Rhys Knight steals the show in Junior Prokarts

A bumper grid of Pro karts descended on Fulbeck for the 3rd round of the Junior Kart Championship. A total of 11 drivers would take to the track for the heats and finals on Sunday. Heading into this meeting Maximus Shields has been unstoppable in the class, but this time he would have some stiff competition.

Qualifying showed how close things would be, with Shields bagging the pole by just 0.03 seconds over Lennon French. The battle for 3rd would be even closer, with Sebastian Parreira and Connor McCarthy separated by 0.027 seconds, all be it 3 tenths behind the leaders. The whole 11 kart field was split by 1.349 seconds showing the quality on show.

The opening heat would see Shields’ hands full defending from French in the opening laps, then a dive into the top hairpin would give French the lead. From there, it looked like French might drop the championship leader, but Shields got his head down and closed right onto the bumper of the leader in the final laps. Try as he might, he couldn’t pass giving French the first win of the weekend.

Heat 2 would see a reversal of the opening encounter, with French holding the early lead over Shields. Again the pair pulled away from the pack, being lead by Caitlin Frame after a mega start. This time, Shields would bide his time. The pair were nose to tail heading into the final lap, but a spin for French in the first chicane sealed the win for Shields. French would recover to 2nd, with McCarthy picking up 3rd. After her good start, Frame would fall back to 7th.

Heading into the final heat, the clouds started to roll in. Once again, Shields and French lead away from the front, this time Shields would grab the lead off the start from 2nd. French bided his time, making the move at the top hairpin in the closing laps to take the lead. Then the rain came down. That allowed Shields to close back up, with the race ending in a drag race to the line. It was French who bagged another win by 0.046 seconds over Shields. This time Parreira was 3rd with McCarthy 4th.

That put French on pole for the final with Shields alongside him. Parreira and McCarthy on the 2nd row. But the weather would throw it’s hat into the mix. The track was now drying out after an earlier downpour, giving the drivers a headache over tyre choice. All but Caitlin Frame went for the wets, with the young lady racer punting for slicks from 7th place. Sadly for Frame, as the drivers lined up on the grid, the rain started to fall again.

French held the early lead from Shields at the start as the drivers navigated the tricky conditions. Behind, Rhys Knight was charging through the field from 8th, climbing up to 3rd by the end of lap 4 having disposed of Ballesteros on the start finish straight. Sadly, Sandro would end up pulling off after 5 laps with problems. That left Knight with the task of catching the leaders.

And catch up he did. By the half way mark, it was now 3 drivers for the lead for the first time all weekend. He wasted no time in making his move as the leading pair fought. He fired into the final corners in 3rd and re-emerged in 1st. That sparked a dog fight between Shields and French, which allowed Parreira to close back in. Shields made his move for 2nd, slowing French down and allowing Parreira to pounce and relieve him of 3rd position.

Thanks to the fighting, it left Knight free to take his first win of the season, Shields crossed the line 2nd with Parreira coming home 3rd. He would end up picking up a penalty for a technical non-compliance, promoting French onto the podium, but he won’t of been happy with that result after his pace all weekend.

Those results leave Shields still at the head of the championship by 13 points over Parreira with dropped scores accounted for. Connor McCarthy is just a further point back with Frame and Oblag who had a torrid weekend in 4th. French enters the standings in 8th, despite only completing 1 round.