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Tamworth
InKart
We welcomed back drivers for a new season of Inkart at Daytona Tamworth on Sunday. There was a very competitive lineup in both classes of both new and returning drivers to the championship. There was a spanner thrown into the works in the morning, as the track turned out to be incredibly wet, making for a challenging round.
The first heat of the day was dominated by Theo Laverty, who continues his fine form that he carried over from last season. Reigning cadet champion Zachary Smith has made the step up to juniors for this season, and started his campaign by finishing runner-up in this heat. Harry Fitch is another new driver to the Junior class, and he was able to finish strongly in third, but only about a tenth ahead of fourth. As for the cadets, Henry Gordon drove very strongly to finish four tenths of a second ahead of second place Joseph Smith – Henry doing himself a world of good in terms of trying to qualify for the A-Final. Ted Hitchman narrowly held on to third place but had a very tricky time staying ahead of Micah Hunte-Nelson, who finished in fourth.
Conditions had not really improved heading into the second heat, and so our group two drivers also had a very attritional race ahead of them. Cooper Campbell-Lees will consider himself as a major championship contender this season, and made a statement victory of about fifteen seconds to Rhys Kings. Rhys could not be faulted with his second place – hoping that he could sneak into the A-Final after a string of good B-Final performances to the back end of last season. Edgar Azevedo is new to the championship, and so would have found it quite promising to start life in Inkart in third place. Our Cadets were similarly dominated, this time by Ethan Guest, winning by around twenty seconds or so to the next kart. George Marriot and Harvey Preen were the rest of the top three.
Group one were back out next, and Theo Laverty was able to make it two from two – though not something accomplished on the circuit. Harry Fitch won the race, but made an overtake under yellow flags and so was demoted into second. Jacob Kent, Milton Keynes’ champion, found himself in the final top-three spot. In the cadets, Jayden Steatham put in a good performance to take victory ahead of Joseph Smith, with Micah Hunte-Nelson managing to sneak into the A-Final with a third-place finish, a driver who would really hope to challenge for that podium.
Rhys Kings pulled out one of the best drives he’s ever done in the final heat of the day, winning the race comfortably – three seconds faster than the second-placed Junior. Cooper Campbell-Lees and Edgar Azevedo both secured safe progression into the A-Final with their top three finishes. Ethan Guest won the cadets, keeping the round sweep alive, joined in the top three by Harry Kennedy and Jacob Kinder.
Next out was the B-Final, and Zachary Smith made up an impressive drive to win by six seconds, though not actually taking the fastest lap in the process. Instead, that went to Joshua Lewis who was able to secure second position, gaining more confidence as the track started to dry up throughout the session. Seb Thompson is also new to the junior class, and took silverware immediately on debut, finishing in third place through what turned out to be a very consistent drive. The cadets saw a little bit of a mixed up grid, with Jack Charles-Bailey pulling out probably the best drive of his Inkart career yet, winning comfortably ahead of Harvey Preen. Jack was the third fastest kart, regardless of class, on track throughout the entire race. Behind Harvey was Noah Johnson, who he had a little bit of trouble keeping behind but, in the end, the two never really started to battle.
Finally, we had our A-Final and it turned into a very entertaining race. Cooper Campbell-Lees fell down the field due to an incident early on in the race and spent the rest of the fifteen minutes climbing his way back up in the challenging conditions. He was not able to catch up to the leader though, having to settle for second, as Edgar Azevedo put in a fantastic shift to win by eighteen seconds at the line on his debut. Completing his promising start in the junior category, Harry Fitch was able to snatch the last spot on the podium. As for the cadets, Ethan Guest completed a round sweep (with fastest lap as well) with a victory ahead of a high-flying Henry Gordon. Henry had trouble breaking into the A-Final at times last season, but in recent rounds has been right on it at the top of the order. They were joined on the podium by Jayden Steatham, who was able to get passed Micah Hunte-Nelson in the closing stages, and stay ahead of him despite increasing pressure throughout.
Sandown Park
SuperChamps
SODI
Heat 1
Heat 1 got underway for Season 2 of SuperChamps here at Daytona Sandown Park and it was Jules Larkin that was the stand out driver, he started 4th and made his way through the field. By lap 6 he was in third, by lap 7 he was in second, and on the last lap he made his move for the lead sealing victory in great fashion. Second place went to Jamie Warner a driver in our InKart Championship making his move up to SuperChamps. He was second for most of the race despite taking the lead towards the end, he was overtaken by Jules but still claimed a strong second place. Our third place driver was Ellis Mckenzie another InKart driver who was leading for most of the race but in the dying laps slipped down to claim third. In our Heavyweight class, it was Rafael Blanco-Bush showing current champion Reece Harris that he isn’t to be messed with as he finished fourth on track amongst the lightweight drivers as Reece came home in second in class but eigth on track. Third place went to Nathan King another new driver showing his skill round a new track for him.
