Latest NEWS
Latest news for drivers, race teams, and followers of the club.
NEXT RACE MEETING
Grass Championship Round 3
Sunday 13th July
Barholm Road Tallington (next to the concrete works)
Near Stamford PE9 4RJ
Gates open at 8.00
Pre-race kart safety checks from 8.30
MUST be signed in by 9.45
Drivers briefing 10.00
Practice 10.15
Racing starts 11.00
No starting of engines before 10.00
(We are operating a booking system pre-meeting, email candkc@outlook.com or add to the post on Facebook)
(We will require some volunteer track marshals for this event, please get in touch if you can help)
Club membership
Senior £25.00
Junior £20.00
Day membership £15.00
Race entries
Seniors £25.00
Juniors £15.00
Payments can be made in advance (makes things easier for you and us!!!) otherwise you can simply pay (by card or with cash) on the day.
Bank transfers to be sent to the following:
Coningsby and Bourne Kart Club
30-96-26 81323468 include your name, race number, and racing class.
Thanks.
JCB ProKart Rules
Kart construction as per club rule book
Engines:
Performance related -
• The governor may be removed.
• That is it, all other parts must remain standard and original.
• If a part needs replacing it must be replaced with a genuine JCB part.
• Parts are inexpensive and available online or from FKM
• Replacement spark plugs are permitted.
Engines:
Non-performance related -
• The oil sensor may be disconnected and/or removed. The reason this is allowed is so the engine doesn’t stall whilst racing. Oil will naturally move from side to side whilst cornering and if the oil sensor registers there is low oil the engine will stall.
• Removal of the rear engine plate (this is located at the back of the engine underneath the engine block) is permitted - this area very easily clogs up with grass during a meeting and can then lead to overheating or engine fire.
Clutches:
• A free choice of centrifugal clutch is permitted.
• No additional mechanisms ie torque converter or gear box with manual clutch are permitted.
Gearing:
• A free choice of gearing is permitted either on the clutch drum or rear axle.
Brakes:
• A single brake on the rear axle is permitted, front brakes are not permitted.
• A safety wire must be fitted in addition to the brake rod in case of brake rod failure.
Number boards:
• White numbers on black background.
Grass Championship 2024 Round Up
The moment you have all been waiting for..........
I think all drivers that were leading their classes going into the last round defended their positions safely, but the battles were tighter elsewhere.
Grass Cadets, #47 Shelby Bailey scored enough points in the 2 rounds she entered to take the win. Would it be a double celebration in the Bailey household with dad Jon in the CBR's?
In the 70cc class anyone of the 4 entrants could have won the title on the day but 03 Samuel Cole held on for his first grass championship. The remaining 3 spots were separated by a mere 14 points, with #24 Harley Young in 2nd and #97 Gary-James Munns in 3rd. #77 Freddie Sarginson may feel unlucky to miss out, only 6 points back in 4th.
90cc #14 Henry Briggs was nearly there going into the meeting and needed a tidy day without any dramas. 4 second place finishes comfortably gave him the title. Some great racing from #23 Max Bee rewarded him with 2nd place and talented racer (who missed the meeting) #6 Owen Craven in 3rd.
CBR Juniors, #43 Keaton Lombardo came out on top in a lively and hotly contested class. With #77 Reilly Hope and grass debutant #46 Mile Clegg rounding out the podium this has been a group of entertaining racers!
Junior ProKarts, a class in its developing stages, #6 Megan Farrar drove magnificently all season to claim the spoils. Having moved over in August from tarmac racing, #84 Tobias Rudd is certainly one to watch.
250/2, in our fastest class serial winner #21 Shaun Everard was nearly there going into the last round and it was a good job he was! Carburetor gremlins kicked in but thankfully he had enough in the bank already to claim yet another title. He will soon need to put an extra shelf up! #5 Casey Lambley and #3 Lee Duigan-Brown completed the podium.
250/4, seasoned racer #17 Andrew Moore had already won the championship before the meeting started so 2nd and 3rd would be contested between #30 Dani Parker, #1 Simon Overton, and #12 Michael Clarke. #12 Michael won all 4 heats (11 out of 12 for the campaign!) and #30 Dani did enough to take 3rd spot.
125/2, another class that was wrapped up at the last round. Experienced multi formula racer #5 Brian Wood claimed the title with his rapid Rotax powered kart. An old-skool class, this one could be very interesting to watch going forward.
Senior ProKarts, the loser does the washing up! This class is mostly a battle between the Farrar family and friends and it was the leader who came out on top! #81 James Farrar, our track curator, and public speaker dominated the early rounds and had to dig in a bit towards the end and hold on. With a bit more luck here and there #17 Lily Kelk would have put James under pressure but it wasn't to be.
Given the popularity of the Senior CBR class in recent seasons it had been decided to split it into age groups which has been very successful:
CBR Under 40's, 22 points separated the top 4 in the most competitive of classes. Following his return from stock cars/bangers last year #47 Jon Bailey was the surprise winner making it a double celebration with daughter Shelby winning the cadets. 12 points back was #82 Jack Goodliffe, another driver returning to the sport too made a late challenge.
CBR Over 40's, Smith-Anderson-Honda karts locked out the top 3 with grass karting legend #38 Kevin Smith romping away with the championship on his return to the dirt tracks. The final round was all about who would come 2nd and 3rd, a 4-way battle between #28 Steve Elsom, #61 Phil Gout, #55 Craig Scott, and #99 Dan Bristow. (Unfortunately Craig couldn't take part due to an unrelated injury.) #28 Steve took a couple of wins to secure 2nd place, whilst #61 Phil did just enough to hold off a spirited challenge from #99 Dan.
There you have it, an excellent and very popular grass season completed!!!
Well done to you all, you have been terrific!
C&BKC.
Race day report Sunday 8th September
We had a club record of 78 karts booked in but on the day, numbers were slightly down to a very respectable 71.
A damp start was welcomed, which meant NO DUST! Some light rain reappeared at lunchtime too which helped us even more. This was a stroke of luck as our water bowser was out of action anyway.
The track itself mostly smooth and maintained good moisture level throughout the day without being too muddy. This meant it was lovely to race and fun too. The two tight corners led to some wonderful slow ‘slideways’ action which most people coped with ok.
With 10 grids and 40 races to fit in we needed the day to run smoothly and thankfully this is what we got. Drivers were asked to book in ahead of the meeting so the day could be planned efficiently, grid positions created, and the race order decided which made a massive difference behind the scenes.
Championship Round 5 is always Judgement Day or Squeaky Bum time for some where drivers can become hero’s or villains. The culmination of a season’s hard work rests on these 4 races. Is the kart going to be on song? Is the driver going to hold their nerve? Will they get off line well? Will the gaps in the traffic open up or will they suddenly close? Worse still will someone else get it wrong and you become the innocent victim?
Class by class this how the day went, we will reveal the championship winners on Friday evening, 7pm!
Grass Cadets, this is a developing group, one with a strong future. Just the one entrant today, making her grass racing debut and 3rd generation racer #7 Lacey Munns. Going off the back of the 70cc class, her parents were a little on edge as she was on track with her brother too, she finished all her races without any dramas. Well done!
In the 70cc class we had this strange situation where all 4 entrants could mathematically win the title. 3 out of the 4 all won races with 03 Samuel Cole and 24 Harley Young both coming out on top, scoring 74 points each. Samuel was the winner on the day by virtue of finishing ahead of Harley in heat 1.
The 90cc’s, #16 Henry Doades used all of his experience to win all 4 heats to finish ahead of #14 Henry Briggs on each occasion. Newcomer #94 Kai Webber did well getting to grips with our track and deservedly won the Junior Driver Of The Day award.
CBR Juniors was always going to be feisty battle between our lively teenagers. The main battle was expected to be between #43 Keaton Lombardo, #46 Miles Clegg, and #77 Reilly Hope. Whilst Reilly did win heat 1, last years champion #17 Seth Doades was finding some form again after mechanical gremlins mid-season and came away with 3 wins and a 2nd place.
Junior ProKarts
Only two entrants at the moment in another class that we believe has a strong future. Going off the back of the CBR Junior grid, #84 Tobias Rudd has got himself and his kart dialled in and won all 4 races, even finishing ahead of some the CBR’s in a couple of heats!
250/2, unusually #21 Shaun Everard had an off day, not sure why so this opened things up a bit. #5 Casey Lambley won 2 heats and got a second place but retired on lap 3 of heat 4 whilst in 4th place. Had he finished there he would have won the day, but this meant #3 Lee Duigan-Brown came out on top once the points were totalled up. It was a mixed bag of results for all drivers in this class.
