SUPERKART CHAT by Gary James, Freelance Superkart Reporter & Commentator
RACE REPORT
SNETTERTON 300 CIRCUIT 31ST AUGUST & 1ST SEPTEMBER 2024
BSRC SUPER SERIES ROUNDS 13, 14 &15
INCORPORATING THE SUPER CUP FOR DIVISION 1 & F250 MONO
HARPHAM SECURES SUPER SERIES AND CUP
Lee Harpham continued his recent magnificent form by adding two wins in the Super Series and lifting the Super Cup. The points gained put him out of reach of the opposition and confirm Lee as the new Super Series champion. Jack Tritton gained his first victory of the season after a brilliant drive with honours also shared in the F250 Mono class. Lee Plain winning twice in the Super Series while Paul Platt won the Super Cup. Ollie Holmes was unbeaten in F125 Open/KZ and wrapped up the Super Series for the smallest capacity class.
Superkart qualifying began just before the lunch break on Saturday and was over 12 minutes with 47 drivers looking for a clear piece of track. Ross Allen set the initial pace with a 1m 50.533s and improved next time around to post a 1m 49.650s. However, pole position went away when Tom Rushforth, out on a brand new Spyda chassis, knocked 0.3891s off the Jade time. Twenty seconds later Lee Harpham crossed the line and was into the 48s with a 1m 48.685s. But in his slipstream picking up a great tow was Jack Tritton. The clock stopped at 1m 46.964s to give him provisional pole position by a massive 1.721s. Jack pitted on the next lap and was shown the TSL timing by Dad Darren. Satisfied with his session he stepped out of the kart. Job done. Harpham stayed out for another lap and did improve but only to 1m 47.808s before he too pitted. On seeing the times he went out again but the clock had already ticked to just under a minute remaining so there wasn’t time for another flying lap. Pole belonged to Tritton. Both MS Karts had rear left blistered tyres but Lee’s was a lot worse than Jack’s. Rushforth shaved a bit of time off his earlier lap to head the second row with 1m 48.585s and Allen also improved to 1m 49.066s. Luke Clemson produced his best qualifying session of the season to head row 3 with a 1m 51.894s lap, beating Tom Hatfield by 0.362s. Carl Hulme and Tom Riley occupied the fourth row with Andy Gulliford ninth quickest and Fletcher Hurn, having his first run out in a twin, completing the top ten in the Division 1 class.
Paul Platt was initially quickest on 1m 57.021s in the F250 Mono class before pitting to change tyres. But he also had a brake bias issue which meant the stop was longer than expected while he tried to put some braking back onto the rears. He did get out again and improved to 1m 56.199s but Lee Plain had already secured the class pole position on 1m 53.439s and would line up alongside Andy Gulliford. Kirk Cattermole only managed one flying lap before engine issues ended his session but he still ended up third in class and a place on row 7. Not so lucky was Samantha Hempshall who didn’t manage a flying lap before pitting with a broken exhaust. Her outlap from the pits was quicker than her opening lap of 2m 12.632s but wasn’t taken into account so Sam would start 16th and last in the F250 Mono class a long way behind her Super Series rivals.
It was great to see eleven 125s entered, only six less than the Division 1 category. Ollie Holmes was never headed on his way to pole position in the F125 class and recorded a time of 2m 00.540s. This put him 21st overall on the grid of 47 but an unknown decision was made to start all the 125s at the back of the grid so Ollie dropped from row 11 to row 19. Dan Gore had forsaken his F1000 single seater power to have another run out in the F125 class, his first since Donington in March, and wound up second quickest in the Clark Motorsport Anderson AK previously used by Carl Hopkin. Kosta Kyritsis in the other Anderson AK was third with a 2m 03.630s and joined on row 20 by Aston Baker.
Initially five F450s were entered but one driver was listed in the wrong class and Mark Gellatly didn’t show up. That meant that the remaining 3 drivers would not be racing for points only trophies. Nick Flint was significantly quicker than Alan Flewitt and Ronan McClintock who both had problems in qualifying, the latter having an ignition coil fail on the outlap.
