It was round five of the BMKR club championships last weekend at Sittingbourne’s Bayford Meadows and the weather was dry, hot and sunny for the 100+ entrants over the two days of racing.

There was some cloud cover on Saturday that proved welcome for the Bambinos during their standalone races, while the other competitors spent the day testing various set ups for Sunday.

Bambinos.

There were twelve drivers entered in the Bambino class on Saturday with an equal split between the Comer and Electric Battery karts. Heat wins in the two classes went to Joshua Chung (EB) and River De Giorgio Miller (Comer), with the Pre Finals in each class going to Chung (EB) and Reuben Finch-West (Comer).

Both classes featured some very close racing during their Final with 3 karts battling it out in the Electric Battery class, the winner Arthur Etherington only just taking the win from Chung on the very last lap, Teddy Wesolowski finished 3rd within one second of the winner, in what was an incredibly close finish. Emerson Elia took 4th from Jake Morley in 5th and Hedley Roycroft as a non-starter. Winner Arthur’s 6th lap proved to be the fastest at 1:00.62s.

In the Comer class River De Giorgio Miller and Reuben Finch-West spent the early laps swapping places before River took control at the head of the field, going on to take a close win from Brody Pearless who had passed Finch-West on the 4th lap to finish 2nd, ending up right on the winner’s tail. Yusen Yang finished 4th behind 3rd placed Finch-West, with Bertie Cockill and Max Oliver taking the 5th and 6th positions. The fastest Comer lap fell to Brody Pearless with a 1:01.26s lap time on the 4th lap of 8.

Honda Cadet.

There was another bulging Honda Cadet grid for round 5, with 22 drivers entered for Sunday’s racing. Ollie Spooner-Green started the day off in style by beating Louie Whitcroft to the Heat win in the morning. Reggie Dufficy then took the Pre Final win from Spooner-Green and BM plate holder Jenson Drummond in 3rd.

From the standing start the Final got underway with the front row of Spooner-Green and Dufficy leading the grid into turn, Dufficy took advantage of Spooner-Green running wide to lead the rest of the field over the opening lap, through the twists and turns of the infield. Drummond settled into 3rd, with Dylan Burton, George Lilly, Louie Whicroft and Teddy Moreton queuing up behind. Dufficy and Spooner-Green held the top two positions until the 7th lap when Spooner-Green lost momentum tumbling down to 7th with an incident that I missed, this then left Dufficy clear to go on to win unchallenged in his Ambition Motorsport livered kart.

Drummond had a clear run at the leader but couldn’t close the gap and eventually fell prey to an inspired Lilly who went from 4th to 2nd on the last lap to finish 1.8s behind winner Dufficy. After succumbing to the late Lilly challenge, Drummond and Burton took 3rd & 4th. Spooner-Green regained some of his lost positions to finish 5th from Moreton in 6th, Whitcroft 7th, Max Skilton 8th, Kabir Singh 9th and Alfie Bi in 10th.

The midfield provided some very close racing and was very entertaining to watch throughout the 12 lap race distance, it was indeed Honda Cadet racing at its best. Proof of that was that an equal fastest lap of 52.64s went to both Burton on the 5th lap and Moreton on the 6th.

Honda Juniors.

There was another busy 22 kart Final up next, with the Honda Junior grid rumbling out onto a hot circuit. Ronnie Deacon continued his stranglehold on the class with wins in the morning Heat and then the Pre Final, he was actually headed in the early qualifying session however by Alexander Robertson and Riley Taylor. These two finished 2nd and 3rd to Deacon in the Heat before their roles were reversed in the Pre Final with Taylor finishing runner up.

Robertson however would line up alongside Deacon on the front row as he had set a faster lap than Taylor in the aformentioned Pre Final. Thomas Dyer sat next to Taylor on the 2nd row, ahead of Sebastien Bardon and Leo Brobyn-Gillie on the 3rd row. Amanze Nwosi and Thomas Allen completed the 4th row and Freddie Fordham and Ollie Gibert-Childs the 5th.

A clean standing start saw the drivers safely file through turn 1 with Deacon leading Robertson, Taylor, Dyer, Barden, Brobyn-Gillie and the rest down into the bottom hairpin. Taylor was immediately putting Robertson under a lot of pressure and it wasn’t long before he was through into 2nd place, where he then tried to stay with the impressively consistent Deacon at the head of the field. Robertson couldn’t quite live with the leader’s pace in the Final and was soon passed by Dyer on the 6th lap.

The top 4 then remained the same for the remainder of the race, with a similar stalemate from 5th to 7th as Barden headed Brobyn-Gillie and Nwosi to the finish. Allen, Fordham and Gvidas Ayris fought over 8th place with Ayris managing to climb up 8 places to take the position by the finish, Allen taking 9th and Fordham 10th. So at the finish it was Deacon celebrating in style another 1st, from a happy Taylor 1.1s behind in 2nd, a pleased Dyer 1.8s back in 3rd with Robertson just holding off a late challenge from Barden in 4th & 5th. Brobyn-Gillie was 0.4s behind in 6th ahead of Nwosi in 7th.

