Preparations For Clay

With the BUKC rounds 7 & 8 at Clay Pigeon kart circuit in Dorset on Wednesday 30^th March, preparations have been underway to ensure a continuation of the form seen at Llandow in rounds 5 & 6.

A change in line-up is set for Clay Pigeon with Cranfield University’s returnee James Harvey joining captain Luke Jarmyn, Andrew Thomas and Harry Hunter in the A’s whilst the B’s have their strongest team yet for this year with captain Lee Bennett being joined by the ever impressive Matt Brierley and a pair of consistent rookie’s in James Rowe and recent rugby varsity winning Ollie Trott.

Moreover a tweak to the pit crew is in place to improve efficiencies in the relay races, a difference between winning and losing can often be in the pit-stops and the strategy executed. Suzie Campbell and Islay Throne will be supported by a couple of other’s whilst Tom Middleton will be along as UPMC’s media & calendar secretary.

Clay Pigeon is one of the fastest flowing track’s in the country and at 815m is also on the short side making for a really quick and often intense racing experience as you often get packs of karting forming with mere tenths between them and places changing multiple times a lap, a reason why it’s such a renowned circuit that regular hosts rounds of the British Championships.

Billie’s Blind is a renowned corner, a fearsome right hander after the curved pit straight. It’s also a great place to view as incidents on the first lap are near guaranteed. The most challenging and technical part of the lap would have to be the Horseshoe which can be seen as a real make or break corner, separating the men from the boys whilst the hairpin after the Sturmey straight is a good old fashioned near-flat right hand hairpin with a lot of a inwards gradient reminiscent of the carrousel at the old Nurburgring. It’s also the place where Charlie Bruce-White flipped it a fair few seasons ago.

The man to watch at Clay Pigeon will be resident chubster and local chap Harry Hunter as he looks to shine at his home circuit, Harry has been preparing heavily for the BUKC becoming ‘de facto’ fitness co-ordinator which includes regular morning runs and circuit training on a Tuesday evening to make sure everyone is physically prepared for all the elements at Clay Pigeon, which has seen Matt Brierley go a little faint.

Harry stated that Clay is “a fast and flowing track where maintaining a continually high speed is crucial to a good lap time and good race result” whilst re-iterating that as “UPMC’s home track he was confident in doing well, confident of a good result”. He’ll also be taking the front grid for the A’s so watch out for a top result, he’s also been UPMC’s buyer this week as a few alterations to the seat inserts are set to be made for Clay.

This confidence can be found oozing through the squad even if the 4am meet may put a damper on proceedings. With it being our local track it’s the only one where we travel up and back on the day meaning that to arrive by 7am the team has to meet at the rather un-social able hour of 7am which some haven’t exactly been looking forward to. As well as this a little bit of pay-back on Swansea University after there despicable driving at Llandow. Good results are imminent and in the words of Mr Thomas “get on board!”.

Llandow Report

Written by current UPMC Chairman and BUKC Captain Luke Jarmyn


UPMC made its annual pilgrimage to the Llandow kart track in the Vale of Glamorgan for a weekend of fun, enjoyment and above all else, getting a performance to put Plymouth where it should be in the BUKC.

The usual antagonists of Luke Jarmyn, Andrew Thomas, Harry Hunter & Matt Brierley were joined by the ‘B’ team, Lee Bennett (c), Ollie Trott, Rob Nadin and Tom Middleton. Furthermore with Sam Wilberforce testing on the Saturday as well as the pair of Suzie Campbell and Islay Thorne taking up the mantle of team manager, it’s safe to say we had prepared for a solid weekend.

Previously, in the rounds at Teesside and Buckmore Park. Both no. 10 and no. 39 have had a bumpy ride, mostly due to a lack of seat time, but what was noticeable at Buckmore Park was that with a little more luck in getting cleaner races, we were practically where we needed to be with a good pace throughout the team shining through.

Llandow is known as a happy hunting ground for UPMC and was the showcase of the strongest performance of 2010 picking up a 2^nd place as well as the double whammy in the driver’s champs back in 2008, and with it being a whole weekend, hopes were high.

The trip up there was eventful in itself and a night out in Cardiff on the Friday got everyone in a positive state of mind (and some an anti English one!!), as well as Rob Nadin cementing his place as somewhat of a UPMC legend. Testing on the Saturday went well with time’s tumbling down, the rain held out and only 0.012 of a second separated Jarmyn and Thomas on the timesheet’s, showing everyone else how to do it. A mid 51 second lap is where you want to be around Llandow. Tom Middleton had his first ever karting experience, and for someone who’s been on the other side of the fence all season, it’s good to see him getting more involved.

