Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches victorious in 2016 Emirates Schools Karting Championship

Sport360 staff 22:06 29/02/2016
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  • Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches (JESS) claimed victory.

    Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches (JESS) claimed their second successive victory in the 2016 Emirates Schools Karting Championship (ESKC) after being pushed hard throughout an enthralling one-hour endurance race at Dubai Kartdrome on Sunday evening.

    The race will be remembered for five changes in the lead during the 47 laps, and the fact that the top six were all on the same lap when the chequered flag waved to end proceedings, with the top three crossing the line within 15 seconds.

    Fresh from winning the opening round earlier in the month, JESS, with Eliot Jones, Max Tryggvason and Sam Burtonwood on driving duty, set themselves as the team to beat.

    Starting from fifth on the grid, Jones drove a strong early stint and established his team among the pace setters. Although they led for the bulk of the race, nothing was certain until the very end when they took victory by 10.8 seconds.

    “We only started fifth but we got a good start and managed to pull away. We won but it was a lot more difficult this time as the teams are getting better with every outing. The plan is to keep the momentum and win the championship,” Jones said.

    The enthralling one-hour endurance race took place at Dubai Kartdrome.

    The enthralling one-hour endurance race took place at Dubai Kartdrome.

    Ghost Racing Team, consisting of Sameer Mohideen, Sayed Taifur, Samuel Garbutt and Lorenze Terrone, impressed as they did the first time out finishing second and with it doing enough to claim top spot in the ‘race-within-the-race’ Nomad Class.

    Garbutt was the star of the team claiming the fastest lap time of 1:10.381 during the race, he summed up: “We had a very good race. We did lose quite some time at the beginning but were able to make that up. Last time we were over half a minute behind, now it is ten seconds – so we are closing the gap. We ended up on the podium and can say we did a good job today. The goal is to win the next one.”

    Third overall was Repton School, making their debut in round two, with experienced karter Fraser Rose teaming up with Matthew Elliot and Harrison Mitchell. The trio signaling their intent by constantly being among the pace setters on the way to a podium finish.

    Dubai English Speaking College 1 Team, of Giulio Peroni, Jad Makarem and Jason Walton, finished fourth after slugging it out with school-mates Henry Jenkins, Harrison Barnes and Ibrahim Yaqub, in the Dubai English Speaking College 3 Team, who crossed the finish line in fifth.

    Newcomers German International School, of Goffredo Contucci, Oscar Sondermann and Justin Thielecke, also enjoyed an impressive debut on their way to sixth place overall and on the same lap as the leaders when the race ended.

    Cambridge International School were seventh, ahead of VDR Racing in eighth, Emirates International School Meadows ninth and MC Falcon rounding out the top ten.

    “It was another very positive night for the ESKC. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the drivers and teams which really had the Kartdrome buzzing throughout the event,” ESKC race director David Bright said.

    “It was also good to see the improvement in driving standards which in turn resulted in a very exciting and close run contest. We are confident the ESKC will go from strength to strength.”

    Round 3 of the four-race championship takes place on 20 March 2016 at the Kartdrome.

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