The weather was cloudy and dry for Race 1 on Saturday late afternoon as the field streamed around Coram on the warm-up lap. When the lights went out Rushforth lit up the Spyda and dived to the inside of Tritton on the way to Riches and took the lead. Tritton slotted into second place while Harpham lost ground when his VM loaded up at the Montreal hairpin. Rushforth led for three-quarters of the lap before Tritton took over, crossing the line 0.282s ahead of the Spyda. Harpham had managed to claw himself up to third just ahead of Allen while Hatfield and Gulliford were a couple of seconds adrift. Tom Riley was with this group but a spin at Nelson had dropped him back to 23rd. Lee Plain had made a poor start in the Mono class and found himself behind Platt and Cattermole at the end of lap 1. Samantha Hempshall had made rapid progress from row 17 and was already up to 15th on the road and 4th in class. Ollie Holmes was already ahead of several 250s as he led the F125 class from Kyritsis and Gore and they had F450 drivers Flint and McClintock for company. Johnny West was the first retirement when the carb pressure tubes weren’t connected.
Tritton extended his lead over the next couple of laps as Harpham fought to get past Rushforth. On lap 4 the GP winner moved into second place and chopped a second off Tritton’s advantage. Harpham set the fastest lap next time around as the gap came down to 0.535s. Back markers were coming into play. Tritton lapped Ollie Ridout around the outside at Coram and in a bid to stay with his rival Harpham dived up the inside of the F125 driver into Murray’s with the MS Kart all out of shape. Somehow he avoided contact and just about got around the corner but it gave Tritton a bit of breathing space as they started the last lap. Harpham managed to peg back a couple of tenths but the win went to Tritton by 0.602s. The elusive first victory of the season had been achieved and an extra five points in the title chase. Rushforth dropped away from the Harvey Motorsport pairing when his chain came loose and was caught and passed by Allen as they started the last lap. But the Jade driver failed to reappear at the finish. A pin hole in a fuel line had increased the consumption of the IAME engines and Ross retired on the final lap out of fuel. Rushforth claimed third spot 15.243s behind Harpham but safely clear of Gulliford in fourth spot. Hulme and Hatfield had a race long scrap and were only separated by 0.226s at the flag. Nathan Barton was never headed in the Division 1 Cup and finished 10th in the twins.
Paul Platt led the opening two laps in the F250 Mono class before his throttle cable snapped. Unperturbed, he found the end of the wire and wrapped it around his left hand while trying to steer and change gear with his right. This dropped him back to 7th in class but he was still racing. Plain got past Cattermole on lap 2 along the Bentley Straight and then inherited the lead with Platt’s demise. The Team Wizard driver mixed it with the twin of Luke Clemson and took the F250 Mono class win by 10.761s. Cattermole dropped out on lap 3 with fuel pressure and overheating issues in his CAT TM so Samantha Hempshall completed a great drive from the back of the grid to secure second spot. There was a great scrap for the next place involving John Reader, Ben Ardern, Mike Parr and Aaron Powell with the twin of John Faulkner also in the mix. Reader secured third in class on the last lap from Parr by 0.181s with Powell taking 5th and the first of the Mono Cup runners. Ardern had a seat bracket break on the penultimate lap and dropped back in 6th spot ahead of Chris Balderson and the ailing Paul Platt.
Ollie Holmes led the F125 class from lights to flag finishing just behind Balderson and ahead of Platt. The 30 points gained meant he couldn’t be caught in the Super Series standings, thus retaining the title. Good news for his sponsors BG Tools and Premier Installations. Kyritsis and Gore in the other AK’s were never far apart for the whole race with Kosta’s fastest race lap on the final tour getting him ahead of Dan by 0.107s.
Ronan McClintock put his qualifying problem behind him and passed Nick Flint on lap 5 to secure the win in the F450 class. Unfortunately, Alan Flewitt retired on lap 3.
Race 1 Results
1st Jack Tritton MS Kart Harvey VM
2nd Lee Harpham MS Kart Harvey VM
3rd Tom Rushforth Spyda VM
4th Andy Gulliford Anderson VM
5th Carl Hulme Anderson VM
6th Tom Hatfield Anderson VM
7th Lee Plain Anderson DEA (F250 Mono class winner)
12th Nathan Barton Anderson Barker FPE (Division 1 Cup winner)
16th Aaron Powell Anderson Honda (F250 Mono Cup winner)
19th Ollie Holmes Anderson AK TM R1 (F125 Open class & KZ winner)
23rd Ronan McClintock Anderson KTM (F450 National class winner)
As is usual, grid positions for Race 2 were based on a drivers fastest lap from the race the previous day. Harpham had pole position with Tritton alongside while Rushforth and Allen, who set a PB lap time for Snetterton, occupied row 2. Lee Plain headed the Monos on row 5 with Hempshall right behind him while McClintock was the lead F450 on row 12. Once again the F125s started at the back with Ollie Holmes on row 19 joined by Dan Gore.
