Warden Law played host to the third round of the 2022 Wera Tools British Kart Championship with wet and windy conditions testing the competitors racing across the seven classes on the final day.
The Bambino class was the last of the 2022 classes to open up their championship with the IAME Cadet, Junior X30, Senior X30, Junior TKM, TKM Extreme and KZ2 entering their second round.
The day was streamed live across the Motorsport UK YouTube channel with all race highlights available to watch back here – https://youtube.com/ourmotorsportuk.
Forkes takes opening Bambino victory
The 2022 Wera Tools British Kart Championships opened up for the Bambino class with 12 drivers taking to the track.
Having started the Final in fifth place on the grid, Chester Forkes, on his BKC debut, worked his way up the field and grabbed the lead on the fourth lap of the race, passing Harper Das.
Forkes solidified his lead and opened up a narrow yet critical lead as he put his head down and focused on the task at hand. The chasing Das and Riley Murro became locked in a dual themselves.
The pair raced bumper to tail throughout the majority of the race but it was on lap 8 where Murro made his move up into second, relegating Das to second.
Forkes came through to take the win with Murro and Das completing the podium.
Forkes was full of smiles after the race and when interviewed for the live feed he was suitably shy, like most his age, stating his secret to success as, “Well we tried lots of stuff and just then, that stuff worked.”
Watch the race back in full here.
Leon Frost and Sam Johns continue success in Junior TKM and TKM Extreme
Leon Frost continued his winning form in the Junior TKM, making it two from two at Warden Law having won the Wera Tools BKC opener in Shenington.
Heavily impacted by the rain, the race saw several competitors slip and slide across the track but it was Dara McInerney who coped best with the conditions. He took a lights to chequered flag race victory but was later reclassified due to a technical infringement.
However, the pack behind McInerney fought tooth and nail. Frost came through second on the track and was closely followed by Yehan Kallychurn 0.49 seconds behind and Tyla Harris 0.69 seconds behind.
On publication of the final results, Frost moved up to first, Kallychurn into second and Harris grabbed the final podium spot.
Watch the race back here.
Sam Johns converted his second place at the Shenington opener into Warden Law glory.
Starting third on the grid, Johns capitalised on Chris Whitton and Joe Fowler running wide and not finding the right line at the first corner. As he took the lead almost from the get-go, he never let it slip and took a 5.97 second victory.
Whitton came through in second to continue his strong start to the championship after his victory at Shenington and Fowler completed the podium.
At the top of the Championship, Whitton leads on 254 points and Johns is just nine points behind.
The full race is available here.
IAME Classes roll into second round of competition
The IAME Classes – IAME Cadet, Junior X30 and Senior X30 – continued their Wera Tools BKC racing after their season opened up in Shenington in April.
Jesse Phillips started second on the grid in the IAME Cadet but grabbed top spot almost from the get go, leading from start to finish to cap off a near perfect weekend.
Noah Baglin moved up four positions to finish second and Jenson Graham rounded off the podium.
The full IAME Cadet race is available here.
In the Junior X30, Gabriel Stilp battled the wet conditions with determination and grit and would not settle for anything but a victory. Brandon Carr snatched the lead on the 17th lap but Stilp quicky fought back to regain the lead and it was one he retained despite constant pressure from Fionn McLaughlin, who finished second, and Carr who stood on the first step of the podium.
“The track was a bit moist so it was a bit slidey,” commented Stilp. “I managed to get used to the conditions but in the last couple of laps I made some mistakes.”
Watch the full Junior X30 Final here.
Khali Atkins took the victory in the Senior X30 but was pushed all the way by Aaron Walker.
Atkins got off to a solid start on pole but was pipped at the first corner by Walker who took the early lead. But on the third lap Atkins made his move at a hairpin, cutting inside to regain the lead. As the race unfolded, Walker was always within touching and rain on the last lap made things widely unpredictable.
Atkins managed to stay in control and took a narrow victory. Walker took second and Harry Platten finished third.
Watch the Senior X30 here.
Turner slick as they come in a wet KZ2 final
Charlie Turner stormed to an impressive victory in the KZ2, racing on a damp track in slick tyres to claim victory by more than seven seconds over Tom Adams.
In a field of 22 competitors, Turner lapped all but six of his rivals to cap off a near perfect performance.
Adams was never really in the hunt for victory but solidified his second as he held a good advantage over his rivals. Sam Ward rounded off the top three.
“The most hardest thing was to keep it on the track,” commented Turner. “The worst thing was to make it through the back markers but I kept my cool.”
Turner now leads the Championship by a single point over Dan Kelly who finished sixth.
Watch the KZ2 Final back here.
The Wera Tools British Kart Championship now heads to Larkhall from 3-5 June 2022.