End of season - final round

The final round of the Warden Law Thunderkart series took place a the weekend, where Hayden-Media driver James just missed out on a top 3 placing in the championship, despite missing three of the 10 rounds held. The above image shows James ahead of circuit boss Ian Lawson.

Only three drivers out of the 49 who at some stage took part in the championship competed in all 10 rounds, and with the bonus points on offer for doing so, in what had been a tightly contested series, those three finished in the top 3 places.

Craig Brock had enjoyed a reasonably consistent year to emerge as overall champion, after steadily overhauling Daniel Laws later in the year, after Daniel, gracious in defeat, had suffered a few more troubles than Craig had perhaps done in some of the finals. Tony Little had been there or there abouts in the early stages, but a poorer second half of the season compared to what he had enjoyed at the start, left him 3rd overall.

James was therefore joint 4th with Marino Pili whom he had outscored during the last few races, with Tony's 10-point bonus giving him that championship 3rd place by just two points. James though, despite not being able to drop any low scores as he had not entered enough races, was left rueing the 8-point penalty that had been unjustly meted out back in April. A top 3 had been his aim by the end of the year - it had been a narrow miss for him!

Anthony Davidson - Formula 1 driver in waiting

Black and white images can be quite striking , especially with the predominance of colour as part of current thinking, but in the right place, and with the right subject, they can grab attention.

Whilst one of the great modern day injustices is played out, with the supremely talented Anthony Davidson still waiting on the side-lines of Formula 1, whilst lesser individuals are short-listed for a 2010 drive by short-sighted team bosses, I will do all I can to promote Anthony to the masses.

Wearing my Karting Magazine race-suit, and driving the Hayden family ex-Stuart Smith 1995 Super 1 British Championship winning TKM kart, Ant showed that he had not lost any of his karting skills when he tested for 'us' at PF International in 2009.

I have a draft book of Ant's life story in waiting, with currently over 300 pages presently written covering his racing life since he was 15-years of age, and containing facts and figures that no one else is even aware of, let alone able to publish, and of course with exclusive photographs...

Formula 1 in 2010, with a good drive naturally, would raise his public profile to make publishing the book in 2010 a distinct possibility..? Then again I might just try to self-publish it anyway, because it would make a great life story of a families struggle and achievement, with an exclusive short-run supply? If it happens... watch this space!

Jon Lancaster - Rising Star

It is easy to forget sometimes just what photographs one has, but whilst glancing few some files this morning I came across this one of Jon, with me, which was taken in the pits at Donington in November 2007.

Andrew (my brother) and I have been with Jon for almost 10-years now, maintaining his web-site (www.jonlancasterracing.com) from his early karting days, through to his current exploits, where he is at the moment out at Paul Ricard in France testing in GP2, a formula that is just one short step away from Formula 1.

In just three short seasons since his final European karting year in 2006 with Birel, Jon has been a winner in Formula Renault (2007), Formula 3 (2008), and Formula 3.5 World Series by Renault (2009) - all told an astonishingly remarkable achievement.

Roll on 2010...

Ken and me...

One of the highlights from the recent Monaco Cup kart race, was being able to help out 'ace' commentator Ken Walker, (whom I first met in Egypt at the Rotax World Finals, which were held at Sharm-el-Sheikh in 2004), in the Commentary Box.

Ken needs no introduction to motor sport aficionados, and is one of the most complimentary, nicest, and helpful of people a photo/journalist on his travels can hope to meet.

At Monaco we had a lot of fun as I tried to keep up with Ken's commentary, watching the timing screens and on-track action using the TV monitor, hoping I could offer some extra bits of news that he could pass on to the spectating masses along the side of the famous street track.

Monaco is an awesome place and is worth a visit just for the experience. And with three visits in 13-months I must now be something of an expert anyway..! In terms of overnight costs, the Hotel Ambassador must take some beating, being within a 7-minute walking distance of the start/finish line, but perhaps more importantly, being a fraction of the cost of the nearby Marriott.

The image above shows Carlos Sainz Jnr taking a curious peek to his right, son of the famous World Rally Champion, and who was competing in the Formula KF3 final just a few minutes after this photograph was taken. A highly talented young racer with a potentially great future ahead of him, Carlos Jnr won the final with absolute ease... Most definitely a name to watch for the future.

