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UK Super One MSA/TKM, Round 4

by Dave Bewley

In mainly dry but changeable weather conditions 146 competitors produced some high quality racing as they contested Round 4 of these championships at the picturesque Glan y Gors circuit in North Wales. Sudden showers occasionally caught competitors out as they were forced to start their races on slick tyres. 

Young Dexter Patterson tried to “second guess” the weatherman by starting Final 2 of Cadets on wet tyres despite a preponderance of clear blue sky at the time. Had his gamble paid off, he might possibly have become the youngest winner in Super One history. Unfortunately for him the rain stayed away and Dexter pretty much found himself in reverse gear for much of this race.

Hugo Bentley-Ellis had a good weekend winning the first Cadet final ahead of Enaam Ahmed and finishing just behind Josh Smith in the other one. Ahmed’s championship hopes were dented when he was excluded from Final 2 after an incident with Dean MacDonald. Unusually, this was the only class that produced different winners in each final. George Russell, Ben Barnicoat, Jonathan Davis, Jake Campbell-Mills and Phil Smith each notched up a brace of victories in KF3, KF2, KGP, Junior TKM and Senior TKM Extreme respectively.

ABkC COMER CADET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Cameron Roberts, William Pettit, Ben Wooldridge and Dean MacDonald occupied the top four slots in Qualifying session 1. They were joined by Hugo Bentley-Ellis, Zak Fulk, Jonny Edgar and Josh Skelton from session 2.  Ahmed won Heat 1 ahead of Fulk and Bentley-Ellis with Josh Smith taking 4th spot. The next Heat was run in slippery conditions and provided a well earned win for Eddie Hack ahead of Dean Macdonald. Dexter Patterson came off grid 19 to take 3rd spot more than 100m ahead of Bentley-Ellis. MacDonald headed Fulk across the line to win the last heat with Smith beating Roberts for 3rd place.

In a first final with more swapping about amongst the top six than could be followed, MacDonald thought that he’d won but he was later handed a 10 second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. The same fate befell Cameron Roberts who had initially finished 4th behind Ahmed. This left Bentley-Ellis as a surprised winner ahead of Josh Smith and Oliver York. Alex Quinn and Lewis Thompson made up the top six. Ahmed began the last lap of final 2 out in front but took a knock from MacDonald half way round and dropped back to 4th. He recovered to 2nd place and made a forceful challenge on MacDonald that sent the Scottish driver spinning down the order and into the barriers. This allowed Smith to win ahead of Bentley-Ellis, Roberts and Bradley Drowne. Ahmed’s subsequent exclusion allowed York to claim 5th place ahead of Pettit whilst Jack Armstrong was also excluded for driving standards.  This all leaves the rookie Cameron Roberts leading the points table before dropped scores are taken into account.

Final 1 - 1 Hugo Bently-Ellis (Zip) 21 laps in 15m55.90s; 2 Enaam Ahmed (Zip) +00.12s; 3 Josh Smith (Zip); 4 Oliver York (Zip); 5 Alex Quinn (Zip); 6 Lewis Thompson (Zip).
Final 2 - 1 Smith 20 laps in 15m 47.00s; 2 Bently-Ellis +01.00s; 3 Roberts; 4 Bradley Drowne (Zip); 5 York; 6 William Pettit (Zip). 


Above: Josh Smith leads the Comer Cadet field
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

MSA Junior British Kart Championship KF3
Fresh from his European Championship triumph, George Russell was obviously the man to beat. He topped the list in Timed Qualifying ahead of Alex Gill, Darius Karbaley and Force India’s Jehan Daruvala. Karbaley followed Russell home in Heat 1, with James Kellet taking 3rd spot ahead of Nathan Aston. Heat 2 produced another win for Russell with Gill just a couple of yards behind. Karbaley and Jamie Caroline made up the top four places.

