Karting at Daytona

Daytona Championships

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Sandown Park

InKart

Cadet InKart

Our first heat for InKart round five got underway with the sun shining down on the track here at Daytona Motorsport. It was Ledger Dimitriou that led us off in p1 with Ted Hayward following closely behind. These two young drivers were having a great battle for the majority of the race but unfortunately made contact that resulted in Ledger receiving a penalty. Sarah Telford took full advantage of this and sat back behind Ledger knowing the penalty was coming and she would be promoted to p1. As they crossed the line that’s exactly what happened and Sarah took the win from Sean Whelan in 2nd and Olly Knox in a strong 3rd for the last step of the podium.

Heat 2 got underway with Adam Telford leading us for the first lap followed closely by Marcus Cooper in p2 and Felix Heywood in p3. Felix didn’t take long to put his stamp on the race securing p2 on the second lap. He was not done there though as we finished lap 3 he had taken the lead from Adam with a lovely move on the brakes to take the lead. After this, Felix did not hold back and led the rest of the heat securing his win by lap 11. Adam stayed in 2nd for the rest of the race after his battle with Felix and crossed the line 8 seconds behind. Your 3rd placed driver was Maximilian Walton. He had a steady race taking this time and making the moves when they came available to him and hi needed no second invitation finally securing p3 on the grid.

Heat 3 saw Oscar Bradley lead us through lap 1 however he was very closely followed by Adam Telford and Felix Hayward. By the start of lap 2 it was Felix that had made the moves once again taking the lead from Oscar with Adam staying in 3rd. On the next lap however Adam also made his move on Oscar securing p2 for him after 2 laps. Adam determined not to let Felix secure another win over him put his head down and on lap 6 he made his move on Felix with a beautiful dive that Felix did not see coming and taking the lead. This is how your top 3 stayed for the rest of the race with Adam taking the win, Felix in 2nd and Oscar coming home in 3rd.

Heat 4 saw a new winner come to the fold as Ledger Dimitriou made no mistakes this time and had a lovely clean race before taking the win as they crossed the line. He started in p3 but was already up to p2 after lap 1 after securing a great move on Ted Hayward. He was not done there though as he sat in 2nd for a number of laps biding his time for a move on leader Marcus Cooper. It took him till lap 8 of 11 to send it on the brakes and make a clean move for the lead. Sean Whelan took advantage of the move in front and put himself up to p3 but 1 lap later Marcus had made that move back. As all of this was going on Ted Hayward took full advantage and in the battles moved himself up to p2 as they crossed the line. The final heat finished Ledger p1, Ted p2 and Marcus p3.

The B final got underway with Oscar Bradley leading us off after his impressive run in the heats. Maximilian Walon in p2 and Ted Hayward in p3. Oscar and Max got in to a battle right away in the opening laps bumper to bumper through many of the corners but by lap 3 Max got the move done and moved up into p1 with Oscar moving into p2. Marcus Cooper was seeing all of this unfold in front of him and wanted to get in on the action and he did so on lap 9 taking the lead in emphatic fashion with a 2 person overtake. This promoted him up to p1 and he stayed there for the rest of the race. Oscar stayed in p2 after some great defending on his part and your top 3 was rounded out by Max.

The A final saw Adam Telford lead us through lap 1 with Ledger Dimitriou in 2nd and Felix Hayward in 3rd. All had changed as they moved through into lap 2 though as Felix had promoted himself up to 1st, Ledger stayed in p2 but Adam had dropped to p3. This was a taster as for what we were going to get for the rest of the race as positions kept swapping all the time. By lap 5 Felix had dropped to p2 and Ledger had taken the lead from him. This happened again on lap 7 when Felix made te move and then back again on lap 8. Everything then settled down until the last 2 laps of the race. Felix made his move for p1 and pulled it off, Ledger had to settle for p2. Meanwhile Adam had got into a battle himself for p3 with his sister Sarah Telford. As they crossed the line it was Sarah that took the position from her brother in a great move and one im sure Adam did not see coming.

Junior InKart

Heat 1 got underway with Leo Edger leading us away and he did not look back the entire race leading every single lap and showing a dominant performance to secure the win as they crossed the line. Jamie Warner came home in p2 after starting p4 but making some lovely moves early on in the race and taking p2 by lap 4. 3rd place went to Charlie Bradburn who had a very similar race to Leo staying in p3 from the start all the way to chequered flag after some strong defending from 4th place Zayn Perry.

