Llandow Kart Club’s summer championship: Round 7

The Bambino class swelled again, with another couple of additions over July’s entry, but it was familiar faces Marco Costanza, Alex Austin and William Elswood who dominated proceedings.

Costanza produced the fastest lap time in the three of the four sessions, including the final outing, with Elswood taking the other and then claiming second spot, ahead of Austin, in the finale.

Ffion Rees, however, improved throughout the day to just miss out on a top three spot, while Alex Carrafa, Matthew Owain Rees and Matthew Martin completed the field.

Honda Cadet continued to go from strength to strength and prove that the class is far from dead, with no fewer than 18 drivers contesting the spoils.

Again, however, some familiar faces proved too strong for the opposition, with Brandon Patrick taking control from heat two and remaining unbeaten for the rest of the day. Harry Gooding, who twice finished runner-up in the heats, did so again in the main event, with Ross Thomas completing the podium as Ryan Edwards faded to sixth when it mattered most.

Lewis Griffiths once again proved unbeatable in a five-man (or four-man, one-woman) Comer Cadet field, sweeping the board with three heat wins and another lights-to-flag victory in the final to mirror his July domination.

Oliver Graham was once more Griffiths’ biggest threat, claiming second place in the final, as he had done in two heats, while Lucas Wynne took the final podium spot, ahead of Jodie Handford and Ethan Rees, who had earlier claimed a third-place finish in heat two.

Junior TKM proved to be something of a personal battle between Ross Chell and Scott Morris, with Chell taking the spoils in heat one, but thereafter having to give chase to his main rival.

Morris proceeded to sweep the remaining heats, and swapped places with Chell several times before coming out on top by 0.33secs in the final.

After Alex Thomas has split the protagonists in heat one, Yousuf Ashraf took up the cudgels as pursuer-in-chief, finishing third in each of the remaining races, while Thomas had to settle for fourth – by just 0.2secs - in the main event.

Instead of controlling the Junior Rotax class, Macaulay Austin also found his hands full, with James Johnson, in particular, finding a way to beat the ultra-successful multiple champion.

Austin claimed heat two but, otherwise it was Johnson to the fore, albeit helped by a DNF for his main rival in the third heat, and his subsequent non-appearance in the final.

Ben Davies, who clashed with Austin in heat three, returned to claim runners-up spot in the main event, while Morgan Rose completed the podium.

In the absence of wild card Hugh Jones, Senior Honda proved to be the domain of reigning champion Simon Evans and former champion Gareth Lewis, who finished 1-2 in each of the class’ four races.

Evans retained the upper hand, increasing his margin of victory with each outing. Veteran Paul Saunders returned to the fray after a couple of months away, and started well with third in each of the first two heats.

Thereafter he had to give best to Danny Griffiths and Jamie Warren, with the latter claiming the remaining podium spot in the final.

Chris Davies and Josh Collings shared the victories in Senior Max, taking two apiece, although Collings really should have added heat three to his tally, leading across the line only to be excluded.

He made amends when it mattered most, however, rising from an early fourth place to pass Davies on lap nine and claim maximum points in the final. Matthew Dowers also usurped Davies to take second place, as he had in two heats.

Sam Morgan and Dilip Singh also featured in the top three during the heats, while Simon Wheeler and Wayne Stone fought over 177 class honours before the latter emerged on top in the finale.

Also appearing on the August bill, the RAF Premier class added nine runners to the overall total, but only three appeared to be in contention for the spoils, as Marcus Ramsden (two wins) Cliff Blofield (one) and Simon Goodwin finished at the head of the field throughout the heats.

Ramsden duly continues his streak to claim the final from Blofield, but Goodwin’s subsequent exclusion from second spot also promoted Simon Hilton to the podium.

RESULTS

BAMBINO

1. Marco Costanza (CRG)

2. William Elswood (CRG)

3. Alex Austin (Zip)

CADET HONDA

1. Brandon Patrick (Project One)

2. Harry Gooding

3. Ross Thomas (Wright)

CADET COMER

1. Lewis Griffiths (Zip)

2. Oliver Graham (Zip)

3. Lucas Wynne (Zip)

JUNIOR TKM 2-STROKE

1. Scott Morris (Tonykart)

2. Ross Chell (Jade)

3. Yousuf Ashraf

JUNIOR ROTAX

1. James Johnson (Kosmic)

2. Ben Davies

3. Morgan Rose (Tonykart)

SENIOR HONDA

1. Simon Evans (7Kart)

2. Gareth Lewis (7Kart)

3. Jamie Warren (Wright)

SENIOR ROTAX

1. Josh Collings (CRG)

2. Mathew Dowers (Kosmic)

3. Chris Davis (Storm)

ROTAX 177

1. Wayne Stone (CRG)

2. Simon Wheeler (CRG)

RAF PREMIER

1. Marcus Ramsden

2. Cliff Blofield

3. Simon Hilton