Russell showed good tactical awareness half way through Final 1 when a sudden shower made circuit conditions unpredictable. He promptly moved over and allowed Gill to overtake him before regaining 1st place three laps later. Thereafter Gill remained in touch without seriously threatening Russell’s position. Karbaley followed some distance behind in 3rd spot while Daruvala finished a creditable 4th ahead of Martin Kodric and Odhran Henry whilst James Kellett and Caroline were amongst the non-finishers. Russell remained virtually unchallenged next time out with Gill recovering from the shock of his starter motor battery exploding in a cloud of smoke but he continued to take 2nd place once again.  Karbaley had lost 2nd place when he collided with Billy Monger at half distance.  Darius recovered to eventually finish 7th but Jehan Daruvala was unable to escape the carnage unfolding ahead and retired with a badly damaged kart after holding 5th spot.  Kellet and Caroline stormed through from the back to 3rd and 4th, albeit a good distance behind Gill with Caroline narrowly ahead of Jessica Hawkins, having her best result, and Charlie Barlow.  Kodric continued to suffer, and had to be content with eighth. This puts Russell into pole position on points ahead of Gill once dropped scores are taken into account, Kodric as an non-EU driver not being eligible under FIA rules.

Final 1 - 1 George Russell (Intrepid) 23 laps in 15m59.66s; 2 Alex Gill (Wright) +00.84s; 3 Darius Karbaley (Alonso); 4 Jehan Daruvala (Alonso); 5 Martin Kodric (Alonso); 6 Odran Henry (Kosmic).
Final 2 - 1 Russell 23 laps in 16m 00.49s; 2 Gill +02.32s; 3 James Kellett (Birel); 4 Jamie Caroline (Intrepid); 5 Jessica Hawkins (Dino); 6 Charlie Barlow (Alonso). 


Above: George Russell
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

MSA British Kart Championship KF2
Matthew Graham was a surprise entrant in this race having done a one off deal with the top-flight RFM team. He qualified in 5th spot behind Sam MacLeod, Alex Hamilton, Jack Barlow and Sam Webster. Mark Litchfield seized an engine after only three laps of this session while Ben Barnicoat was looking rather sheepish after crashing his kart upon leaving the dummy grid and failing to register a time. In damp conditions, Barlow won Heat 1, followed by Ricky Collard with Graham not far behind in 3rd spot whilst Barnicoat had a track excursion to only finish 8th. MacLeod took 4th place. Heat 2 was won by Barnicoat ahead of Barlow, Graham and Hamilton.

Quick to take polesitter Barlow, Barnicoat cruised to a comfortable victory in Final 1 followed home by Barlow, Graham and Litchfield. Webster and Hamilton made up the top six finishers. Barnicoat made it a double victory next time out pulling steadily away from Litchfield for much of the race nearly 11s to the good.  Hamilton began to close on Litchfield from mid distance onwards and overtook him a few laps from the end. Litchfield faced a further threat from Barlow but managed to hang on to 3rd spot. Graham and MacLeod completed the top six but Webster was out of luck with a DNF.   Barnicoat has a firmly established points lead in the class now.

Final 1 - 1 Ben Barnicoat (ART) 23 laps; 2 Jack Barlow (Intrepid); 3 Matthew Graham (Alonso); 4 Mark Litchfield (Zanardi); 5 Sam Webster (ART); 6 Alex Hamilton (Intrepid). 
Final 2 - 1 Barnicoat 23 laps in 15m 44.69s; 2 Hamilton +10.50s; 3 Litchfield; 4 Barlow; 5 Graham; 6 Sam MacLeod (Alonso).


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

FORMULA KGP
Denis Gorman topped Timed Qualifying ahead of John Pike, James Gornall and Jonathan Davis. A heavy shower halfway through Heat 1 sent karts flying in all directions and resulted in Gorman losing 1st place. Pike, newly mounted on a Lotus kart, remained steady throughout this race and won with almost 14s to spare. Gorman was the next driver to finish, coming home ahead of Gornall and Davis. Pike claimed 2nd place behind Davis in Heat 2, followed home by James Gornall and Fraser Wallace.

Final 1 produced an exciting battle between Davis and Jake Hughes after Gorman had retired on the opening lap with engines problems. After several changes in position, Davis finally won by less than a kart’s length over Hughes. Polesitter Pike finished 3rd ahead of Gornall with Tom Healy winning the scrap for 5th place over Robbie Dalgleish. Scott Allen slowed and eventually suffered an engines seize. Gorman produced a storming drive in Final 2, coming from the back to take the lead just past half distance. With less than 3 laps remaining, however, his engine seized leaving Davis to notch up another victory narrowly ahead of Hughes. “Old Timer” Bobby Game produced a very strong performance to take 3rd spot ahead of Pike and Gornall whilst Scott Allen carved his way up to 6th place with his spare engine. Healy was sidelined when his engine failed to start on the dummy grid, so Jonathan Davis is pulling away at the top of the points table.