Heat 2 got underway and it was Jack Bromham who took the win after a great race from him. He started in p3 but by lap 3 was already into p2. He stayed there for the majority of the race but as the closing laps came upon us he made his move on Ellis Mckenzie and took the lead with 2 laps to go. Ellis finished in 2nd just behind him after leading for most of the race so he will be slightly disappointed but a great result none the less. P3 went to Leo Ingarfield after a lonely race for the young driver staying in p3 for 90 percent of the race and that is how your top 3 finished.

Heat 3 took place with Ellis Mckenzie showing his dominance and I'm sure a little bee in his bonnet after losing out on the win in the last heat. Once he secured the lead on lap 2 there was no stopping him as he led the rest of the race and finished an impressive 9 seconds clear of the rest of the field. P2 went to Charlie Bradburn. Charlie had a bit more of a eventful race than Ellis moving from p2 and p3 throughout the race after a great battle with Leo Edger but by lap 8 had the position secured and did not let Leo get another sniff as he crossed the line just half a second in front of Leo in the end.

Heat 4 got underway with another absolute dominant performance from Jamie Warner this time, Jamie led every single lap and took the win by a solid 4 seconds from 2nd placed Jack Bromham. Jack had a very similar race in a way as he did not change position once securing a impressive p2 1.7 seconds ahead of 3rd placed driver Daniel Harman. Daniel had a impressive race after starting in p8, moving up to p6 after 2 laps then b4 the lap after and p3 the lap after that, the young driver showing off his overtaking skills in dramatic fashion as he secured p3 as they crossed the line.

The B final was a similar race to heat 4 as the winner Ethan Critchley never looked back after the start and led every single lap of the race finishing 9 seconds clear of the rest of the field. 2nd place went to Robert Wijnand who again had a great race and stayed in 2nd for the whole of it. He did have to defend for the whole race though as he only finished just under a second clear of 3rd placed Kaiden Mercer. These 2 having a great battle for the second half of the race and showing the spectators what they can do when it comes to attacking and defending. Kaiden also started in p4 but managed to get up into the podium spots by lap 9 of 16.

The A final saw Jamie Warner put down a very impressive drive as he started in p2 but by lap 8 after a few little battles secured the lead and did what happened a lot with Jamie once in clear air he kept the lead without anyone really getting a sniff he led the last 10 laps and took victory. P2 went to Ellis Mckenzie after a impressive drive form the young driver. After battling with Jamie for the first half of the race he did not let him forget he was there finishing less than a second behind. These 2 drivers put on a real show for the spectators as some clean and fast driving. P3 went to Charlie Bradburn who had a bit more of a lonely race staying in p3 for the majority, being a little out of touch from the leaders but just enough in front of p4 behind him. He came home in p3 6 seconds off the top 2.


SuperChamps

SODI

The SODI drivers got underway after their one shot qualifying. Ellis Mckenzie led us away into turn one but after an incident on track we had to call for a red flag. In the restart it was again Ellis Mckenzie leading us away after a great start from him followed very closely behind by Max Miller and Jules Larkin in third. Mckenzie and Miller were having a very impressive race going bumper to bumper through every corner of the track for the first 9 laps! However, on lap 10 Miller made his advance and secured the lead from Mckenzie after a lovely move on the brakes going into turn six. Miller then led every lap after this until he took the flag four seconds in front of Mckenzie at the end of the race. Conor Elmore came home in p3 after a really exciting battle with Jules Larkin for the final spot on the podium. These two drivers were swapping the final podium position all race but as it came to the end it was Elmore that seemed to have the better of Larkin and took the position as they crossed the line for the end of the race.

In the Heayvweights, it was Rafael Blanco-Bush that took the win in a great fashion mixing it up with all the Lightweight drivers on the circuit and not letting them pull away from him really showing his driving skills. Nathan King came home in p2 for the heavies and p19 mixed in with all the other drivers, four positions behind Blanco-Bush on track. P3 went to Reece Harris after another podium for him, that’s five in a row for this season for Harris.

DMAX

In the Lightweights, Max Sheldon Heywood put on a masterclass, leading every single lap from start to finish and looked very controlled in doing so. He finished five seconds in front of double SuperChamp winner Archie Bullard who was looking to go three-from-three in the championship. Bullard started in p7, and made his way through the field until lap six, and then found himself in p2. This is where he would stay though, as he found it hard to close in on Sheldon Heywood and crossed line five seconds behind him. P3 went to Erti Sulko, who had a bit more of a adventurous race starting in p3 but getting into lots of battles throughout the race, starting with Bullard as he came through the field, and then with Luka Nik, but he kept his cool and every position that he did drop he regained it normally within a lap. He came home in p3 about 10 seconds behind Bullard and 14 seconds off the lead.

