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Tamworth
InKart
Approaching the halfway point of the season, Inkart was ready to get underway for the second week in a row at Daytona Tamworth. So far, the championship battle has already proved to be very interesting indeed and that was expected to continue on this damp February morning.
All Juniors were to race on one grid, and everyone proved to be in and around each other's pace. Rhys Kings, Harvey Preen, and Theo Laverty took part in most of the race’s action, with all three of them trading positions throughout the ten minute heat. Eventually, Rhys would take victory by just under five seconds - a winning margin that is not as dominant as it sounds with the average lap times being relatively close throughout. Harvey capitalised on a small mistake from Theo Laverty to finish second, managing to defend well in the closing stages; Theo had to settle for third. As for the cadets, it was a more dominant story from Zachary Smith (as it has been many times this season) - who won by eleven seconds to Harry Fitch in second. Harry was right on pace as well, finishing eight seconds ahead of Ted Hitchman in third.
The second heat of the day was fully made up of cadet drivers, and Ethan Guest was able to take victory by just under fifteen seconds. He drove superbly, and certainly put himself into a very good position for A-final qualification. Joseph Smith finished in second position, being able to get ahead of Micah Hunte-Nelson in the early stages, and not looking back since then. Micah had quite a difficult race, and this would continue into his round overall, but he was still able to pick up a good haul of points in third.
Next, group one went back out on track in reverse order of their previous random qualifying order. Theo Laverty recovered in this race from the relative disappointment of not winning the first heat, winning this one by just under two seconds to Rhys Kings. Both drivers traded blows throughout the course of the race, and this was expected to continue into the A-final as well. Harvey Preen also drove solidly, finishing third, though his race was far more untroubled despite the challenging wet-dry conditions. In the cadet class, where pressure was on for A-final qualification, Zachary Smith unsurprisingly made it a double. He had a healthy margin to Harry Fitch, another driver having a fantastic couple of weeks - securing another appearance in the A-final. As for the final spot in the top three, Ted Hitchmann was able to keep it consistent - something that could not necessarily be said about most of the drivers he finished ahead of, many of them running into trouble at stages in the race.
Just before the short break between heats and finals, the final heat of the day went out onto track. This time we saw possibly the best battle of the day, between Micah Hunte-Nelson and Ethan Guest. They traded positions multiple times throughout the course of the race, being side by side pretty much throughout the entirety of the final laps of the race. However, Micah took victory by just four hundredths of a second (less than the length of a kart) with Ethan having to settle for second. Their battle was not the only entertainment to be had in the race either, as Joseph Smith was being caught by Henry Gordon for most of the race - but was eventually able to stay ahead of Henry by around a second and a half.
After the break, the B-final went out onto the circuit. An early red flag took Mason Stocks out of the race and put Harris Bhatoa a lap down, both were okay but would be out of contention for podium positions. This left Jack Charles-Bailey, Thomas Baxter and Henry Gordon in the mix for the race win. Jack found himself under a lot of pressure in the early stages, though
was eventually able to get himself a healthy gap of around six seconds. This was due, in part, to the battle between Thomas Baxter and Henry Gordon behind. Eventually, Henry was not able to find a way through and Thomas held on to second position, with Henry in third. Jack Charles-Bailey consequently took a fantastic victory, making it yet another B-final podium.
Finally the A-final went out onto track. Theo Laverty put in a very strong performance, winning the race (and round) by twelve seconds. Rhys Kings was not totally secure in second, for he had a good battle with Olivier Guintoli at stages in the race. Unfortunately, Olivier made a mistake as the rain came down in the middle phase of the race, allowing Rhys to secure second. Still, Olivier was able to secure a podium to make it a very encouraging start to the season. In the cadets, Zachary Smith took the round sweep, but only by four tenths of a second to Ethan Guest - in a battle that truly went down to the wire. The third-placed runner in cadets was Harry Fitch, another driver who could be very happy with his progress so far this season.
All of our Inkart drivers will be excited to complete the triple header next weekend, when they all get to do it all again at Daytona Tamworth.
