Race Report: 2023 Southern Championship
SR3 @ SHENINGTON
We had scorching weather for Round 3 of the TKZ Southern Championship and the beautifully prepared track at Shenington played host to some great racing across all of the classes.
BAMBINO
Xavier Ramsey led the pre-final from start to finish but behind him there was plenty of action. Initially, Jayan Prakash and William Robinson were battling for 2nd until William spun at the hairpin, dropping himself down to 6th. Noah Myburgh then got past Jayan at the chicane for 2nd place, having moved up the field from 5th on the grid. Xavier initially created a gap in the lead, but Noah, Jayan and Alredo Mengisen were all in close formation, battling over 2nd, and together they closed up on him as the race progressed. Alfredo just managed to grab 3rd from Jayan before the end.
In the Final, Xavier held onto the lead in the early stages, despite a move from Noah up the inside at the hairpin which didn’t stick. However, William Robinson was moving up the field from 5th on the grid, and by lap 3 he had taken the lead which he held to the flag. Having initially dropped from 4th to 5th, Jayan made a great recovery and got up to 2nd on the penultimate lap and Noah made a great move on Xavier to grab 3rd on the final lap.
CADET GROUP B
Initially in the pre-final, Deno Rowlands led the field but Thomas Rathbone got past him on lap 1 and held the place to the flag. The first five drivers were all together and created a gap to 6th but as the race progressed it became a tight three-way battle for 2nd between Trevelyan Sansom, Oliver Woodrow and Deno, the drivers finishing in that order.
For the Final, Thomas Rathbone led from lights to flag to take the win. Meanwhile, there was a crash at the chicane on lap 1, when one kart spun and collected 3 others, upsetting the order at the back of the field and promoting Ethan Critchley to 5th place. Deno Rowlands moved from 4th up to 2nd by lap 3 but on the last lap, Trevelyan Sansom made a great clean move at the last corner to grab the place.
CADET GROUP A
During the Pre-Final, Warwick Mylum initially led but Archie Loveridge moved ahead by the end of lap 1, only to lose the place back to Warwick a lap later. Neo Loizou held 3rd throughout, and Jaiden Solo made a good last lap move on Zac Bell to grab 4th.
Warwick led the Final from pole, never to be challenged. Behind him, Archie and Neo had a great race long battle over 2nd, swapping places a couple of times. Archie managed to hold onto the place to the flag and Jaiden solo came in an excellent 4th.
JUNIOR LIGHT
Junior Light Pre-Final This was a three horse race between Thomas Merritt, Myles Harrison and Max Winfield, with all three of them nose to tail for the whole race. Max had a look up the inside of Myles at the final corner of the last lap but thought better of it and backed out, and Thomas did well to withstand the pressure and hold on to the flag. Junior Light Final Thomas started from pole but Myles made a great move on him at the hairpin to take the lead, only to lose it again when Thomas got him back at the final corner, and the positions remained the same to the flag. As the top two moved away a little, Felix Smedley and Max battled over 3rd, Max making a well-planned move up the inside at the hairpin to take the place.
At the back of the field, Harley Young and Andreea Brahariu Musteata had a great battle for 7th with Harley retaking the place 2 laps from the end. In the Final, poleman Myles suffered a kart failure on lap 2, promoting James Kell to the lead which he held to the flag for a comfortable win. Rory made a great start, moving from 4th up to 2nd by lap 2, while Archie and Toby Percival battled over 3rd. Toby was all over the back of Archie for most of the race, but just couldn't find a way past so had to settle for 4th. Meanwhile Andrrea had a great race, moving up from 8th to 5th by the flag.
JUNIOR
William Sparrow led the Pre-Final from pole and held the lead to the flag, building up a gap as the rest of the field battled for position. Frankie Smedley despatched Ashley Eudo-Mitchell for 3rd on lap 3, and chased down Joao Gabriel Castro, taking him on the final corner of the last lap with a clean move up the inside. However, with Frankie's resultant loss of momentum, Joao saw the opportunity to retake the place and as they approached the flag he took a different line and only missed out on 2nd place by 7/100th of a second!
For the Final, William Sparrow led from lights to flag again, but the battle between Frankie and Joao was renewed, Joao getting past for 2nd at the hairpin on lap 2. Ashley held 4th throughout the race, but behind him there was drama when Paloma Jacoulot tried to take Daniel Knight into the chicane. Although Daniel saw her coming and kindly left her space, Paloma had gone in too hot and spun at the apex, collecting him and leaving no space for the drivers following closely behind. Once they all recovered, this promoted Finlay Dunleavy up to 5th, up from 9th, but Ben Knight made had progress, up from 8th on the grid to take the place from Finlay in the final stages.
See all your standings on Alpha here and get in touch with Gavin here, the photographer, for all your images from the weekend. Until then, we look forward to more close racing at Round 4 of the Southern Championship on 9th July at Llandow!
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