Week Fourty Four
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Sandown Park
Superchamps
SODI
The race kicked off with Jack Redfern taking the lead, closely followed by Henry Wilkes and Luka Nik as they sped across the start line for their 15-minute final. Right from the beginning, the competition was fierce, with Jack Redfern maintaining a lead but facing challenges from behind. Jack Harrison, starting from the middle of the pack, showcased remarkable skill by steadily advancing to fourth place.
As the race progressed, the drivers encountered some argy-bargy moments and tight battles in the midfield. The narrative unfolded with Jack Redfern leading, closely pursued by Luka Nik while Jack Harrison and Jonathan Fuchsel engaged in a heated battle for fourth and fifth positions. Steve Hannon and Archie Cole emerged right on their tails resulting in a battle for fourth and fifth place spanning about 5 or 6 drivers.
As the clock ticked down, Archie Cole made a significant move, advancing to sixth place. The battle between Jack Harrison and Jonathan Fuchsel intensified, with Jack steadily pulling away. However, the dynamic shifted when Archie Cole overtook Jonathan, adding another layer of excitement to the midfield battles. With 11.5 minutes remaining, Jack Redfern continued to lead, but the focus shifted to Jack Harrison, who was making impressive progress through the ranks.
As the laps counted down, Jack Harrison's charge became more pronounced, overtaking competitors and closing in on the leaders. The battle for second place intensified, with Archie Cole making moves and Jonathan defending against Steve Hannon for P6.
In the closing minutes, Jack Harrison managed to overtake Luka Nik, setting the stage for a thrilling finale with Jack Redfern. In the end, Jack Harrison made a decisive move on Jack Redfern, resulting in a nail-biting finish. However, a potential penalty loomed, adding uncertainty to the final results.
Despite this, a very, very good drive from Jack Harrison nonetheless. As it stood, across the line, Jack Harrison ahead of Jack Redfern, followed by Henry Wilkes and then in the heavies, we've got Kireth Kalirai followed by Stuart Wighton, with Mark Heywood rounding out the top three.
DMAX
The DMAX final unfolded with Karlis Elmanis taking an early lead ahead of Marcus Allan and Daniel Tredwell. However, chaos ensued as drivers faced challenges navigating the corners, with some ending up in the tires or turning their karts into "submarines." Despite the slippery conditions, Karlis maintained a strong lead, showcasing his prowess on the circuit.
Archie Bullard, typically a standout performer, faced his own set of challenges but showcased resilience by regaining the fourth position. The race dynamics were intensified as Bobby Trundley made a strategic move, overtaking Marcus Allan and setting the stage for a fierce battle at the front. The wet conditions, coupled with penalties for exceeding track limits, and incidents at various corners added layers of complexity to the unfolding narrative.
In the midst of the competition, Tom Brown emerged as a contender, steadily recovering from an early setback and making his way back into contention. The midfield battles, particularly for the coveted fourth place, injected excitement into the race. The evolving dynamics, including penalties and unexpected spins, underscored the unpredictable nature of the challenging track.
As the final laps approached, Bobby Trundley showcased impressive skill and strategic prowess, ultimately securing victory by overtaking Karlis. The race witnessed numerous strategic decisions, unexpected spins, and penalties, creating a captivating spectacle for the audience. Karlis secured a commendable second place, with both drivers achieving success in their respective weight classes.
Down the order it was then Marcus Allan, Tom Brown, Tobin Leigh, Daniel Treadwell, Matt Sheldon Heywood, Finley Hart, Henry Lopes Gracey, with Archie Bullard rounding out the top 10.
Milton Keynes
Thursday Night League
SODI
Round 7 of Thursday Night Sprint League and 18 drivers took to the grid on a very chilly damp track. Tonights circuit layout was Linkback & Cliff drop so some interesting additions to the normal international circuit.
At the end of a challenging qualifying James King took pole position with a very quick lap time of a 1:31.531, 1.419 seconds ahead of current Sodi Super Champs leader Harry Asher. Ash Chivers rounds out the top 3 with current championship leader Jimi Holder just behind in 4th.
James King led away from a hectic start with Harry Asher contesting very closely behind.
Halfway through the race it was still very tightly contested between the Top 2 drivers with only a few tenths to separate them. 20 seconds back from the leaders there was a fiercely contested battle between 4 drivers for the final spot on the podium.
