Karting in the North East, Experience the Thrill! Do you Dare?

Event Itinerary

Race Reports

Round 4:

An impressive field of 47 drivers took part in round 4 of the 2012 Teesside Karting Open Championship, supported by SG Petch and Abarth Cars UK. The championship is open to anyone above the age of 16 and is currently the North of England’s leading hire kart sprint series, allowing talented drivers to compete in a low cost, competitive championship, without need for capital outlay. Abarth are keen to promote racing talent and see this series as an ideal way to help achieve this. 84 different drivers have now participated in the 2012 championship.

The championship is being run at Teesside Autodrome over 10 rounds, with the best 8 rounds counting towards the final championship standings. The championship winner will receive a day of racing tuition by one of the UK’s leading motorsport driving tutors.

Round 4 of the 2012 campaign took place on Sunday 15 April 2012 using the National Circuit, with the field split into two 20 minute qualifying sessions, with the fastest half of the combined times going through to the A Final and remaining drivers into the B Final, both of which were 40 minutes in duration. The top three drivers from the B Final would progress to the back of the A Final grid.

Cameron McLean set a fastest time of 50.566 seconds in the first qualifying session, however Philip Simpson set a faster time of 50.551 seconds in the second qualifying session, securing pole for the A Final. Mike Kettlewell set a time of 51.719 seconds in qualifying 1, putting him on pole for the B Final.

After 40 minutes of racing in the B Final, Mark Asher was the clear winner, completing 42 laps, 30 seconds ahead of Lee Storey in second and Ian Sheldrake in third. These three drivers then progressed to race in the A Final.

28 drivers took part in the A Final. At the start of the race Philip Simpson led the field away from Cameron McLean, Michael Whitfield, Benjamin Oates, Adam Delmont and Karl Parkin. Going into the infield chicane on the 1st lap, Scott McNicholas, who started in 11th place had attempted to overtake Parkin but clipped the rear of Parkin’s kart and spun in front of the pack with a number of other drivers also spinning in avoidance, allowing the six leading drivers to pull out a gap to the remaining drivers.

Five of the six leading pack were able to stay together and fought an exciting battle for the top positions as the race progressed with Delmont leading from Simpson, Mclean, Oates and Parkin, with Whitfield unable to keep up the leading pace. McNicholas dropped to 25th place following his first lap spin, but was making rapid progress through the field, eventually catching the leading pack of drivers after half an hour of the 40 minute race.

Into the latter stages of the race, McNicholas had moved into third place behind Simpson and Delmont. McNicholas moved past Simpson and was challenging Delmont for the lead, however when attempting to negotiate a backmarker through the complex after South Bank, the lapped driver connected with McNicholas, pushing him into Delmont, resulting in the leader spinning, allowing Simpson to move into the lead.

McNicholas quickly eroded the gap back to the leader over the last two laps of the race, however was unable to beat Simpson across the line in an exciting ‘photo finish’ to the race. Simpson won round 4 of the championship, crossing the line 0.085 seconds ahead of McNicholas, with Benjamin Oates completing the race in third place, 3.513 seconds behind the race winner. 17 drivers were able to finish on the same lap as the winner, completing 43 laps of the National Circuit in the allotted 40 minute race time. Scott McNicholas set the fastest lap of the race, circulating in a time of 50.170 seconds.

After the fourth round of the championship, Scott McNicholas leads the championship with 352 points, ahead of Cameron McLean with 330 points and Craig Brock with 326 points.


To register for round 5 of the championship on Sunday 17 June, contact Teesside Karting on 01642 231117, or visit www.teessidekarting.co.uk for further information. A £10 deposit is required upon booking, with a balance of £45 to pay when signing in for the booked event.