Thursday Night League
The third round of the first season of Thursday Night League in 2024 took place in just about the wettest conditions you can hold a go-kart race in at Daytona Tamworth. It would prove to be a true test of skill for all of the drivers out on the circuit.
N-35 ST
Onto the circuit first was the N-35 class, and their qualifying session was absolutely dominated by championship leader Jacob Connellan, who topped the session by a tidy 3.5 seconds. The size of this gap can be misleading, as the conditions really were dire out on the circuit, and Thierry Hopkins probably won’t be too disappointed with only being 3.5 seconds slower than a driver of Jacob’s calibre. Thierry himself was comfortably ahead of Tom Duffy, who was able to qualify third.
Into the race, Jacob continued to impress. Once he got through turn one unscathed, he did not look back and went on to win the race by 18 seconds. He was a second and a half faster on average than anyone else on the circuit, wrapping up the grand slam with the fastest lap as well. Most spectators found their entertainment in the battle directly behind, where Tom Duffy and Thierry Hopkins had a duel lasting the majority of the race. They traded blows throughout, but Tom was eventually able to get through, and towards the end built a small but crucial gap to the third placed finisher Thierry.
DMAX-GT
Qualifying for the DMAX race could barely have been any closer. Jake Renshaw topped the session by just four thousandths of a second, which translates to barely the length of a wheel if you were to play the laps side-by-side. He was just ahead of Todd White, who was at the top of the session right up until Jake’s final lap. Abi Sanders was only five tenths back herself, qualifying third.
Heading into the race, Todd White took the lead in the early stages - getting himself ahead of Jake Renshaw. In the first half of the race, the gap remained relatively stagnant as the two drivers traded blows on the timing sheet. This sort of battle extended backwards, where Max Housley and Abi Sanders found themselves battling to either extend or close a gap of about two seconds between both each other, and the leading pair. Eventually, Todd was able to build upon his gap to Jake Renshaw, helped in part by Abi Sanders catching up and giving Jake a hard time for second. In the end, Todd took a hard-fought victory of around four seconds, with Jake having to settle for second. Abi fell off the tail of Jake somewhat in the closing stages, but stayed comfortably ahead of Max Housley.
SuperChamps
As round 3 of Superchamps started at Daytona Tamworth, so did the rain. This meant that both DMAX-GT and N-35 ST competitors would have to be very careful heading into their qualifying sessions, something of extra importance in the heats format.
N-35 ST
Jacob Conellan’s performance in the previous round was a shock at the time, but heading into qualifying for this round he proved that there needn’t be any shock. He topped the session overall, despite being a heavyweight driver, by four tenths of a second. His nearest heavyweight competition was Xiaofeng Yang, who was only able to go sixth fastest, just ahead of debutant Damien Biddulph. The lights were consecutively after Jacob, with Nikodem Benonski going fastest. He was over a second ahead of Ned Morris, who edged himself ahead of Neil Hampson.
The first race saw Jacob Conellan make good on his impressive qualifying pace, winning by a whopping fourteen seconds. His margin to the heavyweights was even greater, managing to lap third placed Damien Biddulph, who actually made a good account of himself when considering his lack of experience, and coming very close to lapping runner-up Xiaofeng Yang. At this early stage of the season, Jacob is already running away with the championship. The same cannot be said for the lightweight runners, where the championship is wide open. Neil Hampson was able to just about get ahead of Nikodem Benonski at the start, and managed to build a gap to dominate the lightweight race. Ned got himself ahead of pole-sitter Nikodem, eventually finishing just under a second ahead of him.
Into the final, Jacob managed to dominate by an even greater margin than he did in the first heat of the day, this time winning by eighteen seconds. This time he managed to lap both runner-up Xiaofeng Yang and third-placed Damien Biddulph, both drivers though still doing a good job of staying out of trouble in the difficult conditions. As for the lightweights, it was a fantastic battle between Nikodem and Neil, which went down to the penultimate lap. Unfortunately, Neil made a slight mistake into turn 6 that took him out of contention, spinning into that second spot. Both of them put in some fantastic lap times over the twenty-five minutes, making it difficult for Ned Morris to bring himself into the battle. However, he still drove solidly to secure a podium spot.
