Collings takes GP title after penalty for Walker

Another packed grid of karts would contest the Junior Rotax class, being one of 2 Junior classes on the bill. Every year, some drivers attempt to do the double and win both classes, with just 1 driver taking up the challenge this year. That driver being Strawberry Racing’s Aaron Walker.

Qualifying wouldn’t fill him with confidence, after Sam Pollit Racing’s Luis Gardner took the top time with a 58.66, just over a tenth clear of Mattie Hingeley and Callum Voisin who couldn’t be split by the stop watch. Dan Holland Racing’s Daniel Armstrong and Harrison Collings would complete the top 5 with Walker in 9th. Another driver hoping for more was Matthew Higgins who wouldn’t of been too impressed with 7th despite the 33 strong field.

Higgins put that right in the opening heat, driving through to take the win by 0.38 seconds over fellow Welshman Hingeley with Higgins’s team mate Collings 3rd on the road, just 2 tenths behind Hingeley. Walker would make some moves coming home 5th behind Douglas Bolger. There was an impressive run from Eddison Purcell who climbed 18 places from 29th to finish 11th.

Purcell wouldn’t repeat his feat in heat 2, ending the race 2 laps early, joining Sam Gornall on the side lines. The win went the way of Armstrong who drove away from the field, opening up a 2.8 second gap over Higgins by the time the chequred flag fell. Hingeley would again finish inside the top 3 with Voisin chasing him home in 4th with Egby not too far behind in 5th. That handed Higgins and Hingeley the front row for the pre-final with the DHR pairing of Armstrong and Collings on row 2 with Voisin and Bogler on row 3. Walker would go off 7th.

Walker would take a dominant win, getting to the front early on and simply driving away from the rest of the field. He would come home 3.6 seconds clear of the rest of the field. That field being lead home by Armstrong with Egby putting in an solid performance to finish 3rd from outside the top 10. Higgins would end the pre-final with a lot of work to do having picked up a penalty leaving him 13th on the grid for the main event. Voisin would also have a lot to do, after a penalty would drop him to 19th.

Daniel Armstrong threw it around the outside of turn 1 to take the lead from Walker into the first corners. Walker had Hingley all over the back of him from the offset as the elbows were out further down the order. Walker soon lost out to Hingley, ending up on the grass but just managed to hold onto 3rd ahead of Will Egby. Egby would soon exit stage left , dropping him down to 6th behind Gornall and Collings. Higgins would try and make his way through the field, climbing to 8th in the opening laps as Hingley took the lead from Armstrong. Armstrong would then loose out to Walker and Collings to fall to 4th.

Walker then seized his opportunity. Hingley ran a touch wide coming off the bridge, allowing Walker down the inside. The move seemed to catch Hingley by supprise as he then lost out to Collings and Armstrong in quick succession. Gornall then had a crack on the next lap, but ran a touch wide doing it, allowing Higgins to take the pair of them to move up to 4th. That now meant there were 3 Dan Holland Racing karts stacked up behind Walker. Collings quickly set about Walker’s lead diving down the inside at turn 1. Then Walker would be handed a 5 second penalty ruining his chance of victory.

That now, the 2 DHR karts behind Walker were fighting like cat and dog with Hingley, trying to hold onto the DHR 1-2-3 that they had now inherited. The pressure was soon off as Egby nudged Hingley wide at Bobby Game corner, giving the DHR boys some breathing room to see if they could pass Walker on the track. Walker would still be pushing on for the win, but was quickly being caught by Higgins.

As the race entered the final minutes, Walker went for the move on Collings, which allowed Higgins and Armstrong the chance for the win. The fighting was bringing Hingeley to close in behind the 3 DHR boys who were now fighting hard. As the race entered it’s final lap Collings and Armstrong were nose to tail trying to catch Walker for what they thought was the win as Hingeley closed in behind. Walker would end up taking the win on the road, with Harrison Collings taking the win ahead of team mate Armstrong with Hingeley completing the top 3.

Junior Rotax Kartmasters GP Top 10

1 – Harrison Collings – Dan Holland Racing
2 – Daniel Armstrong – Dan Holland Racing
3 – Mattie Hingeley – Ultimate R
4 – Matthew Higgins – Dan Holland Racing
5 – Douglas Bolger – Fusion Motorsport
6 – Kanato Le – Fusion Motorsport
7 – Aaron Walker – Strawberry Racing
8 – Will Egby – Project One
9 – Luis Gardner – Sam Pollitt Racing
10 – Sam Gornall – Coles Racing