Searing temperatures ensured the action was hotter than ever in the Motorsport UK Wera Tools British Kart Championships, as the Kimbolton circuit in Cambridgeshire hosted the second round of the IAME and TKM classes last weekend (12-13 May).
Just two weeks after their season-opening meeting at Shenington, the categories would head back on track in the heart of the country to tackle the fast and flowing circuit, with the now traditional packed grids offering up a thrilling weekend of racing in Britain’s premier Karting series.
Beamed across the world thanks to the extensive Live streaming package on social media, YouTube and Motorsport.TV, fans were able to watch all the on-track action but hey would need to be glued to their devices as each class offered ultra-close racing and leaderboard changes with many class victories being decided on the line.
The optional Friday practice sessions kicked off the weekend before Qualifying and the first Heats of the meeting took place on Saturday. The showdown was reserved for Sunday with all six category contenders eager to kick start their season before a month’s lay-off for the IAME and a two-month break for the TKM classes.
Class round-up
IAME
IAME Cadet
Henry Domain (Oliver Rowland Motorsport) was aiming to improve on third place at round one and his pole in qualification set him up perfectly for that goal. But in the heats, it was Fusion Motorsport’s Zac Drummond who dominated the Cadet class top-spot with two heat wins on Saturday before a strong Final performance saw him take victory vaulting him to the top of the standings after round two.
Jesse Phillips led an Oliver Rowland Motorsport trio home in the final to take the second and get his season back on track after a frustrating start to the season. Lewis Wherrell secured a podium spot whilst Domain sensationally recovered from sixteenth on the grid to round out the top four on his BKC season debut. Jorge Edgar (Fusion Motorsport) dropped from the second row of the Finals grid to finish seventh but did enough in round one to be only three points adrift from the championship leader heading into the third meeting.
Mini X30
If ever a driver dominated a weekend, it was Leo Robinson. The Fusion Motorsport driver was in full control of the Mini X30 class at Kimbolton – stamping his name on the top of the results in every Heat, Pre-Final and Final of the weekend. Added to his Shenington clean sweep, Robinson retained his perfect score to lead the championship by an impressive 28 points.
Wesley Swain (Fusion Motorsport) was Robinson’s nearest challenger and took second ahead of Macauley Bishop (PMR Driver Programme) and the duo now tie for second place in the standings.
Notable performances came from KR-Sport’s Thomas Bearman who recovered from finishing second to last in the pre-final to take eighth in the Final, and Croc Promotion’s Taylor Orridge, who was in the top five before mechanical issues forced him out of the Final.
Junior X30
Argenti Motorsport’s Daniel Guinchard recovered from a lowly 11th spot in qualifying to take the Pre-final and Final wins, further cementing his place at the top of the Junior X30 leaderboard – a whopping 49 points the difference to Strawberry Racing’s Kanato Le who dropped from third after the Heats to sixth in the Final. Sam Shaw took Premium Karting to a well-deserved runner-up spot with Bart Harrison rounding out the podium for Mick Barrett Racing.
Dan Holland Racing’s Olivier Algieri couldn’t repeat his Shenington success but just about holds off Premium’s Matthew Hyde in the championship who took fourth and first Rookie home after a strong second in the Pre-Final.
Senior X30
Clayton Ravenscroft added to his opening round second place to take the Senior X30 victory for KR-Sport. The battle with Thomas Turner of Strawberry Racing rumbled on throughout the weekend with Turner eventually having to settle for second as Ravenscroft led every lap of the Final. BMR’s Harry Platten took third and finished seven seconds ahead of the chasing pack which was led by Caden McQueen in the Croc Promotion machine.
Lewis Mackie recovered from ninth in the Pre-Final to fifth, putting his Fusion Motorsport kart into a strong battle with sixth place Guy Cunnington (Strawberry Racing) throughout the session.
TKM
Junior TKM
It doesn’t get much closer than the Junior TKM Final. Privateer Alistair Cresswell took victory in the season opener at Shenington and took the double this weekend too – but this time only by 0.05second from Alfie Garford. It could have gone either way over the 21-lap tour of the circuit too with Cresswell starting on pole, only to be nudged down to second by the second cross of the line. Garford was in charge for much of the race, only for Creswell to resume to the top spot on lap 18 to take maximum points.
James Morley had a prime view of the action ahead and took the TWM honours in third, just shy of Garford as the flag dropped. Precision Racing’s Freddie Hull cross the line in fourth but was found to be underweight, handing the position to TWM’s Joseph Booth.
TKM Extreme
Joe Fowler put in a storming comeback drive over the weekend, from 13th spot in Timed Qualifying to win both the Pre-Final and Final for Klaassen Motorsport. Fowler led the Final from start to finish to banish the memories of the Shenington counter and reap the rewards. Privateer Kye Springfield took runner up spot ahead of Theo Hesketh in the TWM machine, the top three breaking away by over a second by the chequered flag.
James Pashley dropped out of the podium spots after lining up second on the grid to finish fifth but still retains the championship lead by nineteen points from Litchfield Motorsport’s Joseph Reeves-Smith who scraped seventh.
The Wera Tools British Kart Championships IAME classes now enjoy over a month’s break ahead of the third round at Larkhall in Scotland, whilst the TKM contenders have to wait until August for their next counter at Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire.