UK Super One MSA/TKM, Round 4Tweetby 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 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).
MSA Junior British Kart Championship KF3 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).
MSA British Kart Championship KF2 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).
FORMULA KGP 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).
ABkC JUNIOR TKM NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 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).
ABkC TKM EXTREME NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 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.
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