Cumbria - Rowrah ABkC O Plate / Gearbox GP Plate meeting 2-4 June

On 2 – 4th June Rowrah will host the ABkC ‘O’ Plate meeting for direct drive classes and the Gearbox GP Plates for KZ2 UK and 250 National with timed practice, two heats, a Pre-Final and Grand Final for the plates.  Entry fee is £165 to include practice on Saturday, racing on Sunday and Monday and there is a new car to be won! The meeting is to be televised, and there is a barbeque and live music for all.

O Plate at Rowrah, Car to be raffled

Shenington Historic Revival - British Historic Kart Club

The Shenington SuperPrix on 15-17^th June is the Midland club’s premier annual event for members and guests with many attractions for competitors and their friends, not least of which is the Historic Revival.  For starters every competitor will receive a free commemorative T-shirt, and a free pig roast ticket whilst the 2-day entry fee is only £75 for members, huge value with guests welcome.  Friday optional practice is open to everyone, even if not entered into the meeting.  Practice will continue on Saturday up until mid-afternoon, when there will be some heats with the remainder on Sunday along with the grand finals.   All class winners receive a special perpetual trophy to keep for a year and the club classes count for the club championship. Entry forms and regulations are here: http://www.sheningtonkrc.co.uk/forms.shtml

Shenington SuperPrix - Paddock scene

In a great gearbox bonanza the meeting hosts the ABkC National Open Gearbox championship for KZ2 UK and 250 National, (£100 entry) and the 210 Challenge O Plate.  The 250 National and 210 are open to National B licence holders, but no novices in the 250’s. Tyres and cash prizes are on offer in the ABkC O Plates.  So why not try your hand in racing against the best in the country and maybe come away with a unique plate to use for up to a year.

Shenington hosts a round of the new TKM InterClub Championship for Junior TKM and TKM Extreme.  The junior points table is currently being led by a Shenington driver and the competition is bound to be fierce in what has been a resurgence of interest for these economical classes. With 65 registrations the guest drivers join in the normal club races so that should be exciting!

Shenington Historic Revival - a 60's Grid

Shenington started the now huge revival movement for historic and classic karts in 2000, now grown to having some 120 karts on display in one of the two large marquees on site, with about 80 giving track demonstrations on all three days of the meeting.  For more information visit http://www.britishhistorickartclub.com/ . It’s a great chance for drivers from yesteryear to meet old friends, enjoying a pint and roast pig at the same time.

On Saturday evening a disco accompanies the usual pig roast and salad, with a cash bar on both Friday and Saturday evening.  Local shops are available for take-away meals on Friday night and the ladies could also visit the Shenington Flower Festival nearby.  The club is also asking visitors to contribute to two charities, firstly the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance which so effectively airlifts any injured drivers straight to hospital.  And secondly there is the chance to support the Joseph Foote Trust by playing on a DIRT3 Mini simulator game located in race control and trying to ‘Crack the Code’ and raise £1000 to help brain tumour survival rates. Please support them both.

Shenington Historic Revival - British Historic Kart Club

And finally Shenington has put on some extra practice days this year, on 7^th June, 13^th July, 16^th August and 14^th September.  These have been chosen to give Super One competitors the maximum opportunity to practice and race prior to the British and ABkC National Championships in September and October and there is another on 25^th October, once again in the school holidays.

Ed Brand, Formula K, EuroMax Winner at Wackersdorf, image by Bas Kaligis

Formula K star wins at Wackersdorf:

Victory in the forests of Bavaria gave Formula K Europe’s Ed Brand a narrow lead over his closest title rival in the Rotax Max Euro Challenge, at Wackersdorf last weekend (12/13 May).

Not that he had enjoyed an easy ride to his eventual triumph. In timed qualifying he was, by his own standards, “off the pace” and could only record the 14^th-fastest lap.

“I don’t know what happened. I didn’t drive well. It was my own fault,” he said with characteristic honesty, adding: “I went faster (by three tenths of a second) in the first heat than I had done in qualifying!”

