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InKart - Daytona Tamworth
We were back for the fourth round of InKart at Daytona Tamworth, this time using the cup format. A very packed-out cadet field and a competitive junior field meant it was going to be a thoroughly exciting event.
Juniors
Qualifying was a direct shootout for pole position because there was only one grid. In extremely difficult wet circumstances, Noah Johnson won it four hundredths of a second before Joseph Smith. Only eight tenths back, Harry Kennedy would undoubtedly offer fierce competition in the second row.
Joseph Smith was a class above the rest in the race. Driving on the course became extremely challenging due to the torrential rain, but Smith maintained his composure and won by almost sixty seconds without any incidents. Second place went to Noah Johnson, who put up a great drive to earn a podium position. Reuben Potter joined them on the podium. Although he occasionally lacked consistency, he was well on pace with the top drivers and deserved his place on the podium.
Cadets
Being divided into two groups for qualifying was a fascinating experience. It was straightforward: the top two drivers from each group advanced to the A-Final, while the remaining drivers were sent to the B-Final. Leonardo Palagi and Jessica Kirby are the fortunate drivers in the first group; they both recorded excellent lap times in the rain. In the second group, title favourite George Marriot was abruptly eliminated by Henry James and Henry Gordon, who were incredibly fast and able to advance. Marriot had a bad lap during the five-minute period.
The field was quite dispersed in the B-Final as all drivers found it difficult to maintain consistency in the incredibly wet conditions. George Marriot, however, had less of an issue with this as he made two laps around the field on route to being promoted to the A-Final. Locke Evans and Finlay Tarran, two drivers with remarkably similar speeds who are only a second apart on average, joined him on the podium.
In the A-final, we saw the first ever B-Final-A-Final victory sweep by George Marriot, who also became the first person ever to not make the A-Final at the first time of asking and still take the full sixty-one points from the round. He drove remarkably, finishing just eighty-five seconds down on the Junior leader, and on the overall podium over the course of a twenty-five-minute race. There was no surprise to see Henry Gordon and Henry James battle it out behind for the rest of the podium spots, but it was James who got the better of the two Henry’s in second position.
Despite the weather, it was an extremely fun round of InKart at Daytona Tamworth and we look forward to going back to the heats format in a couple of weeks’ time as the championship moves into the second half of the season.
InKart - Daytona Milton Keynes
Yet again it was a very wet start for round four of the InKart season with all the drivers having to deal with treacherous conditions out on the circuit.
In the first heat of the day, it was Theo Laverty that took a dominant victory of 8.6 seconds in front of the rest of the field. Matthew Swatton came home to take second place and was a further ten seconds in front of Dominic Fleming who took an impressive third. As he sought to make a great comeback after missing the previous round, championship leader Alexander Karadzhov defeated Gillen Townshend in the cadets, taking the heat win. Ryan Cafferkey finished last on the podium.
Arthur Caluch came home 3.8 seconds in front of Zayn Perry to take the second heat of the day, with Harry Fitch just four tenths behind Perry to take third. In the cadets it was an epic drive from Amelia-Alice Barreau to take her first ever heat victory by sixteen seconds over Karadzhov, with Teddy Mullan picking up third. Heat three saw championship leader Tom Justice, take the heat win by 9.5 seconds as he looked to build up his advantage at the front of the field. Caluch yet again had an impressive showing to finish second and secure his place in the A-Final. Theo Laverty took his second podium of the day in third.
Townshend took the victory in the cadets finishing twenty seconds in front of his nearest rival Cafferkey, who was in second. Charlie Marden was another fifteen seconds behind to take the third-place spot. The final heat of the day saw a very close battle for the victory between Fitch and Ethan Guest, with both looking to secure their places into the A-Final. However, it was Fitch who narrowly took the victory just five tenths in front of Guest as the flag fell. Perry closely followed behind just two seconds back to take third. In the final heat, Teddy Mullan won the cadets, trailing only six seconds in front of Leo Sibthorpe who was in second place. Alicia Waterhouse, secured her first heat podium in her very first round.
