After a 5 week break racing returned to Bayford Meadows on Sunday and with the two championships reaching their climax, tension on and off the circuit could be seen and felt.
Baruss-Haggett bags the Bambino prize.
The nine Bambino drivers had two timed runs after their morning practice, finishing on top in all of the sessions was Damien Baruss-Haggett, managing to maintain the momentum that he has built up this year. Tighe Wratten finished 2nd in the points from Blake Ticehurst in 3rd. Rounding out the 9 runners in the points merge were Joseph Katsantonis, Sherrie Powell, Eden Spanswick, Mikey Walker, Reg Heywood and Timo Jungling.
Dead Heat goes to Perilly in Clubman final.
The 18 kart Clubman final produced a dramatic finish between Jamie Perilly and Zach Walters, which proved tricky to decide who had actually won! Although the each driver’s transponders gave the victory to the LICA kart of Walters by a mere 0.003 seconds, the start line officials awarded the win to the Project One kart of Perilly, in their eyes the blue #40 kart crosed the line first. It had been an excellent race between these two, each taking their turn to lead throughout and managing to pull away from eventual 3rd place finisher Archie Walker in his smartly turned out RHP kart. Alfie Brookes was also supporting a new colour scheme in his GDC kart, finishing in 4th place after a good battle with Mitchell Gibbons and Mika Renzullo in 5th and 6th.
Evolution battle goes down to the wire.
The Junior X30 class final began with a bang at the first turn, when the 10 kart field almost wiped itself out! Perhaps as a consequence of the classes rolling start, or maybe just 10 very eager youngsters desperate to perform in the burgeoning class. Out on the spot with damaged karts were David Rivers and Ben Cowley, Finley Cross only managed 3 laps before he had to retire as a consequence of the crash. At the front of the race the three Evolution run karts of Jenson Harvey, Alfie Glenie and Luke Shopland broke clear. Harvey led the opening 5 laps before he and Glenie swapped places, they stayed this way for the next 8 laps until the very last lap when a controversial moment occurred. Harvey had had a nibble at his teammate the previous lap on the infield but could not find a way through, on the last lap however he made a concerted effort and this time managed to position his kart on the inside of the young Glenie through the tight left handed infield bend, there was slight contact which forced Glenie offline, giving the win to Harvey as there just wasn’t time for Glenie to regroup before the flag. Unfortunately for the #23 kart of Harvey the win was taken away post race, as the race officials did not approve of his last lap overtaking manoeuvre. Glenie who had driven beautifully then inherited the win; Harvey still took second after his penalty.
Bobby Grove finished 3rd on the road after charging up through the field but suffered with a bumper penalty which put him behind Shopland post race. Anthony Amato finished fifth after an eventful and competitive race with Kartik Sawhney taking 6th. Cameron Poynten was desperately unlucky; as after avoiding the first corner pile up she showed good competitive pace before losing her chain with just 3 laps to go.
Rotherham wins for LICA.
The Mini Max class final witnessed a classic dice between Thomas Rotherham (LICA) and James Wharrier (Project One). Wharrier patiently sat behind Rotherham for 12 laps and then with just two to go made his move, leading lap 13 over the line . The blue and yellow kart of Rotherham didn’t give up though and pulled a great move around the last part of the last lap to grab the lead back and take the win, it had been a thrilling end to the race. The remaining positions were settled early on, Declan Lee taking 3rd, Tom Lawson 4th, Ben Boras, Harvey Norton, Josh Wellard and Brandon Dyer rounding out the finishers.
Rice returns and wins .
A good 17 kart entry in the Senior max class enjoyed the newly laid tarmac, which had improved grip substantially at various corners around the twisty Sittingbourne circuit. Elliot Rice returned to the circuit where he had spent many of his junior racing years and his past circuit knowledge showed. Spencer Younger initially led the final into the first corner but it wasn’t long before Rice stamped his authority on the race, leading all 14 laps to the chequered flag. Jonathan Wilkes (Project One) took 3 laps to find a way past Younger and then set off after the flying Rice, he was just 1.9 seconds behind at the finish. Lewis Brown also found a way past Younger over the last part of the race to take 3rd, Younger eventually finished 4th, from Lewis Ridd and Jack Wall in 5th and 6th. Michael Jungling took 1st in the 177 class.
Riley romps to victory.
21 of the throaty Junior Subarus were up next and with the championships finely poised there was some great close racing on the track, most of this took place behind the #87 kart of Riley Stephenson who had the perfect day at the office. He led everyone of the finals’ 13 laps to win by 1.2 seconds, from an epic scrap between title protagonists – Troy Beswick, Charlie Nash and Ross Connelly. These three eventually finished in that order after trading paint throughout the race. Owen Hizzy and Zac Spence had latched onto the leading four karts by the end to finish 5th and 6th . The popular class continues to entertain and thrive at the circuit.
Project One karts in side by side finish.
The Honda cadet class final finished with Project One’s driver’s Ollie Marsh and Frank Elwell side by side over the finish line, with Marsh arms aloft celebrating a very tight 0.057 second victory ! It had been a tense final with the teammates never very far apart, Callum Gunning (DNL) was perhaps the fastest driver of the day, having led initially before a mix up between him and the P1 boys saw him drop back. He eventually fought his way back into a very deserved 3rd place, helped by Seb Bloch and Max Herbert tangling over the last half lap. Nicky Taylor also benefited out of the last lap shenanigans ahead of him by taking an excellent 4th place in his Virtus kart. Herbert was a frustrated 5th and Jack Clements 6th.
Bennett frustrates to take Junior win.
Charlie Bennett and his Project One kart are normally a formidable duo that dominate at Bayford Meadows, for this month though he had to adopt a completely different style of driving to take the win. Oliver Appleby (KPi) had beaten Bennett in the 2nd prefinal and knew he had the pace to beat his arch rival but could not match him for pace away from the line, Bennett crucially had his kart in front. For 14 laps the KPi kart pressured the P1 kart hard, Sean Berry(Privateer) also joined in the attack on Bennett and was there to pick up the pieces when Appleby’s attacks failed. After 14 dramatic laps, which included warning flags for the duelling Bennett and Appleby, the former took the win by 0.59 seconds over Berry, with a hugely frustrated Appleby on his tail in 3rd. Henry Ayres watched all of this going on in front of him in 4th and Luke Freestone had joined in too over the last few laps to finish 5th. Harry Gent had Conrad Collinson sitting on top of him on the first lap which badly damaged his steering, but even so he made it to the finish in 6th, Ben Gosling took 7th and Josh Young 8th, Collinson’s race was over on the first lap after the clash with Gent.
Fastest laps.
Clubman – Jack Matthews.
Junior X30 – Alfie Glenie.
Mini Max – Thomas Rotherham.
Senior Max – Lewis Brown.
Junior Subaru – Charlie Nash.
Honda cadet – Callum Gunning.
Junior Rotax – Oliver Appleby.