Williams Wins Kart Event!

Posted on Friday 24 Jul 2009 and tagged with team, karting.

For a record fourth year, Williams F1 has won the Deeping Round Table Formula One Charity Kart Race.

The weekend did not have the most successful of starts for the Williams contingent, however, as the team suffered technical issues with their kart during qualifying, leaving them in 11th on the grid. Although Williams fielded a team of highly talented karters, everyone was going to have to work hard to beat the 32-strong grid.

Dean Hale was the first to get behind the wheel of the Williams kart for the 12 hour race and drove a storming first sector propelling the team up into second. Unfortunately, Dean then received a black flag for speeding under yellows. Once he returned to the track, Dean worked his way back to eighth place after an hour and 45 minutes.

Next up was Jim Barker for his two hour stint. Jim moved the team up into fourth before Scott Pinnell took over to hold position. Shawn Hetherington and Scott Barnes were next in line, both pushing hard to leave Williams in third place with four hours left on the clock.

Dean then returned to the cockpit for his two hours second stint and managed to overtake the Red Bull and move into second place. With great pit work and a clever strategy helping the team, it was left to Jim to try bring the kart home in the lead. Wanting to give the competition a chance, Jim spun with two laps to go which certainly ensured a stunning climax to the race, but it wasn’t enough for anyone to steal Williams’ lead and the karting team took the chequered flag with just a 20 second gap after 12 hours of racing.

The team received a cheque for £2,500 for winning the event which will be donated to the team’s designated charity, the Spinal Injuries Association.