With his dominance of the class in the Final, it wasn’t a surprise to see that Team Edg&son driver Deacon had set the fastest lap at 53.893s on the 8th lap. In the heavy class Jayden once again came out on top finishing 13th overall, with Oscar Bridger taking 2nd in class.

Honda Seniors.

The Honda Senior class is developing into an increasingly competitive and inexpensive option for racing, with some very close racing throughout the field. 14 drivers were entered for this month and the qualifying races went the way of Max Forbes during the morning Heat and then Alex Emms in the Pre Final. In the main Final Emms led the grid away from pole and over the opening lap, before Forbes surged ahead on the 2nd lap. Ronnie Chambers had a good run down into the bottom hairpin to almost take the lead on the opening lap, but was soon back to 4th place as the race settled down behind Emms & Jamie Bury in 2nd & 3rd.

Ryan Nicholas and Robert Bury ran 5th & 6th in the early stages from Daniel Pickett in 7th. As the race developed Forbes was keen to pull out a gap over the rest, with his animated leaning style through the tight corners and head down on the straights, appearing to aid his cause. Jamie Bury managed to usurp Emms for 2nd on the 6th lap of 11 and then started to gradually close in on leader Forbes, but he ran out of time to make a challenge as Forbes was soon celebrating crossing the line at the finish ahead of him. Forbes’s celebration was cut short though post race as he suffered a cruel 5s drop nose fairing penalty, dropping him down to 6th overall.

So it was Jamie Bury who was handed the win, recording the fastest lap too in his chase of Forbes with a 54.984s lap. BM plate holder Emms took 2nd from Nicholas and Chambers in 3rd and 4th. Robert Bury and Pickett took 5th and 7th either side of the penalised Forbes in 6th. Kelly Childs made up 3 places to finish 8th, from Gene Malcolm in 9th and Stan Seaman in 10th.

Senior Max 177s.

There were only disappointing 5 drivers entered in the Senior Max 177 class for this month, however the racing was close throughout Sunday’s races. Jason Mills took a comfortable win in the Heat after a challenge from Lewis Deacon ended in retirement with terminal damage to the rear of his kart forcing him out. Deacon then put in an exceptional drive in the Pre final to win from the back and now looked the favorite for overall honours in the Final. Mills however had the pole position for the Final on points scored and this would prove crucial as he had the inside line into turn 1 when the Final began.

As the quintet of karts started their Final it was Mills who was indeed ahead into turn 1 while Deacon was left out high and dry on the outside, Gareth Scantlebury had glued himself to Mills’s rear bumper taking 2nd place with Matt Wardale also squeezing past Deacon on the run down to the bottom hairpin. The aforementioned Wardale was soon in trouble though, losing a lot of time with a moment while down at the bottom end of the circuit. So Mills then led over the opening laps as Deacon took on the challenge of trying to make up for his tardy start.

He was soon past Scantlebury and then set off after leader Mills, he didn’t waste much time and was soon on his bumper as the race entered its closing laps. Mark Goodwin had had a great run in the Pre Final to take 3rd but couldn’t match that performance as he ran just behind Scantlebury in 4th, a long way ahead of Wardale in 5th.

 Deacon couldn’t quite pull off a repeat of his impressive Pre Final win, as he tried to pressure leader Mills into a mistake, failing at the end by just 0.19s, although he did set the fastest lap at 46.68s. Mills was delighted with his win which was well deserved after a faultless drive to victory. Scantlebury held off Goodwin to take 3rd and Wardale circulated alone in 5th after his earlier mishap at the start of the race.

Senior Max.

The penultimate Final was for the Senior Max class and with temperatures soaring the BMKR team were keen to have the drivers out onto the circuit ASAP. With 19 drivers entered the top 15 were covered by less than a second in qualifying, so close racing was expected during the day. Josh Pullen had topped the times in qualifying and then took wins in the Heat and Pre Final. Hot on his heels was his younger brother Jack, who did have a brief spell at leading the Pre final before Josh stamped his authority on the race.

These two would share an all Project One front row of the grid. Another P1 driver Rhys Rutland would start from 3rd on the grid after impressing in the Pre Final by taking 3rd ahead of Liam Thomas who was making a welcomed return to the circuit driving for GMS Motorsport, lining up 4th.

There was a surprise on the 3rd row of the grid as the all pink kart of Hollie Bonner was in 5th, a fine reward after her two 5th place finishes in the Heat and Pre Final. Kyle Dickens shared the 3rd row with Bonner in 6th ahead of a 4th row consisting of another of those making a rare appearance at the circuit – Louie Aspel and Felix Dymant. The top 10 and 5th row were completed by Nikolaos Gourzoulidis and Matthew Angel.

