MOTORS TV O PLATE 22ND SEPTEMBER

Mike has been invited to race at this exciting circuit for the first Motors TV Open. He won the TKM Open in 2006, but then progressed to the senior class, so has been unable to use it in 2007. Hopefully a victory in September would allow Mike to show the plate off in 2008.

Also his entry for the TKM festival to be held at Kimbolton near Huntingdon on August 11/12th. This year Mike will be unable to defend his Junior title, but hopes to break Ryan Coles run of three successive wins! Ryan is the TKM works driver, but the David Klaassen team expect the TEC-MEC chassis to be the one to beat with Mike driving.

MOTORS TV ROUNDS 5 & 6, JUNE 2ND & 3RD 2007

Feedback from Mike on Friday was that he was driving well, but the engines seemed down on power. The team tried 4 different ones and 4 different carbs, but Mike was visibly losing 3lkart lengths to the faster drivers on the main straight, and then catching 4 lengths back on the twisty section. The TEC-MEC kart was set up almost to perfection, with just one bend where it possibly flexed too much in the warm summer sun. In the end the team felt that the flexing was causing the brake to engage too soon and thus scrub off too much pace and 'bog down' coming out of the bend. A modification has already been suggested and will be tested at Kimbolton this weekend.

Back to the Saturday performance. Mike was second fastest in qualifying, missedpole by 1/100th of a second. Seeded 6th place in the championship meant he started on the 8th row of the grid 16 karts back. An excellent start behind the pace car meant no karts were lost at the first bend, and within just 4 laps Mike was upto 4th place. An rare error by the experienced George Lovell, caused him to turn in on Mike as he passed him and as the TV footage shows, Mike ended up with a bent axle and front steering through no fault of his own. Mike then drove in this hampered condition until the end to secure 10th and some valuable points.

Race director Alan Taddei said after the race 'It was unfortunate and hard luck on Mike Comber who deserved to win his first Motors TV round. He had the pace and got to the front quickly and should have walked away with it. Unfortunately the racing incident ruined his race, but on this evidence his first win could be at Lydd next month.' Mike was obviously very upset to have travelled so far and driven so well, but lady luck seems to have deserted him in 2007.

On Sunday with the kart repaired as best as it could at the race track, Mike qualified 5th fastest, just 1/10th off pole. The kart really needed to be re-jigged, but once agian in the race he again started on the 8th row, but this being more cautious of the slower drivers he slowly worked through the field taking few risks, and secured the points for 4th. The nett result, is that Mike comes away from the meeting in 5th place in the championship , just 10 points behind 4th place and within 20 of the leader, which means that with 4 rounds to go and almost 500 points available, an overall championship win is still possible.

Motors TV UK Karting Challenge Round 5, Glan-Y-Gors Park

Mike left Leicester this evening to meet up with the rest of the Klaassen Motorsport team before driving through the night to reach North Wales ready for tomorrows practice session. Most of the drivers have been there testing all week, but due to a tight budget and difficulty in the key memebers getting time off work, Mike will again start at a slight disadvantage, but hope to be on the pace by 5pm on Friday. Round 5 will takeplace on Saturday and then be televised the first week in July, while Round 6 takes place on the Sunday and will be broadcast towards the end of July.

Having slipped down the Championship table at the last rounds at Rowrah, Mike needs to have a couple of podium positions to claw back some of the lead the others have grasped. Mike goes with the confidence of the recent Whilton Mill test, knowing he has the best chassis under him. A full report and photographs will hopefully follow on Monday.

WHILTON MILL MAY MEETING

Mike practiced Saturday on the TEC-MEC Banshee chassis and was half a second quicker than the others, so it looked good for a win on Sunday. but then felt iil. His mechanic Danny Allin took the chassis out for the final test session, and then drove it on Sunday to a creditable 9th in Mikes place.

Mike will now have lost the lead in the championship, but will drop this round, so is still effectively leading it after dropped rounds. This week is the next two rounds of the Motors TV Championship at Glan-y-Gorse in North Wales. The last time Mike drove there he won the British Open. so he likes the track.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

SUPER 1 ROUND 3 RESULT

Typical Rowrah weather kept the teams guessing all weekend on final settings. During Friday testing, Mike proved he was one of the quickest drivers. Saturday testing on a new set of tyres showed Mike to be almost a second off the pace. A new set were purchased and Mike found the lost time.

Qualifying on the tyres supplied for the meeting showed Mike had another poor set, and struggled. Unfortunately those tyres had to be used on Sunday, so Mike had a real problem to over come. He won heat 4 and gained places in the other two heats, to make the main final, where he was 13th. The benefit of a good set of tyres was that some drivers were lapping in 49.6 seconds, while Mike was 50.1 nearly half a second slower. The advantage was getting less as the day passed so Mike still had high hopes of a podium As the chart shows, Mike quickly moved passed the others to be in 7th after just 4 laps, with 12 to go and the podium beckoning. Despite having a new chain and sprocket and with a chain guard and sprocket protectors, Rowrah is in an old quarry, and a sharp stone managed to find its way between the chain and the sprocket ripping the chain into two and ending Mikes challenge.

A positive to come out of the meeting was that Mike drove the Banshee version of the TEC-MEC for the first time, and it performed very well in the changing conditions and should be excellent for the next round in a months time at Buckmore Park in Kent. Having won his first Super 1 heat at Senior level. Mike now races at Whilton Mill this weekend, where he hopes to retain his championship lead.

SUPER 1 AT ROWRAH ROUND 3 19TH&20TH MAY

Just a quick update for May, as Mike has been doing some driver coaching since the last meeting at Whilton. It was decided that Kimbolton would now be used as a test meeting and last weekend, until the meeting was washed out, Mike assisted Billy Baxter on his spare TEC-MEC.

The previous weekend, the TEC-MEC chassis were at Rissington being tested by potential customers and they performed well, so hopefully all the good performances Mike has achieved are now paying off in new chassis sales.

All the Klaasson Motorsport team will now be using the TEC-MEC chassis for the rest of 2007, and hopefully beyond, as new developments are on their way. Firstly the Banchee will be tested at Rowrah, as will a different brake system, to offer an alternative feel. The current version is fine for seniors, but junior drivers find it hard work, so this will be attended to as part of the testing planned.

Hopefully a full report of Rowrah will follow once the team returns on Sunday night.