Ripley kart racer Mark Litchfield made history on Sunday 10th when he became the first ever driver to win the Super One Renault Formula A Championship three times in a row.
He clinched his third successive championship by finishing second in the last two races of the 12-race championship, which concluded at Rowrah circuit in Cumbria.
Litchfield’s bid to re-write the karting history books was made straightforward when his main championship rival, Jason Parrott (Peterborough) retired from the lead near the end of the first championship race with an engine failure, consigning him to second place in the standings at best.
“All year there have been times when I thought I wasn’t going to do it,” said Litchfield. “But each year I’ve thought it is going to be really hard, and then I came back.
“My saving grace has been reliability and consistency. I have had 100 per cent reliability and I’ve had consistently good results. Winning races is really nice, but I’d rather win no races and win the championship.”
Chris Rogers (Waltham Cross) won both championship races at Rowrah, securing his third place in the rankings, and taking his 2006 win tally to three. Starting third on the grid in the first final, he inherited the lead from the stricken Parrott with just two-and-a-half laps to go, and led the second final from start to finish.
Parrott made a remarkable recovery in the second final. Starting 16th on the grid as a result of his retirement from the first championship race, he moved up to 11th on the opening lap, and steadily overtook midfield karters to take up fifth place at the end, behind podium finisher Jamie Croxford (Wooton Fields, Northants) and Matthew Bell (Morpeth).
Another karter who made an impressive comeback from a poor grid position was Jamie Croxford (Northampton), who climbed from 20th to fourth in the first final and made up another place to reach the podium in final two – securing fourth place in the championship.
Renault Formula A provisional championship standings:
1st – Mark Litchfield, 480pts; 2nd – Jason Parrott, 462pts; 3rd – Chris Rogers, 447pts; 4th – Jamie Croxford, 434pts; 5th – Danny Cruttenden (Wilmington, Dartford), 417pts; 6th Michael Ryall, 416pts (Plaistow, London).