Round 3:

An unprecedented field of 57 drivers took part in round 3 of the 2012 Teesside Karting Open Championship, supported by SG Petch and Abarth Cars UK. The championship is open to anyone above the age of 16 and is currently the North of England’s leading hire kart sprint series, allowing talented drivers to compete in a low cost, competitive championship, without need for capital outlay. Abarth are keen to promote racing talent and see this series as an ideal way to help achieve this.

The championship is being run at Teesside Autodrome over 10 rounds, with the best 8 rounds counting towards the final championship standings. The championship winner will receive a day of racing tuition by one of the UK’s leading motorsport driving tutors.

Round 3 of the 2012 campaign took place on Sunday 15 April 2012, with the field split into two 20 minute qualifying sessions, with the fastest half of each group going through to the A Final and remaining drivers into the B Final, both of which were 40 minutes in duration. The top five drivers from the B Final would progress to the back of the A Final grid. Both qualifying sessions were held on the National Circuit, as well as the B Final. The A Final was held on the longer International Circuit.

Cameron McLean set a fastest time of 51.788 seconds in the first qualifying session, however Benjamin Oates set a faster time of 51.275 seconds in the second qualifying session, securing pole for the A Final. Andrew Whitfield set a time of 53.077 seconds in qualifying 1, 16th overall in the session, putting him on pole for the B Final. Jonathan Morris set a time of 53.202 seconds in qualifying 2, 16th overall in the session, but slower than Whitfield’s time, meaning he would start the B Final in 2nd place.

After 40 minutes of close racing in the B Final, Tom Cherrington came home in first place followed by Dave Tucker, Salvatore Sirignano, Santino Sirignano and David Barley. These five drivers then progressed to race in the A Final.

35 drivers took part in the A Final. At the start of the race Oates led the field away from McLean, Adam Belmont, Ian Neilson and David Renwick. As the field settled into the race, Belmont and Neilson were able to pull clear of the field, but were quickly joined by Craig Brock, who started the final in 10th position. After 10 laps of the race the exciting race for the lead was also joined by Karl Parkin, Cameron McLean and Scott McNicholas, who had started the final from a lowly position of 20th, but had made steady progress through the field.

Parkin took his chance by diving down the inside of Neilson going into the hairpin off the South Bank curve, however Neilson was able to fight back into the subsequent hairpin, pushing them both wide and also compromising Belmont, allowing McNicholas into second place behind race leader Brock. Going into the next lap, while challenging for the lead going into turn two, McNicholas was shunted, forcing him into a spin, dropping back to eighth place.

Into the latter stages of the race, Neilson was forced to retire with a snapped chain, allowing Belmont and Brock to race clear, followed by Parkin and McLean. Belmont won round 3, in his first meeting of the championship, crossing the line 1.141 seconds ahead of Brock, with Karl Parkin completing the race 6.616 seconds behind the race winner. 31 drivers were able to finish on the same lap as the winner, completing 25 laps of the International Circuit in the allotted 40 minute race time. Karl Parkin set the fastest lap of the race on lap 9, circulating in a time of 1:20.384.

After the third round of the championship, Craig Brock leads the championship with 290 points, ahead of Scott McNicholas with 257 points and Cameron McLean with 249 points.

To register for round 4 of the championship on Sunday 6 May, contact Teesside Karting on 01642 231117, or visit www.teessidekarting.co.uk for further information. A £10 deposit is required upon booking, with a balance of £45 to pay when signing in for the booked event.

Round 2:

An impressive field of 39 drivers took part in round 2 of the 2012 Teesside Karting Open Championship, supported by SG Petch and Abarth Cars UK.  The championship is open to anyone above the age of 16 and is currently the North of England’s leading hire kart sprint series, allowing talented drivers to compete in a low cost, competitive championship, without need for capital outlay.  Abarth are keen to promote racing talent and see this series as an ideal way to help achieve this. 

The championship is being run at Teesside Autodrome over 10 rounds, with the best 8 rounds counting towards the final championship standings.  The championship winner will receive a day of racing tuition by one of the UK’s leading motorsport driving tutors.

