on Millennium debut

Like daffodils, annoying insects and spring lambs, football’s traditional Squeaky Bum Time seems to arrive earlier with every passing season. But rarely has Sir Alex Ferguson’s classic definition of the closing stages of the Premier League title race been used by a kart team manager to describe the opening weekend of a kart championship.

But after seeing his latest signing – Jake Lloyd – take a dramatic victory in yesterday’s (12 April 2009) second round of the Formula Kart Stars season, Millennium Motorsport’s Dean Panrucker couldn’t help himself.

“He made that hard work. My bum was squeaking!” he beamed after the young Welshman had beaten a small, but quality, field at Kimbolton.Despite taking the chequered flag nearly two seconds ahead of the field, the 16-year old from Newcastle Emlyn had his work cut out for him in the opening stages of the race. As Dean explains, “Jake got a great start to take the lead from the outside, and initially it looked like he was going to manage to break away. I thought, ‘that’s it, we’re off!’ But he made a few mistakes which allowed the others to close.”

Dropping from first to fifth in just one lap, Millennium’s new signing was certainly putting his team through an emotional mill.“At that point, I began to think that the race was over (in terms of a podium) but fair play to him, Jake kept his head and knuckled down to picking his way back up the order. Once he’d got back to the front, he managed to break the two and didn’t make any further errors and did a good job.”

Jake said, “I’m very pleased. I did make it hard work, but I haven’t got as much experience as the other guys. The package was amazing. The chassis and engine (Tony Kart and GFR TM) were both fantastic.”After taking a brace of fourth places in the opening day, Jake was understandably delighted to have taken a win so early in his KF2 career. “This is my first year in KF2 and I’ve had an awesome weekend. I’ve learned a lot and this (victory) has really got me fired up. Now I’ve proven I can do it it’s given my confidence a fair boost.”

Thanks to his win, Jake is now eligible to take part in the Formula Palmer Audi shoot-out at the end of the season, where the prize of a fully-funded drive in the FPA Autumn Trophy is available.

Millennium still has berths available for drivers looking to join the reigning British Super 1 and Open KF3 Championship winning team. Drivers looking to contest the Super 1, Formula Kart Stars (UK and International), plus key European and CIK events can contact Dean on 07968 806 019 or via deanpanrucker1@blackberry.orange.co.uk