Maximum points during the opening weekend of the British Karting Championships at Three Sisters, near Wigan, have given Will Stevens (Hadleigh) a four-point lead over Lee Bell (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) in the Renault UK–sponsored Formula JICA class.
With an incredible 32 karts taking part in official timed qualifying on Saturday, it was Scott Jenkins (Winterbourne Dow) who gained the early initiative while the heats were all about Bell and class newcomer Oliver Rowland (Penistone, South Yorkshire).
The first of Sunday’s points-scoring Finals saw Bell on pole position and he certainly made it count into the first corner, taking the lead of the race. But it wasn’t as rosy for poor Rowland, who had qualified alongside Bell on the front row, as he spun out of the race at the same corner and eventually finished a lowly 20th.
Jenkins, who began in third position, made a good start and pursued Bell hard in second place but the Buckinghamshire driver looked calm and in control as he maintained the lead of the race and appeared to have the measure of his rival.
Stevens, meanwhile, was making good progress from his initial sixth place on the grid and in third position was visibly catching the first two as the Final approached mid-distance. After passing Jenkins for second position, Stevens started to pressurise Bell and on the penultimate lap he produced a great move to seize the lead with Bell finishing second and Jenkins third.
Final Two saw Stevens convert pole position into the race lead at the start with Jenkins leapfrogging Bell for second position. On lap five, Bell had moved up to second place and Jenkins then fell back into the clutches of Ollie Millroy (Claygate).
By lap 10 the first five karts were all in close company and a lap later, Millroy moved into second position past Bell although the latter returned the favour the next time around. Stevens continued to lead from Bell and Millroy with Adam Christodoulou (Shenstone, Lichfield) in fourth position ahead of Jenkins.
As the exciting race neared its finish, Christodoulou snatched third place before moving up to second position in quick succession but he lost the places almost as rapidly as he gained them with the order at the finish seeing Stevens take the victory, Bell take his second runners-up spot and Millroy finish a deserved third.
Oliver Rowland, meanwhile, made amends for a disappointing outing in the first Final by driving a scintillating race in Final Two to finish in fourth position, having started 20th on the grid. Jenkins ended the race in fifth position, with less than a second covering the top five drivers, with Christodoulou taking sixth place.
Formula JICA Provisional Driver Standings:
1st Will Stevens, 100pts; 2nd Lee Bell, 96pts; Ollie Millroy, 90pts;
4th Scott Jenkins, 89pts; 5th Adam Christodoulou, 84pts; 6th Ben Cooper, 79pts
For the latest British Championship Karting news visit the official Renault Sport UK website www.renaultsport.co.uk built by Racecar
