Round 2 MSUK British Bambino Kart Championship
Shenington, April 26/27 2025
Round 2 of the UK’s premier bambino kart class British Championship saw an oversubscribed grid of 29 young racers at the historic, and fast, Shenington kart circuit in Oxfordshire. Split grids for qualifying and heats gave just the fastest 26 drivers the chance to qualify for the main final.
Felix made the most of Saturday morning, recording the fastest lap time overall across two qualifying sessions, meaning a front-row start for the two of three Saturday heats he would be drawn in.
A very close second place in heat two (along with a new lap record which would stand through the weekend) was followed up by an exemplary drive in heat three and a first victory of the season in the British Championship.
Sunday began again with split grids for the superheats; points scored in both heats and superheats would determine who qualified for the final, as well as starting position.
In Superheat one, Felix, driving the Wera Alliance Academy E plate kart again starting on pole position, saw a very tight race with the number 54 kart for the victory. Multiple position changes throughout the race culminated in a thrilling last lap shootout. Felix executed a fantastic opportunistic move on the last corner of the last lap to take a well deserved and hard fought victory.
Superheat three, with his third win of the weekend, Felix led lights to flag in a controlled race that unfortunately ended two laps early due to an incident on track.
However, drama was to come from the stewards room. A competitor lodged a protest against the original results of superheat one. Whilst agreeing that the racing was hard but fair, the stewards imposed a five second time penalty to the young Bedfordshire racer, dropping him back to a sixth place result and considerably impacting the points scored and therefore the grid for the all important final.
For almost the entire thirteen lap final, nine karts circulated almost as one in a huge slipstreaming dice for positions. Tandy, starting third, went from the front, to the back, and back to the front multiple times during a thrilling race for the trophies. Third place beginning the final lap, gaining another position through back marking traffic, Felix looked set for a second place result and good championship points. An uncharacteristic mistake at the final corner cost not one, but four positions as the chasing train of karts came charging through.
Sixth place on the timesheets was a bitter pill swallow after a weekend that had featured so many promising moments.
The next round comes from the famous Welsh circuit of Glan Y Gors on 17/18 May.
