Super One MSA British Championship Series Round 4

from Graham Smith

The Junior and Senior MSA British Championship ‘circus’ descended on the Midlands circuit of Whilton Mill at the mid-point in the championship, and enjoyed a sunny and warm weekend on July 4-5.  Friday practice had some heavy rain, but thankfully it stayed clear over the two race days.  As always, the competition was keen, with Jordan Chamberlain’s winning run in KF2 coming to an end, and new winners emerging in the shape of Chris Lock in KF2, and Rob Foster-Jones in KF1.  Alex Gill had a mighty run through from the back to win the second Cadet final.  All the tyres were kept in parc ferme, but of course the wets were never needed.  The series continues to use the Uniloggers to check on excessive clutch slip in the KF classes.

Comer Cadet ABkC National Championship
Three Cadet drivers from different teams were chosen to have their race fuel drained and refilled by petrol and oil supplied by the organizers at the start of the first final, in continuing efforts to counter any paddock rumours of drivers using non-homologated oils.  About eight karts fell off the track at the start of the first final, and just after that Sam Vanderpump lost his chain.  This left Connor Jupp struggling to keep the lead in the face of the assault by Max Vaughan and Josh White.  Vaughan briefly broke clear, but Ricky Collard led the charge back to him, only to see Matthew Graham vault over both.  Jupp regained the lead, then Graham, then Vaughan, but Graham had it covered when it mattered most.  Collard’s efforts to keep second were in vain, as he fell to fifth, White nipping ahead of Vaughan at the last corners.  In the second final, Graham, Vaughan and White fought hard, joined by Jupp, Collard and Harry Woodhead.  Alex Gill, who had started 25th after coming off at the start of the first final, was making amazing progress through the whole field until he settled on Vaughan’s rear bumper and pushed the pair three seconds clear of the pack.  A dive into the uphill hairpin gave him a marvelous win, with Vaughan not taking any undue risk to settle for second.

Above: Alex Gill
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Above: Matthew Graham
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Results
Cadet Final 1
1 Matthew Graham (Zip)
2 Josh White (Zip)
3 Max Vaugham (Zip)
4 Harry Woodhead (Zip)
5 Ricky Collard (Zip)
6 Connor Jupp (Zip)
Final 2
1 Alex Gill (Wright)
2 Vaughan
3Graham
4 White
5 Collard
6 Woodhead
Heat winners: Jupp x 2.  Timed qualifying pole: Sam Vanderpump (Tonykart)

Championship Standings
1 Alex Gill 353
2 Harry Woodhead 353
3 Max Vaughan 351
4 Josh White 332
5 Matthew Graham 322
6 Sam Webster 320

Above: Cadet podium
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF3 MSA Junior British Kart Championship
Alexander Albon, having topped qualifying and won both his heats, simply roared away from the pack, to a four second first final win.  Sennan Fielding, the other heat winner, split the distance to the remainder where Guilherme Silva overcame Jordan King by the end of the race.  Championship leader Jake Dennis failed to find the pace to compete on terms with his major rival, and despite his best efforts fell back to fifth.  Fielding made a great start in the second final, only for the race to be stopped due to accidents being cleared.  At the restart, Albon assumed his customary first position, for a largely untroubled win.  The next three were the same as before, but Dennis fell back to seventh, Sam Blake and Macaulay Walsh coming past.  Then the race was stopped again, for another accident, and the Clerk decided to call it over.

Above: Alex Albon
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Above: KF3 grid up
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF3 Final 1:
1 Alexander Albon (Tonykart/TM)
2 Sennan Fielding (Tonykart/Vortex)
3 Guilherme Silva (Tonykart/Vortex)
4 Jordan King (Maranello/Maxter)
5 Jake Dennis (Topkart/TM)
6 Jake Dalton (Alonso/TM)
Final 2:
1 Albon
2 Fielding
3 Silva
4 King
5 Sam Blake (Octane/XTR)
6 Macaulay Walsh (Birel/TM) 
Heat winners: Albon; Fielding; Albon.  Timed qualifying pole: Albon

