Sunday 19 October saw us arrive at TeamSport Warrington for the first time - and wow what a track!

Here for the one and only practice session ahead of the National BIKC Finals in November, Tom took part in the advanced race academy session along with both local regulars and a few other BIKC Finalists. 

Tom hit the circuit with intent setting the fastest cadet time in the session, putting him on pole for the subsequent race.  As the lights went out a bliinding start saw him keep the lead, and maintain it for the whole race leading to a well deserved win.

After the race we added a third practice session where he both improved his PB and got the fastest lap of the day for the cadet drivers. Needless to say he enjoyed the experience and is really looking forward to getting back there for the FInals on the 15 November! 

What a birthday weekend!  While Saturday 4th Oct saw Tom earn a place in the BIKC (British Indoor Karting Championships) National Finals in November with an impressive performance at Teamsport Leicester (see the previous race results for further details), Sunday 5th Oct saw Tom drive his first ever Pro round at Whilton Mill with FAT Karting League as he joined the cadets who've been racing in this series all year.  

After not getting much of a practice session due to being called in (they thought his helmet was undone - luckily it wasn't but we agree, rather safe than sorry!) it was out for his first proper laps on an unfamiliar track in qualifying. 

Tom quickly moved up the pack and kept his kart in a solid second position throughout the session - however it turned out his clean racing style paid off when the pole sitter earned a penalty for track limits, putting Tom up to 1st!

As the lights went out for the pre final however a nudge put Tom offline, losing him time as he got the kart under control and allowing the 3 drivers behind through.  Not to be put off Tom fought to the end, and despite some further contact managed to end the race in a respectable 4th position on track - however again a penalty for one of the other drivers meant one of the top 3 earned themselves a penalty and Tom regained 3rd position overall for the race.

The final began with more close racing and a racing incident saw Tom pushed wide. He regained his composure, rejoined and kept with the leaders until a kerb strike led to him leaving the track and having to wait to rejoin  - ultimately in last place. Frustrated, he managed to move back up and finish 8th with a lot to learn and take away from today. Overall still an epic weekend of quality clean driving against far more experienced drivers, and one he can be super proud of! 

A very different experience  - and a great insight into how the Pro Championship operates. Onto the next race at Shenington on 26 October, and a well earned rest in the meantime!

Qualifying - P1 🥇

Pre-Final - P3  🥉

Final - P8 

Saturday 4 Oct saw Tom join the grid at Teamsport Leicester along with cadets from across the UK in the  BIKC 2025 Regional Finals (British Indoor Karting Championships).  

With the competition fierce (with a lot of the other drivers competing in multiple other karting championships), Tom and his friends and fellow qualifiers from TeamSport Reading knew that making in through this stage to the National Finals in Warrington would be a tall order...last year Tom had not even taken part in a race before the local final so getting this far was already a step up!

The day was long but Tom was on Fire - finishing 1st or 2nd throughout practice and all the heats.  His results meant he started his Semi Final from pole position, taking a convincing win after a superb drive that also saw him take the fastest lap, resulting in pole position for the Final.

Another quality drive in the Final saw Tom pull away from the pack in the early laps, until a full course yellow came out for an incident involving other drivers. Sadly Tom was so focused on his racing he didn't spot the flag quickly enough and was deemed to have gained an advantage. Ultimately while crossing the line in 1st but with a 3 second penalty added, saw him finish a mere 0.3 seconds behind the winner - still an awesome result, another trip to the podium to pick up a trophy and moving him up to the National Finals in Warrington on 15th November!

Monday 15th Sept 2025 saw a return to TeamSport Karting for the Reading Local Final of the British Indoor Karting Championship (BIKC).

Having qualified to participate in our visits between June to August (check out those results on our other updates!), now was the time to make it count.

The evening started well with a P3 in practice.  In qualifying he went one better with P2 in his group - which after the second qualifying session had been completed put him 3rd on the grid. It was an incredibly tight set of qualifying sessions, with less than 1 tenth of a second covering the top 5 qualifiers on the final grid! 

The 'A' final proved a clean and close battle, with the top 3 drivers applying pressure to each other throughout the 15 min race.  Tom was delighted to end the night with both another podium and a place in the Regional Finals in Leicester on the 4th October.  Massive congratulations to Xavier, Jack, Mielo, and Charlie (who'll be joining Tom there) and all who competed on the night.

