The inaugural CladKart event, supported by Kingspan Insulated Panels, was held on Friday, 12th May at the 1.3 Km Daytona circuit at Milton Keynes. It took place under blue skies and glorious sunshine much to the relief of organisers, Walnut Motorsport. The weather forecast for the day was not good with storms predicted for later in the day. However, the timing was perfect as the organisers compressed the timetable and just 30 minutes after the race it started to rain at the circuit!!

The on track action proved very exciting and competitive. There were battles all the way down the field and many places were undecided until the last 20 minutes or so of the three hour event. 30 minutes of practice and qualifying showed just how close the lap times would be, but it was the team from Harlequin which snatched pole position from Swish and Solaglas Structural.

The grid formed up behind the pace kart and, as the 12 teams crossed the line for the first time, there was immediately some jostling for position! There were a few drivers with a little `red mist' in the early laps and driving standards left a bit to be desired! The result was a number of spins and yellow flags which put many mid-field teams further back than they should have been!

At the front three teams were all within a lap of each other throughout the whole event. The teams from Swish, Solaglas Structural and Harlequin were closely matched and strategy certainly played a part in deciding the outcome. All teams had to make at least three compulsory stops but Solaglas decided to take a massive gamble and only fuel up once. They could well have run out of fuel in the last 10 minutes but, as things turned out, they lost a drive chain and were forced to change karts with about 25 minutes to go!

Harlequin also had a kart change but the delay wasn't enough for their closest rivals to take advantage. After three hours of racing they finished just a lap clear of Solaglas with Swish keeping them both honest, just under a lap adrift in third. Behind the battle for the podium places there was an equally exciting competition for 4th and 5th. JRB Roofing and KIP Racers had been swapping places throughout the 3 hours but KIP Racers managed to finish just 12 seconds ahead of the JRB team to grab 4th spot.

The next 6 teams also moved up and down the leaderboard swapping fastest laps and places as their varying strategies unfolded. It was a warm, muggy day and finding the balance between maintaining concentration versus more driver changes was something teams mulled over all afternoon. At the end there was just 5 laps between these 6 teams and all had been as high as 6th at one time or another! Skyline Roofing Centres finally emerged in 6th followed by Schuco & Sandtoft Go Large, who finished just 6 seconds behind Schuco. KIP Petrol Heads secured 9th place after an amazing tussle with sister team KIP Warriors, the two teams from the same company finishing with less than 2 seconds between them after 3 hours of hard fought racing!!

In 11th were the Proctor Group Petrol Heads, the all-female team had travelled the furthest, coming from Scotland to compete, and were running as high as 6th at one point. Last, but certainly not least, were the hastily compiled team from Roofing, Cladding & Insulation.

In between the excitement of pit stops and driver changes, there was a splendid barbecue and the dry weather allowed both drivers and spectators to enjoy their dinner al fresco!

The reaction at the podium ceremony summed up the general atmosphere of the day, everyone involved looking back on a great event and hoping to come back next year determined to improve on this year's performance!!

Results:

1. Harlequin - 146 laps
2. Solaglas Structural - 145 laps
3. Swish - 144 laps
4. KIP Racers - 137 laps
5. JRB Roofing - 137 laps
6. Skyline Roofing Centres - 133 laps
7. Schuco - 131 laps
8. Sandtoft Go Large - 131 laps
9. KIP Petrol Heads - 129 laps
10. KIP Warriors - 129 laps
11. Proctor Group Petrol Heads - 128 laps
12. Team RCI - 114 laps

For a full set of results and photographs CLICK HERE!