Sandown Park
Some of the biggest grids of the season led into the final round of a close-fought 2023 championship in both the Cadet and Junior categories. In the Juniors, Leo Edger held the top spot from Ollie Peters and Nicolai Eidsgaard, with just 5 points between them. It was, however, Jamie Warner who had the highest score after dropping his lowest-scoring round. This meant that in theory, he could take the overall win pending a strong finish in this last round of the season.
Fabian Gandhok topped the Cadet standings from Sarah and Adam Telford; Andrey Vasyukov was just two points off the siblings in 4th. Felix Seldon Heywood, Daniel Marutyak and Shaylan Sreekantan were all within striking distance as the drivers gridded up for heat one.
The Alternate circuit layout used for this finale has a short initial drag race from the start line to a tight complex of corners which rewards bold driving in the first phases of the race and as the first heats left the grid it was clear that there would be plenty of that displayed on the circuit today. Jamie Warner leapt away from the line with Charlie Bradburn in tow and it would be that pair which held the front two positions ahead of an epic battle between Alex Ferretti, Ellis McKenzie, Callum Inc and William Bradbery. Felix Sheldon Heywood led from flag to flag in Cadets ahead of Adam Telford and Olly Knox who had snuck past Daniel Marutyak on the final lap to complete the podium.
Heat two matched the calibre of the earlier race with Jack Bromham winning from a hard-charging Nicolai Eidsgaard and Ellis McKenzie. Leo Ingarfield, Adam Telford, and Felix Sheldon Heywood fought tooth and nail over the top scoring positions in the Cadets with Andrey Vasyukov managing to pass Sebastian Mejer at the halfway point.
David Szucs-Farkas initially led Heat 3 but was passed on lap 5 by Charlie Bradburn, the pair managing to just keep ahead of Callum Ince. Finlay Dryburgh and Leon Ptasznik raced hard but cleanly over fourth and crossed the line for the final time less than a tenth of a second apart. A great start from Leger Dimitriou saw him take the lead on lap 2 of the Cadet race which he held until the chequered flag, but it was the drive through the pack of Daniel Marutyak to secure 2nd position which was the talk of this penultimate heat.
Heat 4 was a statement of intent from championship contender Ollie Peters, and he crossed the line in the lead 11 laps in a row to take maximum points from Harrison Bishop behind. Next up was Jack Bromham with Jamie Warner just off the leading group after working his way up through a field of excellent drivers. Much like the Juniors heat 4 was a lights-to-flag affair for race winner Rory Hamilton although he had a comparatively comfortable 3-second lead over Leger Dimitriou and Andrey Vasyukov.
With the racing having been so close throughout the heats the grids for the finals were split by just a few points meaning that the standard of driver in both the A and B Finals was incredibly high. The B Finals hit the track first with an epic back-and-forth between Luca Cook and Leon Ptasznik dominating the front of the Junior grid ahead of William Bradbery and Harrison Rudge. Alexandru Ibanescu demonstrated how far he had progressed throughout the season securing the Cadet B final win from Shaylan Sreekantan and Sebastian Mejer. For over half the race the spectator's gaze was gripped by a brilliant squabble between Sarah Telford and Arno Nurijanyan, the young drivers displaying a level of kart control and sporting behaviour of the highest degree.
The A final saw Charlie Bradburn lead initially but wasn’t quite able to keep up with Jamie Warner who passed him on lap 4. Charlie’s attentions then fell to keeping hold of second and he managed to do exactly that, drag racing Jack Bromham to third, the pair ahead of Nicolai after a strong recovery drive from the tail of the grid.
As the points were calculated it was clear that the season had come down to the wire with dropped scores showing that consistency played an important part throughout the season. Fabian Gandhok took the championship win in Cadets with just 6 points separating Runner-Up Felix Sheldon Heywood and 3rd place Daniel Marutyak.
The Junior category was equally close with Jamie Warner scoring 283 points to become 2023 Champion, Runner Up Leo Edger was staggeringly only a single point ahead of 3rd place Charlie Bradburn.
