The Final Round

The season finale for a thoroughly entertaining InKart season at Daytona Tamworth took place on a very rainy Sunday morning, with all of the drivers inside of the championship hunt set to have their skills tested to the maximum.

Group one went out first, and Olivier Guintoli was one of the two main protagonists for the Junior title - fighting it out with Theo Laverty for the victory. The two of them were in different heats though, with Olivier in the first. Desperately needing a win to kick things off, he was unfortunately not quite able to match the impressive pace of Cooper Campbell-Lees - having to settle for second despite having the lead for a good chunk of the race. They were joined in the top three by Harvey Preen, who had to make a recovery drive to get through on Kodi Francis-Brown.

In the Cadets, Ethan Guest kept alive his own championship hopes, slim though they may have been, with a dominant six second victory ahead of Micah Hunte-Nelson. Harry Fitch was in contention for the championship as well, and he did enough to keep A-Final chances alive by finishing in third place.

In the second race of the day, Theo Laverty put in a dominant performance to match that of rival Olivier Guintoli. Theo was able to win by ten seconds ahead of the very strong Tom Justice, with Rhys Kings crossing the line in third.

In the Cadets, the contender in the driving seat to take the championship at the end of the day was Zachary Smith, and he started his efforts with a fantastic drive ahead of Henry Gordon - who finished second. Henry showed really good pace throughout practice and the heat, putting a lot of pressure on Zachary for the lead. Ted Hitchman had a quieter time in third, but showed very consistent pace throughout.

Knowing that Theo had won his heat, there was a lot of pressure on Olivier Guintoli to get a race victory in his second heat, something that he managed to do through a fantastic move on Cooper Campbell-Lees in the late stages of the race. Cooper would have finished second, but found himself on the receiving end of a three-position penalty, demoting him down the order. This, alongside a one place for Kodi Francis-Brown, was enough to promote Harvey Preen into second - Kodi finishing third.

There was less drama in the cadets, though Ethan Guest would have to settle for a B-Final appearance after finishing in fifth spot. The winner of the race was Harry Fitch, driving impressively to keep a charging Micah Hunte-Nelson behind. Joseph Smith had a similarly tough battle with Jack Charles-Bailey, eventually narrowly getting the better of Jack.

The final heat of the day would confirm who would make it into the last two finals of the season, and Theo Laverty kept both his round sweep and championship hopes alive with a thirteen second victory ahead of Tom Justice, who challenged Theo for much of the race but eventually fell behind towards the end.

As for the Cadets, Zachary Smith all but confirmed his spot at the top of the championship by taking another win, this time by just under a second to Henry Gordon - who’s final round of the season was shaping up to be very impressive. They were joined in the top three by Ted Hitchman, who had his work cut out in staying ahead of a speedy Harry Kennedy.

Both Harvey Preen and Ethan Guest would probably not have liked to be in the B-Final in a championship finale where both drivers had a chance of winning the whole thing - though they both made good use of a sub-optimal situation by dominating their respective classes, both doing enough to secure a very impressive top three in the championship.

In the Juniors, Harvey was joined by the ever consistent Rhys Kings on the podium, as well as Kodi Francis-Brown - who showed pretty good pace after a very difficult start to the race.

As for the cadets, Ethan was joined by Joseph Smith and Harry Kennedy, both drivers having to do battle with each other and Jack Charles-Bailey in order to claim their spots on the podium.

The Finale

An entire season of racing was set to come down to the A-Final in the final round of the season, with Theo Laverty and Olivier Guintoli battling for the Junior championship, and Zachary Smith trying to wrap up his dominant season in the Cadets.

The race was a relatively nervous one for Olivier Guintoli , who had to battle with Tom Justice and Cooper Campbell-Lees throughout the race. Much to his frustration, Theo Laverty spent the majority of the race at the front - though backmarker traffic towards the end made for a tense finish. Eventually, Theo was able to squeeze ahead of Tom and Olivier behind, claiming the championship in the process.

Runners-up spot won’t taste too bittersweet though for Olivier, as being crowned runner-up on championship debut is a very respectable effort.

In the Cadets, Zachary Smith showed the cool character he possesses, taking a calm victory ahead of Harry Fitch in second - winning the championship in the process. Harry topped off a very good season with his second spot, managing to stay ahead of a very strong Henry Gordon - who himself had to get his elbows out in defence against Micah Hunte-Nelson.

The chequered flag of the A-Final brought to a close a thoroughly enjoyable first season of InKart at Daytona Tamworth, with a close championship battle that went down to the wire.