BKMS Racing claims top spot
View(s):Team BKMS Racing claimed the top spot after the second round of the Endurance Karting Championship 2014 held recently at the Speed Drome Karting Centre in Battaramulla. Team Gunners finished second while Raptor Racing finished at third.
Leading the way, Kart 26, Brayan Perera followed by Dasun Ranathunga
The second round of the Endurance Championship 2014, a concept by pioneers of Sri Lankan Karting Speed Drome ended in a nail-biting finish. After two rounds Team Gunners lead the table with 47 points while Raptor Racing and BKMS Racing sharing the second place with 40 points each.
After the first round which was held in mid-March, the second round from a total of four championship rounds, gave closer racing and tighter finishes. Each team has to drive for four hours with in-between pit stops and driver changes and winners were selected from the most number of laps completed at the end of the time duration.
Team Gunners, led by young blood Adeeb Gazzali (12), took the lead by excellent start thanks to their Karting sensation Kyle Crosland, after securing the pole position from qualifying session. The icing of the cake was added by Ashan Silva and Shanaka Bandara, who put the team one lap ahead of the others after a quick pit stop.
Meanwhile, AA Racing who was positioned second up to the halfway mark of the race had to face consequences when their pit crew made an error when fixing a tyre in their third pit stop. This forced them pull over for a pit stop once again, an extra stop than other teams, and fell back six laps behind the rest.
Maiden endurance win for BKMS Racing at Round 2 being awarded by Dinasha Weerasinghe, head of marketing of Wurth Lanka. On the podium are Brayan Perera, Kevin Perera, Sam Perera
ETD Racing’s Fayad Fariz crashed in to a tyre wall during the second lap of the race, putting them behind of other contenders from the beginning. Capitalising on AA Racing and ETD Racing mistakes, Intek, Raptor Racing and BKMS Racing had a close fight to the second and third slots right throughout the race.
The race ended with a thriller when Gunners took the chequred flag first followed by BKMS Racing after both teams completing 484 laps. However race officials had to take a decision due to a pit crew error made by Gunners while refueling, three minutes before the race ended and handed them a one-lap penalty.
This gave BKMS Racing their maiden Endurance Karting Championship win with 484 laps and Gunners at second place with 483 laps. Raptor Racing manages to stay ahead of Intek Racing by 00.534 seconds to grab the third place despite both teams ending completing 482 laps.
The overall champion will be decided after the completion of all four rounds. The third round will take place on August 9 from 3.00pm onwards at the Speed Drome Karting Centre in Battaramulla. The event was sponsored and partnered by Wurth Lanka who always backs and support motor sports in Sri Lanka.
Race Results
Winner: BKMS Racing (484 laps)
2nd: Gunners (483 laps)
3rd: Raptor Racing (482 laps)
4th: Intek Racing (482 laps) (00.534 second behind)
5th: ETD Racing (478 laps)
6th: AA Racing (476 laps)
Points Table (After 2 rounds)
1: Gunners – 47
2: Raptor Racing – 40
2: BKMS Racing – 40
4: Intek Racing – 33
5: ETD Racing – 21
6: Team Corsa – 12
7: AA Racing – 9