After a race long battle James King took the win, managing to pull a 4 second gap to Harry Asher in the final few laps of the race after Harry got caught behind a Lapped Kart.
The Battle for 3rd came right down to the wire with 4 drivers contesting for the final step on the podium, Norbert Orsos took the bragging rights finishing only a second in front of the 3 karts behind.
DMAX
Qualifying kicked off with Jack Stewart taking an early lead, but it was James King who ultimately seized pole position with a blistering time of 1:19.198. In a twist of fate, Lee Schnitzler and Jack Stewart shared identical lap times down to the 1000th, forcing a unique decision for the second-place spot—ultimately settled by a rock-paper-scissors showdown, favouring Lee Schnitzler.
As the race commenced, James King led the opening lap, only to be overtaken by Schnitzler at Turn 9, setting the tone for a night of intense competition. By the race's midpoint, Schnitzler had surged ahead by a commanding 9 seconds, leaving James King in P2 and James Brown hot on his tail in P3.
Meanwhile, Jack Stewart faced adversity, tangling with a back marker and finding himself outside track limits, compromising his position in the field and dropping him down into 4th.
In the mid-race battles, Kevin Stuchbury and Ashley Mayston-King engaged in a nail-biting duel for 8th place. Stuchbury initially held the position, but a determined Mayston-King made a decisive move, securing 7th place by the end of the race, overtaking both Kevin Stuchbury and Scott Woosey.
As the checkered flag waved, Lee Schnitzler emerged victorious, showcasing dominance on this challenging variation of the circuit. James King held strong in P2, while James Brown secured the final podium spot in a thrilling race that featured changing conditions and strategic battles throughout.
InKart
Round 6 took place on Sunday 5th November, a cold but dry day greeted the drivers as we start to head towards the conclusion of the championship.
Heat 1 got underway with a few championship contenders in each class being separated into different heats. In the Junior class it was Blake Southhan who took the race win to claim maximum points with Jacob Csepreghi in second and Tom Justice in third. In the Cadets it was Jacob Kent who took the win with Gillen Townshend in second, and Dexter Hazeldine just behind in third.
Heat 2 began with some close racing further down the field but it was Charlie Csepreghi who took the win in this heat in the Junior Class with a sizeable lead over Lewis Bowey in second and TJ Rikard in third. In the Cadets it was Caelen Keith who took the win with Rayaan Malik 10 seconds behind with Kimi Densham in third.
Second round of heats got underway this time with the reverse grids of the first heats. Heat 3 was a tightly contested race in the juniors with Zayn Perry coming out the victor by just 4 tenths of a second beating Frank Costello and Liam Wetherall in third, unfortunately Liam and Blake Southan were issued penalties due to overtaking under yellows in this heat which dropped them down the order. In the cadets it was Gillen who took the race win closely followed by Jacob and Dexter was third
Heat 4 got underway with some close racing at the beginning, but it was Brandon Edwards who was able to take the victory in the Juniors with Charley Murray in second with Lewis Bowey in third. In the cadets Rayaan took the race win but only just with Caelen just behind and Kimi in third.
The Grids for the finals were worked out and the B final drivers took their positions, in the Juniors it was a close race with Nathaniel Stebbings gained a sizeable lead to take the win over Michael Oxtoby – Page who was second with Ethan Windsor just making it onto the podium in third place. In the cadet’s it was Richard Marks who took the top step on the podium with Jacob Noble just behind and Alexandru Ibanescu bringing it home in third place.
The A final began with a close start and good racing at the front, Blake after already winning in the Junior Sprint League earlier in the day took the race win in the juniors with Zayn Perry in second and Lewis Bowey in third. The race was halted due to a red flag halfway through, but the drivers were able to keep their focus and get going again once the races resumed. In the cadet’s it was Dexter Hazeldine who took the round win with Gillen in second and Jacob Kent falling to third after a penalty drops him down, Kimi Densham also received a penalty dropping him off the podium although he crossed the line in second.
Junior Sprint League
It was a cold November morning that greeted the 15 drivers for round 6 of Junior Sprint League on the National circuit. Qualifying got underway with lap times getting faster and faster. It was Blake Southan who took pole position with the following 5 drivers less than 7 tenths behind. Charlie Csepreghi beat his brother Jacob Csepreghi to second, with Callum Franklin in forth.