250/4, #12 Michael Clarke dominated proceedings having missed the last 2 meetings winning all 4 heats, leading #17 Andrew Moore home in each race. After a couple of bad meetings it was good to see #1 Simon Overton getting some points again to finish 3rd.
250MX, this is a class we believe has a strong future but unfortunately we have had a low turn out this season. #44 Bradley Galley came out to play along with #71 Daniel Clarke after having lengthy engine repairs (procuring parts being the problem). They shared the spoils with Bradley being declared the winner having won heat 1.
125/2, a bit of a renaissance for this class that was hugely popular in years gone by. Rumours are out there with karts being built for next season. Grandson of club legend Andy Everard #23 Elliott Craven won all 4 races.
ProKarts, the Farrar family and friends have done a terrific job in developing this formula in the last year turning old tarmac karts into grass track rockets. #69 Ian Nicholls had 3 wins plus a 2nd place to take the top step on the podium.
CBR Under 40’s top 8, eagerly awaited podium showdown of the cream of this hotly contested class. Any of the 8 could mathematically finish in the top 3 in the championship. Having missed the July and August rounds #95 Lewis Fountain returned to win one heat and bag 3 other top 3 finishes to win the day.
CBR Under 40’s, the remaining 9 drivers battled it out without the top boys and girls. In his first grass meeting with us, #48 Lee Still won heat 1, straight out of the box, faded a little afterwards with a 2nd, 3rd, and a DNF but would still finish 3rd overall. Whilst placed 2nd in heat 2, #96 Gary Munns then took over. He won heats 2 and 3, followed by 2nd in heat 4 to win the day at a canter.
CBR Overs, of the 16 races contested over the 4 previous rounds, 14 of them had been won by #38 Kevin Smith and his running mate #28 Steve Elsom. Today would be no different as Steve won the first 2, then Kevin the second 2 (plus alternate 2nd places as well) with the rest of the pack having to fight over the 3rd places.
Thanks to all that prepared and helped run the day. It was a top notch race meeting and we will be back to do the same on Sunday 27th October for the season ending Grand Prix.
(No raced pictures this time unfortunately as our photographer was unwell. If you have some of the day you are welcome to post them on here, thanks)
Tomorrow evening, at 7pm, the final championship tables 🏆🏆🏆 will be revealed! Have some lemonade at the ready!!!🍾🍾🍾
C&BKC
Race day report Sunday 11th August
Grass Championship Round 4 - Tallington Grass Track
A lovely hot summer Sunday drew a respectable attendance of 59 karts to Tallington Grass Track.
Ahead of the race meeting (on the previous Monday) drivers were asked to book in and let us know they were coming by 9pm Friday which worked exceptionally well. This gave us a bit more time to finish off planning the meeting, set out grid positions, and sort a few other bits and pieces out. We were a little under staffed on the day and so this was really appreciated.
The Saturday team once again put a shift in, rolling and watering, and creating another exceptional track with only a minimal amount of bumps, arguably the best we have had all season. This included 3 hairpin bends and a super-fast long straight, which was all cleverly crafted together.
On to the racing itself, we had Tom Harris fan #84 Tobias Rudd making his debut in the Junior ProKarts, drove exceptionally well recording 3 wins (could have been 4 had it not been for an engine failure). We also had some brilliant performances from many drivers including #24 Harley Young, #47 Jon Bailey, #16 Alfie Farrar, #77 Reilly Hope, and #57 Ioanna Tsoupre who all had their best drives of the season.
Your winners were as follows:
70cc #24 Harley Young, 90cc #16 Henry Doades, CBR125 Juniors #77 Reilly Hope, Junior ProKarts #84 Tobias Rudd, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard, 250/4 #17 Andrew Moore, 125/2 #5 Brian Wood, Senior ProKarts #16 Alfie Farrar, CBR Under 40’s #47 Jon Bailey, & CBR Over 40’s #38 Kevin Smith.
Junior driver of the day was #12 Winnie Scott.
Full results and updated points charts are now on the club website: https://bit.ly/3TeaEVx
Pictures from the meeting will be uploaded by our photographer Zuzana to this page hopefully at the weekend.
Thanks go to Luke for being our Mr Starter for the day, Tara doing her stuff keeping the pit gate and starting grids in order, Paula and Terri for lap scoring, Gary and George carrying out kart inspections pre meeting, Gary (again) and Trevor for going above and beyond on a hot day covering some extra marshalling duties making it easier for the drivers, and Chris for working the check-in desk in Leanne’s absence. If I have missed anybody, my apologies, thank you too.
We are back at Tallington Grass Track on Sunday 8th September for Summer Series Round 5 which is the final points meeting of the grass season (NOT THE FINAL GRASS MEETING) before we host our annual grass Grand Prix meeting in October.
Race day report Sunday 14th July
Grass Championship Round 3 - Tallington Grass Track
With a lot of things going on such football, tennis, holidays, fixture congestion, and even a case of Covid we had a reduced field of 56 karts in attendance for round 3. We did also have a few spectators/prospective racers whom we spoke to at the recent Funday Sunday event in Market Deeping which was good to see!
We had perfect weather and track conditions to start the meeting. The first time in a while we had what you would call a proper grass track. Thick grass on most of the circuit with the odd avoidable bump here and there. The track layout was a simple U-shaped design, reminded you of a corporate track.
Drivers and race teams were reminded of a few important things during the drivers briefing including going on a live track without permission, and not swapping drawn grid positions. (A couple of moans here, during the drivers briefing there should be absolute silence, you shouldn’t even blink whilst the speaker is giving you important information, which wasn’t the case today! Also the only people that should be trackside during races are club officials, marshal's, and 1x parent or other for 70/90/Cadets karts, nobody else.)
On to the racing itself there was mostly very good clean close racing (which is how it should be) with very few incidents to report until the last race when #47 Jon Bailey's floor tray broke away under his clutch pedal. As far as we know he is ok now.
You winners on the day were as follows: 70cc #3 Samuel Cole, 90cc #14 Henry Briggs, CBR125 Juniors #43 Keaton Lombardo, Junior ProKarts #6 Megan Farrar, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard, 250/4 #17 Andrew Moore, 125/2 #5 Brian Wood, Senior ProKarts #81 James Farrar, CBR Under 40’s #14 Rhianna Regan, & CBR Over 40’s #38 Kevin Smith. Trophies were kindly presented by local ex-Brisca F1 and Saloon Stox racer Nick Houghton.
Special thanks to Colin Beeby, Shannon Pepper, Billie Fiveash and Steve Lock, who kindly helped us with marshalling, lap scoring, and other trackside duties.
The day following this meeting a couple of our committee members went and rolled the field during a sustained period of rain which as I write this, I believe it has done a fantastic job of flattening out the bumps.
We are back on the grass on Sunday 11th August, for Grass Championship Round 4, back at Tallington.
Race day report Sunday 9th June
Grass Championship Round 2 - Tallington Grass Track
Not only a season's high but also a club record 75 karts attended the 3rd round of our Summer Series at Tallington!
We had quite a few newbie's and returnees' too, and a beautiful kart driven by rookie racer #46 Miles Clegg. This machine and how it was built will feature in an article on here in the coming weeks.
A cool, mostly cloudy, and breezy day (but it was dry) made for near perfect racing conditions.
The Saturday team had created a wonderful track again although at the moment we are confined to the motorcycle track infield. By race day the sheep that we expected to be in the field had been moved out but there was a few reminders of their presence left behind.....
We are constantly working to improve watering the track and keeping the dust down. We still have some way to go but the team are making steady progress.
Having gone through the lap charts and results before writing this I have been amazed at how close and entertaining the racing is currently. On grass, kart racing offers something that tarmac racing doesn't. The track changes every lap, where the grip is, where the bumps are, add some dust in too, my goodness it does make for some good fun!
Your winners on the day were:
Cadets #47 Shelby Bailey,🏆
70cc #24 Harley Young,🏆
90cc #14 Henry Briggs,🏆
CBR125 Juniors #43 Keaton Lombardo,🏆
Junior ProKarts #6 Megan Farrar,🏆
250/2 stroke #21 Shaun Everard,🏆
250/4 #12 Michael Clarke,🏆
250MX #69 Andy Huggins,🏆
125/2 stroke #5 Brian Wood,🏆
Senior ProKarts #81 James Farrar,🏆
CBR Under 40 #14 Rhianna Regan,🏆
CBR Over 40 #28 Steve Elsom,🏆
Junior of the day #93 Edie Houghton,🏆
There were some notable performances out there including 43 Keaton Lombardo who drove exceptionally well in a very competitive class. Miles Clegg too, in his new kart that hadn't driven it before got a heat win before going to finish second overall.
