The 2012 British & ABkC Championships kicked off with a magnificent entry of 158 drivers, held at the PF International circuit in Lincolnshire. The weekend was punctuated with rain showers, some heavy, which on occasion made tyre choice a lottery and spoilt the last KF2 race. The series enjoys a new title sponsor this year in the shape of Edgar’s Hyundai, and with two generations of the Edgar family also racing, one in KGP and one in Cadets. A new website with on line registrations, entries, fuel and tyre payments has had almost one million hits this month alone.
ABkC Dunlop National Comer Cadet Championship
Enaam Ahmed earned pole from another heat winner Josh Smith, whilst Dean McDonald failed to win a heat but lined up a handy third for the first final. The track was wet after a rain shower although the sun peeped through as McDonald grabbed a lead he would stretch to nearly 9s. Cameron Roberts pipped Ahmed, the pair trading second until Sean Rudge split them and left Ahmed furiously defending third from Eddie Hack. Although McDonald led the pack away in the second final, Ahmed slipped past over the Bridge, the front runners leaving several spinners in their wake.
Hugo Bently Ellis set off in pursuit but was caught and passed by a charging Hack, slipstreaming into third at turn one. McDonald settled into his earlier pace and snatched the lead back in the complex, Ahmed slipping away. “I felt Dean was pushing a bit harder and my kart went off a bit near the end,” said Ahmed. A strung out Hack, Bently Ellis and Oliver York completed the five but then McDonald was cruelly robbed of his wins and all his points. It was found he had failed to fit a brake disc protector and was thus excluded from the meeting as per MSA regulations. His appeal was deemed out of time.
ABkC Super Cadet Championship
Lewis Brown took both wins in a thinly supported Super Cadet class, both over relative novice Mario Mills. But Mills was excluded from the first one for underweight, David Craig inheriting. In that Brown slipped back to third at the start but soon leapfrogged Craig and Brown. Mikey Doble was black flagged for driving standards after knocking Matthew Taylor wide. So Mills had to come from the back in the second final, and was soon picking everyone off except the runaway leader. Brown, gambling on slicks, had opened a 15s gap on what was now a good dry line, the wet shod runners slipping back, and Dobie coming up to third.
ABkC Maxxis Junior TKM National Championship
As Jack Partridge sailed towards the first final pole from fastest in timed qualifying first session whilst Stephen Letts, quickest in the other session, was hampered by a 10s heat penalty so lined up 5th. Jordan Irvine joined Partridge on the front row, Cameron Clarke and Denholm Smith on the second row. Almost everyone mounted wet weather tyres and Partridge shot into an immediate large lead over Clarke who was quickly usurped by Irvine and then both leapfrogged by Sam Randon from mid-grid. Randon had chosen slicks and for a while it looked like a winning shot, but it started to rain heavily and he slumped back to where he started. Partridge held on by 8s over Clarke, Irvine and Smith, the race curtailed early as the ambulance was needed to tend to an official. Partridge nearly threw away his second final when he spun on the formation lap.
Jack Partidge wins Jnr TKM – pic by kartpix.net
Luckily an extra lap gave him the chance to regain the front, from whence another good start left him unchallenged once more. “Jade karts made some great decisions for me this weekend,” he said. Smith jumped past Irvine who then spun at the second hairpin, Matt Davies also lost places running wide and later retired altogether whilst challenging Stephen Letts for second. Letts lost that place to Jake Campbell-Mills but regained it on the line with Smith a long way further back. Alex Forward came in fifth and top rookie.
ABkC Maxxis TKM Extreme National Championship
Josh Waring enjoyed two wins amongst some great racing but also several penalties. Ryan Cole had been fastest in TQ, and lined up second to Phil Smith on the first final grid. Smith powered away into the lead but had several warning flags for running outside the circuit confines. He was closed down towards the end by Waring and Cole, whilst Charlie Bruce-White pipped defending champion Joe Porter. Then Smith was given a 10s penalty for his earlier misdemeanours, later changed to 5 place penalty on appeal, gifting Waring the win.