DMAX-GT
As ever, a DMAX qualifying was split by virtually nothing. Jacob Holley proved that his pace is still as good as ever, topping the session with a 56.327, but he was only two tenths of a second faster than Josh Gora. Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray would be looking to match his win in the last round, and put in a strong lap to finish third. Similarly, the heavyweight class was very competitive. Greg Chapman took pole position with a slender margin of just about two tenths, ahead of Richard Lavender. Stuart Corr was only two tenths back from that himself in third, creating an exciting prospect for the rest of the round.
Into the first race, Ben Smiles made up for a difficult qualifying by storming to a dominant victory. His first lap was pretty poor as well, but by the end of the second lap he had climbed to the lead and did not look back. His runner-up was Josh Gora, who was quietly setting himself up for a really good haul of points in the round. Josh was able to stay comfortably ahead of Ben Tomkinson-Gray, who did not move after qualifying in third. As for the heavyweights, Greg Chapman dominated ahead of a high-flying Richard Lavender, with Stuart Corr making up the rest of the top three spots.
Finally, the twenty-five minute ‘Grand Prix’ took place, and Ben Smiles found it slightly more difficult this time around - only winning ahead of Josh Gora by three seconds. This margin could have been far less, with Josh leading the majority of the race, but he struggled to stay with Ben in the late stages. Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray made up the rest of the podium, continuing his incredible form. In terms of the heavyweights, Stuart Corr and Greg Chapman had a cracking battle. It went right down to the wire, but Stuart Corr was able to steal victory by four tenths of a second. Third place was a battle between a recovering Richard Lavender and Chris Swannell, with Chris being able to hold off Richard for the last spot of the podium.
All drivers will be excited to continue the triple-header of Superchamps next weekend at Daytona Tamworth.
Sandown Park
SuperChamps
Sodi Heat 1
It was a cold but fresh morning here at Daytona Sandown Park for round 3 of our Superchamps season 1 championship, the track was damp in parts and to add a bit of extra spice some of the horses from the racing the day before and kicked up some mud onto the circuit to make it interesting for our elite drivers.
Heat 1 for the Sodi drivers got underway with Alfie Shrubb leading the way over the first 3 laps with Cosmo Harrison right behind him putting all sorts of pressure on. By lap 4 unfortunately for Alfie he had a spin and ended up from leading to the back of the grid. It was Oscar Cole that inherited the lead and once he did he drove a great rest of the heat to bring him home as our heat 1 winner. Matthew Turner had a good showing to bring home p2 and finally Fin Ions with a great drive to secure p3 for him.
Sodi Heat 2
Heat 2 got underway with Jonathan Fuchsel leading the way from Jack Redfern in second and our heavy weight driver Reece Harris in 3rd. There was no stopping the top 3 in this heat as from lap 1 they separated themselves from the rest of the field and never looked back. Each one taking the chequered flag in their respective starting positions. Further down the road Matthew Turner had another good heat, starting p9 he managed his way all the way up to p5 in just 12 laps of racing. One last driver worth mentioning was Oscar Cole who started down in p10 and brought his kart home in p4 making up 6 positions in the heat.
Sodi final
After the heats had been completed and the drivers had had a rest and prepared themselves it was time for the round 3 final. Jack Redfern lined up in pole position with Oscar Cole joining him on the front row of the grid. Jonathan Fuchsel in 3rd and Matthew Turner in 4th. After lights out the top 3 got away well and were not challenged for the first few laps. Further down the order Cosmo Harrison was making some great moves in the opening laps taking him from p10 to p7. Other notable movers were Reece Harris moving up 3 places within 6 laps.
It was on lap 6 where Oscar Cole made his move for the lead on Jack Redfern getting past him with a lovely move on the inside and later on the brakes, once Jack was behind Oscar made sure he stayed there. Later on in the race on lap 15 Jonathan Fuchsel made a great move on Jack Redfern to claim 2nd position with only 3 laps to go. By the end of the race our top 3 after some great racing were Oscar Cole in p1, Jonathan Fuchsel in p2 and Jack Redfern in p3.
