Barnes is Bermuda’s Lone Star

Bermuda Karting Club’s championship leader Scott ‘Skitchy’ Barnes says he is a more confident wet-weather driver after a good performance at the Texas Lone Star Grand Prix.

The street race in Lockhart saw Barnes compete in three classes — the 125 shifter Stock Honda light, the  125 shifter stock Honda heavy and the  shifter mod/icc.

In the light he qualified 10th out of 41, in the mod/icc he was sixth out of 18, while he secured pole in the shifter heavy.

The heavy class yielded more success in the heat races, with Barnes taking the race with a fine drive. He finished eighth in the light and fourth in the mod/icc.

The stage was set for the main event races on the Sunday, which was made trickier by constant rain and temperatures that dropped to 35 degrees.

Taken out of his comfort zone by the conditions, Barnes claimed a top-15 finish in the light class after being shunted on the first corner and managed fourth in the mod/icc.

On pole in the heavy class, the Bermudian was jumped at the start but impressively spent most of the race in third, gaining in belief as he dealt with the wet track.

Traffic cost him on the final lap as he was overtaken to finish in fourth. The weekend, though, left Barnes a satisfied racer.

He told the Bermuda Sun: “It’s a lot harder [in the rain], especially if you are not used to it. I don’t have a lot of experience racing in the rain. 

“I’ve done a couple of races in Rock Island, a couple in Bermuda but for the most part I don’t have a lot of experience in the rain.

“So for me it’s not as comfortable as I would like to be but after Texas I definitely gained a lot of confidence, finishing all three races and two podiums.” He added: “I was in a good position on Sunday — I think if the weather had stayed dry I would have won that race [heavy] but the guys that came in the top three are pretty experienced in rain racing so they were able to get out in front of me.”

Meanwhile, sponsorship packages are still available for the eagerly-awaited return of the Hamilton Grand Prix on May 31-June 1.

For more details email [email protected] and for further information go to www.bermudakartingclub.com or the club’s Facebook page.