29 June 2012

Having established themselves as extremely worthy additions to the Formula Kart Stars paddock the Cadet Honda drivers moved across the border to Scotland for the fifth and sixth Challenge events of 2012, set to take place at the short but extremely quick 852-metre Larkhall circuit in Lanarkshire.

With TV crews from Sky Sports following some of the youngest competitors in the Formula One Management backed Championship on Saturday for a series of vignettes set to air on Sky Sports News on the weekend of the British Grand Prix, the four stroke racers showed no signs of nerves as once again they drew praise from the entire paddock for their driving in some truly horrendous weather conditions.

Perhaps inspired by the Scottish bagpiper who led the drivers out onto the track, FKS debutant Sandy Mitchell (Project One) emerged on the top step of the podium in both finals although his path to victory was far from simple.

Formula Kart Stars Cadet Honda Challenges: Foreboding clouds gave an indication of the type of weather that was to come as the Cadet Honda field headed out for timed qualifying on Saturday although the track remained dry for both subsequent heats and it was Mitchell who led qualifying until falling foul of the track limits rule and had his times annulled, promoting Challenge Four winner Danny Harrison (Chris Rogers Motorsport) and FKS returnee Ewan Bennett (Project One) onto the front row.

However it was Chris Lulham (Ambition Motorsport) who won two highly competitive heat races, edging out Harrison and a charging Mitchell in heat one and Mitchell and Yukinori Ishii (Mechtech Motorsport) in heat two to take pole position for the final. Mitchell would start alongside Lulham on the front row with Connor McCarthy (Project One) an impressive third ahead of Harrison.

The skies were still dark as the drivers headed out for the final on slick tyres and Mitchell swiftly moved into a narrow lead over the chasing pack. But as the leaders completed lap two the heavens opened and within a minute the track was drenched. Showing maturity way beyond their years the whole field coped admirably with the conditions with Mitchell opening up a sizable lead before the officials stopped the race, leaving Lulham and eight year-old Jean Sammut (Ambition Motorsport) completing the podium.

Sunday's qualifying session and opening heat were held in dry conditions before the rains returned again for heat two and the final. Lulham and Ishii set the same time in qualifying with Lulham getting pole position by virtue of having a slightly quicker second fastest lap and the pole sitter proceeded to dominate the first heat with Mitchell and Harrison more than four seconds behind at the chequered flag.

Conditions had deteriorated for heat two and once again it was Mitchell who shone through the gloom as he won by nearly six seconds from Lulham and noted wet weather expert Ishii but Lulham's heat one victory was enough to give him the nod for pole position for the final.

Sadly for Lulham though he wouldn't get a chance to take the start for the final as both he and his teammate Sammut missed the closing time for parc ferme and weren't permitted to start the race, leaving Mitchell and Ishii on the front row. With the track still wet Mitchell exploited his local knowledge perfectly to lead from start to finish and complete the weekend double by an astonishing 17-seconds. Ishii and Harrison enjoyed a spirited dice for second place, which went to Ishii with everyone else more than half a minute behind the flying Scotsman.

Results - FKS Cadet Honda Challenge 5:
1. Sandy Mitchell
2. Chris Lulham
3. Jean Sammut
4. Yukinori Ishii
5. Danny Harrison

Results - FKS Cadet Honda Challenge 6:
1. Sandy Mitchell
2. Yukinori Ishii
3. Danny Harrison
4. Wesley Mason
5. Ronan Graves

For more information on Formula Kart Stars please visit the new FKS website www.formulakartstars.com, which has links to the official FKS Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and Youtube feeds, or contact Championship Coordinator Debbie Sellers on debbie.sellers@formulakartstars.com mobile 07759 758636.