lap 3 and Ryan followed past on the next the lap. Seth had started to ease off but then when he saw Wellings closing he pumped in some blinding laps and pulled away to take the win by almost 5 seconds! “It was a great race for me really, I think I drove the best I have done all year and am really chuffed to have got my third race win of the season. Scoring the fastest lap - the first time I’ve done that - was just a bonus! It’s going to be a really tight end to the season and it’s great to see Carla, Ryan and myself dominating the podium for the second race in a row. I’m really looking forward to Buckmore Park in two weeks time; it should be a great race.”
Seth’s driver of the day? “Ryan drove a great race in the final, starting right at the back and still managing to take third position, but I’m going to have to give it to myself!”
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