In the CBR Over 40's #28 Steve Elsom (who missed R1) won his first grass meeting in a while and had a smile as wide as the Welland! Watching #14 Rhianna Regan, #95 Lewis Fountain, and #12 Michael Clarke in their respective classes, they are just motorsport magicians out there.
If you haven't been before come and have a look (its free to come and watch!). Karting is not always the most watchable motorsport but this is different, loads of talented drivers, with karts out there put together by some very clever people, you will get the bug!
Full race results and updated points charts are on the club website https://candbkc.wixsite.com/candbkartclub
Any queries, can you please email candbkc@outlook.com only (so they get to the right place) and we will get back to you ASAP.
We would like to thank Richard of RTE Medics for sponsoring the day's meeting, and Aaron Cole who surprised us by making a wonderful winners podium. Much appreciated👍
The rest of you that helped on the day, especially those that helped run the meeting and those that helped put the track away, thank you, great club spirit!!!👍
We are racing again on Sunday 14th July, Grass Championship Round 3, the venue is not confirmed yet (hopefully Tallington) we will let you know in due course 🏎💨
Pedal to the metal🏁🏁🏁
C&BKC.
Sunday 12th May
Grass Championship Round 1
When I had a shave a yesterday morning, I thought blimey the foam is a bit bright, then I realised I had got a Tallington Tan!!!
We had a lovely hot sunny day, over 70 karts (again!), and apart from the dust it was wonderful, salt of the earth, grassroots racing!!!
The track wasn’t what we had originally planned. On Saturday morning we got the circuit ¾ mapped out (behind the pits you had) but couldn’t complete it due to too many holes and ruts from the Easter weekend motorcycle events. We sought permission from the land owner to use the motorcycle track infield which was duly granted.
We wanted to give you something different again (a theme which will continue throughout the season).
Last month was a clockwise, fun but technical track, this time it was anti-clockwise and much faster.
Off the start, a good run down into a long left hander, up a bit of a hill through a an opening right hander, then a sharpish left which was lush on the top (caught a few out including yours truly). Along the back straight into a left – right then drop down a gear for a sharp left and back down onto the home straight. Variety is the spice of life!
There was the usual amount of thrills and spills with some very exciting racing which was enjoyed by all.
Your race winners on the day were:
Cadets #10 Maddison Cullen
70cc #3 Samuel Cole
90cc #14 Henry Briggs
CBR 125 Juniors #17 Seth Doades
Junior ProKarts #6 Megan Farrar
250cc 2 stroke #21 Shaun Everard
250cc 4-stroke (under 33bhp) #12 Michael Clarke
125cc 2 stroke #5 Brian Wood
Senior ProKarts #80 Brian Heggs
CBR Senior (under 40) #95 Lewis Fountain
CBR Senior (over 40) #38 Kevin Smith
Mechanics race #96 Ben
Junior driver(s) of the day #24 Harley Young & #93 Edie Houghton
Well done to you all!!!
A few notes:
The drivers briefing, can we remind all to please remain SILENT whilst the speaker is addressing you. Despite his request, conversations still carried on by people who should clearly know better. Most importantly, whilst you are talking others around you may not be able to hear the speaker. (I have watched briefings in other motorsports and the drivers don’t even blink!).
The dust was a problem unfortunately, with the current weather patterns its either one thing or the other, too wet, or too dry. #11 James Hope and his team have been working very hard to solve this problem. They have done tremendously well and are getting there. They will not give up! 👍
Junior drivers, as a reminder, rule 4.12: Neck braces are mandatory for all junior formulas and recommended by the club to the senior formulas. This is for your safety and peace of mind.
Then there’s that old chestnut, marshalling… It can vary sometimes from meeting to meeting if we have managed to recruit some volunteers, but the general rule is:
The club stipulates the first 3 or 4 drivers/parent-guardian representative will marshal directly after the race. Failure to do so causing scheduling delays will result in losing all the points gained as a driver in the race. If for any reason you are unable to meet your marshalling obligation it falls on the driver to ensure they replace with a suitable representative and inform the pit gate marshal immediately.
Going forward, the junior race (Cadet/70/90) 1st place in each class will be required to marshal as opposed to the first 3 over the line.
Unfortunately our regular photographer was unable to attend the meeting so there will be no official pictures this month.
It was a brilliant day and its 4 long weeks before we do again on Sunday 9th June.
Full results and the first points tables of the season are now up on the website. Any questions or queries will need to be emailed only to candbkc@outlook.com as we will respond ASAP.
Thanks to everyone that raced, helped out, and just came along to watch.
See you next month🏁🏁🏁
C&BKC.
Sunday 14th April
East of England Championships 2024
The opening event of the grass season was held at our regular field, 'Tallington Grasstrack' where we have witnessed so many memorable meetings over the years. The weather gods were with us too, it was a lovely day, less windy than the day before and much warmer than the day after!
We had drivers come from far and wide to contest the 2024 edition of the East Of England Championships where the winners have honour of being able to display the renowned E1 plate on their karts until the event is held again next year.
The pits were packed with karts come start time, 70 in all and we could name 12 or so regulars too who couldn't attend or race!
In the mix also was a healthy number of new junior members too wanting a piece of the action with #10 Maddison Cullen, #77 Freddie Sarginson, #93 Edie Houghton, #23 Max Bee and #14 Henry Briggs, all joining us. #15 Darcy Darnes also returned (undeterred I might add) after being involved in a racing incident at the grass Grand Prix meeting last season.
This is always encouraging for the future, most of which are 2nd/3rd generation racers, looking to follow in their elders footsteps. Talking of 3rd generation, we did also have at least 2 families with 3 generations racing which highlights how much of a family sport this is.
We had a few returnees too that we hadn't seen on the grass with us for a while. Welcome back to #82 Jack Goodliffe, #13 Frankie Wright, #38 Kevin Smith, and #59 Henry Urban.
With so many drivers taking part, we had 8 racing groups where some of the smaller classes raced together.
The ever popular Honda CBR125 classes yielded 34 karts between them. They were split into Juniors as normal and the Seniors were split into under 40's and over 40's. This was tried out at a recent race meeting at Kings Lynn and it proved so popular that this will be the norm going forward.
Each driver competed in 3 qualifying heats, before being gridded for a grand final.
The track layout itself was a challenging affair. We had limitations imposed upon us as to where the track could go due to the field getting damaged during a damp/wet motorcycle event on Easter weekend (this will have been repaired before we race again next month). We had to create a track to go on the infield of the oval and our team delivered a cracker! You left the start line and headed down the straight into turn 1, a right hander, off camber, a bit lush, oh my goodness that was fun getting round that, it was even tricky trying undercut someone going into it, brilliant!!! A series of left-right-right-left-right corners followed before a couple of hairpins got you back on to the main straight. A proper racers track that if you were commentating on would have been packed with 'Murry-isum's'!
When you check the results page on our website, you will see that qualifying was close in most classes which meant the finals would be fitting of the occasion.
You winnerson the day, who received a trophy plus an E1 plate are follows:
Cadets #10 Maddison Cullen , 70cc #3 Samuel Cole , 90cc #16 Henry Doades , CBR125 Juniors #43 Keaton Lombardo , Junior ProKarts #6 Megan Farrar
250/2-stroke #21 Shaun Everard , 250/4-stroke #12 Michael Clarke , 125/2-stroke #31 Anthony George, ProKarts #81 James Farrar , CBR125 Under 40 #9 Toni Fiveash , CBR125 Over 40 #38 Kevin Smith.
To round out the day we held a mechanics race which was a mixture of karts, genuine mechanics and a few rogue drivers in borrowed karts. This was won by kart #30 Brian Heggs.
Thank you to you all for coming, whether you raced, volunteered and helped us (or if you would like to in the future you assistance will be greatly appreciated) or even only spectated, it was great to see you.
We will be back again, same time, same place on Sunday 12th May when the first of our season long grass championship starts. Again we are expecting a good entry so it will definitely be an event not to be missed.
See you soon.
C&BKC
Sunday 28th March
Winter Shale Grand Prix
Adrian Flux Arena, Kings Lynn.