The race got underway with Blake leading everyone away closely followed by both the Csepreghi’s, Callum was just behind as all filed into a line by turn 4. All the drivers were up for this round and the smaller circuit gave some good racing. The top 3 were split by only 1.4 seconds at the chequered flag.
It was Blake Southan who took the race win closely followed by Jacob Csepreghi by just a tenth and then Charlie Csepreghi just behind him in third, Callum Franklin was forth home with Archie Davies who was fifth.
SuperChamps
On Saturday, Daytona Milton Keynes hosted 30 drivers for Round 6 of SuperChamps Season 3, on the notorious Cliff Drop & Bus Stop track layout in Heats format.
Jamie Tiley-Gooden was back to winning ways in the DMAX Lights Finale, winning by 12 seconds ahead of James King and Jack Stewart, extending his lead at the top of the table. Phillip Baboolal finished in fourth, although his prominent performances in the Heats meant he finished second overall, despite being level on points with King, with his day’s fastest lap time coming into play.
Iain Riley took his second round-win of the season in the DMAX Heavies, after a solid final race, with Gareth Baldwin just behind him and Ashley-Mayston King in third place. Carl Stephens still sits firmly at the top of the table, with Iain Riley and Barry Morris gaining ground on him in second and third places.
In the SODI finals it was a clear victory in both weight classes, with Harry Asher winning yet again in the Lights ahead of Akeel Hussain and Adam Green, and Charlie Fenton winning in the Heavies ahead of Scott Woosey and Ash Chivers in third place. Harry Clifford maintains his place at the top of the leaderboard there, with Woosey in second place.
Tamworth
Superchamps
N35-ST
Round 3 of the season started in similar style to previous rounds, with Oliver Pikula winning the first race of the day. Oliver was 2.7 seconds ahead of Ben Tomkinson-Gray, who was raring to put in another strong performance after dominating the Grand Prix format in round 2. Ben’s second was impressive in its own right, with him finishing four seconds ahead of the two Longstaff brothers, who were third and fourth; Ethan Longstaff finished ahead of his brother Keaton. Jenson Butlin and Hamish Eassener were the protagonists of the heavyweight category in this round, and the first race saw Hamish take a dominant victory (finishing tenth overall) in pursuit of an extension to their championship lead.
Heading into heat 2, this time there was total domination from Oliver Pikula, who was not far off race-lap record pace for the new N-35 karts lapping in the 1:02 range. Oliver won by 4.6 seconds, but owes a little bit of this gap to a cracking battle between Baxter Rawlings, Jack Thompson, Jacob Holley, and the Longstaff brothers. This battle covered second to sixth, the gap between them all only being 1.3 seconds. Jack was the driver finishing in second though, a tenth up from Baxter in third. Keaton, Jacob and Ethan narrowly missed out on the top three, but got themselves into good position for the final. As for the heavyweights, Jenson got the better of Hamish this time. The two of them were separated by only a second on the track, having a good little battle at times in the race.
The final saw Oliver Pikula complete the sweep of the day, winning by almost four seconds to Ethan Longstaff. Ethan battled for quite a while with his brother Keaton, but Keaton would eventually have to settle for third position. The predominant battle throughout was actually behind, where Jack Thompson was involved in a photo-finish for fourth with Jacob Holley, Ben and Jason Hatley also involved but finishing a little bit of a way’s behind. In the heavyweights, Hamish took a dominant victory to extend their championship lead. Hamish’s main competition throughout the round, Jenson, unfortunately had to go home before the final and so was unable to take the start.
DMAX-GT
Championship leader Ben Sanders was not present in this round, giving a fantastic opportunity to his main championship rivals, namely Jake Renshaw and Max Housley, to make up some ground. Knowing this, Jake took victory in the first heat of the day - made difficult by Josh Gora’s incredible defensive work. Josh put up a pretty staunch defence, but he had to settle for second (still a fantastic result in his debut season). The two of them were ahead of a heavyweight driver in third in Greg Chapman, also his best result of the season so far. The last of the top 3 lightweights was Ben Smiles, another driver with championship ambitions. In terms of heavyweights, Luke Dodman and Justin Elliot made up the rest of the top three. Early indications suggested that this may be the most competitive heavyweight round yet.
