Bayford Meadows held a special event over the weekend of August 17-18th as a memorial to the late circuit based Project One owner, Gerard Cox, who sadly passed away late last year.

A fabulous array of prizes had been donated from Gerard’s wife Maria & Piers at Project One, for this the first of what will become an annual celebration.

The ‘Kent Cup’ was run to a different format than the usual BMKR monthly meetings, with two F1 style Q1/Q2 qualifying sessions held on Saturday and then two races for each class on Sunday, a Pre-Final and main Final, being run over a slightly longer distance to test each driver’s stamina and endurance.

It was great to see lots of friends that have been associated with the circuit and Gerard over the weekend, along with a special guest party, which included the Mayor of Swale, who had been invited along to greet the drivers.

A pre race message from Maria read – ‘Gerard had a great passion for motorsport and always said that it was important to go out and enjoy your racing and have a great weekend’, ‘It’s what we would do’ he would say !

It was time to run the main Finals after the entertaining lunchtime driver’s parade, which included a host of prizes being distributed amongst the assembled drivers and presented by the Mayor of Swale.

FP4.

The rumbling four stroke FP4 karts were a guest class added to Sunday’s program, with each driver having 3 Heats and a Final throughout the day. Of the 14 drivers that were entered, Glenn Marrison came out on top in the afternoon’s Final. In a very close race he came out on top by 0.08s as Adam Pearless ran alongside as they approached the finish line, after 12 hard fought laps.

Gavin McGill had started from the pole position but could not fend off Marrison and Pearless after leading the first two laps, he ended up in a very close 3rd place. Angus Waddell ran in 4th throughout, heading Tom White in 5th, Alan Jaques in 6th.

James Harris had run in 5th for much of the race before slipping to 7th, ahead of Chris Kelly in 8th, Ryan Dell in 9th and Joshua Francis in 10th.

Honda Cadet 200/Rotax Cadet.

Gerard will always be best known for his association with the Honda Cadet class; his enthusiastic input over the years having guided the careers of many of the future stars of karting.

Of the 10 drivers that were entered for the event, it was fittingly Project One’s works driver – Ronnie Smart who topped the qualifying on Saturday, he then went on to take a comfortable win in the Pre-Final which left him favourite to take the afternoon’s Final. Behind Smart in the Pre-Final finished Jack Cope, he had a race long duel with Jack Wykes eventually coming out on top, only then to receive a post race 5s penalty which dropped him down to 6th in the results. Riley Taylor finished 3rd behind Wykes, Mason Becker took 4th and William Spencer finished 5th.

With these 6 drivers filling the first 3 rows of the grid – the Final began under near perfect conditions for racing. Smart started as he meant to go on by immediately pulling a gap over the fast starting Clark Motorsport kart of Taylor in 2nd and Wykes in 3rd, with these two putting on an outstanding race for the runner up spot. Cope and Becker soon joined in the fun making it a 4 way fight behind the peerless Smart out in front.

Spencer held 6th just off the jostling quartet ahead, George Pickett, Logan Hart, Jenson Fathers and Lewis Holt-Brown ran 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th. Smart used his experience gained by racing at national level this year, by pulling out an eventual 7.34s gap as he crossed the finish line with arms held wide apart, after 15 laps of the twisting Sittingbourne track.

The battle for 2nd went down to the wire with Wykes coming out on top, from Taylor who had pulled up alongside at the finish to take 3rd, both drivers absolutely delighted with their efforts. Cope had run as high as 3rd and was just lining up a move on Wykes for 2nd when Taylor pounced at turn 1 on the penultimate lap, Cope was then pipped by Becker for 4th on the very last lap and ended up 5th. Spencer held 6th throughout, Pickett took 7th, Hart 8th, Holt-Brown 9th and Fathers 10th.

Of the 3 drivers who raced in the Rotax Cadet class, Albi-Jay Stubbs cruised to victory having topped qualifying and the Pre-Final too, from Ellis Honey in 2nd and Rory Pizzey in 3rd. Fastest laps went to Smart at 52.22s and Stubbs with a 51.54s lap.

Rotax Inters.

Nelson Taylor recorded the fastest Q2 time in the Rotax Inter class to take the pole for Sunday’s Pre-Final. Akille Nane Gainnone had been quickest in Q1 before recording the 2nd fastest time in Q2. Alfie Mew took 3rd, Harrison Page 4th, Cordell Sinclair 5th and Jenson Ayrton Floyde-Oram 6th.

Giannone reversed the qualifying positions to take the Pre-Final win from Taylor in 2nd, Mew 3rd, Page 4th, Eden Salvidge 5th and Sinclair 6th.

Gainnone led away the Final as Mew had the jump on Taylor as the pair ran 2nd & 3rd over the opening laps. Salvidge initially held 4th until he was usurped by Page on the 3rd lap. Floyde-Oram was next up in 6th from Sinclair in 7th before the pair swapped positions on the 6th lap. Ben Beresford went from 12th to 8th on the opening lap from Harrison McNealey in 9th and Nishaun Marshall in 10th.

