RICHARD IS THE NEW MIDLAND CHAMPION

Castle Eaton’s Richard Hughes beat the best of them to become Midland Champion at Rissington yesterday.

The Midland Championships are an annual two-day event, which attracts top kart drivers from all over the country. Many famous names from motor sport were there, including Mr Nigel Mansell, who was racing in the 177 class. In total, there were a record 278 entries this weekend, with 36 in the most popular 125 Rotax Max class, in which Richard races.

Richard has been entering the Midland Championships since 1993, but has never won it before. Something has always gone wrong in the past, but he did manage to come second last year. This time, just about everything went right and he also recorded fastest laps both in the wet and the dry.

The weather played its part, with monsoon conditions on Friday night, as teams were setting up, and again all day on Saturday. It finally dried out on Sunday afternoon. Some of the qualifying heats were held on Saturday, in appalling conditions. To cope with the numbers in Rotax Max, a total of 5 heats were needed, with each driver taking part in 3. The aggregate scores decided the starting grid for the Finals.

On Saturday, Hughes used his local knowledge of wet conditions to good advantage to post fastest time in practice and then shot away to win his first race. Starting at the back of the field in the second one on Sunday morning, he fought his way up to 5^th. Although he got held up at the start of the third heat, Richard still battled back to third. But, instead of being in pole position, he had to start in 3^rd for the big race.

As the lights turned green for the rolling start of the Championship race, Richard held third place and entertained the huge crowd with a wheel-to-wheel battle with multiple Champion, Scott Allen, for three laps. They caught the leaders and Hughes squeezed through, but Allen got held up. Hughes then pulled away and went quicker and quicker, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 11. He took the chequered flag to resounding cheers with a victory punch in the air.

“We finally did it!”, said Richard after he had squirted the champagne. “It took a while for the slick tyres to come on, as we hadn’t used them all weekend, but when they did, I knew I had the legs on the rest of them. The BRT engine was superb and I would like to thank all the team for their hard work and the set-up of my kart. This is the Championship I have dreamed about for 15 years and it proves that there is life in the old dog, yet!”, he concluded.

RICHARD NETS ANOTHER SECOND PLACE AT SHENINGTON

Castle Eaton’s Richard Hughes rocketed through the field at Shenington on Sunday, to finish second, as he also did last month.

With 22 entries in the ever popular 125 Rotax Max karting class for the meeting, the numbers were down due to holidays, etc., but the quality of the field was excellent and all the top championship contenders were there. The weather was fairly kind, with just a shower mid-way through the day, but this did not affect Rotax Max.

Hughes shot away to win the first qualifying heat. Starting at the back of the field in the second one, he fought his way up to 7^th. The third heat was going well and he was fifth going into the final lap, but a lunge by another driver took out 4 karts, including Richard, and he finally crossed the line in 12^th place. Instead of being in pole position, he had to start in 4^th for the big race.

As the lights turned green for the rolling start, Richard shot into second, behind championship leader, Nathan Lawley. They had both passed pole-sitter Scott Hutchins on the run to the first corner! It looked at first that Hughes had the edge, as he sat on Nathan’s back bumper for quite a while, but then Nathan put in a couple of stunning laps and eased a gap. Hughes gave it everything he’d got, but he had to settle for second place.

The battle for the Club Championship continues. Lawley leads it, but Hughes is up to third and there are 4 rounds remaining.

“I was very pleased with the kart today”, said Richard at the prize-giving. “Nathan had the edge again, but we were closer to him than we have been. We will continue the development work!”

They will both appear again for the prestigious Midland Championships at Rissington on 6/7 September.

See the Race Programme in the Race Team section.

Our arrive and drive packages are as popular as ever and we have some more karts available, including Rotax 177.

For the time being, we are not able to do the Whilton Mill club meetings, due to work commitments, but we are able to do certain Test Days there.

FREE TEST DAY!

Richard Hughes Racing offers a FREE TEST DAY with every new or used kart sold.

The FREE TEST DAY includes driver coaching, kart set-up, technical training and assistance to get you going quickly on your new kart. It is available at any of the circuits that we attend, on an agreed date to suit you.

The FREE TEST DAY is currently worth £85 and the only extra you have to pay is the Practice Fee to the appropriate club that runs the circuit. Normally, you do not need an MSA Licence for this.

Alternatively, if you wish to hire a kart for a day from Richard Hughes Racing before buying, then the hire element of the fee will be deducted from the price of the kart you decide to buy from us.

Either way, Richard Hughes Racing wants you to enjoy your purchase and be satisfied with the kart you have bought. Add this to the renowned after-sales service provided by Richard Hughes Racing and it is an unbeaten package for customer satisfaction.

Give Team Manager, Bill Hughes, a call and discuss the details or visit the Used karts section of our web site.

WANT TO START KARTING?

Richard Hughes Racing is working in association with Rissington Kart Club and Shenington Kart Racing Club to help people to start in the exciting sport of Karting.

It can be quite bewildering to choose the right class, get a licence, buy a kart and check that you have got all the right equipment and tools to set-up and maintain it. On top of all that, you need to learn how to drive it! Most importantly, you need to know what NOT to do and what you don’t need to buy.

To help to guide you through that minefield, Richard Hughes Racing will talk you through it all with no obligation and completely FREE OF CHARGE! With 15 years experience in karting and a strong track record for training juniors and novices, Richard Hughes Racing are ideally placed to help you.

Various special offers are available on test drives, race clothing, driver and mechanic training, as well as making arrangements for the all-important ARKS test.

Give Team Manager, Bill Hughes, a call and discuss the details or visit us at any of the meetings we are attending. Our Race Programme is on the web site, together with links to the kart clubs for directions, etc.