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Thursday Night League - Daytona Milton Keynes
It was an extremely cold night for the first round of the new season of Thursday Night League, meaning the drivers needed to manage those tyre temperatures to gain the best laps they could. A new feature for the season was the introduction of the Heavyweight category.
In the SODI’s, last season’s champion and December’s driver of the month left off where from where he ended last season. He took pole position from David Rollins in second place who was 0.5 seconds back but grabbed pole in the Heavyweight category. Ash Chivers started in third place on the grid just a further three tenths back.
Barry Morris used all his experience to master the conditions and take the race win by ten seconds over his nearest rival Rollins in second place, taking the first win in the new Heavyweight category. Tudor Geanta managed to pick up second place in the Lightweights just twelve seconds back from Morris. George Benson picked up the final spot on the podium in third and recieved the fastest lap of the race giving him an extra point. In the Heavyweights it was Chivers and Michael Bowles who completed the other spots on the podium.
In the DMAX Category Ashley Mayston-King used his abundance of talent to take pole position overall and in the Heavyweight category by six tenths over Nathan Boyle in second place. Lee Schnitzler who was a further 1.4 seconds behind.
Mayston-King also went on to take the race win after a defensive masterclass, managing to snatch the overall race win by just a tenth of a second over Boyle in second. However, both drivers received maximum points as they were in different weight categories, allowing them to get the best start to the championship possible. Schnitzler took third overall and second in the Lightweights with Olivier Pikula in his first round in the series picking up fourth overall and the final spot on the podium in the Lightweights.
Thursday Night League - Daytona Sandown Park
Freezing cold conditions greeted our two new grids of drivers ahead of the first championship round at Daytona Sandown Park of 2025. With the Heavyweight class being reintroduced for the new season, four different championships will be up for grabs over the course of the next six months.
SODI
Fin Ions was strong in qualifying, taking pole position by a tenth of a second ahead of Vivek Bhalla. Connor Elmore also looked strong on the second row of the grid, just a couple of tenths back.
In the race, Ions made short work of his competition – leading every lap and taking a relatively comfortable victory of three seconds. Vivek Bhalla joined him on the podium, as runner-up, building a steady gap to third throughout the race. On the track, Connor Elmore finished just three tenths behind Alex Marcinko for the final podium spot – but Marcinko’s luck ran out when he was disqualified for being underweight at the end of the race, promoting Maricnko into third. The Heavyweight class was won by Joey Petrillo.
DMAX
Qualifying was dominated by Charlie Foster, who held the top spot for the second half of the session, beating out Antonio Sholin by four tenths of a second. It was incredibly tight at the top, with Sholin, Morgan Humphreys, and Jack Redfern, all within a tenth of each other.
An entertaining race was won by Antonio Sholin, who had dropped as low as third on his quest to take the first victory of the season. After taking the lead from Charlie Foster, he had a nervy time trying to stay ahead – eventually winning by just two tenths of a second. Thomas Williams made up the rest of the podium, a comfortable drive for him to take good points in the first round. As for the Heavyweights, Robert Guymer won in dominant style, with Dan Read and Jack Contreiras having a great battle to decide who would finish second and third, Read just about getting the better of his counterpart.
The racing was good fun once again at Sandown Park for the first round of Thursday Night League, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to do it all again in two weeks’ time.
Thursday Night League - Daytona Tamworth
The new season of Thursday Night League brought with it sub-zero temperatures and icy conditions. There was a change to the regulations heading into the new year, with the return of Lightweight and Heavyweight classes in both kart categories. A treacherous track greeted both familiar faces and newcomers alike, and it was hard to believe that the championship would eventually finish in the summer sunshine.