Taylor eventually found a way past the stubborn Mew on the 16th of 19 laps, but ran out of time to chase down the leader Giannone who’s margin of victory was 3.69s over Taylor, who recorded the fastest lap at 49s on his way to the runner up position. Mew finished 3rd and sat on his bumper at the finish was Page in 4th. Salvidge finished 5th, Sinclair 6th, Floyd-Oram 7th, Beresford 8th, McNealey 9th and George Wightman 10th.

Junior Rookie Club Max.

15 drivers were entered for the rookie junior class and it was no surprise to see Ayda Sexton coming out on top in Saturday’s qualifying sessions, as she kept her 2024 winning momentum going. Reuben Mamelok qualified 2nd, Daniel Butcher 3rd, Leon Knight 4th, Nikolaos Gouzoulidis 5th, Daniel Adomaitis 6th, Freddie Wall 7th and Che Marriot-Dixon 8th.

Sexton then took the Pre-Final win from Butcher in 2nd after Mamelok had a scary mechanical failure which put him into the tyres and out of the race on the 10th lap. Knight took 3rd, Wall finished 4th on the road until an unfortunate dropped nose fairing penalty dropped him down to a lowly 11th. Marriott-Dixon was then placed 4th from Adomaitis in 5th and William Alldis in 6th.

The Final got underway with Sexton immediately stamping her authority over the rest over the opening few laps. Butcher continued his recent fine form by tracking the leader and holding off an equally impressive Knight in 3rd. Adomaitis held 4th for the majority of the race, holding off Marriot-Dixon until the closing laps of the race. Mamelok was soon up to 6th (from last) and closing in on the two in front of him.

Sexton counted down the 19 laps to eventually win by 8.07s and took the fastest lap too at 47.24s . Butcher held off a challenge from Knight to finish a delighted 2nd as the latter settled for 3rd.

Mamelok managed to overtake both Adomaitis and Marriot-Dixon to recover to 4th, in what was no doubt the drive of the race. Behind Marriot-Dixon and Adomaitis in 5th & 6th was Gouzoulidis in 7th. Alldis finished 8th from Wall in 9th and Fletcher Growns in 10th. A special mention must go out to Jasmine Keepax who had finished 7th in the Pre-Final only to suffer a mechanical fault on the dummy grid for the Final.

Junior Club Max.

It was going to be difficult to predict a winner in the Junior Club Max class, with 13 very competitive drivers entered over the weekend. Ollie Orteu reversed the top two positions in Q1 by leading his Bluberry teammate Ryan Welsh to top the times in Q2. Kajus Zygmanta was very close on times in 3rd and Jack Pullen equalled his fastest time on his way to 4th. Dexter Collins was next up in 5th from Sameer Paul & Laurie McVeigh in 6th & 7th.

There was drama in the Pre-Final as Freddie Leppenwell starting P8 was spun around at turn 1 and then Collins was out after losing his nose fairing. Orteu couldn’t match his qualifying pace as Welsh took a comfortable win, securing pole for the all important Final.

Pullen shadowed him all race to finish close behind in 2nd and Aiden Large laid down a marker for the Final by climbing 7 places to take 3rd, in a shortened red flagged race due to a first turn crash between a somewhat erratic Zygmanta and Alex Shepherd. Orteu finished 4th, Alfy Hemmingway returning after a long break in 5th and Ethan Page in 6th.

At the start of the Final Pullen drove around the outside of Welsh at the first turn to lead the opening few laps. Welsh held 2nd dropping away a bit from the leader until he was passed by Large on the 5th lap, who was making the most of his fresher tyres after having tactically saved  them in the Q1 session.

Orteu had been running 4th before Hemmingway passed him on lap 4, both of the Bluberry Motorsport drivers now lacking the ultimate pace of the leaders. Also suffering from a drop off in pace was the leader Pullen, as Large moved ahead to take a lead that he never relinquished on lap 8, pulling clear taking a comfortable 3.92s victory after 19 laps of hard racing.

Both Welsh and Hemmingway also slipped ahead of Pullen on lap 8, with the former Welsh, bravely holding onto 2nd until the 17th lap when his tyres cried enough and Hemmingway’s GMS motorsport kart muscled past to take 2nd at the finish. Welsh & Orteu ran together in 3rd & 4th at the finish with Pullen hanging on to take 5th.

Collins made up for his Pre-Final disappointment by taking 6th (up from 15th) from Paul in 7th. Shepherd passed Page for 8th on the last lap and in 10th was Leppenwell,who had once again been spun around at turn 1 on the opening lap, before recovering. Large set the fastest lap at 46.84s in his victorious Roalf racing kart.

Senior Club Max.

