Sam Marsh swaps No.2 plate for No.1 at Whilton Mill. Emotional maiden win for Rob Hodkinson in Sundays finale.
The 2012 Formula Kart Stars Junior Rotax title chase would be decided in the final two rounds of the season at Whilton Mill with three drivers aiming at securing a place on the stage at the Autosport Awards in December, the coveted FKS Steering Wheel trophy and one of the prize TAG Heuer watches. Last years championship runner-up Sam Marsh (RL Racing Department) arrived at Whilton Mill with a four point lead over Shaun Arnold (DC Motorsport) with Bobby Thompson (Vital Motorsport) 39 points adrift in third but with momentum on his side after a dominant win in the previous round of the Formula One Management backed Championship at Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland.
Marsh may have had the advantage, no matter how slight, at the start of the weekend but he had toovercome some patchy history at the Daventry circuit, which saw his title dreams in 2011 cruelly crushedwith a controversial exclusion that almost led him to quit the sport altogether.Formula Kart Stars Junior Rotax Championship
If Marsh felt any pressure heading into the most important weekend of the season he didnt show it as hetook pole position in Saturday mornings sun-blessed qualifying session and watched his title rivals struggle.Thompson was fourth while Arnold remained only 15th after a collision with Marsh in the opening minutesrendered his kart undrivable. Independent runner Lemuel Pay capitalised to take second on the grid for theheats with Mini Max graduate Jai Nijjar (Chris Rogers Motorsport) a sterling third fastest.
Marshs form continued in heat one, taking the win from Nijjar by half a second as Arnold charged up tothird. Thompsons challenge was dealt a mortal blow when he ran off track after a collision with Oliver Norris(RL Racing Department) and wound up 11th with Norris retiring on the spot. Heat two saw a stunning triumphfor Pay, who passed Marsh with two laps to go and then held off Marsh and his fellow RL driver Josh Whiteover a tense final lap to claim his first FKS heat win of the season. Thompson was fifth with Arnold afrustrated 11th.
Pay sat on pole for the final but would retire with a stripped sprocket, leaving the road open for Marsh to takea major step towards the title. Arnolds challenge faded when he retired before half distance and withThompson only fifth, Marshs two-second victory over Nijjar and Lando Norris meant he could theoreticallywrap up the title in Sundays first heat.
Marsh duly scored his first national championship in fine style under bright skies on Sunday thanks to acombination of a smart drive from himself and another calamitous morning for Arnold and Thompson.Despite only qualifying third and finishing the first heat in second behind an ecstatic Nijjar a seventh placefinish for Arnold and a retirement for Thompson meant that Marsh couldnt be caught and therefore he satout the remaining races to soak up the adulation from his team.
Nijjar proceeded to win heat two by inches from Pay with White and Rob Hodkinson (Advance Motorsport)completing the top four. Thompson was sixth and Arnold eighth, meaning that neither could be caught forsecond and third in the standings, which resulted in Arnold taking the start of the final before retiring so asnot to risk a potential disqualification.
In the final itself poleman Nijjar dropped back, leaving Hodkinson to hold off a trio of RL karts in the form ofthe Norris brothers and White. When a crash triggered the Battenberg flags, Hodkinsons advantageevaporated and when the green flag waved again he had two laps to hold on. Fortunately Oli Norris andWhite tripped over each other in their fight for second and Hodkinson was left to score his first FKS final win.
ResultsFKS Junior Rotax Championship Round 111. Sam Marsh2. Jai Nijjar3. Lando Norris4. Oliver Norris5. Bobby Thompson
FKS Junior Rotax Championship Round 121. Rob Hodkinson2. Oliver Norris3. Josh White4. Lando Norris5. Oliver Pidgley
