The Daventry ace finished a lowly 21st after being clipped and spun onto the grass, while sitting in sixth.

Despite winning his next two heats, which included a storming drive from 24th on the grid, Wykes was to start the final in 13th.

And despite a superb effort from the Kart-Tek driver that saw him miss out on a new lap record by 100th of a second as he scythed through the field, Wykes had to settle for third.

It was disappointing for Wykes to miss out on crowning Whilton Mill first staging of the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow with victory, but uncle and boss of Kart-Tek Darren Masters says he is still in the title race.

"We would have won if it wasn't for that incident in the first heat," said Masters. "He is third in the standings and can still win the championship."

Winner Roy Johnson pulled himself 71 points clear of Wykes in second place, while championship leader and Scottish champion Charlie Robertson is 91 points ahead of the Daventry speedster after finishing second. Weedon-based Kart-Tek also saw its driver Sam Cassidy finish 12th in the final.

Hazz Truelove obliterated the Cadet lap record by nearly a second with a time of 52.66. Greg McKenzie, of Byfield, who also drives for Kart-Tek, was 17th in the B final

Jordan King won the MiniMax final from ninth on the grid. King's TonyKart is prepared and looked after by Kingsthorpe-based Stuart Wright, who said after a poor start to their Stars of Tomorrow season he discovered there was a problem with the chassis' tubing. But at the weekend they used another chassis and after some carburettor problems in the heats King was at his best in the final.

King was up to second after five laps and then hunting down leader Nathan Harrison before passing him with two corners to go.

Callum Bowyer also squeezed past to nab second.

King is 11th in the championship, while Hunsbury Meadows ace Jacob Stilp is 13th after finishing seventh on his home track.

MiniMax championship leader Matthew Parry, who drives for Wellingborough's Ultimate, finished in sixth.

In the Junior Rotax Ross Dougan held off David Pittard, Ross Wylie and championship leader Robert Gilmour to win by just 0.97secs.

Northampton's Alex Magee finished 27th after getting to the final by coming second in the B final.

Macaulay Walsh, of Northampton, just missed out on the KF3 podium as he finished fourth.

The Ultimate driver is still in the championship mix, sitting third in the standings just 20 points behind leader Jake Dennis who was second at Whilton Mill.

Carl Stirling, who is fourth in the standings, won.

Walsh's Ultimate team-mate Max Robinson, of Wootton Fields, was 14th.

Sam Moore won the KZ1 final, with championship leader Tom Moore right behind as they went over the line. Sean Huyton took third.

Whilton Mill circuit boss Dan Parker said the first staging of the Stars of Tomorrow championship was a great success.

"We did a lot of work to bring the facilities up to European standard and we had a lot of favourable comments," said Parker. "We had a good turn out.

I would love to have the series back next year."