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InKart, Season Two Round Two
Daytona Sandown Park
InKart returned to Daytona Sandown Park for Round Two, returning to our Grand Prix layout for the first time this season. After a dramatic opening round, the drivers were ready to push on in their championship title campaigns.
The drivers for the opening heat headed out onto circuit to get the day started. The drivers and karts warming up, on what was a cold Sunday morning. Arno Nurijanyan made the most of his pole position, taking an early lead but with Daniel McNally close behind and applying constant pressure. By lap three, Sarah Telford was making steady progress, capitalising on others’ mistakes and picking up the pieces to climb through the field. Midway through the race, Kiran Lemacon had a spin, briefly disrupting the rhythm of those behind. Lemacon picked up a penalty for a yellow flag infringement. Harrison Mcnally followed suit, receiving a penalty for contact earlier on. In the closing stages, Sully Khan, Sarah Telford, and Milan Pillay found themselves locked in an intense three way battle on lap nine, a highlight of the Heat that showcased some brilliant defensive driving and close racing. Daniel McNally would take the win ahead of Arno Nurijanyan in second and Luka Teneishvili, who rounded out the podium. Lucio Vaval took victory in the Cadets, with Ejay Barrs-James in P2. Thomas Gulliver took P3, marking his first ever podium.
The second heat began with another round of practice, with the rest of the drivers heading out. On lap one, both Adam Telford and Bethan Preston were caught out, dropping them down the order early. Drama struck again on lap four with a big crash at turn one, bringing out the red flag. After a short delay, racing resumed under full course yellows and headed into the final three laps. Daniel Harman took a dominant victory by over 10 seconds, ahead of Daniel Marutyak in second. Harry Banks came home in a close third. Jenson Fuller won the drag race to the win against Desmond Bryan, who had to settle for P2. Ethan Davis took P3, just four-tenths back.
Heat Three saw the grids reshuffled. The odd numbered starting positions from the opening two heats took the grid in reverse order to each drivers first heat. Adam Telford bounced back strongly in Heat Three, quickly taking the lead after a clean getaway. Meanwhile, Lucio Vaval displayed dominant pace at the front of the Cadet class, steadily pulling away from the rest of the pack. His consistency and smooth lines made him the standout performer of the session. Adam Telford sealed the win by over three seconds ahead of Milan Pillay in second and Dexter Roest in third. Lucio Vaval would win in the Cadets by just under twelve seconds. Ethan Davis won the drag race to the flag by a tenth, ahead of Ejay Barrs-James who had to settle for third.
Now in Heat Four, it was the turn of the even starting spots to take to the grid. The final heat of the day started with early drama as Harry Banks was caught out on Lap One, losing valuable ground. Desmond Bryan picked up a penalty for contact on the opening lap of the race, Jonty Hopson dropping down the order. Out front however, Harman was in a league of his own, flying clear of the field and building an impressive lead with each passing lap. His pace and control capped off the round with a commanding drive to the finish to take the win. Daniel Marutyak took P2 ahead of Luka Teneishvili in P3. Jenson Fuller took a commanding win in the Cadets, with Thomas Volante and Desmond Bryan completing the podium.
The B-Final kicked off with plenty of drama as crashes on both the first and second laps shook up the order right from the start. Amid the incidents, Bond took full advantage and began to pull clear from the field, delivering a dominant performance as he ran away at the front. Behind him, the battle for the remaining podium positions provided great entertainment, with Herm and Kzouch locking horns in the later stages in a fierce but respectful duel. Jason Bond took the win by over three seconds ahead of Harrison McNally and Kiran Lemacon who made up the rest of the podium finishers. Frank Mehlberg took the win in the Cadets ahead of Teddy Cogbill and Alessandro Aiolfi in P2 and P3. Both Bond and Mehlberg were promoted to the A-Final after their class wins.
The A-Final saw the top drivers in each class go head-to-head in an action-packed finale. The front three quickly broke away from the rest of the pack, setting a blistering pace that left little room for error. Further back, a heated battle raged from fourth to ninth, with Sarah Telford and George Pitch at the front and rear. Every corner counted as the group swapped places lap after lap in one of the closest fights of the day. But after sixteen laps, it was Daniel Marutyak who came out on top, claiming victory by a whooping 6.5 seconds. Daniel Harman beat Dexter Roest to second by just over a second, after some excellent traffic management from the top three. Lucio Vaval completed his amazing day by topping in the Cadets - winning a drag race to the line against Desmond Bryan in second. Ethan Davis crossed the line just under a second behind to round out the podium.
Yet another fantastic round of InKart here at Daytona Sandown Park. The drivers making their marks on their championship charges early on. InKart returns to Sandown on the 19th of October for Round Three as we return to the Cup Format on the Double Chicane layout.
Daytona Milton Keynes
A Thrilling second instalment of the Daytona InKart series cam to Daytona Milton Keynes. Forty drivers took to the Linkback and Cliff Drop layout to try and take the top tier trophy today and push themselves into a good position for the early season.
In the Practice sessions Charlie Wilsthire took the fastest time in the Junior category with a 1.23.956 while Olly Wesson took the fastest Cadet time with a 1.25.273. But of course, the practices are just practices - they don’t count towards anything in the following races, so it was all to play for as we dove into Heat One.
The Heats began with a fierce battle for the lead with Jacob Noble trying to fight off Rayaan Malik in the first few laps. Wesson and Hartry Fenton were locked in a mid-pack battle alongside Eduard Mihail Dorofte and Harry Gardiner. The Cadets got off to a fantastic start with Jed Khoza and Zane Williams battling it out to be in the top three. Leo Sibthorpe, also in the heat of this battle picked up a penalty for breaking the start line formation. The Heat finished with Malik taking the top spot in Juniors and Ryan Cafferkey in the Cadets, both holding the most points heading forward. Heat Two saw the other half of the grid trying to scramble for those early points with notable battles from Wiltshire and Nathaniel Garai in the Juniors pushing towards the top spot, Declan Pires and Rueben Crudgington locked in just behind. The Cadet field was stormed by Amelia Alice-Barraeu in the first few laps leading by a considerable margin. At the end of the Heat Arel Kesimgil managed to hold his own against both Wiltshire and Garai to top the scores. The Cadet lead was taken by returning Champion Gillen Townshend after fighting his way past Barraeu. Heat Three brought Malik back with another win, Zachary Wright pushed his way up into second place with an extraordinary drive to get past both Noble and Fleming. The Cadet field was not so smooth with Sibthorpe taking the win and a few drivers further down the field getting penalties to shake up that mid pack. The Final Heat of the morning saw another win from Kesimgil, followed by Shuban Sellaturay managing to pass the likes of Garai.
The B-Final came next, with everybody pushing to get themselves into the A-Final to score more points. Declan Pires managed to take this promotion in the Junior class for the second round in a row and attain an additional five-places in the A-Final. The Cadet promotion this week was Jack Dowding, an amazing comeback from placing last in his first Heat. The A-Final was upon us with our podium to be decided. A tense fifteen minutes ensued with the top spot being challenged by the likes of Malik Garai, Kesimgil and Noble - all locked in to aim for the top. The Cadets were led by Sibthorpe, Townshend, Charlie Marden and Teddy Mullan, followed very closely by Dowding after his B-Final promotion.
The results came in with Kesimgil in P1, Noble in P2 and Garai in P3 for the Junior category. The Cadet category was taken by Townshend in P1, followed by Marden and Mullan taking second and P3.
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