With the points championships concluded 3 weeks ago all that was left of the winter season was the Grand Prix.
🏎A total of 61 karts were lined up in the pits, with a few newcomers and a couple of returnees to liven things up a bit!
😀Luke Schooling was also back with us as he recovers from illness, helping trackside and doing some starting too!
👍Our track curator James (81) had designed an exciting and challenging track, maximising the space inside the arena giving us a circuit that was probably 600m long.
🤨During practice the track was dry and stony for the most part with the exception of a large and very wet patch as you came off the concrete and back on to the shale near the pit gate, but this soon sorted itself out by the time the heats started.
🏎Race format was to be 3 qualifying heats (reverse of points championship order, and newcomers off the back) with points being accumulated to decide the grid positions for the planned 10 lap finals (later reduced to 8 as we thought we were going to run out of time). This worked rather well giving everyone a chance of getting a good position on the grid for the final.
🛠Through the heats there were a few bumps and spills which required some busy welders in the pits, repairing steering, back bars, and side rails. This can be part and part of racing sometimes but thankfully it was all smiles, and no one got hurt.
🏆On to the results and most that got pole position for their classes went on to win there finals although there were a few surprises.
🏆#21 Shaun Everard was the firm favourite in the 250/2’s but his piston mysteriously shrunk after a lap or 2 but he still managed to finish 3rd. #38 Adam Brooks came through from 3rd on the grid to claim victory.
🏆In the 125cc Juniors #26 Joe Bezkoroajnyj and #17 Seth Doades have been serving up some terrific action all series and they shared the front row. With Joe on pole it was Seth who went on to win in (whilst I missed how they did it as I was captivated by the 43v73v1 battle further back) what was a brilliant race.
🏆#95 Lewis Fountain too had some work to do winning the second CBR final starting from P4. He had a DNF in heat 3 putting a bit further back than where he would have preferred to have started.
Your other winners (this time from pole position) were as follows: Cadets🏆#6 Megan Farrar, 70’s🏆#07 Kody Vertigan, 90’s 🏆#19 Seb Ellwood, 250/4 🏆#13 Frankie Wright, 125/2🏆#31 Anthony George, ProKarts🏆#69 Ian Nicholls, & CBR Group 1🏆#14 Rhianna Regan.
Well done to you all!!!
Full results can be found on our Results Page.
🎖Shelby Bailey was our driver of the day as she took part in only her second meeting with us. This was a notable day for her family as it was the first time all 3 generations of Bailey’s were racing, with dad Jon (47) and grandad Paul (64) taking part too.
😆We did manage to squeeze in some ‘fun’ races at the end, one for the Juniors, one for under 40 years old CBR125 drivers, and then the last one which had everything from ProKarts to 250 2 strokes in it! My goodness, talk about chaos, it was nuts! 🤣
👏As usual we would like to thank everyone who put not only this event on, but the whole of the Winter Series at Kings Lynn. Leanne, Terri, Tara, Shannon, Michael, Luke, Vinny, #81 James, #11 James, and Derrick were the backbone of what we did, and thanks too to those who helped put the cones out and load them back up. Much appreciated!👏
😀For the past 30 plus years we have held a winter championship on the airfield at East Kirkby but due to a change of use by the owner that is no longer possible. Therefore we had to quickly put this series together which has been tremendous success. It has been very popular with drivers and all others concerned, so much so that plans are well under way for more ‘A bit like Rallycross’ events at Kings Lynn after the forthcoming grass season is completed.👍
Our next meeting is on Sunday 14th April, venue and meeting details will be confirmed in a few days.
C&BKC 🏎🏁🏁🏁
Sunday 3rd March
Shale Racing Event (Winter Series R3)
Upon arriving at the track at 7.30 it definitely did look like ‘the morning after the night before’! Judging by the state of the pits and the track it looked everyone enjoyed Saturday night at the stock cars. The track had took a hammering with the roadside turn cut up, and a few wheel nuts impregnated into the surface elsewhere.
Our pre designed track layout had to be hastily rejigged to work around that and in turn it gave us a fantastic circuit. It was the longest and most technical we have had in a long time, with a couple of 1st / 2nd gear hairpins for some karts.
None of this was problem to us though, this is what we do, racers find a way to race!!! Simples!!!
We had the drivers briefing as usual and afterwards Rosco thanked the club for the support and kind words for Luke. Luke, we know you will read this, you are very much in our thoughts at the moment, stay strong, we can’t wait to see you back at a race track!
With this meeting being rearranged from the 18th of February, some of our regular drivers had prior engagements but we still had a healthy 49 karts in the pits.
The racing itself was a great leveller. The first couple of rounds of races had a very grippy ¾ of a lap on the shale and a quite slippery section with hairpins on the centre concrete. It was covered with a fine layer of wet shale which made many slip and slide about, understeering, oversteering, you name it, they were doing it!!! This all became slightly dusty as the day wore on, on what some have said was the best track we have ever had!
On to the results, your class winners on the day were: Cadets #6 Megan Farrar, 70’s, #07 Kody Vertigan, 90’s #16 Henry Doades, CBR125 Juniors #26 Joe Bezkorowajnyj, 250/2 #77 Andy Gibbs, 250/4 (-33BHP) #13 Frankie Wright, 125/2 #5 Brian Wood, ProKarts #81 James Farrar, CBR Under 40’s #95 Lewis Fountain, & CBR Over 40’s #8 Andy Rahn.
This was the last round of our inaugural ‘shale’ Winter Series so we can now reveal your Championship winners:
Cadets - #6 Megan Farrar
70cc - #07 Kody Vertigan
90cc - #8 George Wilkinson
CBR Juniors - #17 Seth Doades(this one was close!!!, only 4pts separated Seth & Joe…)
250/2 - #21 Shaun Everard
250/4 – #95 Lewis Fountain
250/4 MX – #71 Dan Clarke
125/2 – #31 Anthony George
ProKarts – #81 James Farrar
CBR Seniors – #95 Lewis Fountain
A big WELL DONE to you all, richly deserved!!!
Full results and points standings can be found on our website https://bit.ly/43amfsb
To round out the day, we had a couple of mechanics races.
The senior one had it all, a mix of machines and abilities which even saw ProKarts overtaking the mighty 250 2 strokes. It had quite a few ‘names’ racing out there too, very competitive and the race was eventually won by Luke Allan
Unfortunately in the Junior race we had a young driver have a crash and needed medical attention. He is home and recovering now, we wish to thank again the medics and others that helped. These included fellow junior drivers Harvey, Reilly, and Kailum who deserve a special mention as they instinctively went to the aid of another competitor.
None of this could have happened without some generous help from some volunteers. In no particular order we would like to thank Teri Barwell, Gary Bristow, Jennie Whitehead, Michael Clarke, plus all of those including the children who helped pack the track away (sorry I don’t have any names).
We are back at Kings Lynn again very soon, Sunday 24th March for Winter Shale Grand Prix. Keep an eye on this page and the website over the coming days for further details.
Thanks from us all.
See you soon.
C&BKC
Sunday 28th January
Shale Racing Event (Winter Series R2)
Sunny, cold, and slightly breezy, not bad for late January! With a billiard table smooth racing surface the stage was set for Shale Series Round 2.
With 61 karts in the pits including 12 juniors, 19 Senior CBRs, 8 250/4’s, 4 125/2’s (it’s great to see these back again!), 12 250/2’s and 6 ProKarts we were all ready to go!
There were a few new faces with us, #60 Rob McDonnell in the CBR’s, #64 Paul Bailey (ProKarts) along with some returnee’s too. We hadn’t seen #6 Darren Ling (250/2’s) or #5 Ady Nicholls (CBR’s) race with us for a few years.
The event ran really smoothly to the extent that we got in 24 races, and a 30 minute break in just over 3 hours! This meant we could add in a few extra ‘fun’ races too.
Your winners on the day were: Grass Cadets #6 Megan Farrar, 70cc 07 Kody Vertigan, CBR Juniors #26 Joe Bezkorowajnyj, ProKarts 81 James Farrar, CBR Ht1 14 Rhianna Regan, CBR Ht2 13 Brogan Wright, 250/4 #95 Lewis Fountain, 125/2 31 Anthony George, & 250/2 #14 Daniel Brown. The winner of the free race meeting prize draw was #52 Sean Walsh.