British victory

The British outfit Kartograph won the six hour endurance in Monaco on Sunday, after a sterling effort at a time when penalties were being delivered like confetti at a wedding! Kartograph avoided problems, drove with style, and with reliability on their side, it was a worthy and winning performance.

Piquet Sport took 2nd place, picking up a number of 'stop-go' penalties on the way, but in all honesty were lucky to have the second step on the podium. On one of the pit-stops to serve a penalty, they not only re-fuelled and changed drivers, but failed to correctly heed a 'stop-go' at the same time, with Piquet staying only momentarily in the penalty box. A penalty should be served separately, and last a lot longer than a few seconds.

This was important for Dean Hawkey's team, who pulled back an amazing 9 laps after a disaster in the first of the three two-hour races, when the engine would not start after a driver change. Had Piquet Sport won and Team Hawkey been 2nd a protest would have been lodged, but as it was 'only' for 2nd place, the British team settled for 3rd place overall.

French racer Adrien Tambay, racing with Jules Bianchi, had an amazing escape earlier in the race, following a big shunt in the swimming pool complex when he hit the barriers very hard indeed. Fortunately he was thrown from his kart, which on this occasion was the better option than staying with his bent machine. Pale he might have been, but like a trooper he was back out on the track later in the race.

Monaco Kart GP

Superb weather conditions greeted the drivers for the Monaco Cup, covering the KF3 junior drivers, the outstandingly quick KZ2 gearbox aces, and the KF2 TM powered 6-hour endurance teams.

Run over three two-hour events, two of the endurance races were held today (Saturday), where the no,39 team was led by Nelson Piquet Jnr, the (former?) F1 driver who last raced for the Renault F1 team, until the Singapore race fixing scandal rocked motor-sport. Despite a big problem during the last 15 minutes of the 4th hour, Piquet hung onto the lead, but only by 24s from the British outfit Screen 4 Life, with Kartograph, another British team in 3rd place.

The winner of race two though was the impressive British outfit led by Dean Hawkey, who but for an engine problem in race one would have been leading the event overall. They had started race two 9 laps down on grid 15, but by winning race two and more0or-less stering clear of trouble, ended Saturday only 5 laps adrift, after a superb recovery of 4 laps, no mean feat in this company!

Only one KZ2 heat was completed and that went to the ever consistent Intrepid driver and Dutch champion, Bas Lammers, who had said earlier this afternoon how much he "loved this circuit", which incorporates part of the Formula 1 track round by the swimming pool complex and LA Rascasse...

In KF3 Carlos Sainz Jnr was impressive, with the expected pace from Nyck De Vries sadly lacking at the moment. Hopefully the Zanardi mounted team can make some changes overnight to give the Spanish champion hotter competition?

Zuera, Spain - WSK Championship

After the World Cup at Alcaniz around one hour south of Zuera, the WSK racing had to be good to match what took place the previous week - and to be honest it was!

Not only was it hotter with clear blue skies and blazing sunshine, but the on-track action at Zuera was just as frantic. Just ask Ignazio D'Agosto after the Formula KF2 pre-final... he was one mighty unhappy chap.

Where happy chaps are concerned though look no further than Bas Lammers. He was awesome a couple of months ago at Wackersdorf in Germany, and he was awesome again today in Formula KZ2. On the grid for the pre-final just minutes before the start I asked Bas if he could win today from row four, sat on grid 8? "Of course," he said with a grin, "it will not be a problem for me." I thought he might be joking - he wasn't, and he won quite comfortably!

As for the final later in the afternoon, he led the first lap from pole, dropped to 2nd on lap 2 afetr CRG's Rick Dreezen took the lead, and then fell behind his Intrepid team-mate Jeremy Iglesias on lap 10. Final lap and Bas was still 3rd with one corner remaining with Dreezen just ahead. He pounced and took 2nd place with 100 metres to go, only for Iglesias to celebrate (!) before he passed the chequered flag, leaving Bas to sweep past to win by 0.090s! The pic shows what is now coming to be the 'Bas Jump' after he has won.

Karting Magazine will carry a full report in the November issue due out on the second Wednesday in October.

Form book just went out the window...

For 17 of the 18 laps the World Cup final progressed more or less as expected, with several place changes for the lead taking place between Matteo Vigano, a tardy starting Brandon Maisano, and Felice Tiene, with no one showing an advantage over their opponents. Smarrazzo though was struggling in the early laps and had dropped to 9th place.