When the lights went out Harpham just edged out Tritton as they went through Riches to take the lead with Allen and Rushforth slotting in behind. However, behind them was a bit of chaos when Tom Riley tagged Carl Hulme sending him off track. Paul Platt had to take avoiding action while Kirk Cattermole also went grass cutting. They all managed to continue with Hulme rejoining in 26th place, three positions ahead of Cattermole. Unfortunately, the CAT TM driver would retire on the next lap with an overheating engine.
At the end of lap 1 Harpham had an advantage of 0.548s over Tritton, these two clear of Rushforth and Allen who were glued together. Gulliford was in fifth safely clear of Riley and Hatfield. Samantha Hempshall was next through and leading the F250 Mono class by 0.503s from Lee Plain. Platt was running third in class tucked up behind the twin of Luke Clemson while Reader, Ardern and Powell and resumed their battle from the previous race. Ronan McClintock led the F450s two places ahead of Ollie Holmes who was top of the F125s.
After gaining his first win the day before Tritton was keen to get another and passed Harpham on lap 2. But Lee had better speed along the Bentley Straight to go back in front on the following lap. Harpham set the fastest lap on lap 4 but Tritton was only 0.050s slower as the battle continued. Backmarkers were encountered on lap 5 which lost Tritton a tenth of a second but starting the last lap the gap was down to 0.413s. Tritton once again took the lead under braking through the infield. Could he make it win number 2?
Not this time as Harpham slipstreamed past at the end of the Bentley Straight and hung on through the Bombhole, Coram and Murray’s to take the flag by 0.223s. A great race. The battle for third place was just as intense as that for the lead. Allen held the advantage for the first 5 laps with the Spyda glued to his bumper. Tom took over on the penultimate lap and was 0.662s ahead as they started the last lap. But at Murray’s he ran wide and third place went to Allen by 3.714s. Riley and Hatfield were together for the whole race but traffic was an issue on the final lap and Hatfield managed to get past Riley as they negotiated the slower runners to secure 5th spot. Hulme recovered from his first corner off to claim 7th in class.
In the F250 Mono class Hempshall led Plain hoping to get her first win of the season. They were never separated by more than 0.328s but her tyres went off and Plain got past on the penultimate lap. Hempshall was hoping to launch another challenge on the final lap but was struggling with a bit of understeer while sat behind the Team Wizard driver. Plain took his second win of the weekend by 0.351s and moved 2 points ahead of Hempshall in the Super Series standings. Platt couldn’t stay with Plain and Hempshall, dropping back with a chain that was whipping. He was lucky to finish in third spot as the chain came off after he had crossed the line. John Reader made fourth place his own from the opening lap to collect another good result leaving Parr, Powell, Ardern and Balderson to contest the other places.
Ollie Holmes wasn’t troubled in the F125 class and took another start to finish victory, running not far behind the Ardern Balderson battle in the Monos. Ollie’s winning margin was 24.013s as he cemented his Super Series title. Kyritsis and Gore had another great scrap for second place with Kosta gaining the upper hand by 1.157s. Ollie Ridout claimed fourth spot when he passed Aston Baker at Brundle on the last lap.
Ronan McClintock had an easy win the F450 National class after Nick Flint made a mistake on lap 3 and dropped back, finishing a lap down at the flag.
