Race Reports ⸱ 1st September 2026 3:53 PM

Daytona Championships (22nd-28th) August

Jamie Chadwick Series – Round Seven

Daytona Sandown Park

Qualifying for the Juniors proved incredibly close, with less than a tenth of a second separating the leading three drivers. Scarlett Drury claimed pole position ahead of Daniell McIntosh, while Sarah Telford completed the top three. In the Cadets, Chloe Van Beneden secured yet another pole position, finishing three-tenths of a second clear of Elouisa Flint. Willow Wright qualified third, a further half-second behind. The Junior race produced an incredible contest at the front, with the leading five drivers battling throughout. Tilly Watson ultimately emerged victorious, beating McIntosh to the chequered flag by just under two-tenths of a second. Maya Nefzi followed closely behind to complete the podium. Meanwhile, Van Beneden continued her dominant form in the Cadets, extending her championship lead with another commanding victory. She finished 15 seconds clear of Flint in second, with Wright taking third place.

In the 4-Stroke Lights, Tilly Watson won the opening Heat following a close battle with Clara Boyce, crossing the line less than half a second ahead of her rival. Megan Gascoyne completed the podium, finishing just four-tenths further back. In the Inters, Clara Hendry produced an impressive drive from the back of the grid to take victory. She beat Amber Bradley-Smith by only a few tenths of a second, while Gemma Hunter secured third place. The second Heat was even closer, with the leading three drivers separated by less than six-tenths of a second at the chequered flag. Nicole Robinson took victory by just nine-hundredths of a second from Sarah Telford, with Jessika McIntosh finishing third. Bradley-Smith controlled the second Inters heat, winning by five seconds from Hunter. Brooke Millin completed the podium in third. Telford delivered a dominant performance in the Final to extend her championship lead, taking victory by four seconds over Robinson. Daisy Newsome finished third and recorded the fastest lap, earning herself an additional championship point. The Inters Final produced another thrilling finish as Hunter defeated Bradley-Smith by just under two-tenths of a second. Hendry crossed the line a further two seconds behind to complete the podium.

The DMAX class saw Tabitha Mellor win a shortened opening heat after a crash involving Reyhana Abdolrazagh and Imogen Owen brought out the red flag late in the race. Melissa Etherington finished second, just under nine-tenths of a second ahead of Julia Stankowiak in third. Stankowiak responded with victory in the second Heat, finishing three seconds clear of Milena Clark. Etherington collected her second podium of the day in third place. The Final developed into a close fight between Stankowiak and Owen for the lead. Having worked her way through the field, Owen appeared likely to find a way past before a rare error while attempting a late move up the inside caused her to spin. The mistake dropped Owen four seconds behind, allowing Stankowiak to claim another victory and all but secure the championship with two rounds remaining. Despite the spin, Owen recovered to finish second and recorded the fastest lap. Clark claimed the final podium position, beating Etherington to third by just two-tenths of a second.

Thursday Night League – Round One

Daytona Sandown Park

Thursday Night League returned to Daytona Sandown Park for the opening round of Season Two 2026, with busy SODI and DMAX grids taking on the Alternate layout. It proved to be a relatively clean start to the new campaign, but there was still plenty of close racing throughout the evening as the early championship contenders began to emerge.

Qualifying immediately demonstrated how competitive the SODI field could be this season. Rufus Sessions claimed the first pole position of the campaign with a lap time of 52.321, beating Toby Robinson by just 0.012 seconds. Kai Tipler followed in third, with less than nine-tenths covering the five quickest drivers. The race brought a change at the front of the Lights field. Robinson converted his front-row start into victory and also recorded the fastest lap, eventually finishing 9.526 seconds clear of Tipler. Behind them, Christina Harding climbed from ninth in Qualifying to claim the Final Light-class podium position, narrowly beating Tyler Hounsome by just 0.151 seconds. The midfield remained equally competitive, with Joao Matiello and Leandro Matiello separated by less than three-tenths at the finish. Pole-sitter Sessions endured a much more difficult race and eventually finished tenth in class, allowing Robinson to take the early advantage in the Season Two standings.

In the Heavies class Qualifying, Elliott Gregory led the way with a 52.771, comfortably securing the front spot in class for the start of the race. There was less change at the front of the Heavy field, where Gregory backed up his Qualifying pace with victory to complete an impressive opening night. Carl Jackson followed him home in second, while George Scott held on to third by less than half a second from James Smaggsagale. With both Qualifying and the race going his way, Gregory leaves Round One as the early benchmark in the SODI Heavies field.

DMAX Qualifying was even tighter at the sharp end. Jack Redfern claimed pole position with a 46.061, but just 0.085 seconds separated the leading three drivers. Samuel Barnaville qualified second ahead of Callum Bendelow, while Alfie Pettengell and Jack Candasamy were also within a quarter of a second of pole. Redfern carried that pace into the race, leading the Light field home by 8.828 seconds to complete a pole-to-victory start to his campaign. Bendelow improved from third on the grid to finish second. The closest battle unfolded immediately behind them, where Adam Palmer secured the final podium position with Ben Longman only 0.801 seconds further back. Longman did, however, record the fastest lap of the race with a 45.886. There was little breathing room further through the field. Mikhail Sitnikov, Haidyn Janicke and Pettengell crossed the line within just 0.282 seconds of one another in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively, demonstrating that close battles were taking place throughout the order.