Holding station in 4th place was David Da Luz (Zanardi-Parilla), but he later admitted he did not have the pace to pass the three ahead of him. The final lap changed all that when Vigano pulled into the pits to retire, leaving Maisano and Tiene to make contact at turn 4 in a move that gave Tiene a 3s penalty. From the dust and confusion emerged a 'shocked' Da Luz, leaving the Portuguese driver to take the World Cup victory. A recovering Tiene was behind him, but with the penalty, Vandoorne from grid 15, and who had been 9th two laps from the finish, was promoted to 2nd place, with the Italian resident Australian youngster, Mitchell Gilbert (Kosmic-Vortex), an equally shocked 3rd overall.

Incredible..!

Awesome - Brandon Maisano

As pre-finals go this one really was quite "awesome". From grid 12, after a heat DNF, Brandon Maisano drove his LH-Maxter as though it was turbo-charged, making up 5 places on the first lap alone, taking the lead before the end of lap 10 with 2 laps remaining. He then eased open a one and a half second gap as his pursuers, and early leaders, fell over each other in confusion.

After swapping positions throughout, Tiene finally slipped past Vigano in the dying moments of the race, with Smarrazzo all over the back of Vigano as they crossed the finishing line, with less than 0.6s between the three of them. A cracking final is now expected, due in less than two hours, where it remains to be seen how much life Maisano took out of his Dunlop tyres in his titanic drive!

For the British contingent, Chris Lock suffered and fell rearwards, but European Champion Jordan Chamberlain kept his cool, and from grid 10 made his way forwards to finish in 6th place, just over 4 seconds adrift of Maisano. He has not got the Frenchman's pace, but a podium remains a real possibility for the Williams Motorsport driver.

Finals now pending...

Only the two finals now stand between the 34 qualifiers and the Formula KF2 World Cup, where Matteo Vigano has taken pole position for the pre-final, ahead of Felice Tiene and Aniello Smarrazzo. The other hot-shot, Brandon Maisano, had a bad result in heat 3, so he is back on grid 12 with a lot to do to beat his three main rivals.

Over in 'Brit-land' European Champion Jordan Chamberlain is on grid 10, which is a respectable place for Jordan to be and allows he the chance to move towards the top six for a good final grid position. Chris Lock has also done well and has qualified on grid 18, although rather him than me in this mid-pack!

As the on-track temperature started to rise, British driver Josh Fielding was heading towards qualification until a shunt took him out of the final heat, although seeing his aggressor on the other side of the track proved a little too much for Josh. Fortunately an alert Spanish marshall came to a quick decision, proved equal to the task, and brought a charging Josh crashing to the ground, before he did something to his opponent that would have earned the wrath, and potential ban, from the officials.

Sunday morning...

First blood to Matteo Vigano in the opening qualifying heat this morning, with Felice Tiene (above) taking honours in the second of today's final three heats, with the third and last race due out at 11.30am (local time).

British pride has so far been carried by Ben Cooper and Jordan Chamberlain, who both looked quick in the last heat, although Lock, Fielding, Carter, and Blundell have a lot to do to recover from any trials and tribulations experienced yesterday.

The driver parade is scheduled for 13.00 this afternoon, with the pre-final due out at 15.15, and then the main final at 16.50.

KF2 World Cup - another update...

Crikey, this guy is looking good! Italian Tonykart driver Aniello Smarrazzo had looked quick earlier this morning, but he has certainly kept his pace alive throughout the first day. The final qualifying heat of the day went his way quite easily, as he romped home to an impressive two second win over no less a driver than Felice Tiene...

Ben Cooper had found his feet in the last heat as well, until the last lap board appeared when his exhaust "popped" as he crossed the start/finish line, and his race was over when well placed. So at last Shaun Carter had something to cheer about as first Brit home in 12th place, just ahead of Chris Lock. It has been a trying day for Shaun so he needed a good result to sleep on, before the final qualifying heat tomorrow morning.

On current evidence I'll have edge my bets - Vigano, Smarrazzo, Tiene, or Maisano? If anyone other than one of those four lifts the World Cup tomorrow afternoon, something will have gone badly wrong in all four camps!

KF2 World Cup (update no. 3...)

