September 2026
Having been a relatively quiet time in August, it was once again time to get back in the seat and see what was possible for the last quarter of the year.
3 rounds of Shenington remain and I’m on the cusp of securing the best result of my karting career, I also committed to competing at the first British Championship race at the brand-new Silverstone racetrack.
Both events would take place over 4 days starting from 17th September, 3 days at Silverstone and then a 4th day at Shenington, so whilst logistically not too challenging, it was physically demanding for both me and the team.
We have upgraded our graphics pack to include both Durite and Boniface, trying to make the best of the available space on the kart.
British Kart Championship Silverstone
When we go to a British round, we always feel its very special, not everyone gets the opportunity to take part in what are very prestigious events, and to be doing it for the first time at the new Kart Silverstone site was very special.
The new track is an FIA approved venue; this means it’s a track which is accepted as being worthy of some very exclusive events. Not just the British events but in the future, it will host World events.
Just being at Silverstone is special, its rapidly becoming my favourite track, its fast, technical has varied lines and dry's incredible quickly. The track was designed with world class racing in mind and it really reflects it.
There is more work to do at the venue but when fully complete it will take the crown for the very best in British karting, our hope is that it will encourage further investment from other venues wishing to compete with them
Thursday 17th September
The grid for Waterswift consisted of 20 entries, with just me and Dimi Uzunov entered from the Jade team.
The day was for testing and setup, with 5 free practice sessions all lasting around 10 minutes, for the first session the weather for a change was wet, this was new ground for everyone, with such a good summer, very little wet testing had been achieved. Setup was a bit of a guess, but happily we ended up 15th, with a bit of work to do some 4 seconds off the leading kart.
As the track dried we found ourselves in a more competitive position after test 2, 1.6s off the front. Steady improvements throughout the day, with some changes to setup and some great coaching saw me finish in 14th just 1 second off the front running pace of the Mayson Hibbert, but half a second behind Dimi, he is a vastly more experienced driver than me, so as a team we were very happy.
We just had to hope we could find some pace in the remaining two days.
Friday 8th September
A full one day round consists of warm up, qualifying, 2 heats and a final.
I was a bit slow in the warm up, mainly I think due to traffic but I went into qualifying happy that we had a reasonable set up, however I managed to pick up a nose cones penalty, so immediately dropped to last with my best lap deleted, it was something that would become a bit of a theme over the next two days.
With nothing to lose we started heat 1 in last place, I had to push hard to make up places and was doing ok, I made steady progress up to 15th, but I picked up another nose cone penalty, dropping me back 5 seconds to 19th, my lap times were good though with just a 0.4s gap to the front runners
Heat 2, a repeat of starting at the back, I only made up 1 place having made an error on the opening lap and losing the tow from the karts in front, the last corner of the lap is very challenging, I was struggling to get a consistent line, causing a trip into the gravel, I never really recovered from.
Friday 18th September
I knew we had little to lose in the heats, I was by no means expecting not to improve over the day, sadly I found myself at the back for the final, the mistakes and penalties had really meant I was never going to be in the fight, so, nothing to it but just drive the best I could.
Then, a bit of luck, it started to drizzle, I know I’m good in the wet, it was a tough choice as the drizzle could have gone or it could get worse, dad and I chose wets, it really was a toss of the coin choice, only 4 of us went wet, the rest full dry.
Great choice, setup was good, the rain got harder and harder, we were going very well taking big chunks of time out of the grid, up 6 places to 14th, I made a small error and half spin, dropping me back to 17th but I kept pushing on, eventually getting back up to 12th as we crossed the line, it could have easily been a top 10 if I hadn't made that small error. Of course, I also picked up a nose cone penalty, another 5 second penalty dropped me to 13th in the standings.
It was a great finish to the day and helped me to restore my confidence after what had been a very challenging time.
Saturday 19th September
A new day and a fresh start, the second day is effectively a different event, so we again start with qualifying.
