Race Reports ⸱ 7th July 2026 10:03 AM

Daytona Championships (4th-10th) July

InKart – Round Seven

Daytona Sandown Park

What started as an overcast morning soon cleared up and as drivers completed their pre-briefing track walk of the GP circuit the sun was beaming down. Another popular entry meant that three sets of groups would be created for the ‘Cup’ format Qualifying, with three Finals following after. The groups were assigned based on championship standings which meant that the groups each had a wide range of experience and ability. Each of the initial sessions started with a 15-minute Practice for drivers that then ran into a five-minute Qualifying session.

Session One saw Kyle Rosario lead the way initially for the Juniors but Jack Canadasamy went quickest on lap three, himself being out paced by Milan Pillay a lap later. Harry Pearce joined a gaggle of karts completing for the top spot in the Cadet class, with Alexander Montgomery and Jack Dodson having to settle for third and second behind Lorenzo Zarella. In Session Two, Freddie Lawrence almost led from flag to flag despite pressure from fellow Juniors Hadi Chaudry and Raphael Villanueva. Jenson Fuller and Joshua Puttick were separated by just a tenth of a second, securing their entry to the A-Final of the Cadets with a decent gap back to Cameron Annis and Alessandro Aiolfi. The last Qualifying session of the day was the closest by far, less than two tenths covering the top three of Jacob Pratt, Alexander Pecorella and Alexander Nechev in Cadets. The Juniors saw a similar story, Jason Bond taking the top spot from Lucas Fasabi Rios by barely a tenth and Callum Law close behind in third.

The C-Final began with drivers lining up on the grid in anticipation of securing the race win, and with it a chance to move into the higher scoring B-Final. Lucas Fisher got away from the line well but it was Arno Nurijanyan who took the lead at the end of the first lap and continued to put in quick laps in to build a healthy gap between himself and the competition. Avery Speller worked hard to try and reel in Fisher ahead but in the end, he had to settle for third. The Cadet’s race was a little livelier, with a series of infield battles resulting in many position swaps and a few post-race penalties. However, it was Ernest Sztuba who was able to thread his way through the pack to take the lead at the midway point, relegating Will Hunter to second and Caleb Hiles to third.

Raphael Villanueva got a good start in the B-Final but dropped to third behind Leo Betts and Sebastian Mejer. Mejer began to build a gap but a full course yellow bunched the pack and both Betts and Villanueva managed to jump him at the restart. Arno Nurijanyan capitalised on his C-Final pace and pushed incredibly hard throughout to work his way up to second place, but in the end, he wasn’t able to catch Villanueva. Again, the Cadets delivered a spectacular race and, much like Nurijanyan in the Juniors, Sztuba made his way from the back of the grid to a point where he was battling for second place with Vladimir Patapas. Sztuba finished second with Antonio Pellicani in third, and Aryan Kapila taking the win after a number of penalties were issued for yellow flag infringements.

Freddie Law had the pole spot but dropped behind Jason Bond on the first lap. Behind Hadi Chaudry and Jack Candasamy began to pick their way through the field, passing Milan Pillay and Lucas Fasabi. Bond lost out to Candasamy on lap four and despite Chaudry’s efforts to catch him showed the pack a clean set of heels to take the silverware and maximum points ahead of Chaudry and Pillay. Lorenzo Zarella optimised his pole position start and led the Cadets in the opening phase of the race but a spin at turn six cost him a chance at the win. Jenson Fuller, Alexander Pecorella, Jack Dodgson and Joshua Puttick were all in a nose to tail battle but penalties for contact meant that while Puttick’s pace and on track performance delivered him a sizeable lead it wasn’t enough to secure the win. A late penalty for Pecorella, also for contact, handed the win to a Jack Dodgson who had put together a great recovery drive to pass second place Jenson Fuller, Pecorella finishing third.

Daytona Tamworth

The penultimate round of Inkart was an exciting prospect. With brand new racing karts providing a new and unique challenge, two grids of drivers prepared to take on the cup format.

