Championship runner up Connor Mills takes Whilton Mill double victory. Ryan Anderton secures third in title chase.
The 2012 Formula Kart Stars Mini Max season drew to a close on a gloriously warm and sunny weekend at Whilton Mill and although reigning champion Lando Norris (RL Racing Department) had elected to focus solely on Junior Rotax there was still plenty to decide as the curtain came down on the current era of the Formula One Management backed championship.
Norris may have assured himself of a trip to the Autosport Awards and the prized FKS Championship Steering Wheel trophy but Connor Mills (Chris Rogers Motorsport) still had to wrap up second place in the standings while the fight for the third and final TAG Heuer watch was between teammates Ryan Anderton and Harry Williams (Coles Racing).
Formula Kart Stars Rotax Mini Max Championship
Anderton arrived at Whilton Mill barely half a dozen points ahead of Williams and served notice of his intentearly by taking pole position in Saturdays qualifying session. Mills was 0.02secs slower in second place withAlfie Brown (Zip Young Guns), Inem Coker (Campfield Racing) and Jack McCarthy ( Project One)completing the top five. Williams was only seventh fastest albeit a mere 0.3secs slower than Anderton.Mills stamped his authority on proceedings in heat one, passing Anderton and a fast-starting Brown for thelead inside the first four laps to take the chequered flag and secure second place in the standings. Brownheld off Anderton for third with Williams minimising Andertons points gain with a fighting drive to fourth.Although Mills 2.7secs margin of victory in heat two may have pointed towards another easy win, the realitywas far different as he had to deal with the constant attentions of McCarthy until lap eight when McCarthywas swamped and a battle between eventual runner-up Williams, Jack Constable (Protenza Motorsport) andAnderton allowed Mills to break away.
A perfect score gave Mills pole position for the 20-lap final and he duly delivered with a consummate lightsto flag victory, letting the rest battle over the minor placings as he took the chequered flag nearly 6secsahead of the rest. Anderton helped his cause immeasurably by beating McCarthy to second while Williamshad to make do with fourth after a long scrap with Brown.
Mills calmly picked up where he left off on Sunday, taking pole position by a comfortable two tenths inqualifying over Williams, McCarthy, Anderton and Gaby Weyer (GW Racing) although his run of wins cameto an abrupt halt in heat one when he was bundled back to sixth in a ferocious six kart scrap for the lead.Anderton emerged ahead for his first win of the weekend with Williams only fourth. Brown and McCarthycompleted the top three with Constable also nosing ahead of Mills. But Mills was back on top in heat two,beating McCarthy and Williams by nearly three seconds as Anderton came sixth heading into the final raceof the year.
Anderton started from pole and quickly began to drive defensively, bunching up the entire field and leadingto some inevitable bumping and barging. Mills and McCarthy finally got through before contact betweenAnderton and Brown sent the former spinning across the grass going into Oblivion corner. Mills serenely ledthe rest of the way to complete the weekend double with McCarthy earning his best result of the year withthird. Brown initially took the final podium position but was excluded for the contact with Anderton, handingConstable the final podium place. Despite finishing only ninth Anderton did just enough to secure third placeoverall from Williams, who finished fourth.
ResultsFKS Rotax Mini Max Championship Round 111. Connor Mills2. Ryan Anderton3. Jack McCarthy4. Harry Williams5. Alfie Brown
FKS Rotax Mini Max Championship Round 121. Connor Mills2. Jack McCarthy3. Jack Constable4. Harry Williams5. Stef Charalambous