For the B-Final, the heavens had absolutely opened up and soaked the track leading to exceptionally tricky conditions for the drivers to contend with. In the juniors, Zachary Smith mastered the wet conditions to finish just 1.9 seconds in front of Michael Oxtoby-Page. After a long battle between the two, Rayaan Malik took the final spot on the podium in the B-Final just fifteen seconds off the race win. Barreau yet again showed her skill in the wet weather conditions to take her first ever B-Final win and qualify for the first time into the A-Final by ten seconds over Charlie Marden in second place. Leo Sibthorpe finished eight tenths behind Marden to take third.
Fitch won the race by a commanding 12.8 seconds ahead of Laverty, his closest competitor, thanks to a strong drive at the front of the pack in the A-Final. But there was drama near the end of the race when Caluch, who had been racing in second place due to some unusual wet weather driving, went for a spin at the last curve on the last lap, giving Laverty second and Justice third. However, there was more drama as Laverty was given a one-place penalty for speeding under the yellow flags, dropping him down into third and Justice into second and extending his lead at the front of the championship.
The cadets also experienced drama when Townshend, who had led the race for most of it, crashed out at Turn six, resulting in a full course yellow at the halfway point. Karadzhov inherited the race win and finished thirty-six seconds ahead of Mullan, who finished second on the road, but he was penalised for contact with Barreau earlier in the race, dropping him to third place and moving Cafferkey up to second.
SuperChamps - Daytona Tamworth
It was a return to the format that kicked off this season of Superchamps at Daytona Tamworth; the Heats event showcasing a driver’s ability to battle through the field. After a wet morning, the sun was out and the track was dry for two nearly-full grids.
N35-ST
The first of the two ten-minute heats was complete mayhem following the customary ten-minute practice. For some, the race was always going to end in tears as drivers went four wide at specific points. Benjamin Tomkinson Grey finished an outstanding P3 overall and P1 in the Heavyweight division, while Oliver Noakes won the opening race of the day, defeating Leo Jackson in the Lightweight division under full-course yellow.
With the grid reversed for Heat two, Jude Lillyman took advantage to take the win over Lucas Gathercole. This time, it was Chris Cleaver who claimed the spoils in the Heavyweights.
The grid for the fifteen-minute Final was decided by an aggregate of the drivers’ two heat results. Jude Lillyman took pole ahead of current championship leader Oliver Noakes, with the next two rows of the grid filled with Lightweight talent. An epic five-way dual for the overall win was ensued. With Lucas Gathercole eventually getting past Oliver Noakes for P2, who in turn was able to hold off Leo Jackson and Sam Makinson. In the end though, it was Jude Lillyman who gave a staunch defensive drive to take back-to-back round wins, putting his name in contention for the overall title. In Heavyweights, there was a similarly close battle for the podium, with reigning champion Kristine Kolodziejski getting the better of Benjamin Tomkinson Gray and Chris Cleaver.
DMAX-GT
In Heat one, it was a familiar story at the front with reigning Lightweight champion Alex Jackson taking yet another race win, ahead of an impressive drive from Benjamin Tomkinson-Grey (this time racing in Lightweights) and the ever-formidable Matt Ellis, who took the Heavyweight win.
Heat two was notable for a large incident during the opening lap, but with all drivers okay and eager to continue, the grid was reset and the race sent underway once more. This time it was Jake Garrett who just managed to narrowly hold off Alex by just over half a second, with Matt Ellis making it a perfect round so far with another Heavyweight win in P4 overall.
Unsurprisingly, Alex Jackson started on pole for the Final, and after making it through the first corner unscathed, he never looked back. Setting unbelievably consistent lap times, he built a comfortable gap to make it four round wins out of 4 this season. With all those behind taking points off each other, you’d have to say that Alex might have already done enough to defend his title despite what happens in the second half of the season. Equally imperious was Matt Ellis, who was the only person remotely able to stay with Alex, taking P2 overall, the Heavyweight win and his second perfect score of the season. In Lightweights, a penalty for Joseph Simcock dropped him behind Luke Dodman and Jake Garrett, with Tom Duffy and Demetri Wade completing the Heavyweight podium.
