Race Reports

Daytona Championships 6th December 2024

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SuperChamps – Daytona Sandown Park

We were greeted by quite mild conditions for the sixth round of SuperChamps at Daytona Sandown Park, a pleasant change from the freezing conditions over the last couple of days. We were back on the Grand Prix format, which is a test of both a driver’s one lap pace and consistency – making for an interesting race.

SODI

In qualifying, Charlie Foster was impressive and was on pole position in his 4-stroke season debut. Championship challenger Ellis Mckenzie was alongside him on the front row of the grid; Jamie Warner and Max Winfield lurked behind on the second row.

In the shootout, Charlie Foster got a poor reaction from the lights and was initially challenged for the lead by McKenzie and Warner. However, he ended the first lap in the lead and did not look back at any point, completing a total lights to flag by the end of the race. He was joined in the top three by Warner and McKenzie, the two of them having a good battle during the race. Owing to his great one-lap pace, Warner was able to snatch pole for the final by setting a lap during the race that was just a tenth of as second faster than Foster. As for the Heavyweights, Reece Harris struck the first blow against his title rival Olly Cooper-Welton, taking a commanding victory.

Despite his impressive performance in the first race, Charlie Foster was not able to make good on his time in the second race. Ellis McKenzie spent the first sixteen laps of the race battling with Foster and Warner for the win, getting as low as third for a good chunk of the race. However, he managed to get into the lead on the eighteenth lap and from here generated an eight second buffer between himself and second-place Foster. Warner also fell behind slightly, this time behind Foster – completing the podium. There was also a slight shakeup in the Heavyweight order, as Olly Cooper-Welton climbed onto the top step but not as easily as Reece Harris who pushed him all the way to the line. Continuing his charge to a top three championship finish, Sam Roy rounded out the podium.

DMAX

Steve Hannon and Luka Nik shared the front row heading into the first race of the day in the DMAX class. During the race, Nik found himself dropping down a little, not quite being able to fend off the attacks from some of the drivers charging behind, after losing the lead on the second lap of the race. Adam Palmer was runner-up to eventual winner Steve Hannon, who managed to nearly build a five second gap over the fifteen minutes. Archie Bullard rounded out the top three. A really good drive from Bullard as he weaved his way through the field in the race. The Heavyweights was just as competitive, with just three tenths separating the top two Heavyweights at the line. William Tidnam took victory on this occasion, getting the better of William Willard in the first race.

After his good drive in the first race, Archie Bullard dominated the second. He managed to win by four and a half seconds, never losing the lead at any point throughout the twenty-five-minute contest. He was joined on the podium by Steve Hannon, who despite falling behind, he also was able to build a gap successfully to the driver immediately behind him, Adam Palmer. Palmer drove well and rounded off the podium but had to get defensive from the ever-quick Luka Nik. As for the Heavyweights, William Tidnam once more got the measure of William Willard, taking victory in the round in an impressive style – though only one place ahead of his rival on track. Tristan Buirski drove well to complete the podium, collecting a sufficient haul of points.

Our next round of SuperChamps at Daytona Sandown Park is next weekend, where drivers return to the heats format. With it all square at the top of the DMAX Lightweight standings, it is anyone’s game from here.

InKart – Daytona Sandown Park

The soaking wet was just one of many challenges drivers faced ahead of the sixth round of InKart at Daytona Sandown Park. They were also faced with battling on the alternate layout of the circuit, as well as the very tricky ‘Cup’ format. We are expecting a fantastic round of racing.

Cadets

Marcus Cooper drove wonderfully in qualifying, taking pole position ahead of Sebastian Mejer when the grids were merged. There was a really quick grid behind them though, as the likes of Adam Telford and Milan Pillay all managed to make their way into the A-Final.

Vying for promotion into the A-Final, Oscar Bradley had to carve his way through the field on his way to securing that prize. He ended up winning the race by an entire lap, but this was only after taking the lead on lap thirteen of the race. He was joined on the podium by Amanze Nwosu and Luka Teneisvhili. Teneishvili drove well but was demoted due to a penalty he received during the race.

In the A-Final, Marcus Cooper strolled to a wonderful victory by nine seconds ahead of Adam Telford. The battle for second was where most of the action was held, with two tenths of a second between the other two podium positions. Ed Sibbery tried his best to get past Adam Telford but ultimately fell short of a second. It was a cracking race though, and both received a solid number of points on their championship totals.

Juniors

Ethan Critchley drove well in qualifying, battling through both yellow flags and the conditions, to take pole for the A-Final. He was joined on the front row by Felix Sheldon-Heywood, leading to a cracking race between the two.

Looking at the B-Final, Zoe Cattett drove exceptionally to win on circuit however, she misjudged a move towards the end of the race on a backmarker cadet. Despite an otherwise flawless drive, she was penalised and dropped into fourth position. In her place, Jack Edger took victory by just a second or so ahead of Andrew Thomson. They were joined on the podium by Dylan Hourican, who’s pace was consistent throughout.

