After a brilliant season of close fought racing, Adam Glear lifted the British Kart Championship KZ2 title at Kimbolton after an amazing weekend which saw the TKM and Honda classes tighten up towards an epic season finale next month.
The legendary Kimbolton circuit in Cambridgeshire saw 125 drivers descend on this fast and technical challenge and with the British gearbox battle finishing in epic style for Adam Glear and the other three classes enjoying some sensational racing, it sets up a weekend to remember at Whilton Mill in October.
KZ2
The weekend saw one man dominate at Kimbolton as he couldn’t be challenged throughout timed qualifying, the heats or the finals. James Glenister made the circuit his own during the event and was never topped after the start of qualifying. In the first heat he would finish a clear second ahead of Shane Daly with Adam Glear staying consistent in third position in front of Ryan Cannon, as the top six was completed by Dan Kelly and Miles Murphy. While Glenister continued his run of form in the second encounter, Cannon was able to at least hold him to within a second of the flag. Daly, Murphy and Kelly would finish next in line, whilst Lee Ward would seal sixth in front of Glear before the championship leader received a front fairing penalty, dropping him down the order.
Glenister had a tougher fight on his hands in the first final and secured the win by less than a second to Kelly and Cannon, whilst behind them Glear finished fourth on the road only to be handed a front fairing penalty dropping him to sixth behind Daly and Ward. But the result changed nothing as it still secured him the dropped scores tally he needed to clinch the 2019 British KZ2 title in fantastic style.
So whilst Glenister completed the double and stole second in the points standings in the process, Glear finished second with no pressure at all in front of Dan Kelly, whilst the final top six finishes of the year went to Shane Daly, Ryan Cannon and Miles Murphy.
KZ2 FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- Adam GLEAR (Privateer) 378 pts
- James GLENISTER (Rush Performance) 369 pts
- Dan KELLY (Andy Fairless Racing) 368 pts
- Scott ALLEN (Jade Racing Team) 359 pts
- Shane DALY (Daly Motorsport) 351 pts
- Ryan CANNON (Andy Fairless Racing) 344 pts
HONDA CADET
Mitchell Gibbons stormed valiantly to the top of the time sheets in front of his team-mate Henry Joslyn, with Macie Hitter grabbing her highest qualifying effort of the season in third ahead of Kean Nakamura-Berta. But heading into the first heat, all the headlines were grabbed by Jayden Gregg who fought valiantly up the order from 14th on the grid after a tough qualifying session. Gibbons was able to secure second ahead of Connor Duncan and Freddie Hull, with the Cutting Edge Racing team-mates Ethian Symonds and Josh Agambar completing the top six.
There would be agony in the second heat as Freddie Hull would then lose his hard-fought second place finish behind Gibbons to a front fairing penalty which would demote him to tenth. So Nakamura-Berta salvaged a second place finish – from what was turning out to be a tricky weekend – ahead of Agambar, Zac Drummond in fourth and the Project One pairing of Alfie Thompson and Steven Duncan, with all seven drivers herein covered by less than a second at the finish line. The third and final heat saw just as close a squabble at the front end as Ethian Symonds secured a narrow victory in front of Drummond and Connor Duncan, with the GP plate Oscar Teuten getting back on track in fourth and Joslyn able to snatch fifth position ahead of Ben Raeburn and Gustav Usakovs.
After a ferocious encounter Mitchell Gibbons would secure victory in the first final whilst Connor Duncan and Zac Drummond followed in close company behind him, with Symonds securing a personal triumph in his battle for fourth place with Nakamura-Berta and Teuten. But after a penalty for gaining an unfair advantage dropped Jayden Gregg down from 9th to 20th nobody was really expecting him to be a threat in the second final.
However he defied all with a truly heroic comeback to storm up through the field, only managing to take the lead of the race on the very last lap to the elation of the crowd at the sidelines. It was one of the most inspiring drives of the season as Kean Nakamura-Berta and Connor Duncan simply found him too hot to handle. Gibbons – who led most of the race – and Teuten would be close in behind at the flag after an epic duel with them all, as well as with Josh Agambar who was incredibly unlucky to lose the race after leading heading into the final tour. His demise down the order after an incident on the last lap promoted Rylan Echberg into the top six. So now we can expect an incredible showdown in the season finale at Whilton Mill between Gibbons and Nakamura-Berta, now separated by just 7 points.