The Heavy category also marked the first competitive outing for six of the new DMAX fleet, with all six Heavy drivers using the latest additions to the fleet. Warren Gomm was the quickest of them in Qualifying with a 46.375 before carrying that advantage into the race and claiming the opening Heavy victory. Pier Filippo Paoletti finished second, with Billy Halani completing the first DMAX Heavy podium of the season.

Round One provided an early indication of just how competitive Season Two could become. Robinson and Gregory left Daytona Sandown Park as the opening SODI winners, while Redfern and Gomm have established themselves as the early DMAX benchmarks. With busy grids, extremely tight Qualifying margins and close battles throughout both categories, consistency already looks set to play a major role as the championship develops.

Daytona Milton Keynes

Edward Thurgod made the perfect start to the new season by securing pole position in the SODI Lights class. His quickest lap put him one-tenth of a second clear of George Benson, who secured the other place on the front row. Chris Thompson completed the top three ahead of the opening race. Adam Pughe emerged as the driver to beat in the Lights Sprint Race, taking victory and beginning his Season Two campaign in the strongest possible fashion. Adam Aksamitowski followed him home in second, while Thompson converted his third-place Qualifying position into the final place on the podium. With relatively little separating the leading drivers, the opening round provided an early indication of just how competitive the SODI Lighta field could be this season.

Harry Gurney set the pace in SODI Heavy Qualifying to claim pole position. Shaun Ward produced a strong lap to secure second, with Liam Jackman completing the top three and setting up an intriguing battle at the front. In the Heavies class, Ben Jordan came out on top to take the opening victory. Ward backed up his second-place Qualifying result by finishing runner-up, while Jackman completed the podium in third.

DMAX Light Qualifying produced another incredibly close contest at the front. Jacob Csepreghi claimed pole position, beating Mark Wylie-Mackay by just one-tenth of a second. Freddie Jenkins secured third, leaving the leading trio closely matched ahead of the race. The DMAX Lights race lived up to the promise of Qualifying, with the leading three drivers battling throughout. Despite the pressure from behind, Csepreghi held his nerve to take the chequered flag and convert pole position into victory. Wylie-Mackay followed in second, while Jenkins secured the final podium position. Remarkably, the leading three finished in the same order in which they had started, highlighting the pace and consistency each driver displayed throughout the session.

McKenzie Senior set the benchmark in DMAX Heavy Qualifying, taking pole position by two-tenths of a second. Lucasz Stankiowiak joined him on the front row in second, while Andy Stobart completed the top three. Senior completed a perfect DMAX Heavy performance by converting pole position into victory. Stankiowiak maintained second place to finish runner-up, while Josh Hamilton moved into the final podium position. Senior’s pole-to-victory performance establishes him as an early contender as the DMAX Heavy championship begins to take shape.

Daytona Tamworth

Conditions proved particularly unpredictable for the opening round of Thursday Night League at Daytona Tamworth. With a storm approaching and the circuit already greasy, the DMAX and N35-ST class races promised to be contests of survival as much as outright speed.

The N35-ST Lightweight class opened proceedings with Charlie Walmsey-Ryde continuing his strong form from the previous season, collecting the maximum haul of 26 points from the opening round. He successfully resisted an early challenge from potential championship rival Joseph Smith before building a three-second advantage during the second half of the race and securing a comfortable victory. Smith finished second, having initially fought closely with Rory Oldfield-Kelly. That battle was cut short when Oldfield-Kelly was forced to defend from Jaysse Radu, whose aggressive driving earned him a five-second penalty and dropped him to sixth place. Oldfield-Kelly held on to complete the Lightweight podium in third.

In the Heavyweight class, reigning champion Dylan Morrall began his title defence with a commanding victory. Although his pace came as little surprise following his success last season, the margin of his dominance remained hugely impressive. Morrall was joined on the podium by two championship newcomers. Declan Searson claimed second place and a maiden podium, narrowly beating Luke Thomas after the pair crossed the line separated by only a couple of tenths of a second.

For the opening three-quarters of the DMAX Lightweight race, Ben Sanders and Max Housley appeared set to contest the victory in greasy but manageable conditions. Everything changed with five minutes remaining when the rain arrived. Both drivers misjudged the available grip at turn three and crashed out of contention, prompting a red flag. When the race restarted, the rain was lashing down and simply reaching the chequered flag became a challenge. Despite having spent much of the race outside the leading battle, reigning champion Lucas Gathercole remarkably kept his kart on the circuit and emerged with victory by four seconds. Abi Sanders produced a similarly composed drive through the treacherous closing stages to secure a place on the podium. There was heartbreak for Fin Imber, who led the field onto the final lap before losing control at turn five and seeing a potential victory agonisingly slip away.

The Heavyweight race unfolded in similarly difficult circumstances. Darren Holliday put his experience to excellent use, mastering the conditions to take victory. Brandon Gathercole and Dan Knowles completed the podium after battling hard and fighting to keep their karts on the circuit throughout the closing stages.