LICHFIELD AND PARROTT MOVE UP AT SHENINGTON
Reigning Renault Formula A Super One karting champion Mark Litchfield’s hopes of winning his third championship in a row are back on track after an eventful meeting at Shenington on Sunday 30th April.
A win and fourth place in the two championship qualifying finals at the Oxfordshire kart circuit left Litchfield (Heage, Derbyshire) at the top of the points table.
Going up the leaderboard with Litchfield were Jason Parrott (Peterborough), who scored an impressive victory in the second final, and Jamie Croxford (Wotton Fields, Northants).
Parrott was delighted with his victory and the new found performance of his kart after a frustrating lack of pace in the opening rounds at Three Sisters in March. He found form at Shenington after switching to a different engine on Friday, emerging from the two heats with pole position for the first final.
A 15th place finish in his first heat – thanks to a first lap incident – meant Litchfield started the first final in seventh place, but he worked his way up through the field without delay, passing Parrott by end of the fifth lap.
After loosing his lead, Parrott fell into the clutches of the following pack of Gary Catt (Sheffield), Chris Brown (Broxbourne, Herts) and Jamie Croxford. Contact with one of his rivals pushed Parrott off the circuit, dropping him to sixth place, but he set about recovering immediately, his engine improving as the race continued.
Meanwhile Litchfield was not left untroubled in the lead, with both Catt and Brown snatching the lead from the two-times champion. Parrott capitalised on the battles ahead and rapidly returned to the head of the field, taking his turn to take the lead from Litchfield.
Parrott couldn’t stay ahead, though, and despite a late attempt couldn’t wrestle the lead from Litchfield.
When the second final started, Parrott made the move stick, taking the lead from Litchfield on the first lap and dominating the race until the chequered flag.
Behind him at least four runners went off at the hairpin, ending the race for Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield), who arrived at Shenington as championship leader.
Christodoulou topped the tables in official qualifying, but was hampered when his engine seized near the end of the first heat.
On the Thursday before the race weekend Riki enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour with Renault F1 Team as a reward for leading the Formula A championship after the first two rounds. But by Sunday evening, his lead had gone.
Behind Parrott, Jamie Croxford took second place at the end of the second final, moving up from ninth on the grid and earning a promotion to third place in the championship. Michael Ryall (Plaistow, London) was third in the second final.
Renault Formula A Championship provisional points
1st – Mark Litchfield 190pts; 2nd – Jason Parrott 183pts; 3rd – Jamie Croxford 171pts; 4th – Gary Catt 164pts; 5th – Riki Christodoulou 163pts; 6th Patrick McKenna 161pts.