Dmax heat 1
Our Dmax drivers got heat 1 underway after the track had dried up a little from the Sodi running and we could see it in the lap times, Steve Hannon had a very good showing winning this heat from Daytona and former Superchamp winner Archie Bullard, Matthew Boulton came across the line in a strong p3 with Archie Cole in p4 and Max Sheldon Heywood in p5. A shout out goes to Tom Brown srarting this heat down in p15 and came home in p10 as well as our winner Steve Hannon coming all the way from p10 to win our first Dmax heat of the day.
Dmax heat 2
Heat 2 got underway with Luka Nik leading us out in p1, Max Sheldon Heywood in p2 and Archie Bullard in p3. Max made a move for p1 on lap 1 and made the move stick once again being later on the brakes than Luka and taking him into turn 6. On lap 8 Luka got into a battle with Archie just behind him for p2 and after some great racing between the both of them it was Archie that managed to get ahead it stayed that way till the chequered flag. Our top 3 came home with Max Sheldon Heywood in p1, Archie Bullard in p2 and Luka Nik in p3, very good driving between all of the it must be said.
Dmax final.
Our final got underway with Matthew Boulton starting in pole position, Archie Bullard in p2 and Max Sheldon Heywood completing our podium positions on the start. A strong start from all our drivers down the whole field meant that for at least the first few laps not many positions changed hands but by lap 4 we were starting to see some movement. Fist by one of our heavy drivers Olly Cooper- Welton who started down in p21 made some great moves and by lap 8 he was already up to 16th. Finley Hart was another driver on the move starting in p11 and unfortunately dropping down the order to p16 by lap 8.
Up front it was Tom Brown making the moves. Starting from p5 by lap 6 he was in p3 and chasing down Max Sheldon Heywood at a rate of knots. After some great defending by Max by lap 11 the wise old head of Tom Brown had got past and started to chase down race leader Archie Bullard. These two drivers at the top of their game were very impressive in the last few laps. Aggressive attacting and defending from both drivers made it great to watch but by the end it was Archie that managed to hold off Tom bringing home the win. After the race Tom said to me if he just had 2 more laps he could of done it. Archie did not seem so sure.
InKart
Cadet
Heat 1
Heat 1 saw our cadets take to the track on a slightly damp and mussy track due to horse racing the day before. Daniel Marutyak made a great impression in heat 1 starting from p4 but carving his way through the field to finish p1 at the end of 9 laps. Sarah Telford came in 2nd with a strong showing from Marcus Cooper to bring home 3rd position. Mattew Ridley came home in 4th 10 seconds down the road.
Heat 2
Again saw some great racing in heat 2 as Leger Dimitriou lead the way from the start and didn’t look back as he stormed his way to victory on a very damp track. Adam Telford put in a good showing to come home p2 after making some lovely overtakes on the brakes into turn 6. Harvey Ball was in p3 and bringing home the pack was Felix Sheldon Heywood in p4.
Heat 3
Heat 3 saw our heat winner repeat his process as Daniel Marutyak made it 2 from 2 in the heats with a very impressive drive. Marcus Cooper had a better heat than his first and made a couple of nice moves and ended up in p2. Sarah Telford ( a Daytona regular) finished in the final podium place with Sebastian Mejer in p4 and Charlie Symon in p5.
Heat 4
Our final heat of the day was on a drying track and the drivers seemed to pick up the pace, Harvey Ball having a great heat and bringing home his first win of the day in p1, Adam Telford managed one better than his sister in the previous heat and took p2, Leger Dimitriou came home in the final podium spot with Felix Sheldon Heywood bringing home the field in p4.
Final
Our final saw Daniel Marutyak lining up on pole position after some great driving in the heats, Leger Dimitriou in p2 and Adam Telford in p3. After lights out the top 3 got away well with no one swapping any positions. It wasn’t until lap 6 when we had a change for the lead. Adam Telford making a great move and taking the lead away from Daniel Marutyak by being later onto the brakes. After that he did not look back and led the rest of the way to take home victory. Felix Sheldon Heywood brought home a very impressive p2 and Daniel Marutyak ended up down in p3 for our final podium spot.