Championship Standings
1 Alexander Albon 381
2 Jake Dennis 378
3 Jordan King 340
4 Jake Dalton 322
5 Sennan Fielding 321
6 Sam Blake 314

Above: Junior podium
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF2 ABkC National Championship
A lively exchange between Chris Lock, Shaun Carter and Jake Ball only lasted until Jordan Chamberlain got fully into his stride, marching relentlessly to the front.  Lock fell all the way to ninth at one point, but fought back to finish fourth, whilst Chamberlain, Ball and Carter flashed over the line in less than a second.  To begin with, it looked like Chamberlain would keep his cushion at the front in the second final, but he was hauled back in by Lock until a decisive winning move at the second last corner with James Godbehere following through.  Lock’s little cushion was diminished on the last couple of laps, but he managed to stay ahead.  Jake Ball had forced his way past Shaun Carter earlier, forcing Carter’s retirement, and Ball was excluded from his fourth place, promoting Alex Lynn, Tom Joyner and Laura Tillett.

Above: Jordan Chamberlain
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Above: Chris Lock
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF2 Final 1
1 Jordan Chamberlain (Tonykart/TM)
2 Jake Ball (Tonykart/TM)
3 Shaun Carter (Tonykart/TM)
4 Chris Lock (Tonykart/Vortex)
5 James Godbehere (Maranello/Maxter)
6 Laura Tillett (Gillard/TM)
Final 2: 1 Lock
2 Godbehere
3 Chamberlain
4 Alex Lynn (Alonso/Vortex)
5 Tom Joyner (Gillard/TM)
6 Tillett
Heat winners: Chamberlain; Ball.  Timed qualifying pole: Chamberlain

Championship Standings
1 Jordan Chamberlain 376
2 Shaun Carter 339
3 Chris Lock 339
4 Charles Bonsey 324
5 Alex Lynn 306
6 Josh Fielding 301

Above:KF2 podium
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF1 MSA British Kart Championship
One had to look at the back of the grid for the first final to find some of the major protagonists.  Ben Cooper had a seize in one heat, and was pushed off before the start of the second damaging his kart, whilst Jordon Lennox-Lamb had decided to skip both heats to save his tyres and one engine for the finals.  Mark Litchfield was mid-grid after accident damage leading to retirement in a heat.  So the reliable and fast Luke Wright had pole, with Elliot Burton alongside, and it was Wright that sped into the lead, until Rob Foster-Jones thundered through, took the lead and drew out two seconds on the chasing Ben Cooper.  Wright threw off a big challenge by Burton to regain third, with Mark Litchfield chipping away to reach fourth.  Some forceful driving in the second final led to a Clerk’s inquiry, but no action was taken.  Cooper fell to fourth at the start, Lennox-Lamb his first target, whilst Litchfield snatched the lead from the less experienced Wright.  Cooper came up to challenge, exchanging the lead with Litchfield many times before Wright took the opportunity to plant his kart between them and allow Cooper to escape.  Lennox-Lamb joined the action, Litchfield having to put him back in his place in order to grab second half way round the last lap, only to see Wright slash over the inside of the second last corner for the runner-up spot, Lennox-Lamb taking the opportunity to follow for third.

Above: Rob Foster-Jones
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Above: KF1 driver parade
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

Above: Ben Cooper
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

KF1 Final 1:
1 Robert Foster-Jones (Alonso/TM)
2 Ben Cooper (Tonykart/Vortex)
3 Luke Wright (Tonykart/TM)
4 Mark Litchfield (Maranello/TM)
5 Jordan Lennox-Lamb (Topkart/IAME)
6 Elliot Burton (Tonykart/TM)

Final 2:
1 Cooper
2 Wright
3 Lennox-Lamb
4 Litchfield
5 Jonathan Walker (Gillard/TM)
6 Denis Gorman (Wright/IAME)
Heat winners: Burton; Foster-Jones.  Timed qualifying pole: Foster-Jones

Championship Standings
1 Ben Cooper 374
2 Jordon Lennox-Lamb 355
3 Mark Litchfield 353
4 Luke Wright 349
5 Lee Bell 346
6 Rob Foster-Jones 339

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