Although the track was a lot slower, I actually managed a decent qualifying run, there was a lot of ‘rolling up’ which causes difficulties, but I ended up 16th behind Friday’s winner Mayson Hibbert.
Heat 3, started ok, moving up to 13th in lap 4 but I made yet another small error off track, putting me back down the order and finishing 18th which was a bit disappointing.
Heat 4, I had a much better start position in this one due to the classification in qualifying, starting off P12, I made it up to P11, however another last corner incident with Kory Lyons saw me in the gravel again, dropping me down to 18th, although Kory was penalised it didn’t change my position.
Final number 2, it was no real surprise to see myself on P18 for the final, it was definitely a bad day so far given the effort put in.
I got a great start making 2 places into turn one and then the I battled for 10 laps with my good friend Oliver Klinfelter working hard to get ourselves up to the next kart of Max Zvarich, finally getting up into 14th on the road. It was my first and only session without any incidents, setting my fastest lap of the weekend.
On reflection, I’m really happy with what I’ve achieved in the British Championship this year, I only did 2 events but finished 20th overall.
Raced with some of the best drivers in Europe, raced against those with 6 figure budgets, held my own against some of the top teams and felt competitive throughout.
This has also left me ranked 22nd in the UK Motorsport rankings for British drivers, which im extremely proud of.
I really need to thank all my sponsors for getting me to these events,
I hope we can return next year, but in the much more challenging junior class.
Shenington Round 8
My weekend didn’t end on Saturday, after getting everything packed away we headed to Shenington for Round 8 of the championship on Sunday morning.
The team were once again unbelievable, the kart was sat waiting for me the following morning, Dad did a great job of switching the setup and we were ready to go for the warm up at 9:40 am.
The first laps out and I was feeling good, only Rudra and me had been at the British on Saturday whilst the rest had been practicing all day at Shenington, I was just 0.2 s off team mate Theo, not too bad I thought.
With 2 heats and a final, my goal is just to score more points than my championship rivals, winning Is less relevant so im looking at minimizing the risk to being taken off the road or making errors that will drop me points.
Heat 1
Starting off P3 I got a reasonable start and was going very well, Theo managed to get past me on the lap one dropping me to 4th, but as a team we generally don’t fight in the early laps and try and work with each other to get away from the rest, unfortunately I caught a back marker at just the wrong place on track, allowing Rudra to come through and take the win, I crossed the line 4th.
Heat 2
The random grids mean if you start at the back for one heat , its likely you will be at the front for the next, heat 2 I was starting P8. Rudra had pole, so I had a lot of work to do to get a good final start position. I got a great start coming out in P3 behind my newest teammate Max Frisby, I sat behind whilst they battled, Max eventually went a little wide and I pushed through into second, there was little point in pushing forward and wearing the tyres for a win, save them for the final, so I crossed the line in 2nd but also putting in the fastest lap.
Final
As predicted, it wasn’t worth me pushing too hard in heat 2, I took P2 for the start of the final.
I got a great start, maybe a little too good, I was immediately under investigation, possibly for a jump start. I also put in the fastest out lap, taking the lead, Rudra got back past on lap 3 and I chose to sit with him, we traded lap times 10th for 10th, I was really all over him, we pulled out a 1 second lead to Max in 3rd and just raced forward together, I passed Rudra going into the last lap, leading down into the Bruno chicane . I didn’t defend hard enough, and Rudra got back along side and passed me on the exit, it was a tough race, and I tried to come back on him in the last corner, we crossed the line 0.1s apart after 14 laps. I took fastest lap, Just 0.3s off the lap record.
It was the best race with Rudra the whole season, it solidified my second place in the championship, he has a 16 point lead which is impossible to catch now, so I just need 1 more good score and I’ll secure 2nd.
Up Next
Shenington Round 9 - 17th and 18th October
Whilton Mill Club Round - We have been asked to build up the grid for the final championship round, this is likely our last event in a cadet kart.