• Scotsman Dean Macdonald doubles up to take MSA Cadet points lead.• Sky Sports News cameras to showcase MSA Cadet contenders.
The 2012 Formula Kart Stars MSA British Cadet Championship reached the half way point of its 2012 season with a first visit to the Summerlee Raceway at Larkhall in five years and while the fast and flowing Scottish circuit may have been new to some of the 34 contenders, it was a driver with extensive experience of the 852-metre venue who walked away with all the silverware.
An incredibly warm welcome from the host club, which included a traditional Scottish Bagpiper to walk the drivers out onto the grid, was sadly not matched by the weather as rain became a more prominent factor as the two-day meeting wore on.
Looking to follow in the footsteps of former FKS Cadet Champions and current Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and Paul Di Resta, the MSA Cadet contenders were also being followed by a camera crew from Sky Sports, who filmed Saturday’s fifth round for a series of upcoming vignettes set to air on Sky Sports News over the British Grand Prix weekend.
MSA British Cadet Championship
Scotsman Dean Macdonald (Shox Performance) arrived at his home circuit sitting three points behind championship leader Enaam Ahmed (Fusion Motorsport) but thanks to a perfect weekend in which he won both his heats and the final on Saturday and Sunday he left Larkhall on Sunday night with an 18-point lead over his nearest rival.
Macdonald took pole position for Saturday’s fifth round and led almost every lap of both his heat races with only Zak Fulk (Eclipse Motorsport) able to stay within striking distance as he raced to a pair of runner up finishes. Ahmed edged out Macdonald’s fellow Scot Ross Martin (Wright) to win the third heat (which didn’t contain Macdonald) to minimise the damage to his points lead but he couldn’t prevent Macdonald from sealing pole position for the final.
With rain pelting the track Macdonald led the way with Fulk once again shadowing his every move and after a few exchanges Macdonald was able to stay ahead throughout the lap that mattered most to take the chequered flag by a mere 0.03-seconds.
The wet weather arrived earlier in the day for Sunday’s sixth round with only qualifying and heat one escaping the wet stuff. Macdonald took pole again and beat Ahmed in his first heat and Sam Faulkner (Zip Young Guns) in his second race. Sandwiched between those two results was a maiden win for FKS rookie Jamie Sharp (SAS Motorsport) who was the only driver to gamble on wets just as the rain arrived at the start of heat two.
Macdonald was imperious in the final, leading all 19-laps to win by almost seven seconds and complete a total weekend clean sweep, much to the delight of a sizeable group of his supporters. The scrap for second place wasn’t decided until the last couple of metres as Josh Smith (Fusion Motorsport) out-dragged Cameron Roberts (Eclipse Motorsport) coming out of the last corner to snatch the place.
Results
MSA British Cadet Championship Round 51. Dean Macdonald 2. Zak Fulk3. Josh Smith4. Cameron Roberts5. Ross Martin
MSA British Cadet Championship Round 61. Dean Macdonald 2. Josh Smith3. Cameron Roberts4. Enaam Ahmed5. Max Bird