After seven rounds, the Spring season of Daytona Milton Keynes’ InKart concluded on Sunday 14th July. The venue embraced a warm sun shining down as we got underway in Heats format on the 900m National layout.
At the top of the Junior championship, Lewis Bowey was leading by six points once the drop round was considered, with Charley Murray and Tom Justice separated by just one point.
In the Cadets, Rayaan Malik held the lead after a drop round considered from Gillen Townshend, the only title contender who had missed a previous round. Arel Kesimgil, Ryan Cafferkey and Charlie Marden were all also in close contention for the final podium.
The first heat of the day had a great, clean start from both fleets. Amelia Alice-Berreau got caught up in an incident at the fourth corner a few laps in dropped off the Cadet pack. Further up, the leading Cadets were all weaving in an extremely fierce battle for the lead, and luckily everyone managed to avoid contact. Tyler Rickard took the heat win ahead of Murray and Bowey in the Juniors, while Cafferkey won in the Cadets ahead of Leo Sibthorpe and William Bennett.
Heat Two saw two a lonely race at the front of the Juniors with Zayn Perry pulling an astonishing 15 second lead over second place. Max Davies was holding onto the second position for the first half of the race, but after dropping back he finished in third behind Tom Justice who pulled off a great move to pass Davies. Further back, Abbie Boyd showed aggression and tenacity to make space and find a way past Tudor Geanta on turn three – a corner we don’t often see many overtakes.
Townshend had a quiet race to win the Cadet race with title rival Malik in third, in what could have been a championship-deciding points swing to the race leader, with Kesimgil in the between them.
Brandon Edwards had a solid race to take the win in Heat Three ahead of Murray and Rickard. The Cadet race was where all the action occurred, as Teddie Mullan looked to beat Marden and Bennett to show his competitors, he was good enough to win races. In the end he succeeded with his mission, only just beating Bennett to the line by less than a tenth of a second. Both drivers unable to get past what was an amazing defensive drive.
Justice had another good drive to win the final heat ahead of Perry, both pulling a small gap to Geanta towards the end of the race. Ethan Steng finished in fourth ahead of the rest of the Junior competitors. In the Cadets there was another battle which could decide the championship, as Malik and Townshend went to battle and pulled away from the competitors behind. Noah Hammond managed to take third place ahead of Jacob Noble, who received a one-place penalty for forcing Kesimgil onto the grass at the race start. Townshend finished in second as Malik took the Cadet win.
In the B-final it was all to race for. Abbie Boyd had another great race to finish in fifth, just missing out on fourth to Logan Cunningham. Michael Oxtoby-Page won the final ahead of the battling Harvey Preen and George Wilamowski who both put in great performances. In the Cadets, Sibthorpe had a dominant win over Noble, putting in a good recovery drive after mistakes in his previous races. Noah Hammond took the last step on the podium.
The final race of the season saw two amazing battles out on the circuit in both classes. In the Cadets, Kesimgil managed a podium after outclassing both Cafferkey and Bennett throughout. Once again, Townshend and Malik had a battle for the win, swapping back-and-forth. In the end it was Malik who took another win, only just in front of Townshend.
Further forward, Perry just missed out on the Junior podium after contact with Edwards forced him onto a grass, but ultimately it was his decision to carry more speed onto the grass than rejoin whilst on the kerb that cost him the podium. Justice finished the season with a third on track before being promoted to second whilst Rickard went on to win the race, just a second and a half separating the podium finishers.
At the end of a neck-and-neck season, Rayaan Malik took home the Cadet championship with just two points separating him and Gillen Townshend in second place, their battles today being decisive. Arel Kesimgil took third with 337 points overall, with Cafferkey and Marden on 321 and 310.
In the Junior championship it was Lewis Bowey who just managed to beat Tom Justice by a single point, 339 to 338. Murray was just three points behind with 335, a close finish between the trio. Tudor Geanta and Michael Oxtoby-Page finished on 303 and 297 to take fourth and fifth respectively.