Early Sunday 7th Sept saw us back at Shenington for Round 7 of the Fat Karting Regional Championships....

Practice commenced with Cadets as the first track session of the day - meaning tyre warming and a cold slightly slippery track. I was pleased to set the 3rd fastest time ⏱ - with just over a second between the top 7 karts!

In qualifying I went one better and put it P2 🥈on the grid for the Cadets - again in a really competitive session.

Then came the pre-final. A mistake at the start put me on the back foot (and back of the pack), but I made it up to 8th by the finish line, making that my starting position for the Final. 

The Final was an amazing race all round - with clean driving, lots of overtaking and respect between competitors. I feel I drove the race of my life and managed to move up through the field finishing with a 3rd place I feel I can be proud of 🥉 and another visit to the podium! 

Despite the highs and lows a great weekend and the positives of being able to prove I can make a comeback if needed. Next round coming at the end of October!

Following a busy weekend at Shenington for Round 6 at FAT Karting, it was straight off to Reading and Teamsport the following evening for a Race Academy League session. 

Having caught up with his Teamsport Karting buddies, it was time to qualify for the evenings race.  Tom posted his fastest time of the year to put it second on the grid.  

The lights went out and an enthralling battle ensued, with plenty of overtaking - it was such a good fight for the lead that the staff even added an extra 5 mins to the race so they could enjoy more of the action!  Tom initially made it up to second with a clean pass, but accidentally left the door open for Jack to sneak back through. A robust manoeuvre from behind dropped him temporarily to 4th and dropped him back from the pack but he quickly regained 3rd place and was back up with the leaders towards the end of the epic race taking 3rd at the flag.

Despite not being at the top of the podium Tom was delighted to improve his lap time and BIKC qualifying ranking - and on the bright side decided a bronze medal was a nice finishing touch to add to his gold and silver collection!

As the saying goes all good things must come to an end, and with changeable weather and some kart issues Toms winning streak (that started in May) hit the brakes at Round 6 on 3rd August..

Practice (and getting a fab new FAT Karting hoody) were, with hindsight, the highlight of the day. A second place finish in practice despite a lack of grip wasn’t a bad achievement. Qualifying saw the back of the kart wanting to overtake the front at every corner but a valiant effort saw Tom place 3rd for the pre final grid.

Then fun really began… An epic start in a kart struggling for speed saw Tom somehow jump from 3rd to first - and despite him being off the pace he not only maintained position but pulled away. Then with only a couple of laps to go Tom had his first experience of driving in the rain - after a quick ballet impression he spun and ended in 3rd, but rejoined at the wrong point leading to a 4th place start for the final.

As the lights went out it soon became clear Tom was struggling , a reasonable start from 4th but sadly short lived. Made it to third but with the kart down on power he was unable to defend on straights, and ultimately while holding in 6th place the kart had other plans & stopped leaving him 10th.

With some good learnings to take forward, and the knowledge that he can get good results helping keep his attitude positive, we begin the countdown to round 7 in Sept and to hopefully retaining and rebuilding his current lead in the Championship.

Monday saw another visit to Teamsport Reading for Race Academy League (and as a BIKC qualifying session).

Qualifying saw Tom finish second of the cadets after a great lap from Daniel C - but a determined drive in the race saw Tom take the lead on the 3rd lap after a 3 wide battle on the up ramp! 

After that a calm drive saw him maintain the lead to the chequered flag earning him another visit to the top step of the podium and an additional gold trophy for his collection! 🏆

What a weekend at Fat Karting League in Fulbeck for round 5 of the Regional Championship!  

Pace on track was as hot as the weather - it was the first time out at this circuit and Tom loved it! What a challenge and really thrilled with the results:

Practice P2 🥈

Qualifying P1 🥇

Pre-final P1🥇

Final P1🥇

Topping it off with the fastest lap bonus point in the final really made it special - as does knowing I'm currently leading the championship and determined to keep it that way!

On 23rd June Tom continued his attempt to qualify for the British Indoor Karting Championships (BIKC)2025. 

A busy session meant qualifying was a close run thing with Tom finishing 3rd on the grid with a mere 2 tenths of a second covering the top 4 drivers.

The race was a first for Tom with both a rolling start and compulsory drive through pit stop. Tom selected the ideal time to pit (and made an impressive pit entry!), emerging in the lead.  From then he was pushed by Jack all the way to the end in an impressive and well driven battle - but luckily managed to maintain position taking Gold once again! An epic night and well driven by all involved.