He finished 4^th in that race before taking a brace of runner-up positions and a win. This was sufficient to give him pole position for Sunday’s pre-final. Scott had qualified seven places behind him, but would quickly charge up the order to challenge Ed for the race win.

It became a close-fought affair with Brand not quite able to catch his rival’s pace and subsequently he settled for 2^nd and a hatful of valuable championship points. Once out of Parc Ferme, he decided to make some crucial adjustments to the Formula K chassis but was unable to alter the questionable driving standards, as he explained: “We made a few changes ahead of the main final, but at the start I was hit from behind. This allowed Harrison and Philip Morin to get away and left me fighting to regain track position. I managed to reel them in and, after passing Morin, caught Scott.”

Ed tracked his prey and seeing his chance pounced: “He made a mistake in the chicane and I closed in from a kart-length behind. I passed him as we braked for the next corner. From there I just got my head down and drove away. I won by eight tenths of a second, so it wasn’t majorly close at the finish but it was close enough!”

He added: “I’m leading by two points, so it is not a comfortable gap. I’ve got to keep pushing on. The series goes to Sweden (the Asum Ring at Kristianstad) for the first time for round three. We’re not testing there beforehand, but hopefully I’ll be as fast as normal. We’ll just rock up and see how we do on the day.”

Acknowledging the contribution from his team and partners, Ed said: “I would like to thank Martin Blom and Martyn Reuvers of Formula K Europe, Nigel Horner of HRS and my principle sponsor, Brands of Watford.”

Ed continues the defence of his national Super One title in the second round of the UK-based championship (25/26 May) at the stunning Glan Y Gors circuit in North Wales. He is the current points-leader.

In the interim, keep up to speed with Ed and his racing career by visiting www.edbrandracing.net  (Images by Bas Kaligis)

Gaby Weyer KF3

British karter Gabrielle Weyer has been selected as one of 11 drivers to take part in a karting ‘shootout’, the winner of which will receive a fully-funded drive in this year’s CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a world championship for 13- to 15-year-old karters.

Weyer’s selection follows her nomination by the Motor Sports Association (MSA), which was asked to put a female karter forward for the FIA Women and Motor Sport-backed competition.

On 1-2 June at Friuli Venezia, Italy, Gaby will go head-to-head with 10 other international karters in a selection process incorporating a mix of theoretical, presentation and driving activities. The driver deemed to have demonstrated the greatest potential will receive a free entry to the Karting Academy Trophy, which takes place over three rounds: Braga, Portugal (8 July); Angerville, France (26 August); and Bahrain (10 November).

The finalists are:

• Torey Blanch (Australia)
• Melissa Calvi (Luxembourg)
• Nicole Coffey (Ireland)
• Jeanne Fantini (Madagascar)
• Olivia Natalie Kuhne (Portugal)
• Adeline Prudent (France)
• Carrie Schreiner (Germany)
• Lina Von Schedvin (Sweden)
• Gabrielle Alice Weyer (Great Britain)
• Kamilla Willum (Denmark)
• Gabriella Yu Ting Teo (Singapore)

Gaby Weyer 2012

Weyer, aged 13 from Frettenham in Norfolk, began competing in local kart events in 2009. The following year she took part in Formula Kart Stars and the WTP Cadet Championship, becoming the first female karter to be seeded in her first full year of racing. Last year Gaby became the first female winner of the prestigious Kartmasters GP, and this year she is contesting the MSA British Junior Kart Championship alongside selected European outings.

Weyer said: “I feel privileged to have been chosen by the MSA to represent the UK when there are so many other good female competitors in this country. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I want to repay the faith that the MSA has put in me by going out there and proving that I am the best female karter in this age category in the world.”
(Images courtesy kartpix.net)

Lando Norris - Rotax

Lando Norris took a sensational podium result at his first international race meeting as he came third in the Rotax Max Euro Challenge at Wackersdorf in Germany this weekend. His result marked him out as the top British driver at the event.

