CLEAL RETAINS THE CHALLENGE !
Racing in the final round of the 2024 BLUE Challenge was extremely fraught. In the largest grid of the year, so far, the last round was held at the Clay Pigeon Circuit, on August 4th as part of the UK National Kart Series. All the top 20 bar Paul Alexander and Rich Puddle, were present and most of the Championship rankings were to be contested. The day was dry and hot as indeed was the racing, with some notable results, especially Toby Tozer finishing 7th from a grid start of 18! Alex Fortune was the next best finisher coming home 8th from a 16th grid position.
In the main grid of Formula BLUE, Harry Smithson sat on Pole with Anth Cleal alongside. Behind, on row 2 were Steve Groves and Jamie Watts, with Dean Smithers and Stuart Gray taking up row 3. Cleal took the lead from the start flag, a lead he was to hold right up to the chequered flag! His main contender for the Challenge Series, Joey Foster, had qualified 9th and was up to 6th by lap 7 when a steering bolt broke, putting paid to his forward charge. Stuart Gray systematically, from grid 6, disposed of the few drivers ahead to finish 2nd , right on Cleal’s rear bumper, as indeed was Watts on his ! The front 3 crossing the finishing line almost as one. Smithson finished 4th with Smithers in 5th. Cleal, with 2 points, took the overall result, with Smithson 2nd on 4 points. Watts finished 3rd with 7 points and Gray 4th on 8 points. Smithers completed the top 5 with 10 points. In the Blue Challenge itself, Cleal retains the title with Foster, using his drop-option , becoming runner-up. Callum Jobson, despite suffering brake problems all day managed to hold on to 3rd place in the series, only 1 point ahead of Smithson. Gray brings up the top 5.
Cleal dominated the BLUE Master sub-group with a 0 points tally, taking the Championship title at the same time. Watts finished 2nd on the day with 6 points moving up to 20th in the championship. Gray, on 7 points, finished 3rd overall, promoting himself to 3rd in the championship. Smithers took 4th place with 8 points and moved up to 16th for the year. Max Gunter rounded up the top 5 with 16 points finishing 6th in the Championship. James Dawkins had a day to forget but still claimed 4th place in the year’s placing. Steve Groves finished the Challenge in a creditable 5th spot.
Cleal, again, had a clean sweep on 0 points to win the BLUE Veteran sub-class. Gray, on 5 points finished 2nd. Dave Waldron took 3rd overall with 7 points. A much improved Paul Wheeler claimed 4th spot with 9 points, just ahead of Groves on 10 points. In the Championship it is Cleal who takes the title from Gray, Groves, Waldron and Ron shone.
It was Gray who cleaned up the BLUE Legend sub-section with a 0 points win from from Shone on 4 points. Graham Joseph finished 3rd on 7 points ahead of Robin Stoddart-Stones, who was involved in an accident during race day, necessitating a hospital visit and scored 8 points.
Smithers won the remaining sub-class, namely TOP Weight, with a flawless 0 points win from Alex Fortune on 4 points. Equal 3rd on the day was Shone and Rob Mortimore on 7 points. It is Fortune who wins the championship from Shone with Mortimore in 3rd, Paul Alexander in 4th and Smithers in 5th.
Alfie Lenton, who had been missing for a couple of rounds, returned for a positive day scoring a clear win in the Final. 2nd on the day was Series leader, Jacob Felton. Despite this it is Felton who wins the Junior BLUE class, in the Challenge, with Lenton in 2nd place.
With the regional BLUE CHALLENGE SERIES completed, full focus now turns to the NATIONAL GRANDE FINALS, scheduled for the weekend of August 24th and 25th at Mansell Raceway in Devon.
For more Results CLICK HERE or go to the results page on the www.planetkarting.uk website
For photos of the 2023 Championship winners CLICK HERE
TO ENTER THE GRANDE FINALS PLEASE CLICK HERE
N.B. entries for the NKRA Grande Final closes on Friday (midnight) August 16th