We would like to thank the volunteer marshals, Daniel Miller, Darren Lock, & Trigger, who came along and were excellent at what they did. It made a big difference to the meeting and kept everything flowing as we were not waiting for the first 4 drivers from the previous race to come out and marshal as they would at a grass meeting. They were brilliantly assisted by Tara on the pit gate, doing what Tara does (you don’t argue…..), Michael doing the starting, Vinnie on the middle, with Shannon, Leanne and Derrick mucking in too, plus James Farrar was excellent too delivering a fine drivers briefing. It was slick!!!
Thanks also to Zuzana Rahn and Ian Long for taking some excellent pictures during the day.
We would just like to mention that this was (I believe) #40 Steve Featherstone’s last meeting with us before switching to Autograss racing. A vastly experienced racer, he has been a great member of the club for the last few years. We wish you well Steve, thank you for coming and we hope to see you again one day. Don’t be a stranger as they say.
We will let you know details of the next race meeting as soon as we get them.
C&BKC.
If you have any questions, can you please send an email to: candbkc@outlook.com
Sunday 26th November
Shale Racing Event (Winter Series R1)
Our first visit to Kings Lynn rounded out the calendar year in which we held 13 events with no cancellations or postponements! Fingers crossed for next year!
This heavily promoted event yielded 75 karts (best turnout of the year) despite the temperature being below freezing when most race crews set off early on Sunday morning. This was an eagerly anticipated event, giving our drivers the opportunity to race around a permanent raceway (one that they probably go to watch stock cars or speedway bikes at anyway) instead of our temporary grass or airfield circuits.
Running clockwise, the track layout was effectively a dual surface rally-cross design, using approximately 2/3's of the shale oval (basically missing out the back straight) and with a loop on the concrete infield. To make things interesting, some drift cars had used this section the day before so there was plenty of rubber on the track surface (which made a difference in the 'fun' races in the last hour of the day).
The weather was cold but dry and no wind so conditions were reasonably good and the best as you could hope for in late November.
Our races passed largely incident free, we didn't need to call for any medical assistance this time. There was some brilliant battles going on out there, the best I saw was #51 Titch Howlett v #18 James Richardson in heat 3 (250/2). They were neck and neck for 5 out of the 6 laps until James's chain snapped and the end of lap 5.
As we still had 45 minutes left to use of our allotted time, we rain a few 'fun' races just as some fine 'mizzle' came down. These races were run anticlockwise giving you a different take on the track. It was good fun, especially as the concrete became slippery with all that rubber down from the previous day's drift cars!
Your winners on the day were:
(Juniors) Grass Cadets #6 Megan Farrar, 70cc #07 Cody Vertigan, 90cc #19 Seb Ellwood, 125cc #17 Seth Doades.
(Seniors) ProKarts #81 James Farrar, 200/4 #69 Andy Rolfe, CBR125 Group 1 #95 Lewis Fountain, CBR125 Group 2 #4 Ryan Fisher, 250/4 #95 Lewis Fountain, 250MX #71 Dan Clarke, 125/2 #30 Lee Duigan-Brown, 175cc #28 Steve Elsom, Rotax #54 Kevin Jackson, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard.
On a slightly negative note, and without being grumpy, some erratic, overly aggressive driving was noted by the officials and that has to stop. If it happens again at the next meeting or any others going forward the offending drivers will be disqualified from the race. This is in the interest of safety so please obey the rules of this non-contact sport. You are have been warned!
Thank you to Vinnie, James, Shaun, Derek and the other committee members who did so much to get this meeting on.
Extended thanks also to Andy Gibbs (movie star), Terri Barwell, Simon Doades, Sam Stray, Helen Lock Lombardo, and anyone else that helped on the day, much appreciated.
See you soon!
C&BKC.
If you have any questions, can you please send an email to: candbkc@outlook.com
Sunday 8th October
C-Plate Grass Grand Prix
Due to the unavailability of our regular field, the last grass meeting of the season was held at Helpston near Peterborough.
This is a beautiful location set in flat, open countryside and it was our first visit there since 2019.
The Saturday team had created a fantastic track layout with a mix of fast and slow sections, and technically challenging corners with plenty of overtaking opportunities.
It was a lush surface but sadly very bumpy too, and looking at some of the post-race footage you could be forgiven for thinking it was a BMX track! On the plus side, it wasn’t dusty!!!
In the pits we had a seasons high of 71 karts racing, the highlights being 22 CBR Seniors, 10 CBR Juniors, and 10 250/2’s.
The race format for our C-plate meeting is 3x 6 lap heats with points added together to determine grid positions for the C-plate finals.
The heats went as follows………
250/4: If recent form was anything to go by then this was going to be a battle between #95 Lewis Fountain and #17 Andrew Moore. And so it would be, Lewis winning 2 heats to 1 with Andrew but it would be the latter on pole for the final as Lewis dnf'd heat 2. 81 James Farrar was picking up good places too meaning he would also start on the front row.
250 MX: It was good to see #44 Bradley Galley racing with us and whatever he pedals he is always hard to beat. Sam and Dan tried their best but Bradley was gone, and won all 3 heats.
ProKarts: With 3 entrants for this up and coming budget/easy class, #80 Emily Farrar dominated and took all 3 heats.
250/2: A cracking turnout of 10 karts our fastest class were outstanding to watch. Heats went the way of #18 James Richardson, #30 Justin Parker, and #21 Shaun Everard. In amongst this, #30 Justin Parker had finally found some form which meant he would start the final in pole position.
125/2: At times these karts are just crazy! For those of you that don't know, a 125 2-stroke kart can be a very revvy machine to drive and not easy to handle, especially on a bumpy track. There were a few thrills and spills but #12 Andrew Clarke got 2x 1st's and a 2nd place to give him pole for the final.
125/4: 22 karts racing, spilt in to 2x heats per round. #8 Andy Rahn won 2 of his 3, with deserved wins too for #36 Gary Munns, #18 Lewis Dade, #95 Lewis Fountain, & #10 Billie Fiveash. Other notable performances were from returnee #2 Sam Ward (very good in the juniors back in the day), #38 Callum Pollard (so close to winning), and #88 Callum Pearson all getting a 2nd place in these heats. Andy Rahn would take pole with Lewis Fountain along side him.
On to the juniors:
CBR125 4-stroke Juniors: We had a season's best of 10 karts present, with #12 Winnie Scott making the step up from the 90cc class and 2nd generation racer #61 Darcy Darnes making her debut. Pre-meeting favourites #17 Seth Doades and #31 Charlie Halls both had accidents in their qualifying heats (Seth did win the first 2x) which meant they would sit out the final. This really opened up the racing a bit and it was going to be interesting to see who would win. Another 2nd generation racer #43 Keaton Lombardo did enough secure pole position and #78 Harvey Farrer would be alongside him.
90cc: #55 Ryan Freeman was racing with us for the first time this season and bagged 2x 1st's and a 2nd in the heats meaning he would take pole position. #19 Seb Ellwood who has been in fine form since joining the club won the other heat.
70cc: #16 Henry Doades started as favourite and won the first 2 heats with 07 Kody Vertigan picking up his first with us in heat 3.
On to the finals:
250/4: Again a straight shoot-out between #95 Lewis Fountain and #17 Andrew Moore (these two are great to watch) with Lewis taking the spoils, Andrew getting 2nd place and #16 Alfie Farrar sticking in there for 3rd.
250/4 MX: Bradley made it 4 races out of 4 winning the final after dominating the heats. He was followed home by #71 Dan Clarke in 2nd and #89 Sam Stray in 3rd place.
ProKart: Another game, set, and match performance was in the ProKart's with #80 Emily Farrar winning her 4th race of the day. Club stalwart #36 Graham Morley came home in 2nd place.
250/2: #21 Shaun Everard took the win to add to his points championship that he had won a few weeks ago. After a good battle with Shaun, #30 Justin Parker finished 2nd and #38 Adam Brooks in 3rd place.
125/2: #12 Andrew Clarke also added the GP to his points championship. After an early battle with #31 Anthony George, Andrew was leading at half distance and never looked back. #30 Lee Duigan-Brown was 2nd with #02 Dean Riley in 3rd place.
125/4: 2x finals were run so everyone got 4 races. #95 Lewis Fountain won his 2nd C-Plate of the day (adding to his 250/4 win). He got in front of pole sitter #8 Andy Rahn on the first lap and led to the finish. #10 Billie Fiveash got past too to take 2nd place with Andy having to settle for 3rd.
The 'B' final was a deserved win for #79 Chris Peel, followed home by #47 Jon Bailey (in the ex-Mason Bills kart) and #12 Tom Clarke in 3rd.