The Glastonbury based ADD Motorsports supported racer’s result was even more impressive as he had stepped up to the ‘Junior Max’ category, one level higher up the racing ladder than he’s used to in the UK. He was also the youngest driver at the event too.
12 year-old Lando took to the German track for the first time on Wednesday for free-practice and ended the day almost a second away from the fastest time. Another test on Thursday allowed him and the RL Racing Department team to improve, ending the day half a second closer to the front.
“I was a bit frustrated to be so far away at the end of Wednesday,” said Lando. “I was a lot happier on Thursday and in the cooler sessions I was one of the fastest on the track. We were still searching for a good set-up though,” he added.
In qualifying on Friday he was able to find more pace, ending up seventh fastest in his group and eighth fastest overall. He was happy with his performance and the fourth place starting position it gave him for the three heats the next day.
The first heat took place in cooler weather, with a light drizzle threatening rain as the teams lined up. At the half-way point in the race the rain did come down and Lando lapped up the conditions, fighting his way to the front. He pulled out a lead of just over six seconds, which he was able to control to the line, taking his first win on European soil.
“I was so happy to win the first heat,” he smiled. “It gave me a massive amount of confidence for the rest of the weekend. I knew we could be fast enough, especially in the cooler conditions,” he added.
At the start of heat two he dropped back to tenth place. However, he was able to fight his way back through the top ten to finish third at the chequered flag, showing both his pace and race craft.
He completed his journey onto every step of the podium in the third heat, finishing second. This gave him a front row start for the pre-final. A much better start allowed him to stay with the leader, but he went tight into one of the early corners and ran wide on the exit, dropping him to seventh. A hard fightback allowed him to cross the line in fourth place, giving him the same starting position for the grand final.
As the lights went out for the start of the big race, he dropped a couple of places, finishing the opening lap in sixth. Lando then set about picking off the drivers ahead of him and had moved into second place within a handful of laps. The tough level of racing meant that he traded places a number of times, eventually dropping back to fourth.
As he started the last lap the leader made a mistake, allowing Lando and the rest of the chasing pack to close up. As they all dived into one of the corners, Lando got a tap as someone went wide. However, he was able to maintain his momentum and came out of the incident in third place.
He was able to defend for the final half lap and crossed the line to take his first podium result in Europe.
“It’s a brilliant result but it was very hard work,” said Lando. “It was a very tight class and there were some really experienced guys out there. It was a great learning experience and I am so happy to do so well over the whole weekend. We had to work hard to get up to speed but it all paid off,” he added.
Lando only has a short time to savour his continental success, as he is back in action in the Formula Kart Stars Championship at Ellough Park in Suffolk. He currently leads the national series after dominating the opening round in early April. After this weekend he’s keen to repeat his success in the East of England.
“It seems a long time ago since the opening round of Formula Kart Stars,” he said. “I’m going to go out and try to maintain my lead in the championship and hopefully extend it. This weekend has been a good learning experience for me, but I’m focussed on my two main UK series,” he added.

Samuel Oram_Jones KF3 at Val D'argenton WSK Euro Series, courtesy KSP

Samuel Oram-Jones put in a strong performance in the second round of the 2012 WSK Euro Series at Val d’Argenton in France last weekend and left with another pre-final top-five finish under his belt.

Sammy, who has progressed to KF3 this year – the highest level of karting for 13-16 year-olds – went into the weekend with his confidence high, and despite having to learn the track, he was one of the quickest in practice and was at the top end of the times throughout in his Millennium Motorsport-run kart.

The Milton Keynes-based youngster was targeting a place in the superpole in qualifying, but unfortunately got held up on his best lap. He still did enough though to be placed 20th out of the 58 competitors and was well positioned going into the four heats.  Indeed he ended up taking a fourth, a seventh and two tenths in his heats and was pleased with his form.

“I was happy with my pace in practice,” Sammy said. “Qualifying then went pretty well and although we had to settle for 20th, after I got blocked on my quickest lap, it was still a solid session and it meant we started quite far up the grid for the heats and could get some good results.

