Owner-driver racing returned to Buckmore Park last weekend and Sunday’s race meet saw a range of different kart classes compete in what was also the last round of the Kent Cup Championships. 

Going into the weekend, 14 year old Bromley-based racer Ben Cooke was leading the Junior Subaru Kent Cup Championship after wins in previous rounds at Bayford Meadows and Lydd, but with strong competition from other great drivers in the field, the Championship was still up for grabs. 

Changing conditions over Saturday and Sunday meant that practice and qualifying was tight, resulting in Ben qualifying 4th behind Finlay Underwood, Ciaron Edgson and William Fallon, with little more than half a second separating them. 

Heat one saw Ben work his way up to take first place, battling with Finlay Underwood along the way; but heat two saw on-form Liam Thomas and William Fallon push Ben back into third. 

Starting the final in second (after Thomas received a five second time penalty pushing him down the grid), Cooke took the lead on the first corner and held it all the way to the chequered flag, despite a strong challenge from Thomas driving through the field to come second.  

The win capped a successful few months for Ben, since racing resumed after lockdown, with his sixth win in row in Junior Subaru, and with it, the 2020 Kent Cup Championship title. 

And winning at Buckmore Park was extra special given he first hopped into a go-kart there just for fun on the kiddies mini circuit, years earlier.  But there’s still more racing to do in 2020, as several other track championships reach their conclusion, with Ben well placed for more success.

Looking ahead, 2021 is set to be another busy and challenging year for Ben, with a move up to the Junior Rotax class and racing further afield, while also working on those all important GCSEs at Ravenswood school in Bromley; and, while continuing to squeeze in his swim squad training several evenings per week, adding to the general fitness and stamina it seems he’s going to need!  The next big goal is to race in the British Championships, but one lap at a time …