Joshua Waring winner in Snr TKM – pic by kartpix.net
Although Waring took the lead, Cole was quick to pass Bruce-White and then Waring. But he was towing Smith along, and Smith was next to take up the front until an off at Bridge lost him several places. He soon set about picking off Luke Graver and followed Waring as he passed Cole for the lead once more. Then Smith had to defend against Cole, the pair swapping second and Smith complaining of a lack of power, this letting Waring cruise to his second win. Porter hung onto fourth just ahead of Ash Crossey.
Ginetta Formula KGP Championship
A champion of the mid nineties and considered one of Britain’s best ever drivers, Bobby Game is enjoying a remarkable resurgence in the KGP formula at age 40, fastest in TQ and heat one winner. He chose the wrong tyres for heat two, putting him back to 6th on the first final grid, with Denis Gorman poleman alongside Tom Healy. The track was still very wet and Gorman only led a short time until Game, with much superior speed, zoomed through and stretched a 9s win.
Bobby ‘back in the the’ Game takes victory in KGP – pic by kartpix.net
Healy pipped Gorman in the complex, the latter even dropping behind Jason Edgar before he regained pace to leapfrog back to second over a charging Jake Hughes, Healy and Scott Allen. The latter is on a Jade made by his family firm. Edgar spun losing places to sixth. The second final was dry and proved that Gorman was quicker as he reeled Game in and took him at the first hairpin, Healy following. As Gorman pulled out a big cushion, Game and Healy rubbed sidepods letting Robert Shield through to second, but Game came back at him to re-take the place. Then Jonathan Davis, who’d had a heat penalty and started from 9th, jumped past both with nothing Game could do to redress the balance. Next to star was Luca Hirst, starting last and getting 4th until retirement beckoned, leaving Healy, Jake Hughes, Shield and Allen in that order.
Denis Gorman wins Final 2 in KGP – pic by kartpix.net
MSA Junior British Kart Championship KF3
Although European KF3 Champion George Russell dominated the weekend’s proceedings, he was just pipped by Jacques Morley in timed qualifying with Croatian Marting Kodric a hundredth of a second back. But Morley failed to translate his pace into wins or podiums whilst Russell won both his heats, the first from Wright mounted Alex Gill and the second from Intrepid team mate Nathan Aston. Gill could not get into the queue from the outside at the first corner of the first final and fell back, as Russell charged away to a 6s win whilst Darius Karbaley continued his bad day with a spin. Kodric grabbed second with Gill and Aston unable to match his pace in a rather strung out race due to the damp conditions. Sahara Force India’s three man squad from their ‘One from a Billion’ initiative had a challenging time, mentored by former world champion Terry Fullerton.
George Russell double winner in KF3 – pic by kartpix.net
Arjun Maini had to retire from the first final with a detached rear bumper whilst Jehan Daruvala’s last lap lunge at the second hairpin resulted in a spin with his compatriot Tarun Reddy running wide to avoid. James Kellett was another to find a lack of grip as he lost time running wide on the grass, and let Bradley Shaw and Sammy Oram-Jones by but recovered to seventh. Kodric was really hung out through turn 1 and 2, falling to eighth as once again Russell charged off ahead of Gill who had quickly taken a fast starting Bradley Shaw. Russell said: “I had to keep Martin out at the start or the same would have happened to me.” Josh Price was on the ascendancy, taking Shaw at the second hairpin for fourth, and then putting Kellett back a place or two. Kellett recovered one from Shaw but Kodric was now charging back.
Alex Gill made sure Russell had to work hard for his win – pic by kartpix.net
Gill rapidly closed the gap on the leader and took Russell at the second hairpin but Russell slipstreamed right back into turn 1 a couple of laps later. “I had more in the corners but George had the speed on the straight, he just went straight past me,” said Gill. Meanwhile Daruvala was charging up to 16th, followed by Maini, with Reddy retiring. Aston in third was too far distant for Kodric to close, and the Croatian still had Shaw on his tail.
MSA British Kart Championship KF2
With his usual gritty determination, Mark Litchfield came out on top in both finals but had at times been hard pushed by KF2 graduate Ben Barnicoat, sometimes acrimoniously. Litchfield had been fastest of the 11 starters in TQ, from another newcomer in the shape of Jack Barlow, but in the second heat both Litchfield and Barnicoat were given 10s penalties for their driving standards. This hurt Barnicoat more as Litchfield retained pole for the first final alongside Sam MacLeod, Barnicoat on grid 6 and so Litchfield zoomed off on a damp but drying track for a 8s win.