“It was a bit messy at the start in two of the heats where I finished tenth, but the other two went more smoothly.”

In the pre-final, Sammy was right up at the front and matched the fifth place he achieved at Sarno last month, earning him another eight valuable points and increasing his tally in the WSK Euro Series to 16. Unfortunately the final didn’t go so well, however, and after being deliberately knocked off at the start the 14-year-old finished 20th.

“In the final I made it through the first corner, but in the second I got hit along with another driver in front of me,” Sammy explained. “That dropped me back and well we were still quick, we were battling throughout and so it was hard to set really good times.

“The result from the pre-final though, was very encouraging. We had good pace to be up at the front and got a good result.

“Overall it was a positive weekend. We were up in the thick of it in nearly every race we were in, which is good, especially as this was my first time at this track.

“A big thank-you to Millennium too – they have really helped me to do well in the WSK rounds we have had so far. We were happy with the equipment all weekend. It was very good.”

Sammy now heads to Whilton Mill this coming weekend for the second round of the Super One MSA TKM Series (May 12-13). He then has a bit of a break, before going to La Conca in Italy next month for the third and penultimate round in the 2012 WSK Euro Series (June 23-24).

“I am hoping to do well at Whilton Mill,” Sammy continued. “I know the track very, very well and I will be going for a top-three in both finals.”

Sammy’s father and manager, Emil, meanwhile felt his son had done a good job at Val d’Argenton.

“Sammy got some really strong results and he was never outside the top-ten in his heats,” Emil added. “He had the pace and was constantly fast, even though the track was new to him.

“He drove really well and it was just unfortunate he got knocked off in the final. It was obviously only his second ever WSK meeting though, and I was happy with his progress.

“He still has a lot to learn. But given it is our first season racing against the best in Europe, many of whom have been racing at this level for a couple of years, I think to be 14th in the WSK Euro Series Championship standings at this stage is a good achievement.”

Edward Brand - Formula K

Whilton Mill might have been a washout for some but not for Formula K and Rotax masters Protrain Racing.

Right from the start the Senior Max drivers flexed their Rotax muscles and threw down the gauntlet to the other drivers with a superb 1-2 in timed qualifying. Qualifying was electric with the two Protrain Drivers incredibly evenly matched with success likely to go to either driver, in the end it was Charlie who took victory with a time of 57.34, just 0.03 ahead of teammate Ed.

In a stunning show of adaptability and skill the drivers showed the flexibility of their Formula K karts reacting positively and easily to the changing conditions on Saturday with a Protrain Driver either winning each of the heats they contested or setting the fastest lap.

Heat one was dominated by the Protrain drivers and Formula K with Ed Brand finishing first, Charlie Eastwood second and FK driver Shaun Slavin taking a well deserved third place. The performance of these drivers in a world class field was incredible with the three of them almost 9 seconds ahead of the fourth placed driver. The dominance continued through the day with Ed winning his next heat in superb style.

Overnight torrential rain meant that after intensive efforts by the Whilton Mill staff racing finally started at 11am with practice in truly difficult conditions.  In the last Senior Max heat Charlie started on pole position but lost power coming off the line due to a  power valve issue and dropped back, undeterred he fought back and secured a well earned second place and secured the fastest laptime in the process.

Following another hold up due to the weather the meeting was cancelled denying us all the opportunity to witness karting excellence again from these superb drivers; all final qualifying places determined the result with Ed taking victory with 60 points and Charlie third with 58 points.

Gary Chapman said afterwards “I have to give huge thanks to all the team, this was a testing weekend but the flexibility and capability of the drivers in this superb kart is a pleasure to watch and work with. The conditions this weekend have been incredibly changeable and the Formula K has been dominant no matter what the conditions. The drivers have once again demonstrated that talented guys on this kart will be very hard to beat. What we need to see now are some Juniors on the Formula K.”