InKart Season 3 Junior Champions:
1st – Jamie Warner
2nd – Leo Edger (not pitcured)
3rd – Charlie Bradburn
InKart Season 3 Junior Champions:
1st – Fabian Gandhok (not pictured)
2nd –Felix Sheldon Heywood
3rd – Daniel Marutyak
Milton Keynes
For those who have been to Daytona Junior Events, they will know that InKart is nearly synonymous with two drivers, but technically one name. The twins of Jacob and Charlie Csepreghi have been phenomenal over the last year, winning in both the cadets and junior categories. Season 3 was predicted to be the same, but round 1 did not go as expected.
On his debut showing, it was Blake Southan who took the spoils for the opening round of the season. The Csepreghi twins, however, were not even second and third. James Malcolm took a fantastic 2nd place finish, whilst Jacob Csepreghi and Louis Bishop tied on points for 3rd. Charlie Csepreghi took 4th on the day, but had scored just three points less than the championship leader Blake, setting us up for an incredibly close championship.
Round 2 was won by Charlie Csepreghi, who then led the championship. After three rounds, there were just four points separating the top four. Blake and Charlie were tied for first, with Jacob and Louis tied for third. Unfortunately though, round four is where the championship fight began to dissipate. It was Charlie who had a shocker in round 4, whilst in round 5, Louis Bishop secured his first ever round victory, whilst Jacob Csepreghi struggled for points. Bishop was only two points behind Southan with four rounds left and the Csepreghis were a further ten or so points behind. However, with Louis Bishop absent in round 6 and the Csepreghis pulling out of the championship, Blake Southan now led the championship and had a handy drop score at his disposal. Blake did not rest on his laurels as he picked up a perfect round 7 by winning both heats, the final and securing the fastest lap! Another win in round 8 won the championship with a round to spare. Round 8 also saw Louis Bishop secure 2nd in the championship as well as Lewis Bowey securing 3rd.
Whilst the fight for the top 3 was over heading into the final round, there was still a four-way battle for fourth between Ethan Anderson, Tudor Geanta, Charley Murray and Tom Justice. Ethan Anderson took a fantastic 3rd place in the final to secure himself 4th in the championship.
Junior INKART Driver of the Season - Louis Bishop
Louis has improved fantastically over the course of 2023. I tend to eye judge a top InKart driver by whether they can consistently score above 50 points every round. Louis only scored below 55 a single time. Being able to stay in the championship fight against the likes of the Csepreghis and Southan is no easy task and he did it not just by finishing 4th every round, or picking up the pieces of their battles, but by having the pace to be part of their fights for the win. Two excellent round wins as well this season, I can’t wait to see how much more he can improve in 2024
Honourable Mentions
Lewis Bowey. Despite this being his first season in Junior INKART, having raced in cadets during season 2, Lewis performed admirably well to not only adapt to the new karts, but finish 3rd in the championship.
Zayn Perry. Zayn joined the championship quite late into the season and was only able to compete in 5 rounds. He was still able to secure a podium and if he races for a full season in 2024,I have no doubt he will be a serious top 3 contender.
InKart Season 3 Junior Champions:
1st – Blake Southan
2nd – Louis Bishop
3rd – Lewis Bowery
Milton Keynes
Cadet INKART Season 3 Round-Up
Whilst the opening round of Junior InKart was close, it had nothing on the Cadet opening round. Rayaan Malik, Caelen Keith and Jacob Kent all tied on points, with Alexander Karadzhov and Dexter Hezeldine just one and two points behind respectively. Keith, Kent and Karadzhov were unfortunately absent during round 2, leaving the two-time reigning champion, and the ever smiling Rayaan Malik, to claim a perfect round with two heat wins, a final win as well as the fastest lap.
Malik was absent during round 4 and as Keith, Kent and Malik continued to trade points in the table, they had all missed a round, so none of them could afford a bad result, as they had no drop scores left to use. A situation where a single mistake can end your championship is tough for any sportsman, let alone a ten year old child. Unfortunately though, it was Jacob Kent who had a torrid round 5, securing only 48 points and practically putting him out of the championship fight. A 52 and 53 point score, for round 7 and 8, placed Jacob around 18 points behind his championship rivals heading into the final round of the season and he needed a catastrophe to befall Rayaan and Caelen.