The temperature is rising, heading towards the late 20 deg C area, as Matteo Vigano heads towards the first corner at the start of one of this afternoon's qualifying heats. Vigano is already marking himself out as a potential World Cup winner, as he becomes the first driver of the event to win two of the qualifying heats.

Back in the pack on the outside of this photograph is British driver Ben Cooper on his Tonykart-Vortex. Ben avoided the incidents as he came through to finish in a commendable 6th place, and only 1.4s adrift of the winner. He needed a good result though after the problem he suffered in the first heat.

KF2 World Cup (update...)

Cracking stuff from Brandon Maisano of team CRG, who won the first heat this afternoon on his Dunlop shod LH-Maxter, in fine style. Maisano is one of those rising stars in karting who is always there, or thereabouts, in major karting events, so it is no surprise to find he is at the front in the World Cup qualifying heats.

Both British drivers Chris Lock and Jordan Chamberlain were in this heat, with Lock taking 11th place within six or so seconds of the winner, although Chamberlain appeared to be in difficulties after his first heat success, finishing down in 15th place. Shaun Carter though was still in the wars with a DNF after just 9 laps being added to his first heat exclusion result.

Formula KF2 World Cup, Alcaniz, Spain

Today I am live from the impressive new 5.2km Formula 1 standard circuit at the Motorland facility of Ciudad del Motor de Aragon near Alcañiz, where the equally impressive kart circuit stands in its shadow at an enormous 1,700 metres in length. Warm and sunny conditions are on hand to greet the 80 drivers from 18 nationalities, who had been selected for the 2009 CIK-FIA World Cup, possibly the main Formula KF2 event of the year.

The first heat has just finished where the Italian diver Matteo Vigano (see pic above), competing with the MGM Racing team, took an easy win on his Birel-Parilla outfit.

The top British driver was European Champion Jordan Chamberlain, who won the European title at Essay in France recently. Jordan brought his Williams Motorsport entered Tonykart-TM machine home into 5th place just over four seconds behind the winner, which bodes well for the young British ace.

More to follow as the weekend progresses.

Laura and Paul

Laura and Paul celebrated their first wedding anniversary last week, and it gives me pleasure in offering my congratulations, not to mention allowing me to take some superb photographs from Hellaby Hall ceremony, to the Stowe School (Bucks) reception last year.

Some weddings are a pleasure to 'shoot', but with the Stowe venue, it is likely that this one was probably the best so far.

I expect to take more photographs of Laura, a stunning former model, on a future date, although with her being a "mum-to-be" in waiting, I might have to wait longer than planned..?

My heartfelt wishes to you both - but Vancouver is such a long way..!

Thomas Knopper

It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Thomas Knopper during a kart race in Germany recently.

A former European Formula KZ2 champion in 2007, I last saw Thomas race at Wackersdorf just a few short weeks ago, and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Fatalities in karting are rare and the circumstances of Thomas' accident are unkown, but it is important that steps are taken to try and prevent a similar accident happening again. Karts are very fast these days, so if an Italian karting magazine is suggesting track improvements need to be made, then there should be no "if's" or "buts".

JFDI as a fomer kart champion once said!

TKM Festival (Whilton Mill)

Superb weather and excellent organisation at Whilton Mill, all contributed to some excellent racing at the 2009 TKM Festival meeting.

Sam Brown dominated the TKM Extreme final, took the top step of the podium, but already there were rumblings of a problem in scrutineering. Sorry folks but correctly completing a 'scrute' card is not rocker science - I have covered far too many races during the last 20+ years, where drivers who have performed superbly well on the track, end up being excluded from what was a major result in their careers. So step forward Rory Mowbray, the new TKM Extreme Festival champion.

As for the rest Ashley Jones was, in my judgement anyway, the 'driver of the day', with a stunning victory in Junior Elite - well done buddy! Oliver Hodgson meanwhile, whom I have already 'blogged' eslewhere after a well-deserved win recently at Kimbolton, was suitably awesome in the Junior Festival race after a difficult weekend. The 'Open' champ won as easily as Jones did in his race - it would have been worth seeing them have another head-to-head at Whilton...

The latest round of the Thunderkart Sodi W Series Star Cup was held at Warden Law on Sunday, with congratulations to Craig Brock who survived to take the overall win, after spending 12-laps in the final driving defensively to keep his main rival at bay.