Saturday night was a quiet one, with pub grub at the Swan and the Ireland/Wales game in the 6 nations being the entertainment. It also served as good chance to discuss grids and pit-strategy, something which Suzie and Islay would be crucial in.

A bright and early start greeted us on Sunday morning; Suzie decided it probably wasn’t best to have the roof down in her mini after the brisk drive on Saturday. The most important news which was given to Luke and Lee in the Captain’s briefing was to eat from the cafe and not the food poisoning burger van, JV’s briefings certainly have picked up.

Lee Bennett of grid 6 was out on a wet, worm infested greasy track and gave a solid performance in the no. 39 kart, netting a top 15 finish. As the track went from wet to greasy with a dry line showing through, Andrew Thomas gave class performance after a casual start, scything his way from grid 18 to come home a good 5^th, the sort of clean performance needed in such condition’s, being only 2 tenths from 3^rd. Whilst in the same race our resident rugby player and ever-improving rookie, Ollie Trott, gave a tidy performance lapping in the 54’s to a 27^th.

By Race 3, the track was bone dry apart from the fast tight right at Chandler’s over the far side of the circuit. Captain Luke Jarmyn started 4^th and just like at Buckmore Park, come the end of the first lap he’d hit the front and looked to be creating a gap from Sheffield behind, however Warwick got the jump on lap 8  and even with a late surge in the last few laps, the gap had got just too big, and a late mishap with some backmarkers let Swansea slip past.

Matt was off 33^rd in race 4, and back in the no.10 kart for the first time since Teesside, his pace was good and was on course for a solid top ten finish to help the cause and battling well with Loughborough A until a little too much sausage loving out of the loose apex ‘Mac Whirters’ right hander led to a black flag and a 20^th position. Making the point that the fearsome kerb, ‘Russell’s Sausage’ is too be put to one side. Harry had the whole sausage experience on the Saturday and Matt stated afterwards “I bloody hate that sausage, as soon as you get on it, you just skate down and then it sends you on the grass”, it also set’s you up badly for the Lancaster curve and Chandler’s.

Race 5 saw both the A and B’s out together with Harry Hunter and Tom Middleton entertaining, with Andy’s reiterations of the 5 rules of racing, they knew what to do, with Harry, the stockist guy in the A’s at 82kg getting into the 51’s, half a second better than Saturday, on his way to a consistent 8^th place in a very spread out field. His new gloves working a treat as he kept the pressure on the pack up front. Race 6 saw Rob Nadin put in a committed performance of sheer class only losing a place form where he began for the B’s.

In Round 6, the relays saw Tom and Rob start at the back in race 1 and unfortunately stay there. Race two was a lot more frantic with all the prep work done and the pit crew on edge, Islay back from charging her phone in some guys office nearly fell over the fence in anticipation. Luke started the A’s from 23^rd and after a good first pit stop and a charging start found himself 3^rd and catching Swansea in 2^nd when a outrageous defensive manoeuvre, putting Luke over the kerb, through the cones resulting in one getting stuck under the kart and a trip on the grass as well as an extra pit stop, a time cost of at last 45 sec’s and no matter what he of Matt could do 7^th was the best that could be mustered. Whilst Lee and Ollie found there rhythm to 24^th, also having a incident with Swansea.

In race 3, a charging performance by Andy and Harry which saw them at one time in 2^nd place from 14^th on the grid come 5^th after a unfortunate pit stop, as Suzie stated “i think we should stand on the bank and call them in on that lap” was a better idea than previously thought, Harry quoted that the brakes were far better in the afternoon which really made the difference between races. You also need a mobile that works as Rob found out when his driveshaft broke on the way home resulting in some of the team being towed home. We can safely say we’ve had some eventful trips this season.

Round 5 saw the A’s finish four, just short of a podium. This was partially fortunate as none of us went to second briefing and presentation, rather more suited in following Suzie and Islay to the cafe. Round 6 was also good for UPMC getting a 6^th place, meaning a good innings, a rise up the championship table to tenth and a feeling of even better to come at Clay Pigeon kart track in Dorset for rounds 7 & 8 on Wednesday 30^th March. Until then, in the words of Mr. Bennett, “go F*ck yourself”.