In the Heavyweights class, it was two SuperChamps veterans that came home in p1 and p2, William Tidnam and Tom Brown respectively. Tidnam led every single lap from start to finish with Brown just behind him but not being able to really close the gap of around four seconds that Tidnam had pulled out during the race. These two drivers really showed their class though, as third placed Andreas Demitri was 15 seconds behind Brown and nearly 20 seconds behind Tidnam as all the drivers crossed the line, still a great drive though and no doubt the more he races, the closer he will get to the veterans in front of him.


Tamworth

InKart

The fourth round of Inkart at Daytona Tamworth saw a return to the cup format, with qualifying being especially important today.

Zachary Smith picked up where he left off in the juniors, putting it on pole position by two tenths of a second ahead of Edgar Azevedo, who topped his group’s times. They were joined in the top three by Alfie Kells, who was just a tenth of a second ahead of Rhys Kings. Narrowly missing out on the A-Final was Reuben Potter, but he was on pole ahead of Noah Johnson by seven tenths of a second. They were joined in the top three by Cordell Potter-Hayles.

As for the cadets, Henry Gordon continued his great form by putting it on pole position by over a second to Jack Charles-Bailey in second, who secured his first A-Final front row start with an impressive run. They were joined by George Marriot and Ethan Guest in the A-Final. Harry Kennedy was on pole for the B-Final, ahead of Joseph Smith – William Jenkinson narrowly missing out on a front row start.

Despite starting at the very back of the grid, Theo Laverty had a really good run in the B-Final to take something of a dominant victory by about a second and a half to Cordell Potter-Hayles. It was not completely straightforward for Theo, but Cordell and Rueben Potter were battling behind stopping them from battling with the leader – finishing in third. In the cadets, Jayden Steatham and Harry Kennedy battled pretty much all race long, though Jason eventually took victory due to a penalty applied to Jayden. They were joined on the podium by Inkart debutant William Jenkinson.

In the A-Final, there was a cracking battle between Cooper Campbell-Lees, Zachary Smith, and Edgar Azevedo. The battle went down to the final corner of the final lap, where Cooper managed to sneak victory with a piece of very opportunistic driving. He ended up winning by eight-hundredths of a second to Zachary Smith, Edgar coming home in third but only three tenths off the lead. The cadet race was won by Henry Gordon, who had one of the largest winning margins in Inkart. Jack Charles-Bailey heroically held on to second position, against Ethan Guest – who fell slightly short at the end but still finished on the podium.

Both championships remain incredibly close heading into the final couple of rounds of the season, and we look forward to welcoming all drivers back soon.


Thursday Night League

It was soaking wet for the penultimate round of Thursday Night League at Daytona Tamworth, and so was going to make for a fantastic challenge as both of our classes took to the circuit.

N-35 ST

Qualifying for the N-35 class was very competitive, with just seven tenths separating the top two. Will Emerson was able to put it onto pole position, the only driver to get into the 89 second laptimes, giving him a good opportunity into the race. Archie Adkins lined up alongside him on the first row. Liverpool University duo Isaac Chan and Tom Roberts were the second row of the grid.

Into the race, Will Emerson dominated throughout – winning by close to thirty-one seconds. He was totally unflappable all race long, and Tom Roberts had to settle for second. Archie Adkins struggled in the early stages, falling behind Isaac Chan – but a good battle unfolded between the two of them eventually seeing Archie squeeze his way past and into that final podium spot.

DMAX-GT

The track was slightly dryer for the DMAX race, as the rain had ceased by this point in the evening. Max Housley took pole position by just a tenth of a second ahead of Ben Sanders at the very end of an unpredictable qualifying session. Ben himself was only two thousandths of a second ahead of back-to-back driver Archie Adkins, who by his own admission is far stronger in the DMAX karts than our N-35 class.

Despite being on pole position, Max Housley fell away in the early stages of the race and despite having very competitive pace could not quite pierce the top two, who largely pulled away by themselves. Still, the polesitter was able to continue his championship challenge by coming home in the podium running, this time in third. The race truly became a contest between Ben Sanders and Archie Adkins, the two drivers running together for the majority of the first half. With about eight minutes to go, Archie got overtaken by Ben and spent the rest of the race desperately trying to hold on to the back of the new race leader. By the end though, he fell just eight tenths of a second short – giving Ben Sanders another important victory.