Round 2 of the 2012 campaign took place on Sunday 4 March 2012, using the National Circuit at Teesside Autodrome, in extremely wet conditions, bringing driver skill to the fore.  Craig Brock of Newcastle put his kart on pole, closely followed by Scott McNicholas and David Renwick.  At the start of the 40 minute race, Brock took the lead into the first corner, closely followed by McNicholas, and Renwick.  Brock was able to establish a small lead.  McNicholas was experiencing mechanical issues with water resulting in intermittent engine misfiring which briefly dropped him behind Renwick into third place, however was quickly able to regain second place and started the chase back to Brock.   

Through the remainder of the race, Brock and McNicholas traded the lead, in an exciting battle to head the field, steadily moving away from the chasing pack.  Brock was able to hold on to win round 2, crossing the line 1.795 seconds ahead of McNicholas.  Ian Neilson fought his way from a mid-field starting position to finish in third place.  13 drivers were able to finish on the same lap as the winner, completing 34 laps of the National Circuit in the allotted 40 minute race time.  Scott McNicholas set the fastest lap of the race on lap 15, circulating in a time of 1:01.414.
After the second round of the championship, Craig Brock leads the championship with 195 points, ahead of Ian Neilson with 910 points and Scott McNicholas with 165 points.

Round 1:

A field of 33 drivers took part in round 1 of the 2012 Teesside Karting Open Championship, supported by SG Petch and Abarth Cars UK.  The championship is open to anyone above the age of 16 and is currently the North of England’s leading hire kart sprint series, allowing talented drivers to compete in a low cost, competitive championship, without need for capital outlay.  Abarth are keen to promote racing talent and see this series as an ideal way to help achieve this.
 
The championship is being run at Teesside Autodrome over 10 rounds, with the best 8 rounds counting towards the final championship standings.  The championship winner will receive a day of racing tuition by one of the UK’s leading motorsport driving tutors.

Round 1 of the 2012 campaign took place on Sunday 12 February 2012, using the International Circuit at Teesside Autodrome.  Craig Brock of Newcastle put his kart on pole, circulating the damp track with a best time of 1:34.402 closely followed by Scott McNicholas and Michael Whitfield.  At the start of the 40 minute race, McNicholas took the lead into the first corner, closely followed by Whitfield, Cameron McLean, Daniel Laws, and Craig Brock.  On lap 2, Whitfield worked his way to the head of the field. Daniel Laws attempted an ambitious overtake on McLean, however span and dropped to the back of the field.  On lap three the red flag came out to halt the race as one of the competitors had left the circuit, crashing heavily into the tyre wall.  Fortunately, the driver was unhurt and the race was re-started following reformation of the tyre wall.

At the restart, McNicholas was quickly able to take the lead from Whitfield, who was also overtaken by Brock.  McNicholas was able to pull away from the field, however a mistake in the in-field section of the circuit saw him spin and drop back down the field.  New race leader Brock led the field from Whitfield, Ian Neilson, who had made steady progress from twelfth position on the grid, Mark Asher and Cameron McLean.

Through the remainder of the race, Neilson steadily closed the gap back to race leader Brock, overtaking Brock with an audacious move on the last lap of the race, crossing the line 0.063 seconds ahead of Brock.  24 drivers were able to finish on the same lap as the winner, completing 21 laps of the International Circuit in the allotted 40 minute race time.  Daniel Laws set the fastest lap of the race on lap 20, circulating in a time of 1:33.922, impressively fighting his way back up the field from his earlier spin to finish in eighth place.

After the first round of the championship, Ian Neilson leads the championship with 100 points, ahead of Craig Brock with 95 points and Michael Whitfield with 90 points.

To register for round 3 of the championship on Sunday 15 April, contact Teesside Karting on 01642 231117, or visit www.teessidekarting.co.uk for further information.  A £10 deposit is required upon booking, with a balance of £45 to pay when signing in for the booked event.