ROSS GUNN RACING

Gunn shows that he is 'No fool' by setting a new lap record at PFi.

With the first round of the Super One Junior Rotax Championship only four weeks away, Gunn decided to attend the first round of the Summer series at the Trent Valley Kart Club's PFi circuit near Grantham on April 'Fools Day'. Since Gunn's last visit to PFi, the circuit has been slightly modified around the garage complex, in readiness for the CIK-FIA World KF1 and European KF2 and KF3 Championships on 19-22 July. Following the normal Club format of allocating grid positions in the three heats, unlike in Super One when grid positions will be determined by qualifying times, Gunn started his first heat in 19th position. Racing again for Tooley Motorsport, Gunn progressively climbed through the field and by the end of lap 3 was in 15th position. Gunn eventually finished the 9 lap heat in 8th position whilst setting a new Junior Rotax lap record of 57.91 s.

In Heat 2, Gunn was drawn 'right at the back' in 34th position. By driving with great determination, avoiding several mid field incidents, Gunn had gained 12 positions by the end of lap 2. In the last two laps of the 7 lap heat, Gunn gained 11 positions to finish in 'another' 8th position. A fantastic gain of 26 places! Gunn had the 2nd fastest lap of 58.71 s, only 0.16 s off the fastest lap. In Gunn's final Heat, he was drawn in pole position. Gunn maintained this position throughout the race, to cross the line at the end of the 9 laps, 3.73 s in front of the second placed driver.

                                                               Start of Heat three with Gunn on pole


                                                               Gunn wins Heat three by 3.73 seconds

As a result of Gunn's heat results, Gunn started the Final in third position. This was to be a tough race, with Gunn gaining the lead during lap three. Gunn lead for six of the eleven laps but was taken by a hard pressing Bobby Thompson on lap 9. During lap 10, a slight mistake by Gunn, that's all it takes at this level, allowed George Line to move into second place. During the final lap, Line lost his second place to Luke Knott with Gunn retaking George Line in the process; this allowed Gunn to finish the hard fought race in a very respectable third place, only 0.34 s behind the winner.

Gunn was slightly disappointed with the result, feeling that he could have won if he had not made the mistake………… but was very pleased to set a new lap record!

Gunn leads the Final at PFi

The season has started and as the song says….Things can only get better!

Gunn attended Round 1 of the Shenington KRC championship on 22/1/12 in preparation for his attack on the 2012 Junior Rotax Super One championship ~ this starts on 28/4/12 at Whilton Mill. The format of this meeting was by the normal Club method of nominating grid positions by drawing names 'from a hat'. In Gunn's first heat, he was drawn in 15th position and during the opening lap got 'tangled' up with some other karts to drop to 19th position. During the 9 lap heat, Gunn drove with great purpose to finish a commendable 4th, only 3 seconds behind the winner and with the second fastest time {0.2 s off the fastest lap}. Things didn't go quite so 'well' in Gunn's second heat………. going into Pits bend for the first time, several karts came together, Gunn being forced into the barrier with damage resulting to his suspension. If this wasn't enough, a following kart then 'went over the top' of Gunn; tyre marks on the right shoulder of Gunn's overalls showed how close Gunn was to a serious personal accident. In the incident, the other kart landed on Gunn's hand, resulting in Gunn receiving medical attention. Although his wrist had not been broken, Gunn's hand was very painful and it was decided to 'call it a day' by the team principal of Tooley Motorsport.

Gunn, still suffering from a swollen hand, attended Whilton Mill the following weekend. In Gunn's first heat {Heat 2 of four heats}, Gunn was drawn in 29th position, there being 32 karts in the race! By the end of a 'hectic' first lap, Gunn was in 16th position! In this 7 lap race…….. not much time to 'get to the front'……. Gunn finished in 10th position with the fastest lap {45.96 s}. In Gunn's second heat, this time he started in 14th position, whilst overtaking in Christmas corner, Gunn was turned around and rejoined in 27th position! Gunn eventually finished in a disappointing 21st position. In Gunn's third heat, Gunn finished in 5th position having started on pole…….. Gunn commented during the post race debrief, that the kart was starting to misfire. This was overcome by changing the petrol pump. Gunn started the A final in 13th position and made some excellent overtaking manoeuvres to be lying in 5th position by the end of lap 4. He was challenging the 4th position approaching Boot 1 when………. the throttle cable snapped! Gunn was disappointed, as he felt that he could have won the race, but went away from the meeting knowing that he had been the fastest Junior Rotax driver at the meeting! As most of the Super One contenders were at this meeting, Gunn felt very positive about his forthcoming Championship challenge.

Autosport International 2012 and Super One awards evening……..

The prestigious Autosport International event took place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on January 14th. Gunn was awarded the British Super One Mini Max trophy in front of the public and later during the show, was interviewed for Television. Gunn thanked all of those who had made his season so successful, especially the Tooley Motorsport team.

In the evening, Gunn attended the Super One awards ceremony at the Hilton Hotel, Warwick. The successful 2011 season was finalised, when the British Championship MiniMax trophy was presented to Gunn in front of a large attendance. Gunn was interviewed on stage and indicated that his plans for 2012 were still 'somewhat provisional', but he hoped that he would still be with Tooley Motorsport, racing in the Junior Rotax formula….. "Much still depends on the available finances….".

Autosport 2012, the top three in MiniMax. and with the top 14 in MiniMax.

British Super One MiniMax Champion.

2012 Autosport Interview. Gunn's kart on display at Autosport.

The 2011 Super One Champions. 2011 British Super One MiniMax Champion