Racing to the aid of Lions’ International Blood Research appeal

The competition, which is open to teams of up to four (or anyone who wants to emulate Hamilton!) has been a popular event for many years.

The 17 drivers divided into a team of 2, a team of 3 and 3 teams of 4 included several drivers who had never raced a Go Kart before. After a pre-race briefing a short qualifying race was held to give some initial practise to those who had never raced before and to determine pole and grid positions for the start of the two hour endurance race, each driver racing for 15 minutes before swapping with another of their team members. A good start was followed by an exciting race in the excellent conditions on this demanding international circuit.

There were a number of minor incidents as usual in this type of hotly contested race on a twisting track, which incorporates only one straight and tests drivers skills and nerve to the full. But despite a number of spins, minor race impacts and a couple of drivers briefly leaving the track to introduce their Karts to tyre barriers or the meadow, no one got hurt and everyone finished. The unanimous feeling of all the racers was that they had a marvellous fun time!

The skill and nerve of the drivers when the Race Marshall advised that against a track lap record of 23.7 seconds, a fastest lap of 29.481 seconds was set up by Mark Standen and the closeness of the driving can be seen from the final results.

The podium finishers were 1st, “Dumber and Dumber” sponsored by Hailsham Lions Club, 227 laps with a fastest lap speed of 29.495 seconds (their 4th win in a row!), 2nd were “Synergy”, 217 laps with a fastest lap speed of 29.741 seconds, and 3rd were “Hailsham Bandits,” also sponsored by Hailsham Lions Club, 215 laps with a fastest lap speed of 30.069 seconds. A full list of all the results is available.

he event enabled Battle and Villages Lions Club to raise £500 for LIBRA, a really good result for an afternoon’s enjoyment. A cheque is already on its way to the LIBRA Trustees and will make a wonderful start to the Lions latest campaign for this cause, “Going for Gold”, which aims to raise at least £300,000 by the end of 2024 to cover the cost of much needed equipment for the new Kings Health Partners Haematology Unit

Battle and Villages Lions Club again expresses its gratitude and thanks to The Campbell Circuit and Filching Manor for once more helping us the support this essential and worthwhile cause.

Why not come, meet us for a chat and enjoy a friendly and sociable Club, which is open to all ages and genders, having fun putting something back into the community. We meet at 8pm on the first Tuesday of each month at The Royal Oak at Whatlington.