Caelen Keith meanwhile, had slowly chipped away at Rayaan Malik’s championship lead by picking up a perfect round 7 and practically matching Rayaan in rounds 5 and 6. Heading into round 8, the penultimate round of the season, there were just two points between Caelen and Rayaan. In the final race of the day, Rayaan held his nerve to overtake Caelen in the dying moments of the race, extending his lead to three points (instead of falling to just one point ahead).
The final round of the season was, as a result, rather tense. To make matters worse, but a lot more interesting, Rayaan, Caelen and even Jacob were all placed in the same heats! The first heat was won by Caelen, with Rayaan only 4th. This meant that the two two drivers were tied on points with just a single heat and a final remaining. Heat 2 is when the lightning struck. Caelen and Rayaan were battling for third and into turn 2, Caelen made a late lunge up the inside of his championship rival. Rayaan was sent spinning into the tyre barriers and Calen was handed a 3 place penalty. Rayaan, as a result, finished 3rd whilst Caelen was demoted to 5th. Rayaan was now two points ahead in the championship with just the final race of the year remaining. Caelen had to finish ahead of Rayaan by two positions, or one position and set the fastest lap, to be tied on points. To start the final, Caelen did exactly that, setting a blistering lap time, but was only running 3rd, with Rayaan directly behind. Caelen needed one more point, one more position, to ensure the championship didn’t go to a tiebreaker. Jacob Kent was leading the race, but had a penalty for a bump and pass, which meant that Gillen Townshend was the effective race leader. But whilst Caelen had the pace advantage, he just couldn’t get past Gillen who was putting on a defensive masterclass, which was allowing Rayaan to catch up. Caelen had to both attack and defend, but just like in round 8, Rayaan was able to make an overtake in the closing laps of the race to take 3rd and secure his third consecutive InKart cadet title by two points from Caelen. Jacob Kent won the race on the road but after a penalty, finished 4th in the race and 3rd in the championship. Despite Gillen Townshend winning the final race of the season, he narrowly missed out on fourth in the championship to Dexter Hazeldine by just a single point.
CADET INKART Driver of the Season - Jacob Kent
This was an incredibly hard decision between the top 3 drivers as they all performed fantastically this season. I think Jacob has improved the most out of the three this year. He has been phenomenally quick and if it wasn’t for a couple of silly penalties, such as a jump start, he would have been leading the championship heading into the final round. A driver’s first championship fight is always difficult and very often there are mistakes. I have no doubt that Jacob will bounce back and be even quicker and consistent in 2024.
Honourable Mentions
Alexander Karadzhov. When I started commentating at Daytona Milton Keynes, the cadets was a bit of a procession with everyone too scared to go for an overtake. When Alexander showed up, he held nothing back and made some amazing overtakes, as well as some bad ones! Alexander now seems more measured in his overtakes and is a serious race contender every round, having won his first ever A-Final this season. Alexander now has the overtaking ability as well as the pace and the consistency to be one of the favourites for the InKart Cadet championship in 2024
Dexter Hazeldine/Gillen Townshend. Both these drivers have been racing in InKart for over a year and it was absolutely thrilling to see them both win their first A-Finals this year
InKart Season 3 Cadet Champions:
1st – Rayaan Malik
2nd – Caelen Keith
3rd – Jacob Kent
Tamworth
The first Inkart heat of the day saw a fantastic victory from Logan Brettle, finishing a second and a half ahead of Theo Laverty. This was a really good result for Theo, who knew he would need a pretty hefty swing of points in order to get ahead of Tom Archer at the end of the standings. Cooper Campbell-Lees was in third, finishing ahead of Tom Archer - who kept his championship alive with seven points. As for the cadets, Zachary Smith took victory by seven tenths of a second ahead of Micah Hunte-Nelson. Micah himself was four seconds ahead of Harry Fitch, who himself was gunning for third place in the championship.
Into the second heat of the day, Noah Hobson took victory by around five seconds to Ethan Guest. Ethan was in the hunt for the championship against Zachary Smith, so would be hoping for a victory in his next heat. Henry Gordon finished in third, battling Ethan for most of the race but eventually coming up slightly short.