One of the two championships is still alive as we head into the finale in just a couple of weeks’ time, and we look forward to welcoming all of our drivers back.


Milton Keynes

InKart

At the end of the first 5 minute qualifying it was Tom Justice who topped the times with a best lap time of 58:446. Lewis Bowey not far behind with a gap of only 0.082s. Jacob Kent finished behind to complete the top 3 being split by less than a second and so were the top 3 in Cadets. Gillen Townhend took pole with a best lap of 1:00:038, followed by Ryan with a best lap of 1:00: 996, and William took 3rd.

At the end of group 2 qualifying, Harvey Preen took pole, but was not quite enough to make it pole for the A final. George took second with also a gap of 0.082, following in the steps of group 1. Charley Murray was knocked off pole down to 3rd in the final few laps. Harvey, George and Charley made up the top 3 Juniors. Arel took pole in the Cadets, with a best lap time of 1:00:301, followed closely by Raayan Malik with a gap of 0.178. Jessica took third to complete the top three.

B Final

Tyler Rickard started on pole to start the B final and retained his lead throughout lap 1, followed by Micheal however he made a great pass to lead on the following lap. Freddie Jenkins lost his P3 as he fell down the grid and dropped to last place. Nathaniel Stebbings found himself in p3 for a moment before Brandon overtook Nathaniel. The second half of the field saw a lot of position changes within the first 5 minutes of the race as Nathaniel continued to battle with Brandon to regain 3rd place. Micheal continued to lead the Juniors with a 2 second gap ahead with clear air ahead of him. Tyler Rickard put in a couple of good moves to climb up to second. Nathaniel and Tyler found themselves battling closely for P3 while continuing to close on the battle in front. As the packs closed in, Brandon, Tyler and Nathaniel were all battling for their positions just after halfway through the race. Freddie, Logan and Sam all ran out of talent and span independently from each other at Turn 6 on the 21st lap. Brandon Edwards took chequered flag to win in the B Final just leading Micheal behind. Tyler rounded out the podium for the Juniors.

In the Cadets, William had a poor start, which led to him losing the lead to Charlie Marden by the time they reached the first turn, with Jessica following behind. Charlie Marden and William Bennett found themselves battling with each other throughout the race as they pulled away from Jessica behind. As the Juniors closed in to lap the cadets while fighting away, contact meant Charlie got forced out wide, luckily for him William was too close behind to gain anything at turn 10, however a mistake into 11 meant William found a way through to win in the cadets. A great show of sportsmanship from both as they congratulated each other on the way out of the pitlane on what a great race both drivers had.

A Final

Tom Justice led the Juniors away for a relatively quiet race as Tom maintained his lead after 4 laps, closely followed by Charley Murray less than a second behind. Tudor kept up with the pair and followed behind, a little way back as the trio pulled away in the early stages however as the race progressed they dropped back into the group of Zayn and Lewis. As the race progressed it was all battling between the Juniors as they closed into the Cadets. Tudor found himself under investigation for a couple of late dives into the turn 10 hairpin and possible contact, and received a 1 place penalty for one of his moves. As the chequered flag flew it was Lewis Bowey who found himself seeing it first ahead of Tudor. Charley Murrey inherited 2nd place and Zayn just missed out on a podium position. Tom Justice followed 3 seconds back from the pack in 5th.

In the Cadets it was Gillen who led the way. Arel and Rayaan fought hard for 2nd, and it took almost half the race for Rayaan to clear Arel. Ryan found himself following behind the battle and as Rayaan looked to chase down Gillen to try and fight for the win. As the pair battled away and the Juniors closed in, the battles started to get heated and mixed between the two classed. Gillen found himself on the receiving end of contact from Tudor in the juniors as they tried to pass and lost the lead to Rayaan as he made a move through the last corner and saw the chequered flag on the next lap to win in the cadets ahead of Gillen. Arel found himself on the podium in front of Ryan, to round out a great day of racing.


SuperChamps

The SODI drivers made their way out onto the linkback cliff drop layout in the late morning sun to start racing at Daytona Milton Keynes. Aseem Badshah topped the times after the first two laps with Charlie Csepreghi behind, however Charlie took the top time next lap round and stayed there to start on pole for the shootout race. Tom Justice joined him on the front row.

