COVKARTSPORT . . .
The Established Low-Cost Steppingstone Into Motorsport Founded In 1996
What a lovely way to end the season!
Our
13th Annual Dinner & Awards Presentations Evening was well-attended
and ran wonderfully on Friday night at the auspicious Stoneleigh Deer
Park Golf Club. Special Guest-of-Honour, Martin Capenhurst (the England
Inter-Nations Team Manager, BKIA and MSA Kart Racing Committeee member
and organiser of the "Kart Mania" Show), presented our Awards and made
an excellent address to our guests when he commended the hard work of
our organisers and the work that Covkartsport does in bringing people
into the sport. Having raced with us at our Welsh Open Championship
meeting he also commended our drivers on their high skill levels. We
were very pleased to welcome Martin's wife and daughter to our table.
The
trophy table and raffle table together with our new Covkartsport
chequered background and 6 display panels formed the most professional
and good-looking display that we have ever put together at our Annual
dinner.
Photos: Peter Realf
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Club
President Nick Stanley compered the evening which began with the two
spot prizes being won by Stewart Corr and Peter Fowler. A superb
4-course Christmas meal followed: really good hot food and plenty of
it - served quickly! The Chef and the waiting-on staff are to be
commended!
Following
the meal, filmstar Whoopie Goldberg wearing high heels and evening
dress with matching handbag (realistic full face mask - but her/his
body was a bit too muscular and hairy) presented 3 comedy awards to
3 of our drivers whilst, at the same time, molesting Nick Stanley who
was completely unable to concentrate on his duties! Nick found it all a
bit scary but it did have all of our guests laughing! Whoopie
disappeared to catch her flight to New York and we still haven't found
out who he/she was - popular opinion says it was the Stig!
Nick
then gave a brief season report thanking Stuart Lindsay and Peter Realf
for their hard work and input throughout the year. He also thanked John
Thompson, Vince Cogzell and Peter Realf for donating several really
good motorsports raffle prizes. He stated that
our
best turnout of the season was 80 drivers at Glan-y-gors Park
(including guests) attending at our Welsh Open Championship meeting. He
also stated that we would continue to support our 3 favoured charities.
In all probability our Championship venues will remain unchanged for
2009 but this would depend upon the negotiating stance of the circuits
as Nick is determined to keep our prices pegged back to those of the
last 3 years! Circuits wanting more, in the current financial crisis,
will be dumped!
All
of our Championship Awards and places were then presented by Martin
with Ashley Carter taking the top honour of Overall COVKARTSPORT
Champion and also sharing the President's Award with Kieran Rochell.
Young Jack Wallace deservedly won the Cooperative Dairies Silver Salver
for "Most Improved Driver of the Season", Beth McCarthy won our "Top
Female Driver of the year Award" and the Dugmore Memorial Silver Salver
went to Ashley Carter for "Most Fastest Laps in the Season".
Our
Merit Awards for good sportsmanship and 100% attendance went to:
Richard Westlake, Rich Middleton, Luke Calvert, Robert Jobson, Peter
Callington, Gary Calvert, Adam Wheeldon, Mike Weygang, Jack Wallace and
Chris Steele. These
members are the very backbone of Covkartsport and richly deserved their
awards! All raced well and consistently throughout the season finishing
high in their respective classes and applying pressure at the top
without actually finishing in the top-3. The top Novice drivers were:
Rachel Jenkins (Junior winner) with James Spreadbury runner-up, Andy
Fitzgerald-Johnson (Senior Lightweight) with Ben Gillias runner-up and
Martin Stone (Senior Heavyweight) with Dan Sturdy runner-up.
Three
special Honorary Lifetime Membership Awards were presented in grateful
recognition of services rendered to Covkartsport and they were: Mike
Lehane, Steve Stretton and Gary McCarthy whilst Barbara Stanley and
Donna Lindsay received gift tokens in recognition of their hard work as
Chief Scorekeepers.
18 drivers took part in the combined Junior Class:
Ashley
Carter was presented with the John Gill Challenge Shield for winning
the Junior Class with Frey Lynch runner-up and Chris McCarthey 3rd.
Kieron
Rochell was presented with the new (unsponsored) silver challenge cup
for winning the Junior Plus Class with Beth McCarthy runner-up and
Stuart Stretton 3rd.
31 Drivers took part in the combined Senior Lightweight Class:
Ryan
Lindsay was presented with the silver Covkartsport Millennium Challenge
Cup for winning the Senior Lightweight Class with Callum Foreman
runner-up, Graham Wallace 3rd and James Taylor taking 4th place trophy.
John
Stanton was presented with the silver Kart Mania Exhibition Challenge
Cup for winning the Senior Lightweight Plus Class with Stewart Corr
runner-up and Dermot Lehane 3rd.
28 drivers took part in the combined Senior Heavyweight Class:
Vince
Cogzell was Presented with the Midland Carpet Supplies Challenge Shield
for winning the Senior Heavyweight Class with Steve Smelt runner-up and
Daran Pazzaglia 3rd.
Shaun
Jobson was presented with the John Thompson Challenge Shield for
winning the Senior Heavyweight Plus Class with Gulam Nabi runner-up and
Dave Bickley 3rd.
The
free "Guess-the-cost-of-the-helmet" prize was won by a young lady with
Paul Miles - the prize being an excellent black "Judd Power Team"
aircraft-hold bag worth approximately £70.
Our
special thanks must go to the staff at the golf club and to Martin
Capenhurst - especially since Martin offered to sponsor our
Senior Lightweight Plus Challenge Cup - the class in which he took part at our Welsh Open Championship meeting - so John Stanton becomes the first winner of the "Kart Mania Exhibition" Challenge Cup! Congratulations to all of our winners and commiserations to those
who just missed out - especially Frey Lynch, Cal Foreman and Steve
Smelt who pushed the winners all the way to the final race!
At
less than £20 per head what amazing value! We have been to sports
dinners costing £30-£50 per head and the venue/service/food have not
been anywhere near as good. Still, our pricing is right in line with
our policy of bringing you all events at the lowest possible cost!
That's what COVKARTSPORT is about!
The evening finished after midnight when the presentation of 30 good raffle prizes was over. It had been a very
happy, friendly and enjoyable celebration of our Championship year! As
Peter Realf commented: "I think that this was the best one yet!"
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