In the Cadet race, Greyson Scandrett took the full assignment of points by taking victory and the fastest lap as well. He was five and a half seconds ahead of Jack Mills after a very mature driver. Mills was similarly comfortable where he was in the race, a confident three seconds ahead of the third-placed driver, taking some very strong points heading into the final round. It was the battle for third where most attentions were diverted, as just three tenths separated Fehn Thomas and Rose Calvert at the line, with Thomas impressively taking a maiden InKart podium.

For the seventh round in a row, Tyler Shanks won the Junior class, keeping up his unbeaten form even at this late stage of the season. This victory was far from straightforward, however, as Shanks spent most of the race desperately clinging on to victory ahead of a charging pack. Hugo Macmillan and George Glossop were both in the chasing train, and gave Shanks a very good fight, with a winning margin of an entire second not really telling the story of the race. If Shanks takes another victory in the final round next week, he will have completed an almost unthinkable task of winning every round in the season. As said, he was joined on the podium by fastest man on track Hugo Macmillan and George Glossop.

Masters League – The Final

Daytona Sandown Park

In the SODI Inters, Diogo Leal set the Qualifying benchmark with a superb 52.722s lap to claim class pole. Reece Harris and Manuele Benini completed the top three, with less than a second covering the top three. Moving into the Sprint Race, Diogo Leal dominated the class, leading from start to finish and setting the fastest lap of the race. Leal’s pace and consistency saw him lead the field from the front. Reece Harris secured second place with a strong performance, while Manuele Benini completed the podium after a close fight among top three. Jamal Hanson finished fourth, maintaining solid pace throughout the race, with Jonathan Feeney rounding out the top five after a consistent drive.

Even closer than the Inters Qualifying, the SODI Heavies class saw Piers Bate take pole over Junior Bruno by just 0.067s, while Barry Weller was only a further 0.146s behind. Andrew Sirkett and Martin Strutt completed a tightly packed top five, with just over a second separating them. The Sprint Race produced a close battle between the front runners, with Junior Bruno claiming victory after a great performance out in front. Barry Weller finished second, pushing hard throughout the race, while Andrew Sirkett secured third place in a tight battle for the podium. Piers Bate finished just behind the podium in fourth, with Martin Strutt completing the top five.

Tom Brown claimed pole position in the DMAX Inters class after setting the fastest lap of the Qualifying session. Brown led the way with a strong Qualifying performance, setting himself up well for the race to come. Charlie Hoffer secured second place, just 0.169 seconds away from pole, while Liam Duffett followed closely behind to take third. The battle for the front two rows remained extremely tight, with Vivek Bhalla Qualifying fourth and Tony Licastro completing the top five. Said leading drivers were separated by less than four tenths of a second, displaying the closeness in the DMAX field. In the Sprint Race Tom Brown converted his Qualifying pole position into a race win, producing a dominant performance at the front of the field. Brown led the race and held off strong pressure to take the win. Charlie Hoffer finished just behind in second place after a close battle, while Liam Duffett completed the podium in third. The top three remained closely matched throughout the race, with all three drivers showing the consistency needed to hold their positions. Vivek Bhalla finished fourth, while William Jonkler secured fifth place after a competitive race among the leading group. Tony Licastro narrowly missed out on the top five, finishing sixth after running near the front.

The Heavies session was another close contest, with Marcus Moore taking pole position after several strong Qualifying laps. Warren Gomm finished second, just 0.084 seconds behind, setting up an exciting battle at the front. Adam Nakar qualified third, followed by Justin Hammond in fourth and Benny Reid rounding out the top five. In the Sprint Race the Heavies class produced a strong battle at the front, with Warren Gomm taking the race win after a consistent performance. Adam Nakar finished second, staying within reach of the leader throughout the race, while Marcus Moore completed the podium in third. Justin Hammond finished fourth after a solid run, while James Roberts and Benny Reid battled closely to complete the top six.