Team Benchmark ventured down to Bayford Meadows for the last round of the Summer Championship. Fielding four drivers, two in the Clubman, Jack Clegg and Sidd Rathod and two in the Cadet, Jake Gillett and Luke Whitehead.

This was Sidd’s second MSA race and his lap times and perfect lines in practice stood him in good stead for the race on Sunday. After the heats, both Sidd and Jack qualified for the B final and needed a top four finish to Qualify for the A final. Starting in 3rd and 4th respectively, both boys qualified with Jack finshing in 3rd and Sidd 4th. Being so close on the grid for the A final meant the boys battled with each other as well as the other drivers and at one point Sidd was running as Top Novice only to have a half spin. Congratulations to him for achieving 2nd place Novice on the podium.

This was Luke and Jake’s first MSA Cadet race and they knew it was going to be harder from the start with British Championship drivers in the same race. Both boys came alive in the final but could not make good use of their pace, Luke dropped back to last place at the start but climbed back up the field to take the Top Novice trophy. We look forward to their next MSA Cadet race at Forest Edge in November.

Thank you to all the team and members for making it a great weekend once again and our run of podiums marches onwards. Congratulations Sidd and Luke.

The team were at Buckmore Park for two days testing and their monthly meet at the weekend.

With three drivers in the awning, Jake Gillett, Sidd Rathod and Luke Whitehead we were hoping for a good result again.

This was Sidd’s fourth time in his kart and his first race, it was going to be a big challenge for him. It was also Lukes first MSA race having turned 8 the previous Monday.

In qualifying a great team decision was made on set-up and the boys qualified in fantastic positions, Luke 3rd, Jake 4th and Sidd 14th out of a grid of 19 with 6 novices including Sidd and Luke. Less than a tenth of a second split 2nd, 3rd and 4th so it was close at the front. Sidd was also the 3rd fastest novice.

In heat 1, Luke was shunted back to last place at the first turn but Jake and Sidd made good ground and finished in 3rd and 11th respectively whilst Luke caught up the tail enders and made it back to 16th place.

In Heat 2, Jake again showed his strength and commitment moving even further forward, finally finishing in 2nd, also setting the fastest lap of the day, with Luke moving up to 12th after avoiding a second corner incident which sent Sidd back to 18th for the flag.

In the final it was all or nothing for Luke and Sidd and they worked hard, Luke going right round the outside of 3 karts in turn 1. It was tight at the front for Jake with 5 drivers breaking away and places were constantly swapping, at one point Jake was back to 5th but with sheer determination he made it back to third place and held his position for the flag with some great defensive driving. Luke’s pace was clearly visible and he plowed through the field with some brave moves and finally came home in 6th and Top Novice. With Sidd again being caught up in incidents at the back he pushed hard and finally finished his first race in 15th.

The team worked extremely hard this weekend and we praise all the drivers and team members for their effort and comitment. A fantastic result for the team and yet again, our run of success continues as we head over to Bayford next weekend to do it all again, with confidence running high……..

Team Benchmark trundled down to Lydd International circuit on Sunday the 9th of October. Fielding two drivers, Jack Clegg and Luke Whitehead in the final round of the summer championship.

To take the championship Luke really needed to win as he was leading on points going into this round, although by the slimmest of margins.

Qualifying was in the wet and Jack made it to 3rd with Luke in 4th a tenth of a second behind.

In Heat one, it was a close battle at the front and the boys came home in reversed positions.

With the circuit now dry the grid was reversed for heat 2,  Luke started 6th and Jack 7th. Luke took the win in fine style with Jack also having a great drive and finished 3rd.

Luke qualified in pole for the pre-final and although Jack had tied on points with 2 other drivers he was to start in 5th place.

Luke again came home in first and Jack 4th. Luke posted the fastest lap time of the day in the Clubman and even including the cadet times he posted the 2nd fastest time overall.

In the final the boys started where they finished in the pre-final. Luke slipped back into 2nd at the first chicane and Jack had kept his position, the leader pulled a big gap on the first lap and it was clear that all was not right with Luke’s engine as he became prey to 3rd place and then to Jack who was clearly on a mission. Every lap Jack was attacking for 2nd and although he got alongside the other driver he ran out of road before he could make the pass stick.

On the penultimate lap, Jack showed his racecraft had come along way in the last few weeks and he took a different line into the final turn giving him better drive on the exit and he moved up into second going into the first chicane, a great move.

Jack managed to defend his position to the flag, we congratulate him on another podium with the team, well desrved. Jack keeps the teams run of success going, with 8 podiums in 7 races. Luke finally finished in 4th and made 2nd in the championship.

Team Benchmark attended the final round of the F6 championship at Buckmore Park on the 8th of October.

Joel Saunders was running in the Senior 4 stroke TKM class, with Stuart Saunders mechanicing and the rest of the team there for full suport.

Joel meant business from the word go, starting the heats in 4th, 7th and 10th and winning them all in fine style.

Joel placed himself in pole for the final and was away and up the road from the start, he pulled a healthy gap on the rest of the field and came home victorious, not only dominating at Buckmore but winning the F6 Championship aswell.

Well done Joel, fantastic driving and roll on next year!