Phoenx FM-sponsored karting Champion Lochlan Bearman went into Round 7 of the Stars at Whilton Mill Championship hoping to extend his lead in the rankings.

In heat 1 he started 2nd and was running behind the leader for the first 5 laps, just when it looked like he was lining up a move the motor spluttered and he fell back and was taken by the 3rd placed man, the motor continued to splutter and soon he was engulfed by the pack. He then set about defending his position and, with what turned out to be a blocked fuel feed, managed to hold onto 10th place.

In Heat 2 he started 22nd on the grid and incredibly was 14th by the start of lap 2 and 13th by lap 3. There was then a coming together of two karts that spun immediately in front of him and with nowhere to go he hit them hard. The resulting impact bent the steering column and the chassis leaving him unable to turn left. He kept running but could do nothing to prevent the field coming past and eventually finished 19th.

After frantic activity by the CooperMotorsport team the kart was rebuilt in time for Heat 3. However on the grid Bearman knew that something was wrong with the throttle and as the karts left to make the start it was clear there was a problem. Bearman came straight into the pits at the end of the warm up lap with the throttle jammed wide open. It could not be fixed and he had to record a non-finish.

With what looked like having to be a damage limitation exercise in the final he lined up 21st for the final. With the kart working well Bearman put in an astonishing performance. Diving up the inside at Christmas Corner on the first lap and making overtakes at 3 more corners he was 16th at the end of lap1, 15th at the end of lap2. He passed 4 more drivers (including going through the middle of 2 squabbling drivers) to pass a total of 4 on lap 3 to get himself up to 10th. It then took Bearman 3 laps to catch the group in front and he passed 2 of them on lap 6 to be 8th as they started lap 7 with the field stretching out as the race settled down. By lap 8 he was up to 6th and on lap 10 he made it into 5th; on lap 11 he planned his move and got through into 4th with 4 laps left. By then it too late to catch the leaders but he crossed the line 2.5 seconds behind third place.

Having made up an amazing 21 places Bearman said “that was probably the best drive of my career. We had so many problems today I really felt it wasn’t going to happen for me but the kart was set-up perfectly and I just pushed to limit on every part of the circuit. Although it was only 4th place it felt like a win. I am so happy with the result.”

Bearman’s father John added “I am so proud, he had so much adversity today but stuck to the job in hand and delivered a drive that left me speechless. He made 17 places and the best anyone else did was 6”. Gary Cooper who runs CooperMotorsport added “I knew he was capable of a great result and we told him that it’s never finished until the chequered flag. The drive was sensational, he is a real talent.”