top of page
Writer's pictureJack Stedman

Brentwood Karting Race League - Season 7 - Round 12

Updated: Jun 6, 2023

I'm sure you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for my next post to see if I was finally crowned the Brentwood Cadet Champion on Sunday. If you follow me on Social Media you will already know the answer, if you don't then what are you waiting for?!?! You need to follow me!!


Anyway, back to the real reason you are here, my Round 12 Race Report and one which will inevitably decide the colour of the trophy that I will be collecting this coming Sunday at Brentwood.


So when we arrived at Brentwood I soon discovered that Dan was up to his usual tricks and put all of the Top 3 drivers in the Championship all in the same group, so it really was going to be a Race to the chequered flag and the ultimate decider.


I went into this weekend knowing that really my Championship Challenger (Ben Hamilton) had more pressure on him than I did. I had a 12 point lead with a back up round of 25 points, really this meant that if I had an awful week Ben would need an outstanding week of a Heat Win, An A Final Win & to claim Fastest Lap Of The Day, if he pulled this off and my back up points come into play then I would have to settle for 2nd place by just 2 points and we aren't going to mention who took 3rd place from me last season by 2 points in the last round!


Onto the Quali session. All 3 of us that was fighting for points in the Championship were desperate to get that pole position as all 3 of us had grid penalties to serve from podiums the previous weeks so we needed the best possible results. I felt like I actually put together a really solid lap for my qualifying and was really happy, that was until I went past my mum who signalled to me that was 4th...... 4th, I couldn't believe it. Mikey was on Pole (who was currently 3rd in the Championship, chasing for 2nd) and Ben qualified 8th on the grid. The fact that Ben qualified lower than me gave me a bit of hope, but I still knew that I needed to get a win.


I got off to a flying start, initially making up 2 positions but I don't know what was in Mikey's kart, it must have been rocket fuel because the speed he went off at was insane I just stood no chance of catching him. This is really where the race started to unravel for me, there was lots of contact from behind which caused me to lose positions, ABC's were given in my favour but it was just a really odd race where the longer the race went on the more I was struggling with the handling of the kart, in the end I finished 4th, exactly where I started and Ben Hamilton finished in 3rd, not the start that I was hoping for but at least I had another shot at it starting from Pole in the 2nd Heat.


So Heat 2 and I was on Pole, this time was a rolling start. I started leading the pack round and going into Paddock my kart cut out, I just couldn't believe it and was just starting to think it was going to be one of them days where nothing was going right and my 25 point back up round would be the best I was going to get. My kart was restarted and I was sent back off to catch the pack and start the race. I held the lead of the race throughout and claimed my much needed heat win and even got the Fastest Lap of the Day so far. By the end of this Heat I knew that as Ben hadn't got a heat win as long as I scored more than 25 points I should take the top spot for the season. But the weekend wasn't over yet and I couldn't lose focus for the final.


I was starting P5 in the A Final and Ben was starting P8, this was going to be tough but I really wanted to finish the season on a high with a strong result. While we was sitting in the pit lane the rain started to spit and I knew that this could either make or break anyones day on the grid. Recently we haven't had much wet racing so it really could be anyones race.


I got up 3rd really quickly in the Final as I had great pace in the kart. Then things really got interesting, the rain started to come down and there was spinners all over the track and people going wide so I took advantage of that and gained positions and was soon leading the race. When others were lifting to keep control I just kept pushing as much as I dared to. I had been in this position at the end of last season and lost my podium by just 2 points and was desperate to win this final and Championship.


With every lap that passed I could see my mum signalling to take it easy and slow down and eventually when I went passed for the final time she signalled for the chequered flag. I had finally done it and bypassed all steps of the podium straight to the top spot to take the Brentwood Karting Cadet Championship Trophy, it has been a long time coming.


What a season it has been, certainly my most successful to date. In the 12 weeks I have been on the podium 9 times:


x5 P3's

x1 P2

x3 P1's


I have taken 2 Fastest Laps of the Day and beaten my highest points tally by 45 points, this season finishing on 327.


I didn't manage to get the clean sweep in the final round as the fastest lap was taken from me in the B Final but from where I started to where I finished was a great weekend.


I would like to say a massive congratulations to Ben Hamilton who finished 2nd in the Championship for a great season and to Mikey Brisenden for his P3. I'm looking forward to sharing the podium with these 2 on Sunday to collect our trophies.


So this is the end of the Season, what happens next? This Sunday is the AllStar Cup Final and a race that I was runner up in last season, can I make it into the Final or can I even settle another score and win, who knows, you will just have to check in again next week.


SEASON 7 - COMPLETE

SEASON 7 - BRENTWOODS CADET CHAMPION




Collecting My P3 Trophy From Last Week



153 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page