Junior
Heat 1
Heat 1 got underway with a few more drivers than our cadets. It was Bertie Hodgson making moves early on as he secured p1 and kept it for the hole race in a very impressive drive. Ollie Peters also had a great race with some great defending on the breaks to male sure he kept p2 from our p3 driver and final podium position in this heat Nicolai Eidsgaard.
Heat 2
Heat 2 saw regular daytona front runner Jamie Warner take home the win in a commanding victory on the damp/muddy track. He showed great kart control heading into turn 1 time after time. Our second places driver was Charlie Bradburn with a very aggressive but impressive drive in the conditions and finally we had Harrison Bishop crossing the line in p3.
Heat 3
Heat 3 saw Harrison Bishop have another great outing as he came home in first position. Nicolai this time having a better race for his talent and coming home in p2 after pushing Harrison the whole race. P3 was secured by none other than Bertie Hodgson after another great showing from the young man.
Heat 4
Heat 4 had a simular feel to heat 2 as it was young Jamie Warner securing his second Heat win of the day, leading every lap of the heat. A new comer to the podium for this round saw Leo Edger taking p2 and another new comer for p3 with Leon Ptasznik.
B final
The B final got underway with Jack Bromham lining up on pole position, in 2nd was Harry Pickles and in 3rd Callum Ince. In 4th we had Harrison Rudge and 5th Robert Wijnand. After the race start the top 3 got away well and were flying into the distance. Jack Bromham never looked back and led every single lap to take victory, behind though on lap 11 a scrap started between 2nd and 3rd Callum and Harry battling for the final 6 laps but in the end it was Harry taking the line just before Callum in a great race with some great driving.
A final
The A final saw Jamie Warner in pole position, Leo Edger in p2 and Bertie Hodgson in p3. Further down the field it was Harrison Bishop in p4 and Charlie Bradburn in p5. Once the racing got started it was Bertie Hodgson that made his move on lap 2 going from 3rd position to 1st in a double move that was very impressive to watch from race control. Other movers were Charlie Bradburn who after starting down in p5 by lap 4 was in p1 and never looked back, leading the rest of the race in very impressive fashion. Max Miller was another big mover, starting p7 and making his way up to p2 by the time they crossed the line. Jamie Warner after starting on pole position brought home the final podium place.
Milton Keynes
Thursday Night League
DMAX
A very wet evening welcomed the 8 drivers to this round of Thursday night league, this evening, linkback layout was the layout for this round and drivers all went out to see how the conditions faired.
It was Lee Schnitzler who set an early pace straight out the pits with James King close behind and Paul Studd and Ashley Mayston-King not too far back. Feisal Meeajaun after a wet suit adjustment was a lap down on everyone else but joined the group to post some close lap times. Max Michalski and Connor Mcnamara were battling away for 6th and 7th place on grid and Kushal Raikundlia made a good start and improved after a few spins early on.
Lee took pole but only just over Ashley beating his brother James who was in third. Paul was in fourth and Feisal was fifth, Max was sixth, Connor was seventh, and Kushal in eight.
The race got underway, and a very tight battle started between Ashley and Lee with Ashley taking the lead on lap 1. The pair managed to get away from James slightly after 2 laps, Feisal made a few positions up into forth, Max was fifth with 2 laps completed.
After 4 laps Lee had regained the lead with Ashley down to second, James having trouble to keep up it seemed with the pace of the front 2 but was able to keep third. Max and Paul had overtaken Feisal on this lap also moving Feisal down to 6th.
With a few laps to go Lee’s lead at the front continued to grow, Ashley was controlled to keep hold of second with James in third. The gap to forth had grown quite a bit at this point with Paul and Max battling for this place.
With 3 minutes to go Ashley spun at turn 9 going just a bit too hot and flew into the barriers. He dropped to sixth after rejoining.
With Ashley’s spin it meant James moved up to second and Paul Studd gained third place.
