It was going to happen sooner or later. A relaxed and cheerful Dave Cowhig got his 2010 season off to the best possible start by taking his maiden event win with a points total of 95.

Race 1 saw him start P8, climbing to P6 on the first lap, and then latching-on to Richard Weber and Andy Holmes. This became a vigorous 3-way contest and the printouts showed various position changes within the scrap, which appeared to have lasted most of the race. Eventually, the matter was settled in Dave's favour although it was hard-fought - at the flag, Dave was P3 and a mere 0.416sec ahead of Richard, with Andy sandwiched in between them!

A great start to Race 2 brought Dave up from Grid 18 to P8 at the end of lap 1, steady lapping around the 51-sec mark climbing him further up the order. On lap 13 he set Race 2's fastest time (0:50.783), and by this stage he was up to P4. Lap 16 brought him into contact with the leading scrum, and at the end of Lap 17 he went over the line in second place, close behind race leader Keith Jarvis. However the Berry/Gaitanis/Nunn wolfpack was now coming into the fight, and Dave was bounced back down to P4 on Lap 20, with the finish line marshal starting to hunt around for the chequered flag.

But this closing-stages setback didn't matter - Dave had done enough. P3 in one race, P4 in the other, and Race 2 fastest lap as the icing on the cake - job done. It was a popular victory.

Perry Musty was second overall by a single point after a typically feisty performance. Starting P4 in Race 1, he was quickly up to third, then second by the end of Lap 5. Now began a scrap with Justin Undery in which Perry gained the lead, lost it again, then re-took it on Lap 12. Closing the door on Justin, Perry pulled away at about 0.3sec per lap for the next two laps with a couple of tours in the low 51-sec bracket. With the lead now secure, he was able to work his times down further, three sub-51-sec laps (including the fastest lap of the meeting - a 0:50.335 on Lap 17) put him beyond reach, and his lead at the end of the race was 4.4sec.

Off to a good start then, but the real test would come with Race 2 and its P22 starting position. No problem. Six tough, combative laps saw Mighty Musty claim five places on Lap 1, a further three on Lap 2, and two more on Lap 3. Now running P12, he moved one place further up the order each lap for the next three laps. Taking P8 on Lap 9, Perry was now coming up behind the Berry/Gaitanis/Nunn roadshow and further gains were going to be more difficult. A single further place brought Perry home P7, 15 places up from where he started, and with a fastest Race 2 laptime of 0:50.844 - just 0.061sec slower than Dave Cowhig's quickest.

Roberto Gaitanis closed out the podium with third overall. A big opening lap in Race 1 took him from 15th on the grid to P9 at the end of the lap, this being followed by a jump to P7 on Lap 2 and into combat with J.B. and Geoff Nunn. On Lap 12, both Roberto and Geoff managed to get past the double champion, Geoff then switching to defensive tactics in front of Julian which allowed Roberto a bit of freedom to scamper off up the road. Roberto finished Race 1 in one of those strange 'where is everybody?' situations; 4.2sec behind Rich Weber (P5) and almost 4sec ahead of 7th-placed Geoff.

Starting P11 in Race 2, Roberto needed another good start - and got it. Crossing the line at the end of the opening lap, he was already up to P5. But Berry was just in front, and Messrs Cowhig, Nunn, Holmes and Musty were just behind. This became a fierce old scrap lasting for most of the race, and with multiple changes in the order. Briefly demoted to P6, Roberto fought back to reclaim 5th and then spent the next seven laps keeping close to the leaders and looking for an opportunity to get further ahead. His chance came on Lap 19 as Mike Wood made a desperate attempt to go past second-placed Dave Cowhig on the outside at Turn 4; unable to complete the move, Mike left himself open to attack by those following. Roberto was the main beneficiary of this tangle, jumping ahead of both Mike and Julian into P3.

P6 in Race 1 (nine places gained) then, and P3 in Race 2 (up eight places). Good enough for third place overall, with a fastest race lap of 0:51.018 to his credit.

Julian Berry was fourth overall, missing the podium by a single point. A difficult Race 1 saw him gain seven positions in the opening lap and another one in Lap 2, putting him P6. But Gaitanis and Nunn were both with him, and on Lap 12 a back-marker spiced up the action. Roberto and Geoff nipped through while Julian dropped to P8. He spent the remainder of Race 1 smearing himself over the back of Geoff's kart; the gap between them at the flag was 0.284sec after 22 laps.