The biggest grid of the day with 23 karts was for the Senior Club Max class, where it was great to see several well known names from the past on the grid. Saturday’s qualifying sessions were headed by Riley Stephenson, who took his GMS Motorsport kart to the top of the times in Q2, beating Jack Steadman, the Project One driver running in JAXX colours for his return to the circuit.

BMKR championship regular Josh Pullen took 3rd, Kieran Ives making a rare circuit appearance took 4th from regular Ciaron Edgson in 5th. 6th-10th were Arjun Mehta, Liam Thomas, Presley Walker and Felix Dymant.

The top 3 in qualifying ran in that order throughout the Pre-Final, with just 0.73s covering them at the finish. Edgson was 4th from Ives in 5th, Walker up 2 to finish 6th, Thomas in 7th, Jonathan Dalton took 8th, Felix Stolkin 9th and Ollie Owen 10th.

With nothing between Stephenson & Steadman after the Pre-Final, the rundown to turn 1 was absolutely crucial for both and at the start of the Final – Stephenson made his inside grid slot count by leading Steadman over the opening lap.

The fight for third was intense right from the start as Pullen was passed by Edgson and Ives on the 2nd lap, which dropped all three away from the leading duo. Thomas was next up from the soon to retire Owen an Walker in 6th-8th. Dalton & Stolkin rounded out the top 10 in the early laps. The two leaders were setting a blistering pace, with Stephenson’s lack of race fitness, not affecting his lap times at all, although he knew that any mistake would let the hungry Steadman through in an instant.

By lap 10 Pullen had fought his way back up to third from Ives and Edgson who was now fighting off the advances of Walker over 5th & 6th. Thomas was soon to retire from 7th as Joshua Pattrick had passed Stolkin for 7th & 8th.

As we approached the final couple of laps, the leaders ran into a bit of traffic, which they managed to pass almost without a hitch, as an unsighted Stephenson missed the checkered board! Steadman never really threatened the victorious GMS driver finishing 1.35s behind at the finish although he was well clear of the third placed driver.

Pullen & Ives had run together some several seconds behind the top 2 as they finished 3rd and 4th. Edgson did a great job of keeping a frustrated Walker behind for the last half of the race in 5th & 6th. Pattrick, Stolkin, Dalton and Calvin Asford-Smit finished 7th-10th. The race’s fastest lap fell on the final tour to Stephenson at 46.78s, showing that he still had something left at the end, which was impressive after nearly 15 minutes of punishing racing.

Senior Club Max 177.

With the music playing from the spectator and car display area on what was now a beautiful summer’s day, the Senior 177 drivers hit the circuit for the last race on the program. Adam Clark had proven to be the one to beat after heading the times in Q2 from Oliver Hutchings, Dan Wright, Michael Gibbons, Reece Anscombe and the star of the session Gerry Poore.

Hutchings reversed the positions in the Pre-Final heading the 12 drivers, as Clark backed off at the end still finishing 2nd ahead of Gibbons, Wright, Anscombe and Lewis Deacon in 3rd-6th.

Hutchings was once again determined to head Clark into turn 1 and this he did, soon settling himself into a race leading pace. Clark too settled down and shadowed Hutchings waiting for the right time to mount an attack. Gibbons was just off of the pace of the two ahead, although ready to pounce if either slipped up. Deacon got away well heading Wright who was soon out with a mechanical failure, ending his weekend in disappointment.

Anscombe couldn’t find a way past Deacon as the two had a race long duel ahead of them. Martin Marrison and Mark Goodwin ran in 6th & 7th with Matt Wardale & Gerry Poore in 8th & 9th. As the race entered its final quarter Clark had a couple of stabs at the lead into turn 1, only for Hutchings to staunchly hold him off on the corner exit run down to the bottom of the circuit. The race ending was a bit of an anti-climax however and we will never know if Clark could have mounted a successful challenge for the lead, as Poore hit the tyres quite heavily towards the end of the 15th lap, which brought an early finish to an exciting race.

Hutchings took the win from Clark by just 0.18s after 16 laps, Gibbons who had closed on the two dueling ahead finished 3rd just under a second behind, Deacon held off Anscombe as the pair finished together in 4th and 5th. Goodwin took 6th and top Masters driver, crowning a great return to the sport after a long lay off, with his son Max’s kart. Marrison finished 7th, Wardale 8th, Vito Dacres 9th and John Nye 10th.

And so the inaugural Gerard Cox memorial event came to an end, it had been a great day with smiles seen all around the circuit. The different format appeared to go down well and I’m sure that drivers and teams will approach it differently if it was to run again.

The circuit management had put a lot of effort into this event and should be applauded loudly, most of all it was a great way to remember Gerard, who no doubt would have approved that it was a great weekend’s racing that was enjoyed by all.

Full results from the weeknd can be found here – https://results.alphatiming.co.uk/bmkr/e/213238