Ethian Symonds takes the top spot in Mini X30

Image © KartPix.net

A decent grid of 21 Mini X30 drivers would share the track with Mini Max for the heats, before splitting off for the finals. From the start, there looked to be one name at the top of the time sheets, that being Croc Promotion’s Gabriel Stilp. Fresh off his UKC victory, he set the pace at PFi by almost half a second over Henry Gregory before the ever fast Vinnie Phillips who was just 0.02 behind Gegory in 3rd.

The first heat proved that qualifying isn’t everything, as Fusion’s Leo Robinson took the win from 5th on the grid, half a second clear of Stilp at the line, who had just 0.12 seconds in hand over Gregory. Phillips was a distant 4th with a decent gap over Jay Holtby in 5th. Robinson would go on to win heat 2 as well, but this time the top 3 were split by just 0.6 seconds. 2nd went the way of Stilp with Pillips completing the podium. A very distant 4th was Ethian Symonds who started outside the top 6, just beating Charlie Webb to the line.

That would put Robinson on pole for the pre-final with Stilp on the outside of the front row. Row 2 would see Phillips and Holtby while Symonds and Wesley Swain would complete the 3rd row. Thanks to a poor race 1, Webb would start out of 15th with Fusion’s Ella Stevens starting out of 12th.

With the Mini Max drivers out of the way, the pre-final should have been a touch cleaner, but it was anything but. A frantic race, with the lead changing almost every lap. When the chequred flag fell, it was Phillips who took pole position for the final with Webb charging through to come home 2nd, securing a front row start for the final. Holtby would stay on row 2, but this time starting from the inside with Symonds alongside. It was a strong race for Harry Hannam until a 5 second penalty dropped him from 2nd to 8th at the flag. He wasn’t the only driver hit with penalties, as Rylan Echberg was dropped from 8th to 13th while Stevens would get hit with a 10 second penalty to fall from 5th to 15th while Robinson would start all the way down in 17th.

The final was just as chaotic, but Phillips held the lead over Hotltby with Symonds just behind while Stevens was on a charge, pulling 6 places on the opening lap. Stilp was also trying to make amends for his pre-final, getting to 5th by the end of the 3rd lap. Unlike most races, there was a huge break way pack, as the top 9 were all running together, with the lead changing almost every lap. The head of the field being held by Symonds, Holtby while Stilp climbed up to 2nd.

Stilp wouldn’t wait long before going for the lead, trying to take it on the Litchfield bridge, but ended up loosing ground as Robinson was spat out the scenery at the 2nd hairpin. Stilp had another crack at taking the win at the hairpins, but again lost out, this time loosing position to Lewis Bird and soon had Stevens on his bumper as she tried to break into the top 3. Stevens quickly saw her chance, sending it passed Stilp to get on the podium. Stevens podium wouldn’t last too long as friendly fire from Vinnie Phillips would see the pair up the bank and allowed Stilp back through to 3rd.

After soaking up a lot of pressure in the lead, Symonds eventually lost the lead to Bird with just 5 minutes to go, managing to fend off Stilp, dropping him back into the clutches of the Fusion pairing, both managing to pass. The fighting was bringing the rest of the field into the battle and it was soon 10 karts for the lead. Symonds then saw his chance, retaking the lead into turn 1.

Behind the leaders, the Fusion team mates were pushing each other as hard as possible, and were catching the leaders. As the race hit the final 30 seconds, Symonds started defeding which brought Phillips, Stevens and Holtby into the fight for the win. As the final lap started, Stevens was now up to 3rd with Holtby for close company. Stevens quickly went for 2nd as they headed onto the bridge, dropping Bird into the clutches of Holtby. Their fighting allowed Symonds the breathing room he needed to take the win, just 3 tenths ahead of Stevens. The fight for 3rd went down to the line, with Bird taking the final podium place for ST Racing.

Mini X30 Kartmasters GP Top 10

1 – Ethian Symonds – Privateer 16 Laps
2 – Ella Stevens – Fusion Motorsport
3 – Lewis Bird – ST Racing
4 – Jay Holtby – Privateer
5 – Vinnie Phillips – Fusion Motorsport
6 – Harry Hannam – Jack Dex Racing
7 – Gabriel Stilp – Mad Croc Promotions
8 – Cian Geraghty – Jack Dex Racing
9 – Rylan Echberg – Litchfield Motorsport
10 – Charlie Webb – Precision Racing