Lee Schitzler won round 3 by 22 seconds in the end with James King in second. Paul Studd took third with Max a few seconds back in forth. Feisal was fifth, Ashley fell to sixth in the end with Connor seventh and Kushal eighth. Fastest lap went to Lee Schnitzler.
SODI
Round 3 this week we welcomed 10 drivers. The conditions were appalling and just keeping it facing the right way seemed to be a good start during qualifying with early laps being posted by Oscar Furby and Charlie Sheldrake to contend for pole position, Richard Danby also in the mix. Ash Chivers and Michael Bowles trying to chase the front 2 but not getting too close.
Oscar took pole with Charlie just behind Richard was in third all separated by less than a second with Michael and Ash just behind in fourth and fifth.
As the race got underway the conditions seemed to worsen and a few spins in the early corners, not too many issues for Oscar as he got clear. Charlie was also trying to keep it facing forward to follow and hold onto his second place. Ash had a good start but a spin ultimately costing him. Raghu Subra made a good start to gain a few positions in the early laps after starting in seventh.
As the race ended it was Oscar Furby who took the race win with Charlie Sheldrake in second with Richard Danby on the final step of the podium. Ash Chivers took Fourth with an extra point gained for the fastest lap. Raghu Subra finished in fifth with Michel Bowles in sixth Ben Crtitchley finished in seventh, William Fry just behind him in eighth and Norbert Orsos held on for 9th the only driver to get lapped was Jayson Lyon who takes the final point in tenth.
SuperChamps
SODI Lightweight
Heat 1 saw reigning champion Harry Asher win, but it was Luca Brooks who stole the show as he charged from the back of the field to finish just 2 tenths behind Asher. George Benson and Daniel Varlan finished 3rd and 4th, just a second behind the leading duo.
In Heat 2, Luca Brooks, who now started at the front of the heat, charged ahead to take a commanding heat win ahead of Daniel Varlan and Harry Asher.
For the Final, the stage was set for an epic battle between Luca Brooks and Harry Asher, who certainly delivered. Asher kept Brooks honest throughout the entire race and with just a couple of laps remaining he took the lead. However, as the leading group caught a Heavyweight driver, drama unfolded. Harry Asher got caught behind the backmarker on, who defended from Asher on the final lap of the race. This allowed Brooks to take advantage and overtake Asher, claiming the victory by 3 tenths of a second. George Benson took 3rd, just 2 tenths ahead of Daniel Varlan. Ethan Anderson was similarly only 2 tenths ahead of Amelia Charlesworth, whilst Benjamin Dehavillande completed the field.
SODI Heavyweight
In Heat 1, Justin Elliott stormed to another heat victory ahead of Charlie Fenton and Dylan Jenkins. But in Heat 2, Giles Coke dominated to take win, but was given a 3-place penalty for jumping the start, demoting him to 4th. Dylan Jenkins inherited the win, his first heat win of the season, ahead of Justin Elliott and Michael Bowles.
With Justin Elliott starting on pole for the A-Final he was simply unstoppable, winning by 5 seconds from Giles Coke and Dylan Jenkins. Michael Bowles finished 4th, ahead of Ash Chivers and Charlie Fenton.
DMAX Lightweight
A superb start to the day saw James Bettison win the opening heat, ahead of James King, Phillip Baboolal and Jenson Jowett. Ethan Pritchard was running in 3rd, but was penalised and demoted to 6th. The top 5, on circuit, were separated by just 1.2 seconds!
In Heat 2, it was Baboolal who took a comfortable victory by 2 seconds. Ethan Pritchard took 2nd ahead of James Bettison, with just 1 tenth between them.
Phillip Baboolal and James Bettison looked set to have a good ol’ tussle for the A-Final victory, but Bettison unlocked his “Ultra-Mode” and stormed to an 11-second victory. Baboolal, who was struggling, had a long train of karts forming behind him. Despite his best efforts, Baboolal dropped to 3rd as Jenson Jowett took the runner up spot, his best ever A-Final result! Ethan Pritchard claimed 4th, narrowly losing out to Baboolal on a drag race to the line. James King was 5th, ahead of Lewis Barton and Finley Anderson. Thomas James was 8th, ahead of Andreea Brahariu and Aleksei Ustimenko.