In heat 2, there was a first-time winner in Samuel Rasool, who was able to just about hold off Ben Smiles, winning by only two tenths of a second. The two of them spent the majority of the race having a back-and-forth battle, and both netted themselves a good start in the final. Max Housley finished in third, comfortably ahead of Justin Elliot in fourth. Justin was the winner in the heavyweights, just ahead of Luke Dodman. Chris Swannell finished in eighth overall, but also third in the heavyweights.
Heading into the final, there was a major downpour that absolutely soaked the circuit. Apart from a single sighter lap that they were granted, drivers would be virtually learning the conditions as they went. What followed was a very attritional race, rewarding drivers who kept it on the road and did not make a mistake. Many drivers had stints leading, such as Max Housley and Luke Dodman, but both of them found themselves making mistakes that took them out of contention. Jake Renshaw was the class of the field in the trying circumstances, taking victory by sixteen seconds with the most consistent drive of the whole field. It was a similar story for Justin Elliot, who finished second overall and won the heavyweight race. Luke Dodman was able to finish second for the heavyweights, in spite of his incident at the half-way stage. Adam Thompson made up the rest of the podium, another driver focused on simply not making mistakes. In terms of the lightweights, Ben Smiles finished behind Jake, with Max Housely narrowly beating Josh Gora to the podium - a good recovery considering it was put into serious doubt after his spin.
InKart
The third round of the Inkart Winter Season started with Tom Archer taking a junior-class victory in the first heat of the day, by a little over twelve seconds to the next driver. Cooper Campbell-Lees was the second-placed runner, finishing about ten seconds ahead of third placed Theo Laverty. It was quite difficult for the drivers, who were facing a drying track due to overnight rainfall. In terms of the cadets, Zachary Smith held on to victory by just four tenths at the end of the race, narrowly beating Harry Fitch to the victory. Harry himself was only a second ahead of third placed Joseph Smith, the three of them enjoying a battle for much of the heat.
Harvey Preen, Ethan Guest and Noah Hobson found themselves battling for much of the all-cadet second heat, with Harvey taking victory by just seven tenths. Ethan was in second, only finishing a few tenths ahead of Noah himself. The top 3 were separated by just over a second at the line. Their fastest laps were similarly close, just four-tenths in between the three on the timesheets.
Group one’s second race saw a different winner than the first, Logan Brettle beating Cooper by over three seconds, though they were aided by a collision that took Tom Archer out of the lead. Cooper was quite comfortable in second, though, with a margin of around nine seconds to third-placed Theo Laverty. In the cadets, Zachary and Harry continued their battle from the first race, with Zachary once again prevailing. The two at the top’s fastest laps were both faster than that of the entire junior field barring Tom, showing just how quick they were in the heat. Henry Gordon finished in third, only a couple of seconds back from the leading pair.
The final heat of the day saw relative dominance from Ethan Guest, who did not look back after taking the lead in the opening laps, winning by 1.6s to second-placed Noah. Noah was caught in some battles of his own, finishing only two tenths ahead of Harvey Preen. The battle between the two of them lasted for much of the race, in which time they managed to gather over fifteen seconds on the trailing pack.
In the B-Final, the victory could have gone any of about three ways. However, Thomas Baxter was the driver who would finish with the trophy, finishing just three tenths of a second ahead of Joseph Smith, despite Joseph having the quicker personal best of the two in the race. Ted Hitchman was the fastest of all, but had to settle for third at the end of the race.
Finally, the A-Final took to the track. In the Juniors, Tom Archer returned to winning ways after a difficult second heat, winning by over seventeen seconds, and with a fastest lap over a second better than anyone else in the race. Theo Laverty and Logan Brettle were in a back-and-forth battle behind, resulting in a drag-race to the finish line which saw Theo ahead by just six-hundredths of a second. Though not quite as close as that, the cadets also had an interesting race, where the story of the day was still the Zachary-Harry battle. Zachary Smith won again, this time by a second to Harry. Harry Fitch could still be happy, though, as the gap behind was a massive fifteen-seconds to reigning champion and Daytona Driver of the Month: Noah Hobson. In terms of the championship, where he very much remains a factor, Noah Hobson could feel very satisfied with the result.
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