With promotion secured, Edger made a fair account of himself in the A-Final, managing to climb into seventh position – with a significant haul of points for the round. Further forward, Ethan Critchley had a fairly straightforward job in taking victory, leading a lights to flag with the fastest lap of the race to boot as well. He was joined in the top three by Felix Heywood and Leger Dimitriou. Dimitriou had a good fight with Aleks Kozuch, eventually just finishing a second ahead.

InKart – Daytona Milton Keynes

It was yet again another wet morning for the penultimate round of the InKart season with drivers yet again having to deal with challenging conditions.

In qualifying, it was championship leader Tom Justice that picked up pole position by just a few tenths off closest rival Zayn Perry, who needed to out score Justice to still be in contention for the title. Zach Smith picked up third in qualifying with Harry Fitch joining him on the front row of the grid

In the Cadets Gillen Townshend was seen flying during the qualifying, picking up pole position and even setting the fastest lap overall while Alexander Karadzhov lined up alongside him on the front row.

In the B-Final it was Michael Oxtoby-Page which dominated, taking the race win by thirteen seconds over his closest competitor Rayaan Malik, who managed to make his way up into second. Holly Garratt had an impressive drive through the field to take the final step on the podium.

Justice took the race win in the A-Final, looking uncatchable in the lead of the championship after a dominant drive which saw him take the race win in tough conditions by 5.5 seconds over Perry in second. The battle for the podiums came right down to the wire, with Fitch and Smith constantly battling throughout the race, but Fitch took the last step on the podium finishing just in front of Smith only two tenths back from Perry.

In the Cadets Karadzhov managed to take the lead early on and held that gap to take the race win, making it extremely close between the top two going into the final round of the season. Townshend picked up second and the fastest lap which could be crucial come the end of the season. Charlie Marden showed impressive pace and consistency to pick up third place in the A-Final and his best race of the season.

InKart – Daytona Tamworth

As we enter the closing stages of the final season of InKart in 2024 at Daytona Tamworth, championship titles are still up for grabs. With dropped rounds being incorporated from this point onwards, this is a chance for drivers to eliminate some of their poorer results from earlier in the season.

It is also the final running of the heats format, which features a ten-minute practice, two ten-minute heats (random and reversed random grids), with a fifteen-minute final being where the big points and trophies are awarded. The drivers were met with rain for most of the morning, leading to a soggy and slippery track.

Cadets

All eyes were on championship contender Henry James in practice, who did exceptionally well to mix in the middle of the junior field, something that’s only possible in wet conditions. He was multiple seconds clear of everyone else – an ominous sign for the rest of the cadet grid.

Heading into heat one, James delivered on his pace in practice by moving from his random grid start of last, all the way up to P2, missing out on the heat win by just over a tenth from net championship leader George Marriott. The pair of them showing great race craft and respect, going side-by-side all the way to the line on the last lap. Finley Tarran took one of his best results of the season in P3.

Heat two saw a stoppage due to a big incident for Tarran, the young driver hurting his ribs and having to be walked back to the paddock – we wish him a speedy recovery! Despite the full course yellow bunching up the pack, James continued to deliver by disappearing out the front of the field, gapping the pack by seconds a lap. Marriott was on track for a solid P2 before an uncharacteristic mistake saw him spin at Turn ten, dropping him down the order. He eventually recovered to P3. Locke Evans split the two with an excellent P2.

Heading into the final, it was James and Marriott alongside each other on the front row. They immediately picked up their duel from Heat one, Marriott getting the jump off the line and leading for the opening stages. However, James managed to get the move done but the two were never separated by more than a second throughout the whole race. Despite a nervy final few laps, James narrowly took his second event win of the season (and fastest lap to boot) from Marriott, the two of them the class of the field, finishing nearly fifty seconds clear of Jessica Kirby in P3.

However, it would be too-little-to-late for James in terms of the championship, with Marriott’s P2, along with four maximum-score rounds earlier in the season, enough to secure him his first InKart title. Meanwhile, the battle for P3 in the standings is still wide open, with several drivers able to grasp it in the final round.

Juniors

The title fight has been wide open this season, with drivers trading wins and podiums at every round. This time proved no different, and P2-in-the-standings Joseph Smith started his day off with a win in heat one from Reuben Potter and Noah Johnson.

However, with another heat came a completely different order, with Alfie Kells taking the win this time, just three tenths ahead of Smith who gave everything in the closing laps to get past. Noah Johnson made it another P3, just eight tenths off Smith.

There was high drama in the final, with polesitter Smith getting into a comfortable lead, pulling over a second-a-lap on the rest of the grid in the early stages. He seemed to have the event win under wraps, before a completely unforced error saw him spin on the still-slippery track, dropping him all the way to the back of the junior field. Despite his visible distress, he did exceptionally well to climb all the way back to P3, finishing just sixteen seconds oof race-winner Johnson, who became the 5^th different overall winner in juniors this season, gaining him vital points in the championship. Current championship leader Alfie Kells also gained important points in P2.

With a junior champion to crown and the last spot on the cadet podium still available, you don’t want to miss the closing round of InKart at Tamworth in 2024.

