COOPER COMES BACK FOR FIRST ICA WIN

Young karters Jonathan Walker (Dinkley, Blackburn) and Ben Cooper (Gravesend) emerged as talents to watch in the Renault Formula ICA championship on Sunday (30th April).

Both took race wins in points-scoring finals at Shenington, near Banbury in Oxfordshire, with Cooper taking fourth place in the national championship and Walker moving to sixth in the standings.

Qualifying third for the first points scoring final, Walker took the lead on the opening lap, but was challenged hard by Matt Truelove (Lincoln), who led the race twice before dropping to third place.

Cooper, meanwhile, drove a storming first final to finish in sixth place. He started a lowly 21st on the grid after accident damage to his kart in the second qualifying heat disqualified him from the result.

In the second final, Cooper rocketed from sixth to second on the first lap, before taking the lead two laps later and holding first place until the end of the race.

Cooper said: “Once I got into the lead I didn’t want to get overtaken. My kart was going very well, it got better and better in the finals. This is my first Super One win and I was getting a bit nervous towards the end of the race. I’m delighted, the standard of drivers is very high in ICA, it’s great to be able to do well against them.”

It was Ollie Millroy (Claygate, Surrey) who asserted a clear lead in the Renault Formula ICA championship coming second in both finals. He came to Shenington tied for points with Lee Bell (High Wycombe) and Jason Edgar (Cleator, Cumbria).

In his first final, Millroy climbed from eighth on the grid to finish second, and in the next race he held onto second place, his consistency rewarded with the ICA championship lead.

Renault Formula ICA Championship provisional points:

1st – Ollie Millroy 192pts; 2nd – Matt Truelove 177pts; 3rd – Lee Bell 165pts; 4th Ben Cooper 159pts; 5th – Jason Edgar 156pts; 6th – Jonathan Walker 153pts.