Phoenix FM-sponsored racer Lochlan Bearman went into Round 3 of the Hunts Kart Racing Club Championship at the Cambridgeshire Kimbolton Circuit leading the Championship after winning the opening 2 rounds and hoping to continue his good form.
On the Saturday practice day he was evaluating a new Praga chassis for the importer and was impressed enough to choose to race it on Sunday.
Sunday started with unexpected technical issues and the CooperMotorsport team worked furiously to get the kart running before the first heat.
In the first Heat Bearman started last and on the back row of the grid, and after being slightly delayed at the start used the new chassis to its maximum to come through the field to finish 3rd.
He started Heat 2 on Pole position and led from start to finish without coming under any threat. These results put him in 2nd place for the final.
30 minutes before the final the rain came and the team and drivers had to decide how to approach the final with a choice of a full wet set-up or a compromise set up. Having never driven the Praga chassis in the wet before the decision was to go to use wet gearing, good wet tyres and to add mechanical grip to the kart.
While the drivers were waiting in the dummy grid area the track was drying very quickly and the team and drivers become concerned that the set up would be wrong and would cost them in the race.
At the start Bearman exited the first corner in 3rd and made his move before the end of the first lap to claim second. He then set about reeling in his team mate who had made a good break at the start. By lap 8 Bearman was within striking distance and on lap 9 he was through and into the lead. It was clear that the drivers were struggling for grip as their wet tyres got too hot and started to overheat, dramatically reducing the available grip. Bearman only led for 1 lap before another team mate Harrison Huggan got through as they went into bus stop corner. Bearman had by now started to try to manage the tyre degradation and got within a kart length of Huggan 3 times as the race entered the last few laps. On the final lap Bearman looked to have got himself into a perfect position only to drift a little wide exiting The Willows and his chance was gone.
After the race the 13 year old said, “It was so unpredictable, the grip levels and amount of braking were changing lap by lap. I would have like to get 3 wins in a row but that rarely happens in this sport and I’m happy to come away with a second and maintaining my Championship lead. I’ve learnt a lot this weekend and I’m now really looking forward to having my first experience in the Junior Max category and my first drive in Europe when we compete in Genk in Belgium next week.”
