At the first round of the summer championship at Bayford Meadows last weekend, the winter championship trophies were awarded.

Congratulations to Liam Carter for taking 2nd and Jack Clegg for taking 5th in Honda Clubman category out of 27 drivers.

We also congratulate Luke Whitehead for taking 3rd place in the Honda Cadets out of 17 drivers.

The team had their strongest race weekend at the last round of the winter championship at Lydd.

We also had a very busy awning on both the test and race days with 7 drivers out on each.

On Saturday, we worked hard with all the drivers and set ups and felt extremely positive for Sunday’s race when most of the team set personal best lap times in Clubman and we managed to get within a tenth of the lap record in Cadets, which incidentally, was set by our own mechanic Callum Hardgrave some years back.

There was a 21 driver line up for the Clubman class, 6 of those being in our awning, Jack Clegg, Liam Carter, Jenson Butterfield, Khali Atkins, Ben Hodge & Kieron Jermey.

Jenson Butterfield topped the times in qualifying and placed himself on pole for the first time and this was Jenson’s first race as a non-novice! Next up was Liam Carter who was 2nd, followed by Khali Atkins(Novice) in 5th, Ben Hodge 6th, Jack Clegg 8th and Kieron Jerney(Novice) in 17th.

Liam was in contention for the winter championship and the points were close, a win was required and Liam kept a cool head, winning both heats with Jenson a constant shadow throughout.

The final was a nail biting race, with Liam and Jenson battling in the top 3 throughout the 12 laps followed by Khali who was on a charge. Khali set the fastest lap, this was his best race day by far and he was so unlucky to be collected by a spinning back marker just as he got on the tail of the top three which took him into the tyre wall. Ben and Jack were battling for 3rd and 4th in the championship and they too were coming through the field in the next pack of drivers and were now in 5th and 6th place respectively. Liam took full control of the race, defending where required and staying at the front for 90% of the race, a cracking win and 1st place in the championship. A small amount of contact on the penultimate lap unfortunatley saw the 2nd place driver spin off into the gravel trap, putting Jenson up into 2nd place, a great result for the 10year old and another trophy for his cabinet. The yellow flag appeared just as both Ben and Jack had commited to an overtake on 3rd place and although they moved up to 3rd and 4th for the flag, it was deemed an overtake under a yellow and they were dropped back to 4th and 5th with Ben taking the 3rd place podium in the championship and Jack 4th. A great drive by all the boys and a fantastic result for the team, it could just as easily have been a 1 2 3! Our new driver Kieron Jerney improved throughout the day, his lap times dropped and we hope to help him on the test day at Bayford before his next race.

The Cadet race was no less exciting, Luke Whitehead, our only driver in this class  also did himself proud by putting his kart on pole in a field of 11 strong drivers. Luke’s qualifying time being 3/10ths faster than 2nd place and only 6/100ths off the lap record.

Luke suffered in the heats and finished both in 4th place, he drove well but set up held him back slightly. His mechanic, Joel went for a change of strategy in the final and Luke who started in third took control of the race into the first corner. Luke and the 2nd place driver then set about dropping the rest of the field and they pulled nearly a seven second gap on them. They battled hard for three laps, swapping positions, but eventually Luke held onto first place for the last 3 laps with some class driving and crossed the line punching the air. Luke has tied for points in the championship for 1st place, we will not know the final standings until next months meeting.

We would like to thank everyone in the awning for all coming together and working very hard, the team is getting stronger with every passing weekend and we move to Buckmore this coming weekend for the last round of their winter championship with confidence levels at an all time high. Podiums in the championship at Buckmore are also a strong possibility for Liam, Luke and Jake Gillett, so we wish them all the best of luck! We would like to take this opportunity to thank Lydd Kart Circuit for a brilliant winter championship and we look forward to the first round of the summer series next month…..will lap records fall throughout the summer?

It was the last round of the winter championship at Bayford Meadows last Sunday and the team were there in force.

We had four drivers in the Clubman class, Jenson Butterfield, Jack Clegg, Liam Carter and Oliver Appleby. In qualifying, the boys drove very well, with Liam putting his kart in 4th, Jenson 8th, Oliver 9th and Jack 11th out of the 22 drivers.

Luke Whitehead was the only driver in the Cadet class and he again drove very well and put his kart on pole for the first time, amongst a field of 12 drivers.

The first heat saw Luke being pushed so hard from behind into the first turn, his rear wheels were completely off the ground, he had no brakes and struggled to keep on the circuit. Despite this he still managed to make the corner but dropped back to third, Luke didn’t let this phase him and stormed back through to the lead within the first lap and then proceeded to pull a gap on the rest of the field, it was a dominent drive by the 8 year old and he won this heat, punching the air with both hands as he crossed the finish line.

Heat two saw Luke lead into the first turn, but the other boys, kept with him, pressuring him to make a mistake, positions changed throughout the race with Luke finishing in third, still another great drive.

Luke started the final in 2nd place but was held out at the first turn, dropping back to 4th, undeterred he drove hard making it back to second and then proceeded to close down the leader who had pulled a gap on the chasing pack, he then dropped back to 4th on the penultimate lap and as they enterred the last lap, he pulled off a fantastic move on the second to last corner, contact was made between him and the other driver and they both span off, dropping him back to 5th place for the flag.

This was without doubt, Luke’s best drive to date, considering he is competing in a field made up of experienced drivers mainly around the 11-12year old range. Luke set the fastest laps in qualifying, Heat 1 and the final and finished the Winter Championship in 3rd place.

The Clubman race was no less exciting, with Liam challenging for the lead throughout the whole race, he finally finished in a worthy second. With Jenson and Oliver, displaying some very skillfull driving,  glued to each other throughout the whole race, only inches apart.

The pre final was even more nail biting as Liam challenged for the lead with two other drivers during the 8 laps, finally finishing in third. Jenson and Oliver displayed the same exciting racing, with Jenson making it up to 5th place at one stage, finally finishing 6th and Oliver 8th, the two novices making a big impact this weekend. Jack unfortunately, was out of contention, he was struggling for grip with worn rubber and this affected his usual pace, which we are accustomed to, he finished mid field in 11th.

As the boys lined up for the final, we had no idea how dramatic it would be, 3 laps in and Oliver was involved in an incident, he ended up upside down under his kart, thankfully unhurt…….or so it seemed, until a trip to the hospital on Monday found him to have a broken finger. Everyone wishes him a speedy recovery and hopefully we can get him back in the seat very soon.

The race was eventually re-started and Liam drove his heart out, he finished on the podium in third which gave him 2nd place in the Winter Championship, congratulations Liam, a well deserved second. Jenson kept a cool head, although seeing his team mate crash was definately on his mind, he finished the final in 9th place, taking the Top Novice trophy and 8th in the championship, a very good position in his first championship and on novice plates.

Oliver finished the championship in 11th, an extremely worthy position amongst 27 drivers, considering he lost all his points from the final.

Well done to Jack to, 5th in the championship is a great result for the 9 year old and his best to date.

The enthusiasm by the team, parents and drivers this weekend hit an all time high and was a fantastic atmosphere, thank you to all involved.

PFi is next on the calender and then we move down to Lydd for the final round of their winter championship, with both Liam and Luke in strong positions to win the championships for Cadet and clubman outright.