Unfortunately the CBR Junior final was red flagged at approximately at half distance as a back marking kart was ‘gobbled up’ by the leading pack, leading to a race stoppage. This was a lengthy delay which led to the race being ‘red & chequered’ and the result being declared at the last completed lap. Time by now had run on and the race meeting was prematurely ended.
Junior 70 & Junior 90 finals were not run and the C-plates were awarded from the results of the heat scores.
Our last grass meeting of the season rarely passes without any problems and this day was no different with the medics being called in to action on at least 4 occasions (which is as much as they were required all season) and 3 of these were for 1 class alone.
As far as we know everyone was mostly ok, with a couple having a day or two off school to rest and recover.
It is worth pointing out that the bumpy track conditions were not to blame for any of our incidents, it was just pure racing!
Our next meeting is a big one for us, a shale race meeting at Kings Lynn on Sunday 26th November. All things being well, we hope for this to be the first of many going forward.
Sadly there is no road racing at East Kirkby this winter. We haven’t given up on finding a replacement venue, we will keep you informed.
The next grass meeting will be on Sunday 14th April 2024, more details will be announced nearer the time.
Raceday report Sunday 10th September
Grass Championship Round 6 – a day of two halves….
It was a day of reckoning for many, the deciding round of the Grass Championship which had a few titles still to be decided. With 60 karts in the pits it was all systems go!!!
The day started off unseasonably hot for September, it must have been 30°c by the time we approached lunchtime, and unfortunately it was a bit dusty (never known so many dusty meetings in 1 season!) We tried watering track which didn’t quite have the desired effect, it is something that we are working on and will continue to do so until we get it right.
The racing was good, fast, and incident free thankfully, largely as the track layout had a bit in it for most drivers.
After lunch it clouded over and then weirdly the air went still, causing our dust clouds to remain static so as the karts went round, they were back into the dust they created on the previous lap. It was getting difficult as only half the track was visible from any vantage point.
With only a handful of races still to run, the heavens then opened, followed by thunder, and lightening so the meeting was paused as the weather passed through.
This changed track conditions dramatically for the remaining races, it went from dry and dusty to rather wet and muddy but certainly very driveable.
Your winners on the day were: Grass Cadet #6 Megan Farrar🏁, 70cc #16 Henry Doades🏁, 90cc #19 Seb Ellwood🏁, CBR Juniors #11 Charlie Halls🏁, 250/2-stroke #21 Shaun Everard🏁, 250/4 17 Andrew Moore🏁, 250 MX #89 Sam Stray🏁, 125/2 #30 Lee Duigan-Brown🏁, ProKart #80 Emily Farrar🏁, CBR Senior Shoot-Out #95 Lewis Fountain🏁, CBR Seniors #14 Rhianna Regan🏁.
This concluded the Grass Championship for 2023 and at 7 o’clock tomorrow night we will reveal the winners…………..🏆🥇🥈🥉
Before we go one driver that is worth a mention is CBR Senior #1 Simon Overton. During heat 3 of the non-shootout CBR group race #10 Billie Fiveash lost a wheel a approaching the hairpin. As she sat stricken in the middle of the track (and her loose wheel made its way to Market Deeping…) Simon sacrificed his own race in the name of safety and tried to push her off the track before the reds came out. That is great sportsmanship and a reminder to us all that yes, we do want win, but safety does come first.
Last Lap………………
Cliff Hoppe, who had been our starter, clerk of the course, and committee member has now retired from our club. Having been in and around the sport over the last 25 years, helping his son, his grandchildren and then becoming a racer himself (starting at the age of 59 proving you are never too old!) he has decided it’s time to hang up his helmet and flags and call it a day. We paid tribute to him with a speech and presentation of a gift card. Thank you, Cliff (and your wife Kate), for everything that you have done for us, and as you have said to others before, don’t be a stranger and pop in to say hello when you are out and about.
This was our last meeting of the season at Tallington, and we would like to thank Mr Thurlby for hiring us the field throughout the season, much appreciated.
Next month we hold our grass season finale, the Grass Grand Prix ‘C’ Plate meeting a few short miles away at Etton near Peterborough. We used to race here a few years back, a lovely field, and we are looking forward to going back.
Don’t forget, 7 o’clock 🕖tomorrow night🏆🥇🥈🥉
Thank you.
C&BKC.
Race day report Sunday 13th August
Grass Championship Round 5
Thank you all for coming last Sunday, you would have witnessed some great racing with a seasons high 66 karts in attendance too
Grass racing is a bit like racing on wet tarmac to some degree, the surface is unpredictable, the grip changes with each lap, it’s a great leveller with a lot of skill and patience required throughout the races. Practice and the early races the track was quite dewy and lush which challenged some of the racers, but it soon dried out and the surface bedded in.
We had 2 new drivers in the 125/2 class, Anthony and Lee who really did entertain, flying round, ‘driving-like-they-had-stolen’ their karts. Seb #19 in the 90cc he was smooth and good to watch, and #17 Andrew Moore really has got his 250/4 dialled in now!
Winners on the day were: Grass Cadet #11 Poppy Sammons, 70cc #16 Henry Doades, 90cc #19 Seb Ellwood, CBR Juniors #17 Seth Doades, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard, 250/4 #17 Andrew Moore, 125/2 #30 Lee Duigan Brown, 250 MX #89 Sam Stray, ProKart #80 Emily Farrar, CBR Seniors #95 Lewis Fountain.
Full results and updated points will appear on the website in the coming days.
Next month is round 6, the deciding round of the championship. 4 of the 9 titles have already been won with those drivers already being over 80 points in front of second place. The other 5 classes however it is all to play for. Either driver could win the Grass Cadet class with both Poppy and Megan being level on 160pts each, anyone of 3 drivers could win the 90cc’s, a shoot-out between Seth and Charlie in the CBR Junior’s (I understand they are best mates, but I bet they are winding each other up about it!), 250/4 will be a battle between 5 drivers no less, can #11 James Hope get some reliability and hang on? Then there’s the CBR Seniors, mathematically there is 7 that could do it, but personally I think it's Michael’s to lose!
Make a note in your diary as they used to say, Sunday 10th September. Not to be missed.
Tomorrow (Saturday), we will be having a small display of karts plus doing some demonstration runs at the Lincs Festival of Bikes & Jason O'Halloran 2023.
Click here for more details
https://www.facebook.com/events/940919113803802
Thank you all again for coming along we hope you enjoyed it and we will do it again next month.
C&BKC
Race day report Sunday 30th July
Grass Championship Round 4
Thank you very much for coming to Grass Championship Round 4 yesterday, we hope you enjoyed yourselves .
A great turnout of karts, 57 in the pits and given it was a peak holiday week too that was excellent! I guess teams are now looking at the fixture list before booking their holidays!!!
We had several new drivers and one or two returnee's in the mix as well which is always good to see .
Initially, I think the weather was near on perfect for a race meeting, not too sunny, temperature was about right, nice gentle breeze, not quite as dusty either as per some recent events, and then it rained come presentation time!!!Grrrr.......
Our usual 4 heats for each class all went very well with some very quick karts serving up some brilliant action it then left us some time to run a few 'fun' races at the end. These were particularly useful for some as they got extra track time with less karts around them and also gave others a chance to experiment with different set ups .
Your class winnerson the day were: Grass Cadet #6 Megan Farrar, 70cc #16 Henry Doades, 90cc #8 George Wilkinson, CBR Juniors #17 Seth Doades, ProKart #36 Graham Morley, CBR Seniors #8 Andy Rahn, 125/2 #12 Andrew Clarke, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard, 250/4 #17 Andrew Moore, 250 MX #71 Dan Clarke.
Thank you to everyone that helped run the meeting, your efforts really are valued by all .
It's a quick turn around now, get your replacement parts ordered and karts repaired as we are back at Tallington on Sunday 13th August which is now less than 2 weeks away. If anyone is going to/can be available to help our Saturday crew set up on the morning of the 12th, please let us know, your assistance will be enormously appreciated.
Results and points will be on the website by the end of the week: http://bit.ly/44Lg3XR
See you soon
C&BKC.
Race day report Sunday 9th July
Grass Championship Round 3
Quite simply it was another fantastic days racing!
With plenty of things going on locally, and lots of sport on the telly (British GP etc) will still managed to get 57 karts in the pits along with internet/YouTube sensation TRUCKER TIM! More on that later.
The weather was perfect, lovely and sunny, not much wind, just not quite as hot as last month thankfully.