From the start of the Final it was clear to see that Jack didn’t want his elder brother to have it all his own way, as he grabbed the lead around the outside of turn 1 at the start, managing to lead over the opening lap. Behind the Pullen pairing, Thomas had the jump on Rutland as they ran 3rd & 4th, ahead of Dickens & Dymant in 5th & 6th, with Bonner after a somewhat tardy start in 7th. Aspel had Presley Walker pressuring him for 8th with a fast starting James Cannon keen on joining in.

It didn’t take long for Josh Pullen to find a way past brother Jack as he took the lead early on the 2nd lap, these two then started to pull clear of the rest of the rest. Rutland made a successful move on Thomas for 3rd early on, only for Thomas to retaliate at the tight left handed corner that leads onto the infield straight, their karts made contact which effectively ended both of their chances of a podium, with Thomas retiring at the end of the lap and Rutland dropping back into the pack. There was also contact down at the bottom of the circuit between Aspel, Walker & Cannon, with both Aspel & Walker being heavily delayed.

As the race progressed the Pullen brothers circulated clear of the rest, with Josh going onto take a comfortable win 2.07s ahead of Jack, who later said that he just couldn’t live with his brother’s hot pace on the day. With Thomas out and Rutland delayed, the battle for 3rd place was where all eyes were focussed, Dickens had been delayed by the Thomas/Rutland incident and Dymant and Bonner took full advantage moving ahead of him, with Bonner coming out on top by lap 4.

She then had to hold off challenges from both Dymant and Dickens as the pairing continually swapped places behind her, before each tried to pass her well driven independently run kart. It seemed that whatever they could throw at her she had an answer for it, using her past circuit experience & knowledge to hold them both off. Dickens’s last ditch challenge for third failed as Dymant took him by surprise on the last lap to steal 4th place from him. This had given Bonner a bit of respite and she crossed the line delighted with a career best performance in 3rd, a great reward for the club graduate and for her devoted father and also her race engineer.

There was little doubt that both Dymant & Dickens had lost time with their battling between each other, as they finished in 4th & 5th. Both Ayda Sexton & Mollie Griffiths made up 7 places each to finish 6th & 7th, ahead of Clark Motorsports Cannon & Angel in 8th & 9th. Completing the top 10 was a disappointed Rutland who will hopefully come back stronger next month. The fastest lap fell to winner and championship leader Josh Pullen, with a time of 45.87s.

Junior Max/Rookies.

The last race of the day was for the Junior Rotax/Rookies. With dwindling numbers over recent months in the Junior Rotax class, it was decided that they would now run together with the Rookies, although ironically the extra numbers then forced them to run in three different groups for the Heats. A ‘B’ Final or the lowest point scorers resulted in Nishaun Marshall, Andrew Thomson, Ryan Bhagat and Cora Moore progressing through to the main Final.

At the head of the grid for the Final sat Daniel Thomson and Harrison Matthews with both taking a win and a 2nd place a piece in the Heats. Next up was John Reynolds and Eden Salvidge on row 2, Laurie McVeigh and top of the Rookies – Cody Crudgington filled the 3rd row ahead of Jacob Jarman & Leger Dimitriou on the 4th row. On the 5th row and completing the top 10 sat Harrison McNealey and Aston Tabb.

Blueberry Motorsports Thomson led the 20 kart final away into turn 1 with Matthews slotting in close behind him, Reynolds, Mcveigh, Jarman, Salvidge and Crudgington ran in that order over the opening lap. BM plate holder Matthews, was keen to lead and was soon in front passing Thomson, these two then progressively pulling clear of the rest running unchallenged over the remaining laps, with Thomson unable to mount a challenge on Matthews’s well driven Nexgen Motorsports kart.

Reynolds and McVeigh lost out to Jarman early on as the Roalf racing driver went on to take 3rd place at the finish. Salvidge took advantage of a Reynolds/McVeigh incident to take 4th on a rare visit to the circuit this year. Aston Tabb had worked his way up from 10th on the grid to run an impressive 5th, before he was painfully assaulted by a recovering McVeigh, who had misjudged an overtaking maneuver into the first infield hairpin on the 7th lap.

All this left the top Rookie Crudgington to take the class win in 5th overall, next up was Harrison McNealey in 6th and 2nd in the Rookie class, a well deserved result after such a disappointing outing last month. Reynolds took 7th and 5th in class ahead of Dimitriou finishing 8th and 3rd in the Rookie class. Freddie Wall will have been disappointed with 9th and 6th in class, ahead of 4th placed Rookie William Spencer in 10th overall. Daniel Thomson took the overall fastest lap at 46.80s, with Crudgington’s 47.04s proving to be the fastest in the Rookie class.

Round 6 of the championship will be held on the weekend of 18th – 19th July.

Full results from round 5 can be found here – https://www.alpharacehub.com/bmkr/event/349916