Thursday Night League – Daytona Sandown Park

It was hammering it down for the penultimate round of Thursday Night League at Daytona Sandown Park, and with the drivers having the added challenge of the alternate track layout already – this was set to be an interesting round.

SODI

Pole was taken by just two tenths of a second despite the very tricky conditions, and a full course yellow interrupting the qualifying session. Rafael Blanco-Bush took pole, with Alex Marcinko and Vivek Bhalla both within a second of him in second and third.

It looked quite straightforward from an outside view for Blanco-Bush, winning by seven seconds, yet it was anything but. He may have led every lap of the race but contact with a back marker in the closing stages put his win into jeopardy. Thankfully, he was cleared of any wrongdoing in what was deemed a racing incident, but the collateral damage was to those behind. Bhalla was able to get through just about unscathed, but that cannot be said for Frederick Burden – who found himself stuck in the grass despite running third. This gave Ike Wilson a chance to get a podium in what were otherwise unlikely circumstances, definitely a dramatic end to the race.

DMAX

Charlie Foster took an impressive pole position in DMAX qualifying but was just a few hundredths ahead of Archie Bullard – who saw a late surge of pace in the closing stages of the session. The two of them are the main championship protagonists and were set to surely make it a really good race.

Bullard took the lead in the early stages of the twenty minutes of the race, building a comfortable margin of about two and a half seconds towards the closing stages. Jack Redfern and Charlie Foster looked line of stern for second and third, but a late issue for Foster meant that he had to be recovered and lost a lap in the process, coming out back in front of the leaders. A short fight between himself and Bullard on the final lap meant that Redfern caught up just enough and had a drag race to the line however, Bullard held firm and ended up winning the race by about two tenths of a second. Luka Nik capitalised on Foster’s misfortune and ended up taking the final podium spot.

The championships are still just about open heading into the final round of Thursday Night League. Next time out, we look forward to welcoming our drivers back for the season finale.

Thursday Night League – Daytona Tamworth

The penultimate round of Thursday Night League in 2024 threatened horrendous conditions. Despite this, we saw the largest grids in both classes in months, and with championships potentially decided today, it promised a cracker!

N35-ST

With dropped rounds continuing to filter through, it was uncertain where Sam Chaplin needed to finish to score enough points to wrap up the title a round early. Nevertheless, it was clear that he at least needed to outscore his championship challengers Jude Lillyman and Nihal Joye. Matters would be complicated further by the re-emergence of former N35 lap record holder Eduardo Pozo, the Coventry BUKC driver making a one-off appearance.

Pozo certainly delivered, navigating the sodden track to take a dominant pole by more than two seconds. Lillyman impressed to take P2 in conditions that he’s historically struggled him, with Chaplin and championship regular Brent Deeley lining up on the second row of the grid.

Pozo lead into turn one… and then he was gone. With an average best lap more than 1.5 seconds clear of anyone else, he demolished the rest of the field from start-to-finish, winning by nearly thirty seconds. Behind him, Lillyman and Chaplin battled for the remaining spots on the podium. Despite a worse best lap, Chaplin delivered a consistent drive to eventually get past Lillyman and clinch P2 by just under a second.

However, behind him, the battle for the rest of the championship trophies has gotten very interesting. A rough couple of weeks for Nihal Joye, who could only manage P8 this time, and back-to-back podiums for Lillyman in the last two rounds has put the latter in the hot seat to clinch the runner-up spot. However, with only seven points separating them after dropped rounds, it could go either way at the final round of the season.

DMAX-GT

There was drama during qualifying for the DMAXs, with championship-leader Ben Foden only qualifying P9 in a session filled with championship regulars and newer drivers who were straight on the pace. However, with the absence of Jack Whitehouse, a top five finish for Foden would be more than enough to wrap up the championship with a round to spare.

At the front, it was the return of reigning champion Max Housley, who unfortunately was out of the championship running due to a few-too-many absences. He took pole ahead of Tom Duffy, who despite still being mathematically in the title race, would need results to fall his way to still be in the hunt at the end of this round. Tommy Lee-Davis and Jono Heston made up an all-debutant row two, with podium finisher in N35 Ash Chivers in P5.

In complete contrast to the N35 race, this one stayed close at the front throughout. Housley led for the first three-quarters, but Duffy was always right behind him, never more than a second adrift. With five minutes to go, the pressure seemed to be too much for Housley, making a slight mistake, gifting Duffy the lead. Shortly after, the field become even more bunched-up when an incident from Sonny Zacharias brought out the red flag, with the eventual restart from full course yellows, seeing the field strung out in a line and a five-minute shootout deciding the podium and points places.

In the end, Duffy was able to hold on to take his second win in two rounds, ahead of Housley in P2 and an impressive podium for Chivers in P3. Things seemed to look even better for Duffy when it transpired that Foden was unable to make any positions during the race, finishing P9. However, cruelly, Foden was able to take the fastest lap on the final tour, gaining him the extra point he needed to knock Duffy out of the title race, and placing one hand on the title.

Heading into the final race, Jack Whitehouse would have to take maximum points to have any chance at snatching it from Foden.