May 1, 20223 min read

Buckmore Park Junior Championship - Round 3

Updated: May 10, 2022

So, it's a Bank Holiday Weekend in the UK, so what else is there to do other than more Karting? This time we are back to Buckmore Park for Round 3 of the Junior Championship, let's go!

Things were changed up a little bit over at Buckmore for this round, there was a lot of interest in the Championship, so they have changed the timings of it so that more people can take part, therefore the grid was split into 2. I was in Group B.

The kart I was given for my heat was the 1 that won the first round, so already I was hopeful for a decent result. When I got in the kart, it felt really good, had a lot more grip than my last time out in Round 2 and was rapid. So much so that I was only 4 milliseconds off of a new track record and a new PB for me at Buckmore.

We had some visitors to the track today in the form of Dan and Reece to give us motivational speeches like "we was bored and had nothing better to do" and "we thought we would come and watch you drive really slowly", you don't get this kind of treatment from anywhere other than Brentwood Karting! We love you guys!

So Heat 1 was lined up on the grid and I was starting P3. Knowing that the kart I was in was really quick I was confident that I should be able to get the lead within the first lap or 2. I got an exceptional start and went up the inside of the track and before I was out of the first corner I had taken the lead. I just put my head down and charged to the finish line, in the end I won the Heat by just under 12.5 seconds.

Heat 2 I was starting in P11 so I had a bit of work to make my way through the grid. I was making really good progress and soon found myself up into P4 (this was the part when my camera battery died, so there was no footage caught for the rest of the day unfortunately). I was heading into Hairpin 1 and took a position but the guy in front I don't think realised I was on the inside and as he turned my wheels caught him and he went wide, so I was black flagged, this decision actually took over a lap to be made though so my race was ruined at this point. I returned to the pits and was sent back out but was in P15. With the clock ticking down the best I could recover to was P13. I was so disappointed.

Onto Heat 3 and just had to put the last heat behind me and get a solid result to ensure I was in a good position for the final. So I started P12 and again just had to push with everything possible. Had a really good race and took my time with moves, ensuring that there was no further mistakes and took the lead and secured the win.

Next up was the Final and I was starting P4 and knew that this was going to be a really hard race. I had Mikey in front of me and Charlie and Nathan on Pole, all of them are Brentwood drivers. It was going to be a full out 10 minute battle to the chequered flag. I had a few laps where me and Mikey were exchanging places and then he managed to get in front of me and Charlie putting himself into 2nd. He then took the lead of the race with Nathan dropping down the order. After what felt like a never ending race with brilliant defensive driving from Charlie it finished with Mikey on Pole, Charlie in 2nd, me in 3rd and Nathan in 4th.

Although I ended up on the podium I did feel disappointed with the result, if I hadn't have been black flagged in the Heat I wouldn't have started the Final P4, I would have had Pole and maybe could have just got away off of the line. However, lessons were learnt again and another trophy for the cabinet. Looking forward to Round 4 next month.