James Hayden, whose last four races have rewarded him with a 1st, 1st, 1st, and 2nd, was clearly the fastest driver on the day, taking three of the four fastest laps from the day's proceedings, including the fastest lap of the event.

Speaking from experience it is immensely frustrating to be stuck behind a quick but slower driver, with whom you have little choice but to spend 12-laps running nose-to-tail, or side-by-side (albeit always on the outside), but lacking the straight-line speed to make an overtaking move 'stick'.

"I was 'gutted'" James said after the race, "because I was so much quicker, but Craig was too defensive to get past safely. For this race they included the chicane on the main straight, but I reckon if they had not done that, I would then have had enough in hand to pass him on the outside anyway. But with the shortened straight after the cicane there was no longer enough space to get the run I would have needed down the outside of him."

It always brings home something the Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson once said to me when he used to race in karts around the world. "You know Mike I have never driven defensively. If someone is faster then why risk having them take you off. Should they get past because you are not quick enough to beat them, then let them go. Maybe after they have gone by you might find the speed needed to re-launch an attack, but defensive driving and deliberately blocking another driver? No. All you need is the wrong driver behind you and a barrier is waiting for you somewhere - not all are patient!"

So well done James on showing the patience to keep the observers off your back.

With the postponement of the Thunderkart Challenge until next Sunday, Ben Hyland's (from PPiK in Leeds) new Sodi World Series RX250 class replaced the day's proceedings at Warden Law this weekend, when a nice dry 'window' was found in the weather. The pace was hot all day and my substitute James finished a solid 2nd on the road for Karting Magazine, until he was penalised with a one place penalty, which dropped him to 3rd place.

To be honest the move from James was an excellent one, and was certainly a move that I would have taken given the same circumstances. He made a superb exit from the final corner just a few laps into the race, pulling alongside the two ahead, for a three kart run to the first corner of the next lap three-abreast, with James on the inside. It was spectacular stuff, but if a driver who has lost his place turns in when he shouldn't, and the driver on the inside is penalised, then the penalty is a touch unfair - but that's racing!

The next Sodi WS RX250 race is at PF International on 9 August in a few weeks time, which should give the drivers a few things to think about on the fast sweepers of the Lincolnshire track..

Kimbolton - Formula TKM 'O' Plate Championship

The 'O' Plate (Open) Championship for Formula TKM took place at Kimbolton on Sunday, with two fine vicories going the way of Oliver Hodgson in the Junior ranks, and Daniel Butcher-Lord at Senior level.

The final corner at Kimbolton can always be relied upon to provide entertainment in a closely fought race, and the Senior final did not disappoint when both leaders collided, to leave Butcher-Lord, who had expected fire-works and had hung back, to take a well-deserve victory.

Hodgson meanwhile had gone into the Junior race as the defending 2008 'O' Plate champion, and with his main rival Ashley Jones rising admirably to the occasion, the spectators were treated to an exciting race as the two of them swapped the lead several times. After several side-by-side moments Hodgson, just, took the win, but he was very complimentary to Jones, which is always a nice thing to hear.

British National Grass-track Champs 2009

The weather forecast for the third National Grass-track Championship, near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire on Sunday was decidedly grim, but in the event it stayed warm all day, and for the better part of the sfaternoon, quite sunny too.

Guest of Honour and top racer Carl Breeze, who is currently contesting the 2009 Ginetta Championship, but not yet fully recovered from that awful Oulton Park shunt a couple of months ago, was on hand for the trophy presentations for the new 2009 Champions.

As seen in previous years there are some talented drivers on the grass-track scene, and it is apparent that this class of racing provides a great deal of suitable driving expeience, for those youngsters ready to graduate to the road, let alone elsewhere in the sport.

The day produced several new and worthy British Champions, with a full report, with photographs, due to appear in the next issue of Karting Magazine due out the second Wednesday in August (September issue).

Silverstone - Racing Steps Foundation

Before the major World Series by Renault event at Silverstone this weekend, the Racing Steps Foundation, who are tasked with funding selected up-and-coming British racing talent, arranged a photo-shoot and media day in the BRDC Club at the famous Grand Prix track. The five chosen drivers, all supremely talented, and all with outstanding karting CV's, were on hand to meet with the members of the media.

