Silverstone April

All the photos below were taken by Tony Panebianco. If you need copies then email Toni Panebianco. All photos are copyright of Tony Panebianco.

Martin Jones woke up the established stars at the opening round of this years MSA British Superkart Championship supported by Ginetta Cars with a third place and a win. The event took place on the newly extended 1.2 mile Stowe circuit at Silverstone. With building work still taking place at The Home of British Motorsport and chicanes marked out with cones and tape the venue lacked a lot of the aura that people had come to expect.

Jones had laid down a marker in free practice by topping the timing sheets but in timed practice, the engine sprocket came off on the third lap and left him in 21^st place on the grid. Pole position went to reigning champion James O’Reilly with 2008 champion Jason Dredge joining him on the front row. Triple 125cc champion Paul Platt headed the second row with Malcolm Clark alongside making a return to the championship after several years away racing Legends.

At the start it was O’Reilly and Platt that headed the pack into the first corner complex and these positions were unchanged at the end of the opening lap. Behind them had been a bit of shuffling at the complex and Louis Wall had gained three places while Clark had gained some trackside tape which he soon passed on to Dredge who had dropped back to fifth place. Down the back straight for the second time Platt made a bid for the lead but under braking for the left hander at the end the gap closed and he spun off into retirement. This elevated Wall into second place ahead of Dredge while further back, Clark and Sam Moss were disputing fourth place. Jones had erupted off the grid and was already up to ninth place.

The race settled into a pattern with O’Reilly maintaining a lead of about a second despite having to deal with a spate of backmarkers as early as lap 4. Dredge got the better of Wall at the chicane on the back straight at half distance with both karts trailing bits of tape. Dredge had the benefit of a much longer piece which stopped Wall from attacking. Moss had settled into a lonely fourth place with Clark next along but being caught by the volcanic force of Jones.

With the race drawing to a close, how to deal with slower karts was going to be crucial. On lap 13 O’Reilly came up behind Paul Walley in 13^th place. The omens didn’t look good. Sure enough, the dive up the inside at the end of the back straight wasn’t seen, possibly due to a lack of blue flags. The resultant contact broke Walley’s front upright and severely damaged the leaders’ nosecone. “I should have waited”, explained O’Reilly later, “but with Jason so close I had to maintain a gap as the traffic was getting busy”.

Dredge couldn’t believe his luck but starting the last lap he was catching a couple of slower karts and Wall was closing in, only 0.57s behind. Moss and Jones were side by side entering the final tour with the latter just squeezing through into third place in the first corner complex. During the final lap Dredge managed to deal with the backmarkers better and ran out the winner by 1.42s after Wall had got badly baulked through the final complex of corners. Jones reduced the deficit to Wall by 3s over the final lap but had to settle for third after a storming drive which also netted him fastest lap. Moss was next along in fourth spot with a tiring Clark collecting 5^th place on his comeback. After a race-long scrap Richard Dewart got the better of Mark Vaughan when the latter had an engine bolt break. Seventeen year old series debutant Ben Davis also had a fantastic drive to net 8^th place while O’Reilly recovered from his mistake to finish 9^th, half a lap behind the leaders.

At the start of race 2 the front two rows merged into one and they were four abreast heading towards the first corner complex. Down the back straight Moss had snatched the lead and was already pulling away from Clark. The lead was unchanged at the end of the opening lap but Dredge had moved into second place. On the next lap O’Reilly out braked Wall and Dewart at the end of the back straight in a very tight manoeuvre to grab 5^th place on the tail of Jones with Clark just ahead.

Moss was doing his utmost to keep Dredge at bay and by lap three this pairing had pulled out two seconds over Jones and the rest. Dredge kept up the pressure and on lap four he got past in the first corner complex. Unfortunately Moss couldn’t launch a counter attack as there was a bottom end failure in his Honda on lap 5 and he pulled off into retirement.

This left Dredge with a 3.6s lead at half distance and he looked comfortable at the front. Jones was in a lonely second while O’Reilly was trying to shake off the attentions of Clark and Wall. The latter got tripped up by a slower kart on lap 8 and spun off into retirement ruining a great chance of another good result.

Traffic was becoming a problem on the tight and twisty circuit and what had one been a lead of over 4s was suddenly cut dramatically. Jones saw his chance at the last corner complex on lap 13 when they came across Catherine Foster. With no blame attached to the lass from Scotland who was having a fine debut meeting in the 250cc class, Jones swept past into the lead. Over the final two laps he opened up a comfortable lead despite his motor going off and ran out a very worthy winner by 2.78s to stamp his mark on this year’s championship.

Dredge had to settle for second place knowing that was going to be enough to put at the top of the championship at the end of this meeting. O’Reilly couldn’t live with the pace of the flying duo up front, and while showing the battle scars from race 1 managed to limit the damage in the points table by securing third place. Clark had another fine drive, even putting the reigning champion in his place for a few laps around two-thirds distance, to finish fourth while Paul Platt came through from row 17 of the grid to pick up fifth place. Young Ben Davis had another steady drive to finish 8^th which gave him first overall in the 250 Challenge. He was also awarded Driver of the Day for his efforts and has certainly proved that not all youngsters need to follow the short circuit Kart Stars route to stardom. Davis is certainly a name to look out for in the future of Superkart racing.

In the 125cc Open class Lee Morgan continued his recent form at Silverstone by scoring a double win but was made to work hard. Championship leader Danny Butler led the first race until an overheating engine forced him to ease off and settle for second place. Reigning champion Danny Edwards had to settle for third place after being part of a five kart scrap in the early stages. In race two Butler held the lead for the majority of the race, but retired with two laps to go when the chain jumped the sprocket. Lloyd Scriven on an ICC kart but registered for the Open championship came through to second place ahead of Ben Willshire.

The 125cc ICC class supported by Ginetta Cars was dominated by Chris Needham who also took two wins, securing the UK Cup title in the process.

Silverstone Stowe Circuit

18th April

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Copyright © 1997 British Superkart Association The word Superkart® is registered to Cadwell Car & Kart Club and we would like to acknowledge they have copyright on the word "Superkart"©
Last modified: September 02, 2010

Silverstone Stowe Circuit

18th April

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 1997 British Superkart Association The word Superkart® is registered to Cadwell Car & Kart Club and we would like to acknowledge they have copyright on the word "Superkart"© Last modified: September 02, 2010

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1997 British Superkart Association The word Superkart® is registered to Cadwell Car & Kart Club and we would like to acknowledge they have copyright on the word "Superkart"©
Last modified: September 02, 2010