Matthew Bell (Morpeth) left Shenington circuit near Banbury with a big smile after wrapping up the Renault-backed B4 Group MSA Formula ICA British Karting Championship with a race to spare yesterday.
Third place in the first points scoring final gave Bell enough points to be able to sit out the second final and still take the ICA crown, having taken five race wins and a further four podium finishes from 12 races this year.
Bell’s main rival, Danny Cruttenden (Wilmington, Kent) was second in both races at Shenington, and finished second in the championship, five points behind.
Meanwhile Richard Singleton (Conwy) scored an impressive double win at Shenington, after missing the last four races at Rowrah in Cumbria and Larkhall in Lanarkshire. He led both finals from pole position, although he was challenged several times by Cruttenden during the second final, including a last corner scramble which saw the two finish just 0.1 seconds apart, with Henry Arundel (Arundel, Sussex) less than a quarter of a second behind them.
Cruttenden had also finished second in the first final earlier that afternoon, starting from fourth on the grid but dropping well down the field in the opening laps. He immediately mounted a strong recovery, battling with championship rival Matthew Bell, as well as Richard Kent (Olney, Milton Keynes) and Jonathan Miller (Cambridge), along the way.
Matthew Bell’s championship chances briefly looked under threat when he dropped down the order towards the end of the first final, but he neatly traded places with Richard Kent at Wilkins hairpin on the penultimate lap and his third place finish gave him enough points for him not to race in the second final, instead using the last race result as one of his ‘dropped’ scores.
Formula ICA Provisional Driver Standings:
1st Matthew Bell 478 pts; 2nd Danny Cruttenden 473pts; 3rd Daniel Rowbottom 429pts;
4th Benjy Russell 417pts; 5th Richard Kent 413pts; 6th Henry Arundel 405pts.
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