KO Grand Prix 2007

Over the August bank holiday many racers from all over the UK , Norway and Sweden, arrived at the West London Race Circuit for the twelfth annual KO Grand Prix. The entry for the KO GP was again close on two hundred drivers, all spread over three classes. A very high quality field competed in Stock, Super Stock and Open Modified and it is for that very reason that this event is regarded by many to be the Premier Event in the UK’s racing season. This year the weather was kind and the sun shone brightly all weekend making for some of the best racing seen in one tenth Touring cars this year. Some even said that the very welcome annual visitors to the Grand Prix from KO Propo in Japan, Katsuhisa Nakazono and Takao Hirayama, had brought the Sun with them along with the raffle prizes - amongst which was of course the infamous KO clock! Making a welcome return this year commentating was Colin Theobald, who accompanied by the young Christian Rowlands, managed to entertain and inform the racers with all that was happening on and around the track during the day. Colin’s driver profile sheets made for amusing reading, and comments during the races helped to take the edge off the serious competition from time to time.

The entry list read like a who’s who of RC racing. David Spashett, Andy Moore and Chris Grainger, who between them can lay claim to countless Championships from BRCA National championships right up to World Championships were competing. Some of the fastest drivers of the younger generation were there too such as Olly Jefferies, Ben Cosgrove and Elliot Harper. Add to this some of the new chargers from the feeder classes of Stock and Super Stock such as Chris Kerswell and Bryan Loynes and you have to ask where else would a new comer to sport be able to race drivers of this ability, and really learn what racing is all about!
Again this year the entry also had some very experienced European drivers in attendance too, such as Eirik Andreasson of Norway and the fast Swede, seventeen year old Alexander Hagberg, who was third at the recent the European one twelfth Championship. To start with perhaps a a bit of a dark horse with a touring car but quickly proving he had plenty enough pace, qualifying fifth for the main Modified A final.

The first round of qualifying proved to be the quickest of all the rounds on the Sunday. With all classes coming close or breaking previous track records, this KO GP was set to be the fastest and most competitive ever. Jon Winter broke the 27 turn stock track record to place himself comfortably in the pole position for the finals and in 19 turn Chris Kerswell would smash his previous track record with a near perfect run, placing a time that would put him top of the pile in this class. Modified saw Andy Moore better Adam Rogers lap record, but a small incident allowed Olly Jefferies through to take FTD, but not the track record.
From here on the FTD times were set, with Olly, Chris and Jon cementing their pole positions in their respective class’ at this early stage. With the track getting ever slower as the day progressed and the surface heating up, the only chance for anyone to make a move on the A finals would be in the final qualifier as the track cooled. In the final round a lot of drivers had saved a set of tyres and were improving on their previous FTD’s but not significantly enough to take TQ away from the previous rounds. There were some changes in the top ten in both 27 turn and 19 turn, the most noticeable a move from Mark Elms who, after a torrid day, made tenth in 19 turn from nowhere! In modified the times tumbled, there being a significant difference between those who had put on new tyres and those that hadn’t. Alex Hagberg put in a blisteringly quick final run to put him fifth overall in the final round; but all eyes were on the top heat of mod! Olly started off first and started to push hard and at the half way mark showed to be on for the first ever 21 lapper, but a spin soon ended those dreams of breaking track record. Olly pulled out of the race handing the lead over to Andy Moore, with Chris Grainger 1.46seconds behind and chasing hard to improve. At the end of the five minutes Chris had improved his own time to place him fourth on the grid, but no one improved upon Olly’s TQ time. David Spashett qualified tenth with his JRXS type R despite a first lap roll which cost him big on time, some blistering laps after moving him up through the field proving the potential for a higher place on the grid without the unfortunate mistake.

As always with the KO GP there is the concourse competition, allowing the racers to show off their artistic side! There were a lot of very well painted designs, showing some real imagination and skill in executing the flamboyant designs. But the title went to Jon Winter with his stunning Mazda 6 shell.

Leg 1
The finals would not disappoint anyone, with lots of close racing and drama to be seen throughout the classes. Jon Winter jumped the start of the 27 turn A final and received a 10 second penalty. The start was very messy but Spenser Jones managed to miss the carnage somehow and take the initial lead of the race! Jon though was on a mission, and clawed his way back to take the lead of the race on the track, which with the penalty though placed him in sixth. An impressive drive though none the less!
In 19 turn Chris Kerswell lead from start to finish with very little pressure placed upon him after Christopher Delves rolled his car on the first lap demoting him to ninth. This lead to some very close racing between team mates Delves and Steve Lissamore, ending up after five minutes with a race to the line which would end up in a tie for second between the two due to identical split times! The two drove nose to tail for over a minute, with Christopher not being able to find a way past Steve. Entertaining to watch!
The Modified final was nothing short of spectacular. Ben managed to get an awesome start off the line and right on the bumper of Andy Moore, but Olly would be the man in control, setting some amazingly fast lap times and showing his skill as a driver! Half way through the race things begun to get a little messy and the referees began to hand out warnings to certain drivers, but this was the result of immensely fast cars and very close racing! In the end Olly took the win comfortably from Andy then Ben.
Leg 2
In the second leg of the 27 turn A final Jon wasn’t going to make a single mistake and pulled away from the field to take the win from young Tom Watts and Rob Baxter. In 19 turn, Christopher Delves ended up taking the win, but only after a coming together between him and Chris Kerswell handed the lead to Steve Lissamore first. Pressure from Christopher saw him re-take the lead after Steve make a mistake. Chris Kerswell made a brilliant comeback to third in a train of drivers fighting for second with the three drivers (Lissamore, Kerswell and Saul) separated by just 0.28seconds.
In Modified again Olly lead from the word go, with Ben once again getting a brilliant start off the line putting him second after the first corner. A coming together between Olly and Ben handed Andy the lead, but this was short lived with Andy making a mistake handing the lead to Ben from which he would not let go. Olly was thus be promoted to second, with David Spashett taking third after an amazing drive from 10th on the grid.
Leg 3
The final stock A final was another example of close racing, with cars coming within millimetres of each other. In 27 turn Jon Winter needed to take the win in this third leg in order to take the overall win, and another faultless run in fact gave him the title of 2007 KO GP Champion. The 19 turn was lead by Chris Kerswell from the start, and having saved a set of tyres continued throughout the entire race setting some impressively fast lap times. Chris Delves had lead the finals up to this point, but there was nothing he could do to stop Chris Kerswell from walking away with the win in this final and thus the overall title. Christopher took second with Steve Lissamore in third, making it a team Corally lock out of the top three finishing spots!
In modified the race was on between team-mates Olly and Andy. Andy managed to find a way past Olly and never looked back, but Olly was safe in the knowledge that he had already taken the overall win. Third place man was Mark Stiles, who had managed to keep up with the lead pair, but as he came under pressure from the 2007 national Champion Chris Grainger they started to fall back as Mark began to defend his third position. Going onto the last lap Mark started to dump, and as the pair crossed the line they tied for third place, demonstrating how close the racing has been over this weekend!

The event was sponsored by KO Propo and Horizon Hobby UK with the race organisation being handled as usual by the very capable WLRC crew headed by Steve Cann. With all the years of experience that this crews has it is no wonder that the meeting ran faultlessly through the whole weekend.

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