FAT Karting - Regional Round 9 - Whilton Mill Race Review
After 8 rounds and 8 months of racing, Sunday 9th November saw the final day of the FAT Karting Regional Championship 2025 with Tom tied on points at the top of the table.
After a fantastic practice session on Saturday with Tom as fastest cadet in each session (see previous post), we made a 4.30am start (!!!) to get back to Whilton Mill for race day on Sunday.
Practice began with the fog just having lifted and the track slippery - leading to Tom spinning early on and having to re-warm the tires. Despite that he battled his way back up the timing board to a respectable second place.
Qualifying began and Tom quickly realised his kart had little to no grip, making it difficult to control, let alone build a decent lap. Regardless he somehow managed to pull a single fast lap together good enough for second on the grid.
Pre-Final was next and as the lights went out Tom made a great start, but with power lacking on the straight he could do nothing as his competitors sailed by, leaving him 6th at the end of the first lap. Not one to give up, Tom worked out his advantage was on the corners, and began working his way back to the group, and pulling off a number of superb overtakes. Then as the group approached a back-marker, he read the situation perfectly by taking an outside line, passing 3 karts in the process, finishing 3rd!
The final began, and Tom put the power down a moment too early entering the pit straight on the first lap, causing him to spin, and frustratingly ended up dead last. Tom put his disappointment aside and used every drop of power the kart offered to move back through the pack, making more impressive overtakes to finish 7th overall, a mere 2.5 second behind the winner. A valiant effort, some lessons to learn and although not his best race day of the season his performance throughout the year meant he still took a clear 2nd place in the Championship (more details on that to follow!) - a huge achievement for his first ever outdoor karting experience!
Practice – P2 🥈 | Qualifying – P2 🥈 | Pre-Final – P3 🥉 | Final – P7 | Final Championship Result - P2 🏆 (Vice Champion ‘25)
