Daytona Tamworth InKart Season 3 2024: Marriott & Smith crowned champions
The finale of Season 3 of InKart at Daytona Tamworth in 2024 greeted the drivers with a dry track, a pleasant surprise now that we’re so far into December. With a championship yet to be decided in Juniors, and P3 overall in Cadets wide open, this round promised to deliver something special. The Cup format, as ever, featured a 15-minute practice, straight into a 5-minute qualifying, and a 25-minute race, where the points would be awarded.
Cadets
George Marriott and Henry James came into the round having already secured P1 and P2 respectively in the championship – this event would offer an opportunity to fight for the race win without the baggage of thinking about the championship points. The real intrigue for this round was the battle for P3, with Leonardo Palagi and Jessica Kirby the favourites, with Locke Evans having an outside chance.
It was a perfect qualifying session for Palagi, taking pole position by the slimmest of margins from Henry James in P2, Jessica Kirby in P3, and Locke Evans in P4, the four of them covered by less than 1½ tenths of a second. Marriott was an uncharacteristic P5, not quite having the pace in this round.
The final race delivered on the closeness of qualifying, with the top four engaging in an epic four-way scrap for the lead, the slipstream proving powerful on the dry track, and overtakes aplenty. There was big drama in the battle for P3 in the championship, with Kirby dropping to the back of the Cadet field, opening the door for Evans and Palagi, the win for either of them being sufficient to steal the final place on the championship podium. However, it wasn’t to be, as both drivers were denied by James, who finished his strong second half to the season with another race win, and fastest lap to boot. Crucially for Palagi, Evans had one of his best results of the season in P2, meaning that Kirby and Palagi finished the season on identical points, with Evans just a few points back. It took looking at the number of second-place finishes achieved (as both drivers hadn’t won a round this season), to determine Kirby as the victor, with two to Palagi’s one.
Juniors
The battle for the Junior title was possibly the closest we’ve ever seen at InKart at Tamworth, with three drivers realistically able to take the title. Indeed, it was the outside chance of the three, Reuben Potter, who made the best start, securing pole by a healthy seven-tenths of a second from Noah Johnson, who despite being out of the championship picture, was looking to finish his season strongly. Championship contenders Alfie Kells and Joseph Smith lined up on row two, the race win for both being enough to clinch the title.
However, Potter converted his pole in dominant fashion. Disappearing off the front, he would win the race by over 15 seconds, securing fastest lap in the process and doing everything in his power to put his name in that championship picture. Indeed, with points leader Smith unable to improve from P4 in the race, the points were incredibly close, and it was unclear whether Kells securing P2 ahead of Johnson would be enough to snatch the title.
Even as the chequered flag fell, no one knew who’d won the title. In the end, the top three were covered by just two points! And the spoils went too… Smith! He secured the title by a solitary point ahead of Kells, who in turn was just a point clear of Potter in P3.
Unbelievably close between the three of them, and great sportsmanship was shown by the three friends on the podium.
A huge congratulations to our top three in each class, and to our champions George Marriott and Joseph Smith. That’s it for InKart at Tamworth in 2024, a huge well done to all the drivers, and massive thanks to the marshals, front-of-house team and engineers for making it possible. And the biggest thanks of all to the parents who would come down round after round to support their drivers!
What will 2025 bring? Who knows! We look forward to seeing you there!