DMAX Heavyweight
In Heat 1, Lee Whitney was in stellar form to take the victory by a second from Giles Coke and Sebastian Musicka. Giles Coke stepped up his game even further in heat 2 as he took the victory by 2 seconds from a very impressive Myles Bate. Bate was just 2 tenths ahead of Oliver Smith, who in turn, was 1 tenth ahead of Aiden Miller.
Giles Coke was meant to start on pole for the final, with Justin Elliott alongside. However, Coke had other ideas as he spun on the formation lap and as such, had to start from the back of the grid. Elliott started well, but it was a surprise drive from Myles Bate that stole the show, as he overtook Elliott and took the win by 2 seconds. Oliver Smith was on an absolute charge, but ran out of laps and finished just 4 tenths behind Justin Elliott. Aiden Miller had a fantastic drive to finish in 4th, ahead of Scott Woosey and Sebastian Musicka. Giles Coke could only climb to 7th, ahead of Zhanbo Yu and Ashley Mayston-King, whilst Hamish Easener completed the top 10. Maxwell Boulton took 11th as the final finisher. Harry Thrower and Lee Whitney had an unfortunate coming together at turn 4 and were forced to retire.
InKart
Cadets
In the cadet field, Alexander Kharadzov took the win from Alexandru Ibanescu, whilst Seth Sydney continued his new found rivalry with Dexter Hazeldine, beating him to 3rd.
Jacob Kent looked impervious in heat 2, storming to victory ahead of Gillen Townshend and Ryan Cafferkey, the latter looking particularly strong towards the end of the race.
Alexander Kharadzov picked up heat 3 from where he left off in heat 1, winning by over 10 seconds from Alexandru Ibanexcu and Dexter Hazeldine.
Heat 4 saw a thrilling 3 way fight between Gillen Townshend, Ryan Cafferkey and Jacob Kent. Unlike heat 2, Kent was unable to clear off into the distance and had to fight hard with Townshend, which was allowing the opportunistic Cafferkey to sit patiently behind as he waited for his moment to strike. Townshend eventually emerged victorious and Cafferkey was able to take advantage of the fighting to land himself a 2nd place finish ahead of Kent.
For the Cadet B-Final, both Seth Sydney and Dexter Hazeldine were competing and their rivalry continued once more! However, Hazeldine, who presumably had had enough of me bringing up their rivalry, stormed to dominant victory ahead of Sydney. Leo Sibthorbe placed 3rd and took, what I believe to be, his first ever top 3 in a final! Jacob Noble completed the field in 4th.
The Cadet A-Final was a great show, with 3 different leaders throughout the course of the race. Kharadzov started from pole and led the initial portion of the race, with all 4 remaining cadets hot on his heels. Gillen Townshend got through first as Kharadzov dropped out of the podium places. Gillen’s race lead was short lived, as a few laps later Jacob Kent took the lead, with Townshend now dropping outside of the top 3! Alexandru Ibanescu was hot on Kent’s heels and the two began to pull away from the rest of the pack. Kent held off Ibanescu to take the win, with Kharadzov completing the podium. Townshend and Ryan Cafferkey completed the field. Rather impressively, the 5 cadets had recorded fastest laps that were separated by just half a second! The 2024 InKart Cadet championship is certainly shaping up to be one of the closest we have witnessed at Milton Keynes.
Juniors
Heat 1 was damp, but full of fantastic battling as Callum White showed his class in the Junior field to take the win by 3 tenths from Charley Murray, with Brandon Edwards in 3rd. The top 6 all had fastest lap times within 8 tenths of each other!
For Heat 2, not many were surprised to see Blake Southan storm off into the distance and win. However, I was particularly impressed by Tyler Rickard, who held his nerve in the wet to take a comfortable and thoroughly well-deserved 2nd, some 9 seconds ahead of Lewis Bowey.
Tom Justice drove fantastically in Heat 3, winning by a second from Charley Murray, who claimed his second runner-up spot of the day. Zayn Perry fought his way up to 3rd ahead of Tudor Geanta.
