KARTING: Ravenscroft starts the season in real style

Ravenscroft hit the front on the second lap and was never challenged from there to the flag, eventually winning by 3.9 seconds at the Daventry track.

Behind, things weren’t going so well for pole man Ben Burgess who was tumbling down the order.

He eventually recovered to fourth but the new points system means he still finished the weekend second in the championship.

Cadet graduates Lorcan Hanafin and Alex Lloyd rounded off the podium.

Honda Cadet saw the third largest grid with 34 karts rolling out onto the track.

Vice British champion Harry Thompson got a perfect start from pole but it wasn’t long before BRK Racing team-mates Ben Kasperczak and Reggie Duhy would come past.

It looked set to be a cracking race with the three split by less than a second but an incident brought out the red flags and the result was called with Kasperczak, Duhy and Thompson finishing on the podium in that order.

The best drive came from Caeson Gibson who gained 10 places in just four laps to finish fourth.

The track conditions played a big part in the Junior final as all the karts went out on slicks with the track still damp off the racing line.

Myles Apps led led from pole but as he was passed by Hoggard on lap two he hit a damp patch and slipped down to fourth.

Hoggard’s lead was short-lived as Adam Smalley came past on lap four and a couple of laps later things got worse for Hoggard. As he was passed by Riley Phillips he also hit a damp patch, dropping him to seventh.

Smalley took a comfortable win up front from Phillips and Tommy Foster.

In the Senior X30, Hugo Bentley-Ellis was able to take the lead on the opening lap, passing Euan Wilson, Aaron Drury and Luke Hughes.

He led for a lap before Brett Wykes came steaming past, but it took just one lap for Bentley-Ellis to restore his lead and from there on in it was plain sailing as he went on to win by an impressive 3.4 seconds.

Wykes finished second but only just as Craig Mooney in third had come up 12 places and set the fastest lap. Given another lap, he would have probably passed the reigning vice champion.

In the Rotax Max, Savannah Courtenay took victory after passing Ben Davis with a couple of corners to go.

But she was later excluded as she made the move under yellow flags, handing victory to Davis.

In the Iame Cadet section, Reggie Duhy started on pole but quickly dropped back to fourth, losing places to Harry Thompson, Joseph Taylor and Owen Marlow.

But as quickly as he lost them he gained them back again, hitting the lead once more on lap three and from there he never looked back, winning by 5.3 seconds.

Behind, it was busy to say the least! People were dropping and gaining positions all through the order on every lap.

But one driver catching everyone’s eye was Van Knapton. From 16th on the grid he came up to second by lap five. He dropped to fifth on the penultimate lap but was able to gain all three positions back on the last lap. Ben Kasperzcak finished third.

In the Junior X30, reigning champion Callum Bradshaw seems to be becoming unbeatable at Whilton Mill.

After a ninth, second and first in his heats he started on pole for the final and cruised to the win by 7.5 seconds!

Behind, Callum’s new team-mate Jac Maybin drove very well for his second place.

From eighth on the grid, Maybin quickly moved up to third before passing Kibble for second on lap six.

He briefly lost second a lap later but gained it back just in time for the flag. Kibble took third.