HONDA CADET CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- Mitchell GIBBONS (Ambition Motorsport) 621 pts
- Kean NAKAMURA-BERTA (Project One Racing) 614 pts
- Connor DUNCAN (Hines Racing) 586 pts
- Jack HOBSON (Synergy Race Team) 576 pts
- Ethan SYMONDS (Cutting Edge Racing) 537 pts
- Oscar TEUTEN (Project One East Anglia) 526 pts
JUNIOR TKM
A heroic scrap for pole position handed the accolade to Oliver Richardson as Louis Harvey and Zak Oates set the same time to the hundredth of a second for the next best spot. It would be the same three men that would fight for the opening heat and it would remain almost the same positions. Richardson managed to clinch a slender win over Oates and Harvey, with superb drives through the field from James Barty, Morgan Kidd and Dominic Roberts as they all charged back from the depths after tough breaks in qualifying.
There would be another terrific comeback in the second heat, this time from Oliver Stewart as he claimed the win from ninth on the grid. Harvey would come second ahead of his team-mate Ben Watson, as Barty claimed fourth and Charlie Webb stormed up from 17th to fifth in front of Harvey Roffe, whilst Morgan Kidd beat a disgruntled Oliver Richardson to the line who could only manage eighth.
Tough heats meant that Zak Oates would have to dig deep and deliver in the first final, which he defiantly accomplished with a sensational drive from 12th to the victory. Richardson and Barty continued their consistent runs with strong podium finishes behind him, as Harry Yardley-Rose finished fourth only to the suffer the ignominy of a front fairing penalty decimating his strong performance. So instead the battle for fourth was won by Stewart who valiantly held off the attack from Kidd, Watson and Harvey.
Having started the weekend at the top from qualifying, Richardson was determined to get back there and reclaimed his position after an epic run to the top of the podium in the second final. Yardley-Rose was able to not only keep his position this time but even found a better one as he grabbed second ahead of Watson. Morgan Kidd would narrowly miss out on a well-deserved podium after an epic weekend whilst Barty claimed fifth ahead of Scott Smith.
JUNIOR TKM CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- Zak OATES (Precision Racing) 604 pts
- Harry YARDLEY-ROSE (TWM) 569 pts
- Louis HARVEY (Klaassen Motorsport) 557 pts
- James BARTY (Flex Motorsport) 536 pts
- Morgan KIDD (Precision Racing) 534 pts
- Oliver STEWART (Jade Racing Team) 527 pts
TKM EXTREME
The meeting began dramatically as after stealing pole position Chris Whitton would then be controversially excluded from the meeting for a technical non-compliance, decimating his chances in the championship fight. So Harry Moore returned to the top of the TKM Extreme timesheets as the entire field would be covered by a little over a second once more. However, Lewis Wadley began his weekend the perfect way by taking the first heat by storm to cross the finish line first ahead of Matthew Allnutt and Michael Cornell, with Moore finishing fourth in front of James Pashley and Dan McKeown.
Adam Sparrow then started his weekend in a brilliant fashion with a win in his opening heat with Wadley unable to resist his challenge. Lee Whittingham would clinch a third place finish in front of Moore, whilst Matthew Taylor and Alexander Page continued their strong seasons in the top six. Sparrow couldn’t be contained in the third and final heat of the weekend, as he led Whittingham home by a quarter of a second. Cornell, Page and Allnutt stole the show behind as they were locked in mortal combat throughout and finished in a near dead heat at the line, with Cornell fractionally in front of Page and Matthew Allnutt tucked in behind with Pashley in sixth.
Sparrow then continued his impressive run over the weekend with a spectacular drive in the first final to take his third win of the weekend, unbeaten up to that point. Wadley, Page and Allnutt were close in behind however and were determined they could eclipse Sparrow in the second final, whilst Whittingham and Taylor continued their run in the top six. For the second final, battle raged in the top six and the half dozen racers would be covered by a shave over a second at the finish line. Despite leading earlier on, Sparrow couldn’t quite complete the dominant weekend as Matthew Allnutt took the lead on lap 8 and remained there to the flag despite a monumental onslaught from behind him. Sparrow held on for second with Taylor in third from Page, Whittingham and Pashley, with Joseph Reeves-Smith fighting back to 8th place just behind Moore and with Theo Hesketh and Kristian Brierley rounding out the top ten less than two seconds behind the winner.
TKM EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- James PASHLEY (Privateer) 578 pts
- Lee WHITTINGHAM (Tal-Ko Racing) 566 pts
- Adam SPARROW (Tal-Ko Racing) 542 pts
- Kyle SPROAT (Litchfield Motorsport) 537 pts
- Ryan COLE (Flex Motorsport) 532 pts
- Matthew ALLNUTT (TWM) 522 pts
The TKM/Honda calendar concludes next month at Whilton Mill, whilst the British Kart Championships now head to Forest Edge for the epic season finale of the Rotax classes this weekend.