2019 Whilton Mill Kart Club Round 4 IAME Cadet

During his Easter holiday break, Roy fitted in a day’s training at Whilton Mill, which prepared him well for the race weekend, during which he looked competitive throughout with the other 16 drivers in the IAME class. Roy was running in a brand new Tonykart chassis (branded Alonso) which he took to straight away. Roy topped the timing sheet in official practice, although transponder issues meant a handful of drivers, including the eventual winner, did not set times.

 

In the first of three qualifying heats, Roy started on wet tyres on a damp track in 3^rd on the grid. He took the lead in the first lap, and pulled a lead of nearly 2 seconds over the championship leader Macauley Bishop. Macauley had started on intermediates in 9^th but was already chasing in 2^nd, setting a series of fastest laps, and taking the lead on lap 5. Roy stayed with him for the next 5 laps, and dropped back slightly in the 11^th and 12^th laps to finish a strong second.

 

The track was dry for Heat 2 and the rest of the day. Roy was on slicks from 9^th on the grid, and was up to 4^th after the first lap, then 3^rd and 2^nd on successive laps, albeit over 2 seconds behind the leader, again Macauley Bishop, who pulled away on each lap. Roy finished in 2^nd, over 4 seconds in front of the rest of the field.

 

In Heat 3 the whole field started on slicks, apart from Roy, who started on intermediates, whose softer compound had given him good lap times in training, from 10^th on the grid. Roy climbed up to 5^th on the first lap, then 4^th and 3^rd on successive laps, albeit over 2 and a half seconds behind the lead duo. Roy finished in 3^rd, with 4 second gaps in front and behind.

 

For the final, with the whole field on slicks, Roy had qualified in second. The third placed driver got through at the start, and then with Roy in attack mode to keep with the lead duo, at the top of the hill on Christmas Corner, the door was open for another two drivers to get past him. In lap 2 Roy took back 4^th place, and in lap 3 was back to 3^rd, but with a gap of nearly 3 seconds to the lead duo. The 4^th placed driver followed Roy for the rest of the 15 laps, finishing half a second behind, and they kept the gap in front under 5 seconds. There was a 5-second gap back to 5^th, and a 10 second gap to the rest of the field. Roy’s first podium in UK competition karts was a creditable and deserved result.

 

Race video (final): https://youtu.be/JDxVkibxzDU?t=21000

Results: https://results.alphatiming.co.uk/wmkc/2019/4/