The shootout race saw the front pack of Lightweight drivers pull away slowly from the rest of the field, mainly consisting of Heavyweight drivers. Scoot Woosey lead the pack behind at the start before pulling away as he fought onwards, attempting to climb higher overall despite leading the Heavyweight class. Contact further back at turn 3 saw Charlie Fenton spun around a corner later. Up front it was Tom Justice who won the shootout with Liam Weatherall just beating Charlie Csepreghi who finished ahead of his brother Jacob. Scott Woosey led the Heavyweights ahead of Adam Green and Aseem Badshah.

With the feature race grid being decided on fastest laps from the shootout, the top 4 lights saw no change in their order. The field reshuffled with Charlie Fenton starting only a few places up from last. The race started with a 3 place jump start penalty for Tom Justice, as he accelerated to the marshal moving their arm, and not the flag waving which was still hidden. The Csepreghi brothers were fighting between each other to finish P2 on the road, slowing themselves down and finishing over 10s back by the end of the race. Owen Turpin finished 4th ahead of Liam Weatherall and Nathan Clark in 6th after a good battle. Drama on the in lap as Charlie spun at the bottom end of the track and received a 1 place penalty. Jacob took the top step ahead of Owen Turpin and Charlie, with Tom being demoted to 4th position. In the Heavyweight class, Scott Woosey continued to get mixed in with the Lightweights and take the win almost 20 seconds over another heavy driver in class. Charlie Fenton had a great race to climb up through the order and finish second ahead of Aseem Badshah taking the last podium position.

DMAX

The DMAX qualifying saw James King take pole ahead of Ethan Pritchard by 0.3s, and Benjamin Tompkinson-Grey and Daniel Varlan took the second row 0.7 and 0.9s off King with Harry Asher rounding out the light field in 5th. The Heavyweight class saw Ashley Mayston-King ahead of Lee Witney with Gareth Baldwin and Scott Woosey on the second row.

The Lightweight field saw a few battles with Daniel and Harry both passing Benjamin. Daniel Varlan managed to catch up to Ethan, however couldn’t make a move as he ran out of time with James King taking the chequered flag out front. The heavies saw Ashley and Lee battle for the lead as they pulled away from the pack behind. Myles and Gareth were fighting to the end further back with Gareth coming out on top in 5th position. Ashley took the heavy win ahead of Lee. Jake Puttock took 3rd and Barry Morris ended in 4th.

In the Feature race the Lightweights saw a repeated grid, and a repeat race with James pulling away and winning. Daniel Varlan had a slower race, not being able to catch Ethan this time round but still finishing on the podium. The Heavyweight grid saw more battling this time round. Lee and Ashley found themselves battling again while pulling from the field behind leaving Scott Woosey, Jake Puttock, Barry Morris and Myles Bate to fight for 3rd. Sailesh Shah took himself and Gareth out the battle after some contact and a black flag for repeated warnings, while Gareth made a trip to the pitlane after being in the tire wall. Ashley took the win in the heavies ahead of Lee, while Barry Morris topped the battle behind for 3rd.


SuperChamps Duos

Duos returned for round 5 with 4 teams as a pair and William Stephenson going solo in K.B.R 1. Qualifying saw K.B.R.7 and K.B.R 1 battle between each other for pole and constantly switch between them, with William taking pole by 0.081s over K.B.R 7 stating alongside. Team Williams and Maple Motorsport starting on the second row both 0.7 and 1 second back from the pair out front. K.B.R 4 rounded out the grid behind.

The race start saw the pack have a small battle, but everyone in the same position at the end of lap one. The field slowly spread out across the rest of the race. K.B.R 4 slowly fought their way past and on lap 4 made the first overtake on Maple Motorsport to demote them to 5th. The order would stay the same until the pit window 20 minutes in where two teams made their swaps straight away. Team Williams left their driver swap until the very end of the window, so late that if they forgot to pit that lap, they would have missed the cut off and receive a penalty. With the race spread out, it was just K.B.R 4 in 4th who had the potential to make an on track overtake without mistakes. Ashley Mayston-King made the move at the bottom end of the circuit, where we couldn’t see from the pitlane. With the commentary dry, and a complaint about where it happened, James King felt encouraged to jump on the radio to get Ashley to give it up and do it again. As Ashley came across the line the next time round, he looked behind, with excitement bubbling in the pitlane, and coasted into turn 1 allowing Team Williams to go back into 3rd place. The defensive moves came as the battle for the podium continued, but it only took 3 laps for Ashley to get back past. As the chequered flag flew, there hadn’t been any more moves and it was William Stephenson solo in K.B.R 1 who won in front of K.B.R 7 and K.B.R 4 rounding out the podium.

Photos:

For all Daytona Championship photos and more, please click here.

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