Race 2 was going to require a determined effort if Julian was to go home with a trophy, and he certainly started well - Grid 12 to P4 by the end of Lap 1. Holding station behind Mike Wood, their lap times were closely matched. On Lap 7, Mike moved up to P2, and Julian was through into P3 next time around, the formation restored. With lap times still remarkably similar (although Julian had the edge - a fastest lap of 0:51.044 shaded Mike's Race 2 best time of 0:51.127), they were about to receive the unwanted attentions of Dave Cowhig. Demoted to P4 on Lap 16, Julian stuck with it, and when Mike lost P2 to the rampaging Welshman on Lap 17, Julian limpeted himself to the back of Mike's kart. Lap 19 brought Mike's slightly desperate attempt on Dave, which, while allowing Berry to get in front of his fellow Yorkshireman also had the confusing effect of letting Gaitanis past both of them. Next time around was better - Julian and Roberto both mugged Dave, and Julian was able to get past Roberto at the same time. One minute later, it was all over.

It was a great finish, but in the end Julian's eighth and second places weren't quite enough.

It was a 91-pointer for Keith Jarvis, a great start in Race 1 taking him from Grid 20 to P14 at the end of the first lap.. There were further gains over the next few rotations until he reached P10, but there the progress came to a halt. There were signs of a possible kart problem here - his fastest Race 1 lap was a hefty 0.665sec slower than his best effort next time out. Race 2 was better in all respects, Keith jumping into the lead from Grid 6 by the exit of Turn1, Lap1. He then drove a canny race, keeping those following behind in such a way that they bunched up and scrapped between themselves. Clever... At the flag, he was still in the lead, albeit by only 0.601sec from Julian. His fastest race lap in Race 2 was a 0:51.071 - only 0.288sec slower than DC's quickest.

Next up, Geoff Nunn; 90 points for sixth overall. Geoff gained ten places in Race 1, climbing from Grid 17 to P7 at the end. Race 2 brought a start from ninth and a P5 finish, 0.624sec behind Dave Cowhig. Worthy of special note was the fact that Geoff swapped karts with two regular front-runners and set faster times than both. Driving chassis 17 in Race 1, Geoff set a 0:50.948; in Race 2, a very prominent name took the same machine round in 0:51.044. Geoff took over chassis 25 for Race 2; again he shared it with a well-known figure, and again his time was the quicker, in this case by 0.375sec. Crumbs! Stop me if you think I'm looking into all this too deeply.. 

Justin Undery and Andy Holmes tied on 89 points, Justin’s P2 and P11 finishes giving him seventh overall, ahead of Andy with a P4 and a P9. Both were quick and competitive, and they had remarkably similar races: in Race 1, both started near the front and stayed there, while in Race 2 they came from near the back to finish well inside the top half of the field. Justin claimed 13 places gained in Race 2 to Andy’s 12.

Organisers Richard Weber and Mike Wood also tied on points, coming in ninth and tenth respectively with 87 points apiece. Richard slotted into overall ninth place thanks to his P5 result in Race 1, combined with a P10 finish (from Grid 19) in Race 2. Mike’s best finish was P6 in Race 2, improving upon a P9 in Race 1. Close, but no cigar.

Closest finish of the event was between Tim Parrett and James Wilde. Both scored 74 points overall, and both achieved this with a P13 and a P15. That meant resorting to comparison of fastest laps, the result going to James (0:51.942 in Race 1) who beat Tim by a quarter of a second (0:52.203 in Race 2). Both guys went especially well in Race 1, Tim climbing nine places and James gaining eight.

Among the drivers for whom this was their first outing, it was good to see so many getting down to 52-sec laps (or even lower in Mr Wilde’s case) so early in their Airlinekarting.com careers. Also impressive was the extent to which many new guys improved from Race 1 to Race 2. Mat Taylor found 0.613sec, Paul Whittle went 0.789sec quicker, Martin Whitehead lopped 0.845sec off his fastest Race 1 lap time, and Charles Winterton was a whole 1.084sec faster. Awesome.