Thursday Night League 2024 Winners Crowned
Daytona Tamworth's Thursday Night League has been running for 12 rounds throughout 2023 and Thursday 7th December saw the final round. With 27 drivers in total on the day, all of the championship contenders were in attendance.
N-35 ST
The N35-ST championship could literally not be tighter, in the lightweights at least, heading into the final round of the Thursday Night League season. It was Jude Beaven vs Charlie Walmsley-Ryde for the championship trophy, both tied on points into the final race of the season.
In qualifying, Jacob Connellan took pole position in both the overall and heavyweight classification. He was about a second and a half faster than his second placed counterpart, Luke Inglis, who was fourth overall. Third placed in the heavyweights was Stephen Allsopp, who knew that he did not need to do much in order to wrap up his championship in the final round of the season. In terms of the lightweights, Jude Beaven crucially qualified ahead of Charlie Walmsley-Ryde, taking the lightweight pole position by four tenths of a second to his championship rival. Josh Gora was third, sitting in fifth overall.
The race was as dramatic as expected, though not for Jacob Conellan who fought of Jude Beaven in the early stages to take the overall victory. He was therefore also top of the heavyweights. Luke Inglis finished in second position, battling with the lightweights throughout the race in which he finished fifth overall. This was also enough for second place in the championship. Archie Adkins was in third, with Stephen Allsopp taking the championship victory in seventh overall.
In the lightweights, Jude Beaven took a dramatic victory to secure the championship title, finishing around twelve seconds ahead of Charlie Walmsley-Ryde. Charlie put up a good fight, but was frustrated with being behind Luke Inglis for much of the race, giving him too much to do in the closing stages. Finishing exactly in the order of the championship podium as well, Josh Gora completed the top three, finishing a little way off Charlie.
The final results of the championship were:
N35-ST Lightweight
1st – Jude Beavan
2nd – Charlie Walmsley-Ryde
3rd- Josh Gora
N35-ST Heavyweight
1st – Stephen Allsopp
2nd – Luke Inglis
3rd- Chris Parkes
DMAX-GT
Dillon Davis had dominated the championship, and was hoping to make it ten wins in a season to score the total maximum for the year. However, he would not start on the overall pole-position for the race, qualifying behind the heavyweight Chris Phllips by one tenth of a second. Dillon was, however, on pole for the lightweights. Mark Whitbread qualified second for the lightweights, with Max Housley making up the rest of the top three. However, only the second classified heavyweight, Darren Holliday, was marginally faster than Max to start in fourth overall. David Allak was the third heavyweight on the grid.
Into the race, Dillon Davis took the lead early and did not look back. He took victory and fastest lap, making it 500 points in the season - the most it is physically possible to score. Mark Whitbread had followed him through on pole-sitter Chris Phillips in the early stages, finishing in second overall. Chris Phillips and Darren Holliday were the top two in heavyweights, Chris just being pipped to the championship by Darren through this result. Max Housley was the final lightweight on their podium, finishing in fifth overall as Abi Sanders took the 3rd spot in the standings. As for the heavyweights, Rob Beaton took the last spot on the podium.
The final podiums of the championship were:
DMAX Lightweight
1st – Dillon Davis
2nd – Bertie Bream
3rd- Abi Sanders
DMAX Heavyweight
1st – Darren Holliday
2nd – Chris Phillips
3rd - Rob Beaton
To see the full championship points, click here.
Thursday Night League returns to Daytona Tamworth for 2024 in a new two-season format. Still our most casual Championship, it’s a 12-round competition intended for karting enthusiasts who can’t commit to racing every round, with overall scores being taken from their best eight rounds. Perfect for students and busy professionals after work.
More information on the next season of Thursday Night League can be found here.