Update on Toms first attempt at BIKC as a junior….
With two full race days last weekend, we’re only just catching up on the race reports! Here’s the first…
Having finished with a clean sweep at the Local finals in Reading and following his one and only chance to visit for a practice having gone well, Saturday 24 Nov saw Tom head to Teamsport Birmingham for his first attempt at making it to the Nationals in BIKC as a Junior.
The day got off to a good start – with P3 in heat one despite being stuck mid pack and with limited space to get a full clear lap in, not bad but not what Tom feels he’s usually capable of.
Heat 2 began and Tom realised he had a battle on his hands, the boost button on the kart he got for this heat wasn’t working meaning he was struggling to compete with those around him whose boost was. Despite that he managed somehow to pull out another P3 – it turns out the next to use the kart had the same issue and it was removed after that but too late for Tom unfortunately.
Heat 3 was unfortunately where things really began to go downhill. A P8 in quali was not where Tom had been so far that day. Matters were made worse on lap 3 when the driver behind tried to overtake but got it wrong and pushing Tom into the barrier. Ultimately the other driver was penalised but still left a P11 finish for Tom.
Semi-final – the results so far put Tom 6th on the grid – a place he needed to maintain to make the final. At the start a quick reaction got him to 5th, hot on the heels of 4th but his speed in catching the top of the pack turned out to be wrong place wrong time. As the karts ahead attempted a move they collided, leaving Tom nowhere to go – while those behind had enough time and space to make their way round the crashed karts blocking Tom on track. BIKC national dreams over for 2026, a shame as his pace was on par with the leaders all morning but it wasn’t to be! Having learnt the hard way that there’s a lot of luck involved with making it through he’ll try again in 2027 and focus on the achievement of making it this far having only started in junior karts in January!
Congrats to all that made it to Regionals and those representing Reading – and best of luck to those who made it to Warrington! Hopefully see you there again next year…
Toms 2026 BIKC results:
Local Final: Local Final: 1st 🥇
Regional Final: Heat 1 – 3rd 🥉 | Heat 2 – 3rd 🥉 | Heat 3 – 11th | Semi Final – 7th