As we enter the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see whether anyone can challenge the dominant DMAX drivers in each championship. As for N35-ST, it is wide open!
SuperChamps - Daytona Milton Keynes
It was a very damp start to round 3 SuperChamps with the format for the round being Grand Prix which would see the drivers compete across a sprint race and Grand Prix final.
SODI
Thursday Night League champion Jimi Holder stormed to the pole four tenths off current Heavyweight leader Barry Morris. He was looking to extend his championship advantage over Charlie Fenton who could only manage sixth. Behind, third in the championship Richard Danby who managed to secure third. Jacob Csepreghi was fourth overall and second in the Lightweights with the next Lightweight driver Owen Turpin being all the way down in eighth overall.
After starting on the back row of the grid after spinning out in qualifying, Alfie O'Brien made an incredible comeback in the sprint, racing through the entire field in just three laps and winning by a huge fifteen seconds over the rest of the field. Three Heavyweights then occupied second to fourth place overall, with Fenton defeating Morris and Danby, and Jacob Csepreghi taking second in the Lightweight division, and Holder finishing third.
O'Brien was once again in his element, winning the lightweight race by 11.4 seconds over Fenton, who ultimately prevailed in the Heavyweights after so many close attempts. Holder made it through the field to take second place in the Lightweights, his first podium of the season. Morris trailed closely behind to take second place in the Heavyweights, trying to limit the damage to his championship advantage. Danby finished fourth overall and third in the Heavyweights, with Csepreghi finishing just four seconds behind to take the final spot on the Lightweight Podium.
DMAX:
It was a King Brothers Racing 1-2-3 in qualifying with James King taking the pole in front of his brother Ashley Mayston-King and teammate Lee Schnitzler to show exactly why they are the Autumn Daytona 24-hour champions. Myles Bate took fourth spot and second in the Heavyweights with Edgar Azevedo and Ethan Pritchard behind in fifth and sixth place overall.
The top of the order didn't see many changes in the sprint, with King winning just ahead of Schnitzler, who moved past Mayston-King to take second place. Although Mayston-King finished third overall, he won the Heavyweight sprint, followed by Bate in second and Scott Woosey in third. Azevedo finished fourth overall and took the final position on the sprint podium in the Lightweight division.
After charging ahead of the field, it appeared that King would win his first race of the season. However, on lap eight, his kart painfully grinded to a stop on the exit of the linkback corner, sending him all the way to the back of the grid. Due to King's bad luck, Azevedo took the lead in the race and never looked back, winning 13.1 seconds ahead of Harry Asher, who surged through the field to finish in second. Lewis Barton also made a comeback to the podium, finally earning another SuperChamps podium.
In the Heavyweight division, Mayston-King took the clean sweep of the day's racing action with pole, two victories, and the fastest lap. He was a little roughed up from some of the Lightweight drivers' overly optimistic moves, but he maintained his composure to win another race and increase his lead in the championship. Paul Studd took home the last position on the podium, while Woosey was able to climb up to the second position.
SuperChamps - Daytona Sandown Park
The heats format was used for another wet round of SuperChamps at Daytona Sandown Park.
SODI
Jamie Warner dominated his opening heat in the Lightweight division. To complete the top three, he defeated a battling Fin Ions and Harry Skinner, two drivers who truly gave each other a hard time. Warner was less lucky in the second heat, as Max Miller secured a hard-fought victory, just by a mere seven tenths of a second, while Max Winfield found it difficult to get through. Harry Skinner joined them in the top three, which made the final grid extremely intriguing.
Reece Harris and Olly Cooper-Welton, two Heavyweights, were side by side around the circuit but ended up six seconds apart at the finish line, with Harris taking victory. In the second heat, Harris again took the lead over Cooper-Welton, with the order being relatively familiar in the second heat. However, this time, Cooper-Welton was far lower in the ranking than Harris, who was in the lead.