As you know, not much rain has fallen since April so the track was and inevitably dusty although the grass had been cut. (We have had July meetings rained off more than once, it's just bonkers these days!)
A super fast track had been created by the Saturday set up crew which probably helped keep the dust down somewhat (a proper twisty kart track that keeps your speed down like those arrive & drive circuits would have been a nightmare!). With regards to the dust, we were watering the track from time to time and this is something that is being worked on further (even as I write this by other members of the team) if anyone can offer further help logistically please get in touch with us.
The racing itself was fast and furious, most karts could get up to top speed which doesn't happen very often and that part of the track led into a tight hairpin which was a great leveller.
Heat 1 for the CBR's had a spectacular incident coming out of the last corner. Whilst it happened directly in front of me I can not begin to describe it, other than #95 Lewis wiped out some trackside furniture and rolled over. He was back in his kart for the restart laughing about it!
As mentioned earlier, YouTube sensation, trucker Tim, was joined by his co star and friend Shaun Lombardo (a former club member) racing in the CBR 125 Seniors in the #43 kart, dabbling in the world of Grass Karting. He raced in 2 heats finishing both of them which is a feat in itself. In his first race he managed 11th and in his second he was 9th.
Tim is better known for driving lorries and documenting many of his journeys through his YouTube channel. It is fair to say that he is better used to driving large trucks with better gearing and handling, but he would love to get in a bit of practice before re-joining us at a later date. That is something we very much look forward too.
Your class winners on the day were:
Juniors: Grass Cadets (GX160) #6 Megan Farrar, 70cc #16 Henry Doades, 90cc #8 George Wilkinson, CBR 125 Junior #17 Seth Doades.
Seniors: 125cc 2 Stroke #12 Andrew Clarke, CBR 125 #9 Toni Fiveash, 250cc 2 Stroke #21 Shaun Everard, 250cc 4 Stroke #95 Lewis Fountain, 250cc MX 89 Sam Stray, & ProKart #36 Graham Morley.
The website with full results and points tables will be updated later in the week (it takes some time......)
The action now comes thick and fast with round 4 back at Tallington on Sunday 30th July, and Round 5 will be two weeks later on the 13th August.
Thank you to everyone that helped set the track up, put it away, along with other mundane tasks. We are blessed to have a small group of volunteers who also do lap scoring, the raffle, marshall the pit gate and sort out grids, you lot are diamonds, with you it wouldn't happen.
See you soon
C&BKC
Race day report Sunday 11th June
Grass Championship Round 2
Have you recovered yet? No, I thought not, neither have we!!!
Thank you all for coming yesterday and we hoped you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.
Once in a while the conditions will challenge us, it will either be cold, wet and horrible or like yesterday, hot, dry and dusty!!! The grass was longer than we would have liked but the set up crew rolled the grass down the best they could and the 250/4's did a brilliant job of working the track in before the other classes went out. We did what we could, but unfortunately good, raceable grass fields are in short supply so we have to be grateful for what we have.
As drivers came in from practice and for most of the day, plenty of grass needed to be removed karts after each race.
The racing itself was challenging, coping with the dust and if you got it wrong in the corners the flattened long grass pulled you and slowed you down.
However with a 'seasons high' 62 karts in attendance (across 8 classes including 27 senior CBR'S), the racing itself was thrilling to watch as the drivers mastered the conditions.
On the day, and winners of Grass Championship Round 2 were: 16 Henry Doades (70cc), 12 Winnie Scott (90cc), 17 Seth Doades (125 Juniors), 95 Lewis Fountain (CBR Seniors), 44 Bradley Galley (250/2), 11 James Hope (250/4), 71 Dan Clarke (250/4MX), 12 Andrew Clarke (125/2) and 36 Robert Stevenson (ProKart).
Full race results and points tables will appear on the website by the end of the week. candbkc.wixsite.com/candbkartclub
Thanks to all that helped set up, pack away, marshall races and anything that needed doing and got done, without you the day would have been much harder if not impossible to do.
As things stand we are not 100% sure where we are racing next month yet (Sunday 9th July), keeping check this page and our website for further updates.
Good luck to those of you are contesting the British Championships at Wisbech Kart Club next month, we hope you have a great and successful time
See you soon.
C&BKC
Race day report Sunday 14th May
Grass Championships Round 1
Good evening sports fans.
What can I say, Round 1 of the championship done and what a day it was! With a weather forecast a duck would be happy with in the run up to the meeting. Several people had messaged through out the week thinking we were quackers. Saturday setup thanks to Cliff, Kate, Derrick, Andy and Chris.
Sunday morning arrived and what a day!
Glorious sunshine, sun tan lotion required all day. I'm going to tempt fate but so far the weather gods have looked favourably on us so far. Just a shame with all the wet weather the field was very soft under foot this in turn created problems for not only the drivers but the committee as well.
With a few track adjustments throughout the day we did the best we could with the card we were dealt.
The racing! Again what can I say all the junior classes stars of the future. Some amazing drives from them all. Adults, CBR Seniors again cracking racing all the way through the packs. On track fights for every place nobody left with out a battle even for the lower places. Fantastic to watch all day.
250 4s have several new faces in the class and all were driving like they'd been doing it years.
250 2s again some cracking racing between all the drivers. An extra special mention does need to go to Andy Gibbs and Debs (his kart), she's been a little tedious for a while and to be honest Andy was getting a little annoyed. However he finished the meeting and had some brilliant scraps all day. The smile on his face was worth the entry fee alone!
Special thanks to Kate, Christie, Terry and Tara for all of their help.
In the words of looney tunes,
That's all Folks see you all next month for another fun filled day.
Next meeting June 11th.
Can't wait that long check out Wisbech kart clubs next meeting on May 21st.
Race day report Sunday 16th April
East of England Championships 2023
First of all, we would like to thank Cliff and Derrick for pulling out all the stops last week to get this race meeting on.
The original venue, Mac Joyce Raceway was declared unraceable on Tuesday morning for the forth coming weekend due to the weather on the previous day (and with more rain forecast throughout the week).
Cliff and Derrick between them got a venue arranged and organised all of the logistics (moving equipment around, borrowing a 4x4 vehicle, the toilets, catering, ambulance, etc) in double quick time.
Without their efforts I doubt the rest of us would have been able to get the meeting on.
Thank you both.
A fantastic 47 drivers signed on to race which included 24 CBR Seniors and our 3 YouTube guests (more on that later...) with some fantastic and well prepared karts in the pits too.
On arrival at the track the field was slightly wet and mushy in places but this field dries well and we knew come 11 o'clock the track would be perfect. Shaun went and rolled the track upon his arrival just to give it a finishing touch!
It was good to be back doing some grass racing again after what feels like a long winter. The pits were packed with not only current drivers but a few from years gone by too who had paid us a visit which was great to see. It created a great atmosphere and buzz about the place!
This was our annual East of England Championship meeting (our biggie!!!). Every driver raced in 5 heats to determine who would have the honour of being crowned the East of England Champion in their class and be entitled wear the E1 plates until the event is held again next year.
The racing itself was fantastic and the track stood up well but had deteriorated in couple of areas after 3 rounds of races. This was adjusted (which is part and parcel of grass racing) and the last 2 rounds went well too.
There was some good battles on track, especially Lewis Fountain v Dan Clarke v Andrew Clarke, brilliant stuff, no quarter given! Steve Elsom in an air-cooled DT175 beating liquid-cooled 250cc 2 strokes in heat 2!!! Priceless!!! And then there's the CBR's, there was something happening everywhere you looked.........
The drivers that came out on top and therefore are our new champions are as follows:
GX160 Junior #11 Poppy Sammons, 70cc #16 Henry Doades, 90cc #12 Winnie Scott, 125 Junior #66 Kara Parker, CBR125 Senior #14 Rhianna Regan, 125/2 #12 Andrew Clarke, 250/2 #21 Shaun Everard & #250/4 Dan Clarke.
You may have noticed throughout the day that we had a film crew in attendance, Callum, Will, and Scott AKA Driver 61 (not connected to me...) These guys have a channel on YouTube https://youtube.com/@OVERDRIVE.studios along with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, which covers all manner of subjects racing related, mainly things that go fast!!! They were invited to our race meeting to come and check out what is entry level motorsport at affordable prices. I think they got a shock at just what can be achieved on a small budget!!! Check out their pages, and we will let you know when we (possibly you?) appear on there.