Mark Litchfield double winner in KF2 – pic by kartpix.net
Barnicoat picked off the others, passing MacLeod on the banked turn for second but finding Litchfield too far away and in fact had to defend hard against Barlow and MacLeod at the end, who themselves were fighting hard. The drivers were rushed out on a dry track for the second final, all on slicks, and again Litchfield took a big early lead over Barnicoat who had to clear a fast starting Jamie Rush and also Barlow. Then the rain came down hard, forcing the karts to tiptoe round the slow hairpins, many going wide or spinning. “It was a really good race until it rained, I was catching Mark like mad,” said Barnicoat. Ricky Collard was going well in third, but succumbed to Rush, only for the latter to come to a stop. Barlow traded fourth with Alex Hamilton, just coming over the line ahead. “I went off at the end of the straight and looked back to see Ben going backwards over the bridge, I just had to keep total concentration,” said Litchfield.
Results
Comer Cadet
Final 1
1 Dean MacDonald (Zip); 2 Cameron Roberts (Zip); 3 Sean Rudge (Wright); 4 Enaam Ahmed (Zip); 5 Eddie Hack (Gillard); 6 Hugo Bentley Ellis (Zip).
Final 2 (Provisional)
1 Ahmed; 2 Hack; 3 Bentley Ellis; 4 Oliver York (Zip); 5 Josh Smith (Zip); 6 Tom Gamble (Zip). Starters: 37
Super Cadet
Final 1
1 Lewis Brown (RK); 2 David Craig (Zip); 3 Robbie Fowler (Wright); 4 Jack Davidson (Intrepid); 5 Matthew Taylor (BRM); 6 Mikey Doble (Wright).
Final 2
1 Brown; 2 Mario Mills (RK); 3 Doble; 4 Davidson; 5 Craig; 6 Fowler. Starters: 7
Junior TKM
Final 1
1 Jack Patridge (Jade); 2 Cameron Clarke (Tal-Ko); 3 Jordan Irvine (Tonykart); 4 Denholm Smith (Tal-Ko); 5 Jake Campbell-Mills (ARC); 6 Matt Davies (ARC).
Final 2
1 Patridge; 2 Stephen Letts (Tonykart); 3 Campbell-Mills; 4 Smith; 5 Alex Forward (Wright); 6 Daniel Baybutt (Jade). Starters: 31
TKM Extreme
Final 1
1 Joshua Waring (ARC); 2 Ryan Cole (Tal-Ko); 3 Charlie Bruce-White (Tonykart); 4 Joe Porter (Intrepid); 5 Luke Ogden (Jade); 6 Phil Smith (Tonykart).
Final 2
1 Waring; 2 Smith; 3 Cole; 4 Porter; 5Ash Crossey (Tonykart); 6 Bruce-White. Starters: 27
KGP
Final 1
1 Bobby Game (Birel); 2 Denis Gorman (Maranello); 3 Jake Hughes (Birel); 4 Tom Healy (Birel); 5 Scott Allen(Jade); 6 Jason Edgar (Birel).
Final 2
1 Gorman; 2 Jonathan Davis (Intrepid); 3 Game; 4 Healey; 5 Hughes; 6 Robert Shield (Tonykart). Starters: 19
KF3
Final 1
1 George Russell (Intrepid); 2 Martin Kodric (FA Alonso); 3 Alex Gill (Wright); 4 Nathan Aston (Intrepid); 5 Bradley Shaw (Intrepid); 6 Samuel Oram-Jones (Intrepid).
Final 2
1 Russell; 2 Gill; 3 Aston; 4 Kodric; 5 Shaw; 6 James Kellett (Birel). Starters: 29
KF2
Final 1
1 Mark Litchfield (Birel); 2 Ben Barnicoat (ART); 3 Jack Barlow (Intrepid); 4 Sam MacLeod (FA Alonso); 5 Alex Hamilton (Intrepid); 6 Jamie Rush (Formula K).
Final 2
1 Litchfield; 2 Barnicoat; 3 Ricky Collard (ART); 4 Barlow; 5 Hamilton; 6 Zubair Hoque (FA Alonso). Starters: 15
Competitors were greeted with rather a lot of rain on Sunday – pic by TSR Productions