What a week! Following a fab weekend at Fat Karting Regional Championships round 4, Monday saw me head to Reading to start the qualifying process for the British Indoor Kart Championship at Teamsport Reading.

Qualifying went well with P1 on the grid followed by a close race where Charlie B pushed me all the way to the chequered flag where I managed to hold off for another win! Great job Lucas on taking 3rd place too.

Really pleased to get another Trophy and hopefully a time that will help me make the qualification criteria for September...

Now I'm having a well earned rest!

Round 4 of of the FAT Karting League Regional Championship saw some seriously quick racing across the board...but despite some excellent competition I managed to achieve my first clean sweep:

Practice - P1

Qualifying - P1 

Pre-final - P1 🥇

Final - P1 🏆

And a bonus point for fastest lap! 🏎 🏁

Overjoyed, I was even lucky enough to be congratulated by none other than Karun Chandhok after a race win - which made my day! Even better, the weekend has put me up to 1st place currently in the championship - now I've got to work hard to keep it with some stiff competition hot on my heels.  

Congrats to Casey Baker and Harry Watkinson too for their well deserved podium places

Next round Fulbeck in mid July - wish me luck!

The third round of Regional Finals with FAT Karting saw an epic first win for Tom in both the Pre-Final AND the Final - his first victory in outdoor karting since trialing it in March! 

The day got off to a great start wtih Tom posting the fastest time in the morning practice session. Qualifying resulted in Tom finishing in P3, with less than 0.6 seconds covering the top 3 drivers. The Pre-Final was tense - with Tom moving through field, overtaking both second and first place drivers (with some epic moves and clean driving from all the competitors), eventually taking the win.

The Final began with a great move from Casey, causing Tom fall to second on the first lap. However some late braking on the second lap saw Tom dive up the inside on the hairpin reclaiming the lead - with exemplary racing from all involved. 

Some calm and consistent driving saw Tom gradually pull away, taking the chequered flag for his first outright Final win - and a trip to the top of the podium with his karting competitors (and buddies) - all of whom thoroughly deserved to be there. Congrats to Casey Baker and Jacob Hutchinson too on an amazing race!

On Monday 12th May we returned to Teamsport for the next race in the Race Academy Grid Series - Toms first outing there since winning  a second place medal in March (see below).  

Qualifying this time was hugely competitive, with all drivers a mere 0.3 seconds apart - with Tom taking pole position for the race. 

A good start saw Tom pulling away for a calm and composed race from the front - resulting in both fastest lap and a trip to the top of the podium much to his great delight! A great effort from all the competitors with a well earnt second place going to Maya and Charlie defending well to keep 3rd - well done to all!

It was a rough weekend for Tom - suffering with severe hayfever we weren't sure if his eyes would hold up for the final race!  

The day started with a brake issue during practice requiring new brake pads to be fitted. Despite having to allow for them to bed in he managed a great second place in qualifying. 

The sprint race saw Toms first drive in the rain end with a spin on the final lap dropping him down  to 10th, however an epic performance (despite starting his starting postion and very painful/watery eyes) saw him fight his way back to a fantastic 4th place in the Final.

Tom currently stands at 5th place in the cadet championship, and with the addition of Saturday practice before the next race we're hoping it gives Tom a fighting chance to get on the podium!

What a race this was! Despite not having been to the circuit this year so far, Tom was thrilled when he managed to put it on pole for the race!

The race itself was a very close run thing, Tom and second place man Jack were literally glued together for the first 16 minutes, when a small nudge resulted in Jack taking the lead.  Great racing by both boys, with a chat and congraulations all round after the event. 

Despite being a little disappointed to have missed the top step, his first trophy made up for some of that and it's added to his determination to get 1st next time and keep it! 

First round of the Fat Karting Regional Series took place at Shennington.  Despite a cold any misty start, Tom did well qualifying for the sprint race in a very respectable second place!

A spin in the sprint race led to a 3rd place finish (and starting position on the grid for the final). With the track cold and Tom feeling the pressure of his outdoor inexperience in the damp/cold conditions, Tom achieved a short lived lead, followed by a spin leaving him towards the back of the pack.  

Not giving up Tom managed to work his way back and ended the day in 6th place. Not quite where he'd like to be but overall a successful first time competiting outside and some lessons learned for round two in April....