Are you the Junior Max driver with talent enough to be supreme in a Formula K? Protrain would like to hear from you if you think you’ve got what it takes. Call Gary Chapman now and see what you can do in this quality kart.

The team moves onto Wackersdorf where following our recent success in Genk Charlie Eastwood and Sabedin Berat will be joined in Seniors by Canadian Champion Jesse Lazare and Junior driver Max Aitken will be joined by Austrian Champion Thomas Preining.

To arrange your test drive or to find out more about Formula K karts call Gary Chapman now on (01280) 814774 or  07802 966064 – it could be the best call you ever made. For more information please see www.formula-k.it, www.formulakeurope.com  or www.protrainracing.co.uk.

George Rusell - KF3 - at Super One Rnd 1 PF International

Reigning European KF3 champion George Russell enjoyed a triumphant return to the domestic scene with a dominant performance at PFi (21/22 April). His team-mate, Hugo Bentley-Ellis, also claimed his first silverware of the new season.

The Wisbech-based Forza Racing team laid down a marker with a string of encouraging performances in the first test of the Super One series. Intrepid Driver Program star George Russell justified his status as the early KF3 championship favourite, while Billy Monger continued his learning journey after graduating from the Cadet ranks.

Herbie Grout and Dylan Lee joined Bentley-Ellis in the Comer class with all three competitive in the competition’s early stages and making the cut for Sunday’s pre-A Final. Hugo went on to finish 6^th, ahead of Herbie in 16^th and Dylan 24^th. In the main final Bentley-Ellis crossed the line in 3^rd place, with Dylan charging up to 14^th whilst Grout battled to 17^th.

Forza’s Cadet team principal, Paul Munn, said: “This weekend one was a learning one for everyone. Hugo had his first race with us and to net a podium was excellent. Dylan and Herbie both showed flashes speed and, in terms of experience, were punching above their weight.  Dylan delivered a creditable performance and Herbie fought back from being pushed to last place and was quick.”

Back to back 4^th place finishes in his two finals saw Super Cadet rookie Jack Davidson get his debut season in the class off to a solid start and Paul says more is to come: “Jack was another driver making his Forza debut and did a great job. We didn’t have time to swap from wets to slicks, so he showed great character to take 4^th.”

In race trim, no one had an answer for George in KF3. He blitzed the heats before comfortably winning the pre-final by over five seconds. 2010 Honda Cadet Champion Monger found himself scrapping in the midfield in the heats, but lost ground in the first final to finish 20^th. “From the first practice session on Friday, George looked strong. Getting the right set-up was crucial and he made the most of it. Billy was consistently in the top five or six during testing but was unfortunately the victim of two accidents, undoing his brilliant starts,” observed Forza KF boss Jamie Croxford.

A much closer race in the second final saw George having to step up a gear and display the ability that has brought him a string of major titles in his fledgling career. Despite losing the lead for two laps, George was able to pick his moment and reassert himself at the head of the field. From there, he was never headed again. “He was pushed hard but responded superbly and pressed on to make it two from two. He was really strong throughout. Billy had got another superb start but was collected by another driver and that ruined his chances of a better finish.”

Josh Read raced as the team’s sole representative in the senior KF2 category and looked set for a great start to his campaign after taking the chequered flag in 2^nd place in one of the heats. After going off P5 in the pre-final, Read eventually claimed a fine 7^th place, with the team buoyed that more was to come.

Until the rain fell. With the entire field taking the start on slicks, under dense black clouds but on a dry track, a heavy shower was bound to create excitement and drama and duly did. The drivers slowed down to a crawl through the corners and such was the amount of standing water that the drivers found it hard to keep their karts on the soaking track. Josh was the first to suffer, parking his kart on the sidelines just five laps into the race. “Josh avoided the crash at the start but went into the first corner, ran wide and damaged the back of the kart. It was such a shame as we were looking forward to seeing him recreate his great drive in his second heat, where he came through the firld to ultimately finish 2^nd. That was a great achievement.”

For more information about the team visit www.forza-racing.co.uk