Oliver Rowland Motorsport – Solid Start to 2020
Words: Jake Sanson
Photography © Marc Quinlivan Photography / Stu Stretton / Kartpix
For a squad entering only its third season of competitive karting, Oliver Rowland Motorsport continue their displays of excellence around the racing clubs of Britain and now heading into Europe too. Just a few short months after they showed their colours at the IAME International Finals at Le Mans, the team now running the Redspeed chassis from OTK are ready for glory in 2020.
Nathan Tye has started the season in exceptional style by clinching victory in the first two rounds of the IAME Cadet Cup of the Trent Valley Kart Club Winter Series at PF International, Lincolnshire. He is an early favourite for this year’s Motorsport UK British Karting Championship in the class, and will be one to watch heading into the spring.
The team have had some strong results to start the year, racing not only at PF International but also at Shenington and Whilton Mill Kart Clubs, with top ten success at all three circuits thus far for Zach and Will Knight, the two brothers who are quickly catching up to teammate Tye.
Out in Europe, Arvid Lindblad has returned to the squad he became British champion with in 2018 to compete in the IAME Winter Cup in Valencia beside Brandon Carr in Junior X30. Crossing the line fifth in the final after a frustrating weekend, Lindblad was able to bag two top 3 finishes in the run to the main event, and showed race winning pace throughout. Carr was on top form too, with speed good enough for the top ten in every session and only misfortune preventing him from finishing at the front of the field.
In IAME Cadet, Lewis Wherrell and Jesse Phillips made their paddock debuts just like their junior counterparts, and for Wherrell in particular he was regularly fighting for the win. A difficult final saw him finish fifth as the leading OTK chassis in the field, whilst Phillips was narrowly close to making the final cut for the Grand Final by finishing a close 7th in the second chance heat after a tough orientation to the European karting scene. Both young men can look forward to continuing their strong UK club campaigns.
We’ve also seen some great new faces joining the team such as Kit Belofsky, Jack Cunningham and Michael Gray who are getting up to speed quickly, whilst Bambino champion Riley Cranham is making his full-time IAME Cadet debut in 2020 so should be one to watch as the season develops. Harry Jnr Burgoyne has stepped up to Junior X30 after a thrilling season in 2019 in IAME Cadet, and with every session he looks ever more increasingly ready to take on the established guard at the head of the pack.
With the team working hard to improve the already exceptional Redspeed chassis, the package is already showing itself to be the fastest in the UK scene, as the IAME Cadet field prepares for continued campaigns in the club circuit scene and the first round of both the LGM Series and the Motorsport UK British Kart Championship draws nearer.
