The UK Corporate Games is the UK’s largest multi-sport festival for businesses, and 2023 was its 30th anniversary, hosted in Coventry & Warwickshire, 3-6 August 2023. The Games are the ultimate mix of sport, business and tourism and people will come from all over the UK and Europe. A platform to engage employees, promote health & wellbeing and to broaden networking opportunities.
Daytona Tamworth was proudly selected as the host for the karting arm of the Games. On Friday 4th August, we hosted an individual contest, and a team endurance on the Saturday.
Individual Race
It was perfect weather for karting on Friday morning as the Corporate Games UK got underway with the individual event. Drivers representing companies from all around the UK qualified throughout the morning in a series of heat races to place themselves into one of three finals.
The C Final would be won by Caio Zack Cropper of Balfour Beatty, who only narrowly held on to the victory after a very solid attack from John Tattersall, who was looking likely to make a move towards the end of the race. Nathan Malcom would come home in third, finishing twenty-four seconds behind the leading pair but comfortably ahead of fourth-placed finisher Jeremy Pointer. Despite this being the C final, the three female drivers in the race would compete for bronze in that classification. Dilek Mola Cetiner’s 14th place was enough to see her take home this medal, ahead of Jenn Reid and Zoey Cole.
Next was the B Final, which would be won by Mark Williams of the Safran team. University of Warwick would finish highly here, with Sam Olesker-Taylor flying their flag in second position. Oleskar-Taylor would match the pace of the race-winner, though he eventually finished three-seconds behind. Michael Schenk’s pace was similar hence why the Balfour Beatty driver would come home in third, but he was a further two-seconds off of the lead of the race. Megan Law was in 18th position, that spot being enough to secure her silver medal in the female classification for the event.
The last race of the day was the A-Final, which would decide the gold, silver and bronze medal places in the individual classifications. As the only driver from the female class driving in the A Final, it was no surprise that Sophie Norbury of Barclays brought home a gold medal after her sixth place in the race. Another Barclays driver would win both the overall and male event, Michael Jones leading a Barclays 1-2 finish just one-tenth of a second ahead of a charging Richard Bird. Josh Moore was not too far behind, within a second of the leaders, and he would round out an all-Barclays podium.
Team Endurance Race
Saturday’s on-track action would see the drivers team-up for an hour’s long endurance race, with the grid being set by a forty-minute qualifying session. Teams were made up of four drivers who would all need to drive at least one lap throughout the course of the sixty-minute contest.
Inconsistent spells of rain throughout the morning meant that having the right person in the kart at the right time was pivotal for the qualifying session. Barclay Kart would start the team event as they finished the individuals: at the top of the order. Their 01:26.454 saw them storm to a pole-position by 1.303 seconds ahead of the John Lewis Karters #25. Coventry City Council would round out the top 3.
The track would not dry up throughout the race, with many drivers finding it particularly difficult to get going in the very difficult conditions. Despite early contests for the lead of the race, Barclay Kart would take home a victory by 54 seconds, which was partially due to a very strong middle stint from their driver lineup. John Lewis Karters had a comparatively troubled middle stint, but their consistently strong pace towards the backend of the race allowed them to claim the silver-medal spot. Despite challenges all afternoon from both Warwickshire County Council and the Barclays sister team, Coventry City Council would bring home a very hard-earned bronze.