Final 1 - 1 Jonathan Davis (Intrepid); 23 laps in 16m 05.09s; 2 Jake Hughes (Birel)  +00.14s; 3 John Pike (Lotus); 4 James Gornall (Intrepid); 5 Tom Healy (Birel); 6 Robbie Dalgleish (Intrepid). 
Final 2 - 1 Davis 23 laps in 16m 09.00s; 2 Hughes +00.39s; 3 Bobby Game (Birel); 4 Pike; 5 Gornall;  6 Scott Allen (Jade).


Above: Jonathan Davis
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

ABkC JUNIOR TKM NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Timed Qualifying produced one or two surprises with Kyle Hornby emerging as the quickest followed by Dino Lee, Matt Davies and Jordan Irvine. Jake Campbell Mills emerged in a lowly 10th place, although his time was just 0.1 seconds slower than Hornby’s best. In slippery conditions Stephen Letts drew first blood with a very comfortable win ahead of Daniel Baybutt and Jack Partridge. Campbell-Mills took 4th spot. Heat 2 was claimed by Davies followed by Baybutt, Letts and Partridge.

There was no stopping Campbell-Mills in Final 1 as he won with 70m to spare over Baybutt. Alex Forward finished 3rd ahead of Will Shaw, with Davies and Irvine making up the top six. Top runner Letts was embroiled in a first corner incident, continuing but then losing his chain.  Erstwhile points leader Jack Partridge had mechanical problems but continued to a lowly finish.  Campbell-Mills again stole the show in Final 2 as he led this race from start to finish. This time it was Forward who took 2nd place but 6s distant.  Arran Mills slipped through to third after a tremendous battle with Irvine, Davies and Baybutt, when the latter two collided at the last corner. Baybutt protested Davies’ driving but it was not upheld although he has just edged Partridge out of the points lead.  With his machine fixed, Partridge stormed up to 7th but Letts again got involved in the first corner crashes and went a lap down.

Final 1 - 1 Jake Campbell-Mills 21 laps in 15m 43.36s; 2 Daniel Baybutt (Jade) +03.32s; 3 Alex Forward (Wright); 4 Will Shaw (Tonykart); 5 Matt Davies (ARC); 6 Jordan Irvine (Tonykart).
Final 2 - 1 Campbell-Mills 22 laps in 16m 00.53s; 2 Forward +05.97s; 3 Aaran Mills (Jade); 4 Davies; 5 Irvine; 6 Baybutt. 


Above: Jake Campbell-Mills
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

ABkC TKM EXTREME NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Will Van Es, Joe Porter, Josh Waring and Ryan Green were the top four qualifiers in the time trials. However it was Luke Graver who claimed a narrow win in Heat 1 ahead of Ryan Cole, Ash Crossey and Jordan Houghton. Van Es made amends by winning the next race closely followed by Porter whilst Phil Smith finished 3rd ahead of Cole.

Smith worked his way steadily through the field in Final 1 and eventually won some 50m ahead of Porter who just edged Van Es over the line, the pair having traded places throughout. Luke Graver, Daniel Burton and Ryan Cole made up the top six but Paul Monks was put back with a 10s penalty.  Smith and Van Es swapped places a couple of times in Final 2 before Smith finally won this one by half a kart’s length. Porter finished about 30m behind and there was a massive gap before Graver finally took 4th spot by the tightest of margins over Waring, Ryan Green claiming 6th. Ash Crossey had non-finished the first final but only reached 13th in the second but Monks bad luck continued with a non-finish along with Joe Forsdyke.  Waring and Porter continue to contest the championship lead.

Final 1 - 1 Phil Smith (Tonykart) 22 laps in 16m 03.43s; 2 Joe Porter (Intrepid) +01.84s; 3 Will Van Es (Tonykart); 4 Luke Graver (Tonykart); 5 Daniel Burton (Tonykart); 6 Ryan Cole (Tonykart).
Final 2 - 1 Smith 22 laps in 15m 58.77s; 2 Van Es +00.12s; 3 Porter; 4 Graver; 5 Joshua Waring (ARC); 6 Ryan Green (Tonykart).


Above: Phil Smith
pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net



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