N35-ST
The low-grip conditions seemed to favour the Heavyweight drivers, with Martin James, the father of Race of Champions Cadet runner-up Henry James, taking pole position in his Daytona championship debut. SuperChamps regular Chris Lomas lined up alongside him, with the leading Lightweight and Loughborough University driver Maxwell Williamson in P3, just ahead of returning N35-ST TNL runner up and current N35-ST Lightweight SuperChamps champion Jude Lillyman. Other notable participants included returning regular Brent Deeley, and Henry James, making his first step up to the adult championships.
With such tricky conditions, the race was a true race of attrition. Lomas took the lead towards the start, before a few mistakes saw him lose it again to James Sr. Meanwhile, former N35-ST lap record holder Lillyman was adjusting to the conditions, setting the fastest lap of the race and crossing the line just one tenth of a second behind James, but with both able to take the win in their respective classes. Lomas would finish P3 overall and second in Heavyweights, with Deeley rounding out the Heavyweight podium. Williamson and debutant Fin Imber comprised the rest of the Lightweight top three.
DMAX-GT
It was a good showing from last SuperChamps season’s N35 Lightweight drivers, with Lucas Gathercole taking an impressive pole position ahead of Lillyman, the only driver to do both races this round. Returning DMAX runner-up Tom Duffy is racing in the Heavyweights this season, qualifying P3 overall but P1 in class. The field also comprised returning regulars Sonny Zacharias and Piotr Wach, with last season’s Champion Ben Foden an uncharacteristic P8 on the grid.
Gathercole and Lillyman gapped the rest of the field early on, but Gathercole’s consistency meant he eventually shook off his rival, leading to Lillyman falling all the way back to P4 overall by the end of the race. Duffy took a solid Heavyweight win in P2, and a fantastic comeback drive from Foden saw him claw his way back to P3 overall and P2 in Lightweights, taking fastest lap in class in the process. Robbie Scott and Piotr Wach completed the Heavyweight podium, after a fantastic scrap between most of the midfield for the majority of the race.
If this round was anything to go by, we’re in for another cracking season. With drivers dropping their worst 4 of 12 rounds, it’s not too late to get involved.
InKart - Daytona Milton Keynes
It was an exceptionally cold and early morning for the first round of the new INKART season with the temperature making it a real challenge for the drivers on the circuit.
In qualifying it was Dominic Fleming who took pole position in the Junior category as he looked to try and start his season in the best way possible, with Jacob Kent looking to continue his impressive form after picking up second place in the Race of Champions. Third place on the grid went to Jacob Noble who was aiming to receive his first ever podium in the A-Final in the Junior category.
Gillen Townshend took pole in the Cadets from Henry James in second place with both drivers looking to finish this season one better than the previous season. Townshend finished second in the championship last season and James doing the same at Daytona Tamworth. Leo Sibthorpe completed the top three in qualifying just a few tenths off.
In the B-Final Noah Johnson took the race win earning promotion to the A-Final after finishing just seven tenths of a second in front of his closest rival Charlie Wiltshire after a very close battle came right down to the final few laps. George Taylor rounded out the grid in third.
In the Cadets it was a very close battle between Ryan Cafferkey and Kimi Densham for the race win with Cafferkey just about getting the better of Densham to take the race win in the Cadets. Both drivers had also made it into third and fourth place overall so a very good effort for the two Cadet drivers. Grayson Reeves in his first round in the series managed to pick up the final spot on the podium after staying consistent throughout the whole race.
In the A-Final it was an extremely close race at the front of the field between seven of the Junior drivers for the top spot, with the drivers at one point only being covered by 1.5 seconds. Kent was able to make his way from the second row of the grid to take the race win finishing just a few seconds in front of Noble who did manage to take his first podium in the Junior A-Final. Arel Kesimgil managed to scythe his way through the field to snatch the final spot on the podium.
In the Cadets the win was contested by the front row, Townshend and James with Townshend just managing to pull away after a few laps into the race and take the race win finishing just six seconds in front of James. He placed second by twenty seconds over Charlie Marden who grabbed yet another podium in the A-Final.
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