From left to right in the above photograph is karting champion Jake Dennis, with Formula Renault winner James Calado next. Top representative Oliver Turvey is in the middle, racing in the 3.5 litre Renault World Series class, and fresh from his astonishingly competent victory in Monte Carlo just a few weeks earlier. Next along is the superbly laid-back Jack Harvey, now in Formula BMW, but who won the Asian-Pacific title at Suzuka in Japan last year, with last but not least, another rising karting star Jacob Stilp, whose father Daniel and his uncle Jonathan had in previous years set earlier roots for Jacob to grow from.

The Racing Steps Foundation (RSF) is vitally important to these five drivers, and is an incredibly forward-thinking organisation that provides these talented individuals, with funding to help take them up the racing ladder, at a time when their racing careers might otherwise grind to a halt.

Formula 1 is possible - could Oliver Turvey be the next British driver, with RSF support, to make that move..?

Bas Lammers - Eurpean Champion

Ignore the fact that Swiss Airlines are incompetent when it comes to looking after your luggage, which was evident by the fact that they 'lost' my case on both the outbound and inbound flights to and from Nurnberg in Germany via Zurich. So if we ignore that sorry fact, then the European Formula KZ1 and KZ2 Championship at Wackersdorf over the weekend, was really quite an enjoyable event.

In Dutch ace Bas Lammers the Formula KZ1 class European title has gone to a truly worthy driver, which means the Intrepid team for whom Lammers drives, pulled off a major coup when they signed Bas to drive for them. In company with his young and promising 16-year old team-mate Norman Nato, who is clearly a future champion in the making, Intrepid is now perhaps 'the' major force in International gearbox karting.

Hot and humid over the whole weekend, the 80% chance of rain on Sunday failed to materialise, although it is unlikely Lammers would have been affected by the weather, as his skill in the wet is just as good as it is when it is dry.

The only pity, one of two, is that Lammers is not British.

And as for the other pity, where is my luggage please Mr Swiss Airlines..?

Two out of two...

As the Thunderkart Challenge (SodiWSeries) reaches the halfway point at Warden Law near Sunderland, James took his second consecutive win at the track on Sunday, with a conclusive victory from grid 3 in the final.

Series points leader Daniel Laws led from pole position, chased by Simon Levers and Karting Magazine's James, as the three of them pulled away from the rest of the chasing pack. In his bid to get past though whilst James pateintly waited, Simon tried a doomed overtaking move on Daniel, which led to both of them being delayed, as a smiling James, who took a blow to the side of his kart as he swerved to avoid Simon, swept into the lead.

With rain the day before and the day after, Sunday had been perfect racing conditions, with Chris, the man in charge, supported by his marshals, once again ruling like all good officials should. My job as photographer was the easy bit...

John Mills - 50 years and counting...

Next month's Karting Magazine, which is due out on 8 July 2009 (August edition), is likely to have an interview with John Mills, the head man at John Mills Racing based at PF International.

Pictured with is wife Sheila (as shown in pic), John, now thankfully on the mend after an illness earlier this year, and his family team, celebrate 50 years in the karting business in 2009, which is an extremely commendable achievement, especially in what can be the fickle sport of motor-racing.

His brother Roger, who competed for the British Team with former top karter Paul Fletcher back in the 1960's, helped me with the article, and I am grateful to both John and Roger, not to mention the many members of this family run business, for the help given to me with this story.

Here's to the next 50 years guys... Cheers!

Front cover - Karting Magazine (July '09)

Immensely satisfying..!

These are the only words to describe the feeling when a magazine gives you a front cover!

I covered the Anthony Davidson test a few weeks ago when he took three different TKM karting chassis' around the PF International circuit, where the former Honda and Super Aguri F1 driver had a terrific time.

The article and images from that test are in this month's edition of Karting Magazine (July 2009), which is out nw, and taking pride of place as the lead article in the mag this month.

My heartfelt thanks go to the editor Mark Burgess for choosing me over the many others who tend to get the majority of covers, which just makes the photograph that has appeared on the front cover, as shown aside, all the more satisfying.

Ant called me yesterday just after he had covered the obligatory 10 laps at Le Mans, where he has joined the Gulf Lola Aston Martin LMP1 team, and his co-drivers, former F1 driver Jos Vesrappen, and Darren Turner. They are up against the odds with the Audi and Peugeot diesel cars ruling from the front, which Ant reckons are averaging six seconds a lap faster. "I'm not worried", he said, and over 24-hours things can happen. They just need to have the odd problem or two and we'll be looking to beat them".

