PFi was the host for the
first two rounds of the Stars Of Tomorrow Series incorporating the
MSA British Cadet Kart Championship. Once again the weather was
typically wet and miserable. It makes you wonder if we will actually
see a dry weekend of national competition!
Stars appear to have gone some way to cooling the
Tryton/Comer carb situation with a rolling road, and Tryton engineers
on hand to sort the problems out. There were still grumblings in
the paddock, but it didn't appear as bad as Super 1. Hopefully a
long-term solution can be found soon.
Also for this round Stars had orgnanised
for two Ginetta drivers - ex-Stars competitors Nigel Moore, and
Daniel Lloyd - to display their cars at the meeting.
Nigel Moore drives the top three cadets in his Ginetta/podium
mobile
We were there for Round 2 on Sunday and here is all the action
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Round 2
KF3 Stars Of Tomorrow
Two heat wins was clearly enough for Ashley Sutton to sit on pole
position for the KF3 final. Alex Albon continues to impress, and
he was on grid 2. David Wagner, and Alex Walker made up the second
row. At the lights Sutton instantly held onto his position and coming
into the hairpin already had several kart lengths on the second
place man Wagner. Coming into the hairpin Alex Walker managed to
grab second place from Wagner. Round 1 winner Albon lost out big
time as he tangled with another kart and dropped several positions.
Sam Jenkins looking up the inside of Sam Blake's identity
crisis stricken kart
Coming into the spoon corner at PFi it was clear Sutton had awesome
traction, and the setup was superb.
By the end of lap 1 Sutton led from Walker, then Wagner and Sam
Snell in forth. These four were evenly spaced out and it appeared
it would stay that way for the rest of the race. The battle for
fifth was where the action was.
Sam Blake had made 6 places to sit in 5th. But a hard charging
Albon was coming through the pack. A coming together between Albon,
and Blake saw Blake spin and lose many positions. Albon however,
was on a mission. He soon caught Wagner, who was now in forth after
being demoted by Sam Snell.
Coming into the first hairpin Albon made his move, and was past
Wagner, and by the very next hairpin he lunged Snell. But Albon
ran wide on the rough kerbs and lost out, and was out of contention.
Through the melee Wagner had regained 3rd from Snell. The battle
for first continued but Walker was unable to match Sutton and Sutton
took a great win!
James Appleton was on pole for the MiniMAX final. Luke Whitehead
was on second. As the lights went to green it was Appleton who took
the lead taking advantage of the inside line. Grid 3 man Matthew
Parry was in 2nd! Some close action during the first couple of laps
saw Jake Dalton sit in 3rd. It was Dalton who looked the quicker
of the top 3, and like Sutton in the KF3 final was able to make
best use of the available traction and loading his kart superbly
in the wet conditions.
Pole-sitter James Appleton
Unfortunately with 10 laps to go Dalton's chain guard
came off. Dalton hadn't noticed and he immediately jumped into second.
He was soon in the hunt for the lead but the orange dotted black
flag was waived and he had to pull in. The stewards had spotted
his missing chain guard! He was devastated, as he looked good for
the win!
Dalton loses his chainguard and his chance of victory, and
heads into the pits
With the final laps ticking down Appleton kept his cool and took
victory from Parry, and a hard charging Danny Harwood.
1.James Appleton
2.Matthew Parry
3.Danny Harwood
4.Andy King
5.Luke Whithead
Cadets – MSA British Cadet Karting Championship
Ben Barnicoat was on pole for the Cadet final with Alex Gill in
second. A typical chaotic Cadet start saw Barnicoat take the early
advantage, but it was Grid 5 man, and Round 1 winner Haz Truelove
who made the best start. He was in second and soon chasing down
Barnicoat. It wasn't too long before he made his way through the
inside at the first hairpin and was in the lead.
Defending champion Brett Wykes
Toby Sewory managed to catch second place driver Barnicoat and
demote him to third. Barnicoat appeared to have problems as he fell
back through the field. By now Truelove had pulled a significant
gap, but a fast Charlie Robertson, who was now in third, looked
like he could pressure second placed Sewory.
Robertson was soon passed, and was chasing down Truelove. With
2 laps left Robertson was close enough to Truelove to make his move
into the second hairpin. Truelove appeared to realise Robertson
had serious speed, and knew he had to take his position right back,
which he did only a couple of corners later. Truelove defended hard
on the last lap and kept the lead to make it two wins out of two
for the weekend.
Haz Truelove leads Alfonso Skriczka And T-Jay Nelson
1.Haz Truelove
2.Charlie Robertson
3.Samuel Vanderpump
4.Alfonso Skriczka
5.Roy Johnson
Junior Rotax MAX
Josh Parker was the pole man for the last final of the day. Robert
Gilmour joined him on the front row. And it was Gilmour who took
the early lead as the lights went to green. Joe McKeand was second,
with Josh Parker in third.
As the trio made their way into the spoon corner for the first
time McKeand made a move on Gilmour. With both McKeand, and Gilmour
losing momentum Parker sneaked past Gilmour, and then through the
inside of McKeand at the penultimate corner. It was close between
McKeand and Parker for several laps but Parker manged to pull a
small gap. With the final lap board out it was the third position
battle that looked interesting. Andrew Smart came out on top at
the flag taking third.