It was undoubtedly a fun final because of the mixed grids. After a three-way struggle for the lead, Ellis McKenzie emerged victorious from starting at third place on the grid. One of the men he managed to pass, Jonathan Fuschel, came in second. Despite having to do some defending during the race, Fuschel was able to maintain his lead over Max Winfield, who finished in third position. Reece Harris won the full round sweep over Olly Cooper-Welton, almost a full lap ahead of his opponent. Sam Roy drove into third place with great consistency despite having a rather quiet round.
DMAX
Archie Bullard, who began the first heat in fourth place, surged to the top of the standings and defeated Antonio Sholin by almost four seconds. Luka Nik, who finished in third place, is a continual threat in this competition. Bullard prevailed once more in the second heat, putting himself in position to attempt another round sweep. Nevertheless, Luka Nik, who was only seven tenths behind him, putting a lot of pressure onto him in the last circuits. Antonio Sholin, who placed third, set up a thrilling battle for the championship match.
In the first heat, William Willard dominated our Heavyweight division, finishing several spots ahead of Willard in second. In the second heat, however, things were drastically different. Tristan Buirski defeated Willard with a very strong effort. The final grid was going to look quite interesting with Willard's overall position changing like that.
In reference to the final, Archie Bullard easily defeated the opposition over the course of fourteen laps. Even though he finished the first lap in second place, he soon passed Luka Nik and didn't look back, closing the gap on the second-place finisher by eight seconds. The fact that former champion Karlis Elmanis placed third for the first time during the day was a minor surprise. Regarding the Heavyweights, William Willard won eighth overall. Buirski and Keiran Hyde-Moody fought for second and third place. Hyde-Moody was just one second behind Buirski, who managed to move up to second place.
There are still five rounds to go of SuperChamps at Daytona Sandown Park, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back soon.
Jamie Chadwick Series, Round Six - Daytona Sandown Park
With the championship hotting up into the closing stages, we were excited for a wonderful morning of racing at the Jamie Chadwick Series, in the cold and wet conditions at Daytona Sandown Park.
SODI
Lily Jeffs took pole position and won the title for the third time in a row with a confident drive in the rainy circumstances. She truly displayed her skills throughout the course of fifteen minutes, with her quickest lap time being nearly a second faster than the rest of the competition. The runner-up, Alonya Nikoleava, finished only roughly five seconds behind the dominant Jeffs and was the only driver inside ten seconds. Going nearly as fast as Nikoleava the entire time, Keria Boylan had a strong drive and a respectable haul of points in third place.
In the second race, Jeffs won for the fourth time in a row, completing her second-round sweep. It only won by just under two seconds this time, though, so it wasn't quite as dominant as it had been in the previous race. In fact, Keira Boylan outpaced Jeffs, securing a second-place finish and a spot on the round's second step podium. Emma Rabbage had a tremendous drive to finish in third place and would finish on the podium for both the round and the second race.
DMAX
At her home circuit, Raj Kular took a pole position in the DMAX class, but title challenger Rhianna Purcocks won the opening race. The most intriguing fight that took place during the entire event was behind the dominant Purcocks, as the top five were unable to resolve their differences. Though she had a lot of defending to do, Keira Harris and Amelia Wolf ended up storming through the field into second and pole for the next race. Due to persistent pressure from front-runners Hope Wood and Abi Sanders, Harris herself was unable to fully commit to the move.
With only two tenths separating them at the finish line, Purcocks and Wolf engaged in an incredible struggle for the victory in the second race, which lasted right the way to the last lap. However, Purcocks won a thrilling late victory after a valiant move on lap fifteen of the eighteen-lap race. Yet, Amelia Wolf had a great drive and earned a large number of championship points during the round. Hope Wood exploited her home advantage, to create a narrow lead that proved crucial ahead of Abi Sanders in a similar struggle behind.
Looking at the round scores, Purcocks was able to take the maximum points haul, ahead of Wolf. However, the defence from Wood proved to be the difference maker that allowed her to get into third place on the podium, just two points ahead of Sanders.
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