On Saturday 14th July The Teenage Cancer Trust Karting Challenge took place at Castle Combe Kart Circuit on the evening of the TCR UK Race Weekend. The event attracted a massive 49 drivers from a range of different Championships including TCR UK, the BRSCC Mazda, Formula Ford Championships, F1000 and the local Castle Combe Championships. The event was so popular there were even 12 reserves sat in waiting.
Among the drivers entered were Joey Foster; a Formula 3 Champion and Formula Ford Festival winner. Niall Murray; a British Formula Ford Champion and Formula Ford Festival winner. Lee Morgan; F1000 Champion. Carter Williams; a Formula Challenge Champion in America. TCR UK racer Lewis Kent, Austrian Karting Champion and now Formula Ford Racer Nico Gruber, Karting Champion and now F1000 Racer Rob Welham. While from the local Castle Combe Championships Castle Combe Saloon champion Jason Cooper, Josh Harvey, Alex Kite and David Vivian to name a few who took part.
The event consisted of 24 heats and 6 Grand Finals. Every driver took part in 3 heats, with the heat results determining the starting positions for the Finals.
The Grand final saw Josh Harvey (Castle Combe Hot Hatch) line up on pole position, ahead of Liam McGill (BMW Compact Cup) Lewis Kent (TCR UK) lined up in 3rd place ahead of Alex Kite (Castle Combe Saloon Car). Matt Round-Garrido (National Formula Ford) and David Vivian (Castle Combe Formula Ford) lined up 5th and 6th, with Oliver White (Formula Ford) 7th. The final 3 spaces of the grid had a very continental feel with French driver Thomas Capezzone (National Formula Ford) lining up 8th, Austrian driver Nico Gruber (National Formula Ford) lining up 9th and Irish driver Niall Murray (Leading national formula ford championship) completing the grid in 10th.
A very messy first corner saw Josh Harvey drop down the order and allowed Liam McGill through into the lead of the race. Lewis Kent followed into 2nd, with Alex Kite 3rd. A bit further back there was an incident between Matt Round Garrido and Thomas Capezzone, which dropped them both to the back of the field and also delayed Nico Gruber.
Out in front Lewis Kent was unable to challenge for the lead and began to drop away, with Liam McGill opening up a lead out in front. It was Alex Kite who was able to make a move and dived up the inside of Lewis Kent to take 2nd place. Oliver White had made fantastic progress from 7th on the grid up into 4th and was next to challenge Lewis Kent, eventually finding a way through. Alex Kite was chasing down Liam McGill, getting closer and closer and as soon as he was close enough to pounce he did, diving up the inside to take the lead. With just a couple of laps left Alex Kite was able to hold on to the lead and take the victory! Liam McGill came home in 2nd and Oliver White was closing in on the battle for the lead but was never close enough to get involved taking 3rd place.
Meanwhile Josh Harvey had charged back through the field after the first corner to take 4th place ahead of David Vivian, with Lewis Kent in 6th. Niall Murray took 7th, Matt Round-Garrido 8th, Nico Gruber 9th and Thomas Capezzone 10th.
Trophies for the top 3 were kindly donated by Aford Awards, while our winner Alex Kite also wins a 2 hour training session at iZone Driver Performace.
The event was also kindly sponsored by Cotswold Blacksmith and On-Pole High Performance Consultancy who donated towards this brilliant charity.
AJK TV filmed the event, with Andy McEwan presenting and also taking part himself. While Glastonbury Spring Water also supported the event by donating a bottle of water for every driver taking part.
Thank you so much to everybody who supported us this year. We managed to raise an incredible £2,434.64! which will help provide life-changing care and support so young people don’t have to face cancer alone.