It always seemed quite impossible for Theo Laverty to gain back the points that he needed against Tom Archer, but heat three was a statement of intent nonetheless and proved that he was not going to go down without a fight. Theo took victory by over twenty-seconds after the ten minutes had expired, though he would have been frustrated seeing Tom Archer as the driver who finished directly behind him. It was an impressive and dominant drive that resulted in just the single point swing, but it kept him in with a chance in the final. Cooper Campbell-Lees continued his consistent round in third. As for the cadets, there were no complaints from Zachary Smith, who won by just a tenth of a second ahead of Harry Fitch after an exciting battle. Zachary knew that the championship was all but wrapped up now; Harry would have to fight into the A-Final for a chance at finishing third. Thomas Baxter put in an impressive drive to finish third.
Heat four was remarkably close, with Noah Hobson taking victory by just a second ahead of Harvey Preen. This was also a statement of intent, as Noah put himself in with a fighting chance of climbing into the championship top three heading into the final. Harvey Preen would have been delighted to finish second, because he was embroiled in a drag race to the line ahead of Ethan Guest. It was probably slightly frustrating for Ethan, who knew that four hundredths of a second had cost him a single point, making his job all that much harder in the final.
Celebrating his birthday in fine style, Jack Charles-Bailey won the B-final after an impressive defensive drive ahead of Joseph Smith. The two of them were virtually neck-and-neck in terms of pace throughout the entire fifteen minute final, and it was just nine tenths of a second that separated them at the line. Their pace was very impressive, as they were both around nine seconds ahead of Thomas Baxter in third. Thomas drove well himself, finishing around fifteen seconds up on the chasing pack.
It was going to be difficult for Theo Laverty to win the championship into the A-final, though he would have been encouraged by his pace in the second heat of the day. However, his championship challenge would come to an end thanks to a fantastic drive from Tom Archer, who dominated in a victory of over five seconds. Cooper Campbell-Lees was in second, with Theo Laverty being forced to settle for third. It would have been frustrating for him to miss out on the championship, but he could at least be proud of the runner’s up spot at the end of the year.
The cadet championship equally went down to the wire, and was made especially interesting when Zachary Smith did not win the A-Final. Instead, Noah Hobson produced one of his signature A-Final drives to win by around four seconds. This allowed him to gain multiple positions in the championship, eventually climbing up to second. Zachary Smith did, however, secure the championship by finishing in second, and this was perhaps not too much of a surprise given how he drove throughout the course of the season. Ethan Guest battled Zachary throughout most of the race, finishing in third after it all. This would also be his position in the championship.
InKart Season 3 Junior Champions:
1st – Tom Archer
2nd – Theo Laverty
3rd – Logan Brettle
Our Junior grid was fiercely competitive all season long, creating some unbelievable racing in the face of some very tricky conditions racing in the challenging winter months. Tom Archer and Theo Laverty were possibly the standouts, both drivers proving their consistency and skill with victories throughout the season. When they were not in the winning column, these drivers still found themselves scoring above 50 points, which is crucial to an Inkart title challenge. It would also be unfair not to mention Logan Brettle, who showcased his potential by finishing third, putting together some fantastic drives all season. We also cannot forget to mention other winners, such as Zayn Perry and Tom Justice - who were not present for the entire season but did show their talent in the select rounds that they did.
InKart Season 3 Cadet Champions:
1st – Zachary Smith
2nd – Noah Hobson
3rd – Ethan Guest
Most people thought that it would take something big to dethrone defending champion Noah Hobson, and that was exactly what we got into the winter season in the form of Zachary Smith. Pulling off some incredibly memorable drives, such as a sensational sweep in Round 3, Zachary Smith emerged as a pretty big talent and was thoroughly deserving of his championship crown. Similarly, Noah Hobson proved to have a lot of maturity to recover to second after a sub-optimal start to the season. He would have been disappointed to not secure a sweep until the closing round, but certainly performed when it mattered - as demonstrated in the finale. It was a similar story for Ethan Guest, who showcased his talent at times in the season. The fact that Ethan was not closer to the championship after the final round was not entirely of his own doing, and it looks likely that he will be challenging again should he return for 2024.