February 2026
January 2026
It was a while since we raced, 6 weeks or more, but that doesn’t mean we were idle. We spent some time planning for the new year, getting our budget together and making sure the kart was in perfect condition. Our race engine was due an overhaul. In fact, it turned into a full rebuild! As reliable as it had been, it was getting a lot of use and the hours had built up, so a complete strip, clean and rebuild, piston, rod and bearings, both carburettors rebuilt and the kart getting some TLC to ensure it was 100%. Engine two was on the dyno, and we are happy to report that after some running, both feel strong.
As part of our social media expansion, I have also employed an on-track media specialist who will producing videos and shorts that we will be sharing with all our sponsors to enhance the engagement. Lafeuente Media will be joining us throughout the year to create media content.
Shenington Round 1
Saturday Practice
First round of the year and we headed to the familiarity of Shenington. The weather hadn’t been good on the run up to the weekend, so with the early sessions being dry, it felt great to be back in the kart and around my friends and the team. I spent some time on the dry sessions putting in some work with the new engine, running it in, getting some time on it, but as the weather changed, later in
the day I switched back to my practice engine. The new engine certainly felt very good. Sunday morning was wet, grey and foggy. I managed the warmup and was 2nd by just 0.07s. Unfortunately,
that would be the only time we got on track, as the fog descended and the race was abandoned at 1pm. Rather disappointing for the first round, but round 2 came around quickly enough.
Shenington Round 2
Saturday Practice
Again the day was bright, if not a little cold at around 4 degrees, I had 6 practice sessions through the day, and in the last session we ran the race setup. Sadly, I was a little off the pace, but knowing that not everyone runs a legal kart during testing, it was still good to show some excellent speed, and with Marcus Littlewood back coaching me for the day, it felt really positive.
Sunday Race Day
All races are now available on YouTube live on the day. Again, Shenington was going to show us some bad weather; the day was wet and cold, just 3 degrees and raining hard. With the kart setup for the wet, I went out for the 3 lap practice finishing 4th, but setting the fastest sector 2 time of the group.
Heat 1
Starting from 2nd on the grid, by the end of lap 1, I was in the lead and making a gap behind second and 3rd, being in free air meant I could see where I was going and make some good progress. Pushing away from Theo I was making great progress. On the last lap I made a minor error and allowed Theo to get close. He tried a move that would never work at the Bruno chicane, which put me off track. I managed to recover to 3rd and Theo eventually got a 5 place penalty, lifting me to 2nd.
Heat 2
Starting from P8, by lap 2 I was up to second place, but Rudra made a mistake, taking me off track in the process. I worked hard again, pushing through the order to get up to 3rd , I had to catch and overtake most of the field to get back into a competitive position. It was the best I could achieve following the incident.
Final
The weather was slowly improving, however the track remained wet. I lined up 3rd, again behind Rudra and Theo, I think I was lucky to get a good start position. It did however not go well off the start; I found myself spun by a following driver and suddenly down to 9th. Although it could have been worse, there were some lovely comments from the commentator as I got back going, stating ‘that’s the 3rd time being spun out, and none his fault’, so again, time to dig deep, lap32, P8, lap 3 P6, lap 4 P5 onwards, lap 10 and I was into 1st, and pulling away from both Theo and Rudra, eventually pulling out a 1.6s lead, you can watch the final on the below link from 5:07 and the heats at 1:07 and by searching. So, my first win…. Sadly not! I knew I picked up a penalty in the pits as Rudra’s kart didn’t start, I hit the back of it and got an immediate 5 second penalty for a nose cone. So officially 5th place, Its disappointing, but it means I know I can win, so we will see how we do in March.
Whilton Mill Winter Cup
I was going to head to PF in February, but due to costs mainly and that we don’t need to practice there until later in the year, a trip to Whilton Mill seemed like a good option. Being half term, it meant we could get 3 days on track. Friday open practice, the qualifying on Saturday and Race Sunday. It was also going to be a challenge as many of the best GB drivers are racing in Europe over the winter, but with a break, many returned to Whilton to practice for the opening round of the British Kart Championship.
Friday
A good days practice, but my lack of track knowledge was showing and I was finding it hard to make progress and improve times. The weather was mixed and as the track dried, I did see improvements.
Saturday
The format for Whilton is a little different to Shenington, so practice, qualifying, heats and a final over the two days. Saturday would see 3 practice sessions and qualifying.
Qualifying
Qualifying is the fastest lap format, I went out to try and get the maximum laps possible, however I got into a group of slower drivers and couldn’t pass them, so I ended up qualifying in P11, 1.4s off the front.
That meant I would start the heats from 11th and the challenge would be getting past some of the drivers that held me up in qualifying.
Sunday
Sunday started dry, by the time we were getting to the grid it was a close call for wet or dry tyres. I opted dry, knowing there would still be some slippy sections but ultimately the wet tyres just wouldn’t last the 7 minutes.
Heat 1
Starting from 11th was going to be a challenge, I got away well and fell in behind Frank Morris (55) and Oliver Klinefelter (60), we battled hard for the whole race and by lap 4 I had got past them. Next up was Teddy Higgs, but he had made it a 3 second gap whilst I battled. I managed to take some time out of him over the remaining laps to finish just 0.7s behind him, taking 9th place.
Heat 2
The track was dry and we tried a slightly better gearing setup, one we have used before, it seemed like a good choice to start with and by lap 2 I was up from 11th to 8th, but, as the laps continued I seemed to be losing pace against the other drivers, dropping to 12th and then 13th as the kart seemed to be slower compared to everyone else. Maybe the tyres were not performing? After penalties, I ended back in 11th, where I started, so this would mean starting on P9 for the final.
Final
I started P9; we had put the kart back to the previous gearing, it still seemed to be underperforming, and I was struggling to keep with the others around me, so after an uneventful run, I came home in 12th. I think, now, having looked the data, it was just inexperience, I never went faster than a 52.3s lap all weekend, the leaders were running 50.8s, so I need some more practice, get the lines right and understand that I’m losing time under both braking and with corner speed, so the plan is to return for more practice, before the first round of the British Championship in a bid to make me more competitive.
Up Next
March 10th - , we have an embargoed session at a brand new track, I really hope we can share the day we have after. For now, we have to keep everything secret!
March 14/15th - Shenington Round 3