2021 BKC IAME Cadet Champion!!!

Last weekend was the final round of Max’s second national series of 2021, the BKC IAME Cadet Championship. Max has led the championship for a majority of the year and going into the last round, it was all still to fight for with four drivers all still battling for the title.

At the penultimate round in September, Max had driven superbly putting himself on pole for the final, before making a bit of a mess of the formation lap at the start of the race…. three times!! This resulted in a penalty of being sent to the back of the grid. He was fast enough to come through the pack in the race, but unfortunately contact with another driver on the second lap, forced him into a spin and the challenge for points was over. Max made the sensible decision of pulling into the pits to save the tyres, as these had to be used for the last round. The result was dropping a possible 18 points, meaning that he was going to have to work really hard at Rowrah to ensure he had a chance of clinching the title.

We headed to Rowrah in Cumbria without our team for the first time this season, as they were over in Italy competing in the Rok World Finals. They had prepped the kart and made sure we had everything we needed in order to finish the season as strongly as possible. Part of that prep was to also send us Scott, who is the teams driver coach and data analysist.

One of the drivers Max was fighting for the championship was his team mate Kacper, who along with Oscar and Braith, he had been battling with all year. Kacper was dropping this round, as he was in Italy with the team, which gave us a target of 169 points out a possible 200 to achieve in order to beat him to the number 1 spot. We had a small points advantage over Oscar and Braith, but with both of them being very capable racers, Max knew he needed to dig deep in order to beat them.

Friday testing started out wet and by the second session Max was setting the pace and driving really well. As the day dried out and everyone went to slicks, he was still fast and a tenth of the second off the pace.

Saturday arrived and it was due to be dry all day, although it had the added complication of a few fast guest drivers racing, which could take valuable points away from us in the fight to achieve that 169 point hall we needed to beat Kacper.

Qualifying started off slowly, with Max struggling to get a clear lap in. He hooked one up right at the last minute and crossed the line in 5^th, with 3 of the guest drivers ahead of him.

Heat 1 started brilliantly with Max getting into 3^rd place going in to the first chicane. As the race went on, we were lacking a bit of speed on the straights and dropped back to 5^th and then 7^th. He was promoted to 6^th in scrutineering. With Braith and Oscar finishing 2^nd and 3^rd, we had lost a few points and a change of carburettor was made to hopefully make the difference.

Heat 2 was another great start for Max, but sadly not for Braith, who broke down before the start. He tried really hard to get his own engine started again (help from the marshals isn’t allowed, which is harsh when it’s little children racing, but that’s the rules we have to abide by), but unfortunately he just couldn’t get it going. Max finished 4^th behind the 3 guest drivers and more importantly 2 places ahead of Oscar, pulling back a few of the points lost in heat 1.

Heat 3 wasn’t a great race for Max, but he had some pace back and only 2 hundredths of a second split his, Oscar’s and Braith’s lap times. Max finished in 8^th, just behind his two rivals.

Sunday arrived and as well as the last heat, there was also an additional O Plate race and qualifying to contend in. The rain, fog and storms had also arrived and in typical Cumbria fashion was relentless. Our little pop-up awning was taking a battering and it was obvious that it wasn’t going to make it through the day. We were kindly giving some shelter by Kieran of M Sport, which meant we had somewhere to hide from the rain while working on the kart between sessions.

We weren’t going to enter the O Plate race, as it wasn’t worth the risk of something happening to the kart, that could harm our performance in the finals, but with the track being wetter than it was on Friday, it was valuable testing time to make sure we had the right setup ready for the main event. Qualifying went well, finishing ahead of our main rivals and gave us something to work on with the setup.

Next up was heat 4 and the last race which would help determine Max’s grid position for the pre-final. Starting in 5^th, the same as Saturday’s heats, he had another great start and took 3^rd going into the chicane. He held 3^rd to the flag, finishing 7 seconds clear of his championship rivals, gaining a few more precious points.

The O Plate race was next and although it didn’t count for the championship, we had a few more tweaks to the setup we wanted to try. They worked and improved his best last by 4 tenths of a second and Max finished 4^th.

With the heats over and the points added up, Max had qualified 3^rd on the grid for the pre-final. Max held 3^rd for the first 6 laps and then a good move by Jenson, saw him drop to 4^th where he finished. The bad luck this time had fallen on Max’s other title rival Oscar, who came off the circuit during the formation lap and failed to make the start line.

Max’s 4^th place finish in the pre-final meant he needed to finished 6^th or better in the final in order to clinch the title from Kacper. Another good start saw Max take 3^rd which he held for the first 6 laps again. He then had a great battle with Austin, swapping places for the next few laps. I say it was a great battle, but as a dad watching on the side-lines, I’ve never felt so nervous. They were in a pack that went back to 7^th place and any mistake, could have lost us the championship. I needn’t have worried as Max had it covered and drove a great race to finish in 4^th and take the title to become the 2021 BKC Iame Cadet Champion!!!

Having started this journey on his 5^th birthday, I can’t describe the feelings this year has given me as a father, seeing all the hard work we and the team have put in come to fruition. To end the year of racing in two national championships, with a 3^rd place in one and becoming the champion of the other is unbelievable.

A huge huge thank you to Albone Racing Development for believing in Max and working so hard to get him to where he is a driver today. Billy has been with us from almost the start and Max really looks up to his ‘big brother’, the team boss. Big thanks to Scott Mackrell for all his support this weekend and every other weekend throughout the season. He is brilliant at explaining things to the kids and dads and helping the team getting the most out of the package and drivers. Another big thank you for the power behind the team in Force Motorsport. Jordan and Karl have ensured the teams motors have been on point all year and kept us able to fight at the front of the grid. A big thank you to Graham Anderson for lending Max one of the race motors that helped secure the title.

Finally thanks to Max’s partners, without their backing, we wouldn’t be able to go karting in the first place. Millennium Security Services, Willu Financial Group, Ambiance Vinyl Flooring, JLF Designs, Arai, Motul and of course Acorn Printing Services & MHR Teamwear. We can’t forget to say a big thank you to Stu Stretton Media and Josh East Photography, for all the amazing photos they have given us to share with you this season.