Race 2 Results
1st Lee Harpham MS Kart Harvey VM
2nd Jack Tritton MS Kart Harvey VM
3rd Ross Allen Jade IAME
4th Tom Rushforth Spyda VM
5th Tom Hatfield Anderson VM
6th Tom Riley Anderson VM
7th Lee Plain Anderson DEA| (F250 Mono class winner)
12th Nathan Barton Anderson Barker FPE (Division 1 Cup winner)
17th Aaron Powell Anderson Honda (F250 Mono Cup winner)
21st Ollie Holmes Anderson AK TM R1 (F125 Open & KZ class winner)
22nd Ronan McClintock Anderson KTMM R1 (F450 National class winner)
Race 3 of the weekend was the final track action at a busy Bemsee motorcycle meeting and would be over another 12 minute duration. The winner of the Division 1 and F250 Mono classes would also lift their respective Super Cups. The third showed Harpham and Tritton on the front row with Allen and Rushforth behind. Plain and Hempshall lined up on row 5 as the lead Monos with McClintock and Flint on row 13 and the only F450s as Alan Flewitt was a non-starter. Holmes and Gore were on row 19 again.
When the lights went out Harpham made the perfect start while Tritton was quite as quick and that allowed Allen to sneak up the inside as they went through Riches.
Harpham had an advantage of 1.793s at the end of the opening lap with the rest strung out behind in the order of Allen Tritton, Rushforth, Hulme, Hatfield and Gulliford. Platt had bolted on a set of fresher tyres for this race determined to retain his S1 plate and led the Mono class from Hempshall and Plain who’d lost a bit of ground. There were 7 retirements on the opening lap from drivers at the back of the grid and this allowed the F125s to make up a lot of places. Holmes led the F450s of McClintock and Flint then came Kyritsis, Gore and Ridout before a train of five karts all dicing for 5th in class.
Tritton moved past Allen on lap 3 to take second place but Harpham was already 3.571s up the road in a comfortable lead. That was extended to over four seconds on the next lap when the GP winner set the fastest lap of the race. But Jack stuck to the task of reducing the gap and started to lap quicker than Lee, 4.248s becoming 2.486s as they started the last lap. Two slower karts didn’t cause any trouble for the leaders on the final lap and Tritton was able to take another half a second out of Harpham’s lead. But at the flag the win went to the GP winner who added the S plate by 1.922s and gained another 30 points in the Super Series which meant he couldn’t be caught with 3 rounds remaining at Oulton Park. Tritton completed a great weekend for the MS Kart Harvey VM package and his 25 points secured second place in the Super Series. Ross Allen had a lonely drive to third place and was happy with the performance of the Jade IAME. Rushforth couldn’t match his pace from earlier in the day and dropped back with Hulme getting the better of him on the penultimate lap to claim fourth spot. The Spyda driver now holds third place in the Super Series one point ahead of the absent Morley and six in front of Hulme. All to play for at Oulton. Nathan Barton completed a hat trick of wins in the Division 1 Cup category.
Paul Platt tagged on to the back of the twins as he pulled clear in the lead of the F250 Monos. Keeping his head down he retained the S1 plate by 8.147s and a valuable 30 points towards the Super Series which he leads by only 26 points. Hempshall collected another second place to round off a much better weekend than Assen while Plain was 3.671s adrift at the flag unable to match his earlier pace. Ben Ardern capped a great return to the track with fourth place keeping Mike Par at bay by 0.385s while John Reader held off the Mono Cup champion Aaron Powell by 0.108s for sixth place in class.
Ollie Holmes completed a hat trick of wins in the F125s, ten and a half seconds ahead of the rest. Kyritsis and Gore were once again locked together and were only separated by 0.080s at the flag as they finished just behind the F450 winner Ronan McClintock.
Race 3 Results
1st Lee Harpham MS Kart Harvey VM
2nd Jack Tritton MS Kart Harvey VM
3rd Ross Allen Jade IAME
4th Carl Hulme Anderson VM
5th Tom Rushforth Spyda VM
6th Tom Hatfield Anderson VM
9th Paul Platt PVP Gas Gas (F250 Mono class winner)
14th Nathan Barton Anderson Barker FPE (Division 1 Cup winner)
18th Aaron Powell Anderson Honda (F250 Mono Cup winner)
20th Ollie Holmes Anderson AK TM R1 (F125 Open & KZ class winner)
22nd Ronan McClintock Anderson KTM (F450 National class winner)
Final positions for the BSRC Super Series for F125 Open & KZ
1st Ollie Holmes 355 points
2nd Kosta Kyritsis 282
3rd Aston Baker 208
4th Carl Hopkin 179
5th Martyn Baker 168
6th Toby Vincent 166
Many thanks to Gavin Elliott for the images.