David Sutton - BARC Renault

David Sutton from Team AVAGO, who is being strongly supported this year by Hayden-Media, had an eventful outing at Oulton Park.

The Cheshire track was the venue for the opening round of the BARC Formula Renault Championship, where David had to overcome a serious front brake problem and worn out tyres. To fight his way forward from a lower than expected qualifying result due to locking brakes though, was a commendable achievement for the teenage karting graduate.

We met up with David this week to find that a full strip and re-build of the car after Oulton Park, had revealed a number of maintenance issues that needed to be adressed, which had not been evident after the Team AVAGO outfit had bought the car. With these problems corrected, and with his first single-seater race start under his belt, it means that David approaches the next two rounds at Snetterton in Norfolk, in a much stronger and more confident frame of mind.

RX250 Masters Cup (Warden Law)

Bank Holiday Monday marked the first ever RX250 race in the UK at Warden Law near Sunderland, when the opening round of the Sodi W Series 'Masters Cup' race took place.

There was a good turn-out in sunny weather conditions, where Karting Magazine was represented by my youngest son James, who took the speed of the faster RX250 kart in his stride.

From grid 5 in the second final, after being pushed off the track in the first final, he emerged in he lead after just the first corner, set the fastest lap of the race on lap 4, and pulled out a comfortable 5 second lead by the halfway mark. He then dropped into 'cruise mode' and throttled back, to win the race by just under 2 seconds. It was a remarkable effort from a driver in only his first season of racing, against some rather more experienced karting competition.

If future events are run with the same level of organisation, as that shown by Ben Hyland from the indoor karting centre PPiK in Leeds, then the future prospects for this new corporate karting venture looks very sound.

Fulbeck - 50 years and counting.

The Fulbeck circuit in Lincolnshire, which used to be a former RAF bomber base in World War 2, has since 1959 been the site of a demanding kart circuit. Which means that in 2009 it marks the 50th anniversary for the Lincolnshire Kart Club.

Historically Fulbeck is important to me, and not just because it is a "driver's track", as it was also the venue for my younger brother's very first kart race in August 1983, the scene of my own novice debut in 100 National in June 1984, and where my journalistic career started at 'grass-roots' level in June 1988, thanks to the then club secretary Pat Connelly.

I was proud to be invited back to cover the May event last weekend for the Club, for the next race report to appear in the edition of Karting Magazine due out on 8 July 2009, to celebrate the 50th anniversary event.

The weather was amazing with beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine, not to mention some exceptionally good racing. Pictured is young Alfie Brown in Comer Cadet, who took a fine victory in the final of his class.

The opening round of the 2009 BARC Formula Renault Championship takes place this Saturday at Oulton Park in Cheshire, where former karting champion David Sutton will be making his single-seater race debut.

Sadly owing to other commitments over the weekend we will not be able to watch David in action, although we are at the team base last night to take a series of photographs before they left for the track. Another important part for us though is the fact that David's newly liveried TeamAvago.co.uk racer will be carrying 'Hayden-Media' logo's on the cockpit side and nose section of the car this year.

We will be giving our close support to David throughout 2009 as he bids for this prestigious single-seater title in his maiden year.

His progress can be followed at http://www.davidsutton.info/ where we will be replacing his current site for a newly updated version in the coming weeks.

Warden Law - Star Cup (May '09)

Round 4 of the Sodi W Series survived the weekend monsoons, with a few hours on Sunday morning remaining dry.

The entry list was down to 17, quite a few less than in April, which the race official reckoned was down to the 'wusses' expecting rain!

'My' driver James though, with the new 'Karting Magazine' race-suit, was in fine form, again taking grid 5 for the final, after being let down by one poor kart draw in one of the three heats, but delivering a superb final dice with three of his closest rivals, Simon Levers, Marino Pili, and Dylan Atkinson. Less than 1 second separated the four of them at the chequered flag, in what was described as one of the best, cleanest, and sportsmanlike fight for position seen at the track.

And the images from the event were good too, so all in all it was a good day for 'Team Hayden' and Karting Magazine.

