Twenty five year old kart racer Bradley Sargeant from Broadstairs continued his great start to the 2012 season at the weekend.
Sargeant took victory at the second round of the Formula 6 Championship at a soaking wet Bayford Meadows Kart Circuit on Saturday 5th May to extend his championship lead.
Victory came after a difficult start to the day, the reigning champion qualified down in tenth position after gambling on the harder compound wet tyres.
“The track looked like it was drying out so we put the harder wets on for qualifying; unfortunately as we entered the track the heavens opened once more which resulted in me being well down the grid for the two heats”.
Sargeant recovered from this to finish second and third in the two heats from his lowly grid position which put him second on the grid for the final. The track was drying fast for the final and tyre choice was critical. The track looked like it was ready for the slick dry weather tyres, however Bradley knew that the top half of the track would still be soaking wet.
“Half of the grid were on wets and half were on slicks so it was a really difficult decision, we decided to go for the harder compound wets as we believed that although the slicks may be faster at the end of the race, they would lose too much time in early stages as they would struggle to get heat into the tyres.”
“As we entered the track for the warm up lap I was sure we had made the wrong decision as the track was very dry. I had a bad start and dropped to fourth going into the first corner, but braked late and got back into 2nd around the outside, I then took the lead going into the second corner.”
“As I entered the wet section at the end of the lap there was less grip than expected and I ran slightly wide, enabling Graham King to briefly retake the lead before I repassed him at the next corner. I then managed to pull out a comfortable lead. The drivers on slicks were losing too much time in the final sector of the lap and I managed the tyres and held the lead to the end to take the second victory of the season.”
Bradley’s success has attracted a new sponsor, Paintballing at Quex Park, Birchington who have agreed to support Bradley by funding his entry fees for all his races in 2012 in both the Formula 6 championship and the British KartMania Honda Challenge.
“I would like to welcome Paintballing at Quex Park on board and thank them personally for their support, the race entry fees are one of our biggest costs and we are running on an extremely tight budget in comparison to our competitors and this enables us to continue to compete at the front! Without this support from Paintballing at Quex Park and SunDays Tanning and Beauty, Lanes Printers of Broadstairs, BSB Paint Factors, Smallbone Interiors and All Sign Solutions.”
“I would also like to take this opportunity to dedicate this victory to my late step father Michael Machin who passed away unexpectedly one year ago this week. He is missed everyday”
Formula 6 Championship Standings (Top 5)
POS # Driver Points 1
1 Bradley SARGEANT 176
2 43 Graham KING 148
3 15 Nick RODGERS 127
4 47 Shaun MULLIGAN 120
5 11 Chris SCOTT 117
Bradley’s next race is the Second round of the KartMania Honda Challenge British Championship on the 20th May at Shenington Kart Circuit in Banbury, Oxfordshire where he hopes to continue his winning streak!