Heat 2
Heat 2 got underway with Alfie Shrubb starting in third but making early moves to get up to second place on lap 5 before taking the lead on the last lap of the race to put himself in great standing for the final. Second place went to Leo Edger who started sixth on the grid. A great drive by the young driver put himself up to third on the second lap of the race then on lap 5 he actually took the lead and held it for 3 laps before being overtaken by Alfie on the last lap. Third place went to Jack Redfern our current champion in this category. Jack started in fourteenth and by lap 2 was in seventh! The next lap he was sixth, the next lap fifth, and then Jack took 2 places in the final 2 laps of the race to claim his spot on the podium. In our Heavyweight class Rafael Blanco-Bush was the first place driver showing current champion Reece Harris what he can do as he beat Reece by 1 place on track after a mega drive. Third place in the Heavyweights went to Fred Allen a new driver to our Heavyweight class showing the regulars that he isn’t here to mess about, securing a decent third position.
Final
The winner of our final was a Jamie Warner. Jamie led from the front on lap 1 and never looked back leading every single lap of the race with dominant fashion he finished the race 5 seconds clear of the rest of the field. Second place went to current SODI Lightweight champion Jack Redfern. Jack started in eighth position but made some very good and daring moves in the final. By lap 3 he was in sixth, and by lap 6 he was in third chasing down the rest of the pack. He waited till the penultimate lap of the race to make his move for second and made it stick rounding off a great race for him. Third place went to Ellis Mckenzie another InKart driver taking the step up into SuperChamps. Ellis started in fourth but made his way up to second by lap 3, he stayed in second the whole race untill Jack Redfern decided to join the party taking him on the penultimate lap. In our Heavyweight class it was Reece Harris showing Rafael Blanco-Bush what he could do when it counts. Reece finished fourth on track mixing it with the Lightweights with Rafael Blanco-Bush finishing seventh but second in class. Third position for the Heavyweights went to Nathan King again showing his consistency to claim another podium spot.
DMAX
Heat 1
Current champion Archie Bullard claimed the first win of season 2. Archie was in fourth after the end of lap 1, third by lap 2, second by lap 5 and then took the lead after a masterclass of aggressive driving on lap 6. After he took the lead he never looked back and led the rest of the way to the flag. Second place went to Steve Hannon, Steve has really come alive in recent weeks and has been putting in some amazing performances here at Daytona. Steve started in thirteenth made 7 places up on lap 1 to seventh by lap 5 he was in fifth. Lap 7 he was in third and with 2 laps to go took second place finishing only 2 seconds off Archie after a great drive. Third place went to George Lawlor. George started tenth and showed his race craft making his way through the field making up 4 places on lap 1 then loosing to to drop down to eighth on lap 5 but by lap 7 and shot back up to 2nd after some lovely moves on the brakes to secure his spot on the podium after loosing 2nd with a lap to go.
Current Superchamp Champion William Tidnam won the first heat in our heavy class putting in a dominant display and finishing 12 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Will though as he started in 2nd and stayed there for most of the race until lap 8 of 9 when he made his move on 1st place Tom Brown. Tom had a decent race himself leading most of the way before his old rival Will took the lead from him. In this move Tom lost 2 places and fell down to 3rd. 2nd place went to a new driver Tristian Buirski who showed the Daytona vets what he can do in a go kart.
Heat 2
Heat 2 got underway with Henry Lopes Gracey showing what he can do round Sandown Park. Henry is normally a heavy driver but decided to try his hand at racing with the lights this season and he did not disappoint. He took 1st in a dominant display from current SuperChamp champion and good friend Archie Bullard. These 2 drivers were only separated by 1.5 seconds as they crossed the line. 3rd places went to Steve Hannon. Steve led for a lot of the race up until lap 7 of 9 where he was overtaken by Archie Bullard and Henry Lopes Gracey but still a very respectable third position.
In our Heavyweight class for heat 2 William Tidnam again showed his skill behind the wheel and secured another win. Will led from lap 1 and did not look back gaianing an advantage over the rest of the field before the final and finishing 5.5 seconds clear of Tom Brown in second place. It was a similar story for Tom having secondfor the whole race and well ahead of third placed Tristian. A lonely race for Tom but impressive none the less. Third place went to Tristian Buirski who again had a lonely race himself keeping third from the start all the way to the finish.
Final
The final got underway and it was once again former Heavy driver Henry Lopes Gracey that claimed victory after leading from the start and again not looking back slowly pulling out a small lead over Archie Bullard in 2nd lap after lap. By the time they crossed the line after 15 min of racing he finished 3.5 seconds clear to the rest of the field. Archie came home in second after spending the whole race tucked up behind Henry. A position Archie might not be so accustomed after dominating last season. Third place went to Daytona regular Charlie Foster. Charlie started in eighth but made his way through the field in great fashion claiming position after position by being a lot more daring on the brakes than other drivers. Fourth went to Steve Hannon after showing some great skill as always to keep himself at the front of the field.
The heavy final was a repeat of what we had seen throughout the day as William Tidnam took another impressive win. William started in 2nd but by lap 3 was up to the lead and then did not look back, gaining from Tom Brown in 2nd lap after lap and ended up crossing the line over 14 seconds clear of his rival in 2nd. Tom started in the lead and kept it for 2 laps until Willl managed his overtake. Tom then pulled away from third place Tristian but could not keep pace with Will. Tristian rounded off the podium in third.
Photos:
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