Heat 4 was a tightly contested affair at the front. Lewis Bowey had activated Goku mode and was keeping Blake Southan behind for the entire race. Sadly for Bowey, Southan managed to overtake with a few laps remaining and claimed the win, with Bowey right behind. Liam Weatherall claimed 3rd, just 3 tenths ahead of Tyler Rickard who impressed again, having started from the back row of the grid.
In the B-Final Liam Weatherall, who was rather unlucky to miss the A-Final, took a commanding victory by over 11 seconds. Behind was a great 3-way battle for 2nd between Ethan Steng, Tudor Geanta and Michael Oxtoby-Page. Oddly enough, they finished in the opposite order of their fastest laps! Steng placed 2nd, ahead of Geanta and Oxtoby-Page. After a 3rd place finish in round 1 of the season for Steng, he has gotten that little closer to winning a final! Harley Kift placed in 5th, ahead of Harry Ward and Abbie Boyd, with Dylan Patrick completing the field.
The Junior A-Final was full of action, as Blake Southan, Zayn Perry and Tom Justice were in a class of their own at the front of the field. Perry, who narrowly missed out on the win in round 1, was glued to the back of Southan and was just waiting for an opportunity, on what was now a bone-dry circuit. Justice, meanwhile, was matching their pace and sitting a couple of kart lengths behind. With a few laps remaining, Perry passed Southan and took the lead. But perhaps even more impressively, Perry was gapping Southan! However, just like a few weeks ago, drama unfolded as they lapped a cadet. Perry caught the cadet at the worst time and was forced to go to the outside, allowing Southan to catch up and get a better run through the corner, overtaking Perry on the corner exit. With one lap remaining, Southan was leading again! Perry, who did not have the luxury of being patient, had to go for a last ditch overtake. Heading into the final corner, Southan left the door slightly open and Perry threw his kart down the inside and rightfully so - It was the last corner of the last lap! Southan held it on the outside and Perry squeezed him onto the raised kerb, it was a drag race to the line and Perry won by 3 hundredths of a second! Sadly for Zayn Perry, the stewards decided that the overtake was illegal and swapped the positions around, handing Blake Southan his 3rd A-Final victory of the season. A phenomenal battle between two fantastic drivers and I want to add that Zayn Perry did 100% the right thing by going for the late move, he was just incredibly unlucky to get it slightly wrong on the corner exit. Keep fighting Zayn, that win is coming!
Tom Justice took a fantastic 3rd in one of his best ever drives, with Lewis Bowey and Tyler Rickard completing the top 5. Charley Murray placed 6th, ahead of Brandon Edwards and Callum White, the latter of whom picked up a 2 place penalty.
Junior Sprint League
Round 3 of the Junior Sprint League was greeted by a rather damp circuit. The slowly drying track conditions would prove to be a challenge to drivers, who were pushing every single lap in their desperate search for grip!
The race started with a 3 way train at the front, as Blake Southan led from Jacob and Charlie Csepreghi respectively. Three soon became two, when Charlie Csepreghi spun at turn 10. With his kart stuck in the tyre barriers, he had to agonisingly wait to be pulled out, losing himself around 40 seconds and shattering any chances of a win.
Jacob Csepreghi meanwhile was only able to stay within touching distance of Blake Southan, who meticulously completed lap after lap, making no mistakes. Towards the end of the race, Southan started to gap Csepreghi and took the win by over 3 seconds.
Meanwhile, Max Lindgren was on a charge further down the field and as the track dried, Lindgren was quickly catching Stefan Chifan for 3rd. Chifan held his nerve in a late battle with Lindgren and clutched his first ever JSL podium by just 3 tenths of a second - Congrats Stefan!
Joseph East claimed the honours in 5th. Charlie Csepreghi, whose emotions certainly got the better of him, spun more times in one race than I have seen throughout his career! But Charlie is a fantastic driver and will return to round 4 with a point to prove - A scary prospect indeed!
Owen Turpin finished in 7th and Eddie Kirsop rounded out the field in 8th, a respectable performance for his first ever wet JSL race!
Photos:
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