We would like to thank the Saturday set up crew that got everything prepared ahead of the meeting, you did a fantastic job and it certainly made Sunday morning much easier. Thanks too to #27 Dave for bringing the club quad bike along too, very useful for starting 250cc karts!, Teri for stepping in to Tara's shoes and running the pit gate and organising the race grids, also to Kate and Christie for being our lap scorers. We also extend our gratitude to #38 Kev and Dave again for helping in the starters box. If I have forgotten anyone I do apologise.
As many of you will be aware, #28 Steve Elsom had to leave the race meeting in an ambulance due to a health issue (not racing related). Those of you that don't know him, he is a fun loving legend of our sport, and has been gracing our tracks for around 30 years now (recently crowned Winter Series Champion in the CBR's too). We understand that he is on the mend and we wish him well and look forward to seeing him again soon.
Our photographer hopes to put some pictures up on here at the end of the week (be patient, I think she has about 1,000 to go through and they will be worth the wait) and our website will get updated throughout the coming days.
I think that's about it, next race meeting, we can confirm that we will back at Tallington for Grass Championship Round 1 on Sunday 14th May.
From us all at C&BKC, see you then 🏎 🏁🏁🏁
RACE DAY REPORT Sunday 2nd April
Our winter road season concluded with the annual Grand Prix event. The weather was nice enough but for the slightly bitter easterly wind (the starter(s) certainly felt it up on the rostrum!!!)
38 karts were in attendance including 14 in the ultra-competitive Honda CBR 125 class. We also had a 3rd generation racer in #66 Kara Parker making her debut in the Junior CBR's, no doubt hoping to follow in her Grandad, Dad, and elder sister's footsteps!
Race format was 3 slightly shorter than usual heats with the total points added together to decide grid positions for the 8 lap finals.
One or two alterations had been made to the track layout ahead of the meeting start in an attempt to slow drivers down in the very tricky last corner of the lap. With the very grippy track surface it was still hair-raisingly good fun going around it on the limit of adhesion!!!
Some very exciting heat races followed (mostly incident free) providing the early fun before the grids were formed for the main events.
With one or two unexpected results (longer races are a great leveller) your winners and entitled to wear GP plates next season were: Billie Fiveash (Senior Open), Matt Hempson (250/2 Grass), Andrew Clarke (125/2 Grass), Sam Stray (250/4 Grass), Winnie Scott (90cc), Kara Parker (125 Juniors), Connor Schooling (Cadets), Rhianna Regan (CBR 125 Seniors), Lottie Drew (ProKart), Andrew Butler (GX160), Kevin Smith (250 Road).
We would like to express our greatest thanks to Teri Barwell who unfortunately couldn't attend the meeting due to Henry being poorly (get well soon). Teri sorted us some fabulous raffle prizes which were much appreciated by all.
As a club we would like to you thank you all (and the weather!!!) for helping us put on a great set of 6 meetings over this winter season, for your help setting up, racing, marshalling, clearing up and much more, we couldn't have done it without you, thank you very much.
Our attention turns to Grass Racing, with a quick turnaround, racing again in just two weeks’ time (Sunday 16th April) at the Mack Joyce Raceway, at Stainby near Grantham. Be on the lookout for tomorrow night’s very special Facebook post........................
For the road only racers, we will be back here at East Kirkby on Sunday 5th November.
If in doubt, go flat out!!!
C&BKC.
RACE DAY REPORT Sunday 5th March
Road Championship Round 5 - East Kirkby
Whilst it was a little 'parky' on arrival at the airfield, it did turnout to be quite a nice day!
It was the last round of the Winter Road Championship before the season ending Grand Prix (or to use a footballing metaphor, the final league match of the season before the cup final next month).
A respectable entry of 37 karts, a bit down on last month but the weather forecast may have put a few off.
Collectively we 'got-on with it' and we were nearly ready to race by 9am! That gave us all a welcome breather before start time.
The track itself was slightly adjusted from the last meeting so some parts needed 'scrubbing in' which made it interesting at times but the racing all past incident free.
Championships were in some cases already won, but there were a few more to be settled, especially in the classes using 250cc engines.....
The racing up here as it is nowadays, its quite an entertaining, nerve jangling, white knuckle ride, and as you can see from the drivers faces when they remove their helmets, they love it!!!
Raise your glasses to the following, your new Winter Road points champions:
Cadets #28 Connor Schooling, 70cc #16 Henry Doades, 90cc #7 Seth Doades, CBR125 Junior #12 Tom Clarke, CBR125 Senior #28 Steve Elsom, GX160 #7 Andy Butler, ProKart #36 Graham Morley, Senior Open #10 Billie Fiveash, 250/2 Grass #26 Wayne Hall, 250/4 #95 Lewis Fountain, and last but not least 250cc Road #21 Shaun Everard !
The full final points standings can be found on our website https://bit.ly/3mstRVK
It's not over yet folks, next month, Sunday 2nd April is the encore, the end of season Grand Prix.
For those of you who have not been before, the race format changes to qualifying heats (for grid position) followed by a longer than usual final. These races often serve up some surprise results with kart reliability and body fitness coming in to play.....
We hope you all enjoyed the day as much as we did!!!
Thank you all for coming, drivers, helpers, spectators, you all made the day what it was.
Special thanks must go to Tara Fiveash, Kate Shinkins-Hoppe, Terri Barwell, Dave Harworth, and Regan Glenn for their extra help.
Until next time, goodbye
C&BKC.
RACE DAY REPORT Sunday 5th February
Road Championship Round 4 - East Kirkby
It was great to see this gentleman yesterday wasn't it ? (see image on Facebook) Our guest trophy presenter was none other than our very own local karting legend Mr Gavin Scott, who has served (still serving) the sport, (notably with Coningsby Kart Club) with distinction for many years.
Your prayers were answered weren't they !!! The weather gods gave us conditions that we would appreciate in any month of the year, let alone February !!! You got a bone dry, grippy track, in calm conditions and 59 karts came along to enjoy it !!! We haven't had that many here for what feels like a very long time.
The weather itself seemed bring out a lot of drivers who we don't very often see at East Kirkby and we welcomed their attendance.
The racing itself was top-notch, with exciting battles in most races and a few thrills and spills to boot. Full results and the points tables will be added to the website at the end of the week so be on the lookout for those https://bit.ly/40z3InD
We did have a couple of spectacular spills towards the end of the race meeting with both affected drivers requiring a small amount of attention. They did leave the meeting under their own steam and as far as we know both James and Steve are good and well.
With regards to the rest of the meeting, thank you to you all that helped. We are now getting the hang of it, getting set up and starting promptly, marshalling is getting better (probably need to brush up a bit on the use and meaning of blue flags...bit of home work for you...) and also the help we receive packing away. Thank you all, great club spirit!!!
A special mention to newcomer #55 Ryan Lynn, Junior of the day, he drove exceptionally well and we look forward to seeing him and his race team with us again soon.
Next meeting, Sunday 5th March is the final round of the Winter (points) Championship where there is some titles to be won (little tip: keep your eye on the fast and furious 250 Road class, squeeky-bum time for those gents!!!)
Until then 🏁🏁🏁
RACE DAY REPORT Sunday 8th January
Road Championship Round 3 - East Kirkby
It wasn't a bad day for January was it ? It was great to see many new faces and a few blasts from the past too!
The racing itself was up to its usual high standards that you've all contributed to, with a few thrills and spills added in.
Class winners on the day were Henry Doades, Seth Doades, Tom Clarke, Connor Schooling, Wayne Hall, Andrew Clarke, Richard Ball, Lewis Fountain, Andrew Butler, Graham Morley and Daniel Brown.
We had one or two novices starting out too, including Connor Schooling who certainly looked the part and drove really well. It must be in his genes🏁
The meeting ran really smoothly and we was even able to to squeeze in a couple of fun races at the end.
Full results, points updates, etc will be up on the new website at the end of the week/weekend (the day job is in the way this week I'm afraid).
https://candbkc.wixsite.com/candbkartclub
On a slightly negative note, can all please be reminded that you must remain silent and be listening during the drivers briefing. Yesterday there was too many little conversations going on at a time when we all needed to be listening to what the Clerk of the Course is telling us.
Thank you very much to all who came along and raced, helped and spectated. Special mentions to John Davies, John Howell, Andrew Butler amongst several others, your help setting up and packing away way appreciated, good club spirit.
We will be back at East Kirkby for round 4 on Sunday 5th February, when, fingers crossed we will have some lovely weather and lots of great racing!
Until then 🏁🏁🏁