Kartmasters Entry list published
It’s not long now until the British karting world decends on Grantham for the annual Fairfix British Kart Grand Prix, held at PF International. In just over a week the fastest drivers will battle it out to win some big prizes. Trent Valley kart club have today announced the entry lists for 6 Grand Prix classes and the Mini X30 trophy race.
Iame Cadet
29 drivers will take to the track, with the entry list headed up by the ‘O’ plate holder Freddie Slater. He is one of 8 drivers to be part of the Fusion Motorsport stable, who will be looking to keep hold of the GP title in Iame Cadet. ORM team-mates Arvid Lindblad & Maxwell Dodds will be looking to make sure that doesn’t happen. The number 2 & 3 seeds came close to the title last season, which was ultimately scooped up by Taylor Barnard. ORM have a total of 6 drivers compared to Fusion’s 8. Will these be the teams to watch or will Strawberry’s Sam Shaw be able to get their first major title in the cadet classes?
Honda Cadet
The Hondas have a slightly smaller 24 drivers fighting it out this year, with Arvid Lindblad looking to do the double, a feat no cadet driver has ever managed on the same day. Only 1 driver have ever managed to win Kartmasters in two cadet classes (George Russell 2008/09), so this will be on Lindblad’s mind. He won’t have it all his own way though. #7 Theo Micouris has been blazing a trail recently at Super One level, so will surely be pushing hard to add the GP plate to his kart. Sebastien Bloch managed to capture the O plate in March for the Ambition All stars team, after a huge battle with Micouris, eventually winning by just 0.25s. Another driver who went well in the O plate meeting was Daniel Guinchard. Guinchard has been a regular front runner in Honda cadet, and managed to lead 13 laps of the O plate final. Will the battle from Rowrah be re-ignited at PFi?
X30 Mini
Running as an exhibition race again in 2018, the Mini X30 class is again well supported with 20 drivers on track. This season like others sees some of the cadet drivers moving up due to their age. 3 of the top 4 drivers in the Iame LGM series are present at Kartmasters. Zac Meakin, Ivan Lomliev & championship leader Joshua Mclean head the entry list. These 3 must be favourites to lift the honours come the main event.
Junior Max
19 drivers will contest the Junior max class, with top seeds Finlay Bunce & James Lowther looking for gold come Sunday. James sits second in the Super One Series, with championship leader Guy Cunnington missing from the entry list. Kai Hunter has also shown his pace in various club races recently and sits 4th in the S1 standings after a near maximum score at Round 2. There are also a few new names to big competitions, will Will Jenkins & Will Chadwick, who normally racing up north taking a shot at the GP plate.
Junior X30
2018 seems to be the year of Clayton Ravenscroft. Clayton managed to seal the X30 E plate earlier this month and he currently leads the S1 standings. He is a clear favourite in the 30 strong field. He didn’t capture the O plate, which is held by Axel Laflamme, which he won at PF in June. Axel will be competing on home turf, as he currently leads the TVKC championship. Don’t count out fast female Alicia Barrett. She went well at the GP meeting last year, but recieved a bumper penalty dropping her down. If she can keep it clean, she could be the first female winner since Gaby Weyer in WTP cadet in 2011.
Senior Max
Making a welcome return, the Senior Max category has been absent since 2015. Now 20 drivers will look to take the GP crown. There are some big names in this class for 2018, namely E plate holder Tommy Foster who mas moved up from Juniors and Junior winner Bradley Barrett looking for two wins in 2 years. Then there is the likes of Ben Davis, Jordan Brown-Nutley, Lewis Brown & Danny Russell who have been regulars in the Senior Max category. Will their experience pay dividends
Senior X30
The biggest grid of the 2018 FairFix Kartmasters GP will see 43 drivers competing in the Senior X30 class. This class has some of the biggest names in British karting, including defending GP champion Ben Barnicoat. Ben will be looking for his 7th Kartmasters win which will tie him with Mike Spencer for overall wins. He won’t have it easy as tripple winner Oliver Hodgson will be on home turf racing for the PFi team. Hodgson is looking for his second title in X30s. Jordan Brown-Nutley is doubling up, hoping to do the double that Barnicoat achieved in 2015. OK Junior winner Morgan Porter is also present along with Ash Hand, who wants to add to his two wins at the GP. The Senior X30 class is the biggest class and has upto 10 drivers who could lift the title come next Sunday.
Words: @WA10Tom
Image: TVKC/Kartpix