Anthony Davidson - Formula 1 driver

In an exclusive test for Tal-ko, using three different TKM karts, I arranged for F1 driver Anthony Davidson to return to his roots for an article due out in the July edition of Karting Magazine.

Anthony, which is often abbreviated to Ant, had last tested at PF International near Newark way back in January 1996, before he started his European karting campaign with Terry Fullerton, which culminated in him signing with the BAR-Honda F1 team on his way to Grand Prix stardom.

For how Ant got on you will need to get hold of a copy of Karting Magazine (July edition), which is due out on the second Wednesday in June, but needless to say he had a superb day, spoilt only slightly by the truly appalling weather until mid-afternoon when a brief, dry weather window was found.

TKM boss Alan Turney said it all after the test when he commented: "Isn't he a wonderful guy - so easy to work with and talk to, with no airs and graces..."

That's our Ant, a bloke who should be back full-time in Formula 1 with Brawn GP..!

Ready for the next round

The new Karting Magazine race-suit from MiR arrived this week, but with yours truly being out of racing action, the race-suit's new debut will be down to James, as he returns from Eqypt on Sunday morning, ready for round 4 of the Sodi World Series on 17 May 2009, at Warden Law near Sunderland.

The bright red and silver race-suit should make for a colourful set of pics from the event, and with James borrowing my Jon Lancaster Alpinestar gloves (which he wore when he finished as Vice-World Kart Champion three years ago) to match the suit, could a win be on the cards for James..? After that unjust penalty last time out he is determined to make a suitable amendment to his points total..!

Warm day kart racing

I covered the third round of Ian Lawson's exellent corporate series at Warden Law last weekend, where I was also providing support to my son James who was taking part.

James had a good day finishing 2nd in one of his heats, carving his way through the pack, after starting from the back row of the grid, before eventually lining up on grid 5 for the main final. The problem with racing events though is that some of the reports 'marshals' send to race control tend to have little bearing on what happened.

In James' case he was given a points penalty for allegedly driving into another competitor. The truth was that the "other competitor" was recovering from an 'off', and was driving slowly down the middle of the track. James went for the inside, which is what I would have done, only for the 'snail' to take the racing line, which is a definite 'no-no' in such circumstances, only to bleat about it afterwards. Things go wrong though when a marshal witnesses only half the scene and arrives at the wrong conclusion. I rest my case.

Nevertheless the series is a good one to be associated with, and now forms part of the prestigious Sodi World Series, which gives the 2009 championship some added prestige. Ian also had the new RX250 on display, which he would have let me drive, but my arm injury is not yet ready to be put to the test - wise discretion won over valour!

April mid-month update

It was my first major race meeting of the year on Sunday, where the second round of the Mobil 1 Super 1 National Kart Championship was held for the TKM and Honda Cadet classes. There were the usual pedantic protests from some people, but it was pleasing to find the three main Super 1 Clerks of Course, Phil Cox, Alan Bryant, and Rod Taylor were laying down strong markers for how competitors should behave in 2009.

Following an abortive kart test some years ago, this was actually my first visit to the Glan-Y-Gors track in North Wales, and quite an impressive place it was too. Naturally it was helped by the fact it was sunny and warm (for April..!), with arguably the best scenery (picturesque mountains) at any British race-track.

So who emerged as one worth watching? Howard Lucas' driver in TKM 4-Stroke, Steven Welsh, was certainly one to keep a note of - every race I have seen Steve take part in he has been at the front. Billy Monger in Honda Cadet looked quite useful too, coming through from a less than ideal grid slot to take the final podium step in 3rd place.

Mid-week I had the privilege of taking photographs for Stephanie Rudd's 21st birthday in Sheffield. Her parents, Peter and Bridgette, liked what they saw at a wedding I covered recently, so made sure I was drafted for the big 2-1. The best part of being a photographer is having a 'model' who is a natural in front of a camera, and where Stephanie was concerned getting her to smile was no hardship at all (see above)..! The funny part though was watching her mum trying to copy her poses... Stephanie's best friend Kat also had very photogenic eyes that sparkled. The session went well and I think the results speak for themselves.

Warden Law just off the A1 motorway near Durham is next on the agenda this coming Sunday, where Ian Lawson's excellent Thunderkart series (round 3) is due to take place. Now had I not fractured my left elbow and arm in January, I would have been leading that Series by now...