For round 2 of the winter series at Buckmore Park, the drivers and teams gathered on a damp morning track which gave way to some spring like sunshine for the finals in the afternoon.

Heading up the finals was the Senior Rotax Max & 177 classes. Elliot Rice had found himself on pole position for this, although his advantage was lost as the lights turned green for their standing start. His kart’s engine bogged slightly which let second row starter Tom Prior pip him to the first corner. These two battled it out swapping places until Kit Brough took advantage of a mishap and surged past them both to take the lead.

On the last lap however Rice squeezed inside Brough at the first hairpin to snatch the lead back and take the win. Poor Brough was then hung out to dry as he tried to hold on to Elliot and Sam Baker grabbed the second spot, Prior ended up a disappointed fourth after leading for so long. Sean Teuten said goodbye to his novice plates in taking the 177 class win.

The second final of the day was for the Honda Cadet drivers. The qualifying races had proven how tight it was at the top with anyone of the top six in with a chance of the win. Nicholas Reeve from third on the grid, showed that he had the best set up for the conditions with parts of the circuit still slightly damp, he moved into the lead on the second lap and held off pole man Harrison Blake to the flag.

Behind these two Luke Whitehead’s kart was struggling to keep up, letting Ben Fayers through into third to take up the initiative in catching the leading pair. Eventually though it wasn’t enough, as Reeve and Blake had pulled enough of a gap to hold on to their positions. Fayers held off a pressing Whitehead at the finish line

Final three saw an absolutely cracking display of close racing from the IAME class. Although there were only seven karts racing they put on a wonderful show, promoting the MSA Race ‘N’ Respect drive in superb style. Archie Mace, Alexander Walker and finally Piers Henderson took turns in leading with the latter eventually looking very surprised at the gap he had achieved over the rest.

Through it all Josh Rattican finished second with Mace, Fraser Fenwick and Walker very close behind. I have to mention 6^th placed Dylan Hotchin as he was a member of the sizzling super six all race, Billy Vassilev was some way behind no doubt hoping to join in the fun next time out.

The Mini Max Final was the least most exciting race of the day, possibly due to the clash of the Rotax Winter event in Spain which had attracted a few of the big teams. Of those who chose to stay and support Buckmore Park, it was Tooley’s William Pettit who comfortably won brushing aside Connor McCarthy early on, behind these two a battle between Jenson Butterfield and Ronnie Foster was decided in Butterfield’s favour. Alex McDade and Oliver Appleby finished 5^th and 6^th  behind Foster in 4th.

Sam Heading had been the boy to watch out for in the Honda Cadet Clubman class during the past two Buckmore Park events, however he wasn’t counting on the performance of novice driver Edward Pearson this time around. These two had a monumental scrap in the Pre-Final which eventually saw them clash at Garda corner, Heading was unfortunately left facing in the wrong direction so couldn’t stop Pearson taking the pole slot for the main final. Once this was under way it was clear to see that Pearson was driving a defensive masterclass, he held Sam off for lap after lap until something had to give. Exiting the second hairpin on lap 7 Heading had taken the lead, Pearson however had other ideas, holding on alongside him as they ran side by side through the very fast esses, it was then that the rookie Pearson whom being on the outside, had to run wide over the high kerbs and then scrabble back onto the track forcing Declan Lee to take avoiding action.

Lee ended up feeling very sore and unable to move in his kart after taking a rough ride. A brief spell of confusion was ended with the red flag being shown terminating the race prematurely. Sam Heading took the victory spoils although it was a subdued victory due to the unfortunate incident.

The final race of the day was another sizzling affair. Tyler Sullivan was back to his past Mini Max form for this event and he stormed away at the start building a good lead over Luke Ide who almost never even made it to the grid for the start. Once in his rhythm Luke showed great form by closing in on Tyler whose kart looked to be losing rear grip as the race wore on.

The WMS driver eventually disposed of Evolution’s Sullivan on the 9^th lap and held on by a scant 0.070 sec to take the win punching the air in delight! Nobody could live with these two, although Thomas Turner took the fastest lap in third place. One of the favourites, Charlie Bennett retired with a puncture early on and Myles Apps proved that he is finding his feet in the class with 4^th place.

That ended round two of the winter series with just the final round remaining on March 15^th.