Testing time was well spent due to settled weather

For the first race time weather on both days was the same, which meant the testing completed by the 84 drivers contesting round 5 of the Dunkeswell Championship was time well spent. With the running order returning to the standard format, the Cadets were up first and, in the heats, Izaac Channing and Bradley Drowne took the wins with Connor Hall collecting a brace of seconds on his return to racing after a three round break. James Moorcroft took all three wins in the Minimax class with Lewis Bowles taking second spot.

Ryan Edgecombe and Ben Pearson locked out the pack in the Junior Blue class with Edgecombe taking three wins and Pearson three second places. In the Junior TKM class, Jamie Andrews took the flag in the first two heats with Ash Goodliffe recovering from a poor start to take the win in heat 3. Nick Arthur continued his push to move up the championship standings by taking the first two Junior Rotax heat wins with championship leader, Jack Drinkall taking the win in heat 3. Josh Collings took second spot in all three heats, surely a sign of things to come. Adam Murphy dominated the Senior Rotax grid fighting off some strong performances by Gemma Batstone to win all three heats. Batstone collected two second places for her efforts. The 177 class was the only class on the day to produce three different heat winners with championship leader, Stewart Baker, Carl Watts and Matt Isgrove sharing the spoils. Only six drivers were in the 250 Gearbox boys. James Clarkson dominated taking 3 wins.

The finals were a hard fought affair, with Izaac Channing coming out on top in the Cadets. After starting third, he pushed his way through on lap seven and held ’til the flag. Behind him, Bradley Drowne took second leaving Connor Hall to grab third. Moorcroft and Bowles were untroubled in the Minimax final and took the flag, line in turn. Will Foulkes crossed the line third. Ryan Edgecombe took a lights-to- flag win in the Junior Blue class with William Goodhew putting in a solid drive to take second. Close behind, and desperately unlucky, was Ben Pearson. In the JTKM class, James Chubb put in a great drive from the back of the grid to take the win from Ash Goodliffe and Jamie Andrews. The Junior Rotax final was a fraught affair with no less than four rolling laps and verbal brief from the clerk before the pack were let loose.

It all went horribly wrong for Nick Arthur when he was caught up in a first corner incident that saw three other drivers sidelined and championship leader, Jack Drinkall a lap down on the leaders. Josh Collings and Sam Morgan made the most of their good fortune and comfortably took the win and second spot respectively. Maslin put in a strong recovery drive to cross the line third. Murphy made it a clean sweep in the Senior Max class, with Gordon Isgrove coming in some 156 seconds behind him. As in the senior class, 177 championship leader, Stewart Baker was untouchable, with Carl Watts coming from third on the grid to take second spot. Matt Isgrove put in a strong drive to secure third. In the 250 Gearbox, Clarkson won and Luke Plain did his best to limit the damage being done by coming second. Frazer Everett was third. Overall, it was another great weekends racing and as ever thanks must go to all the people involved in bringing it together. If you want to know more about karting or racing at the South West premier circuit then visit www.dunkeswell.com or www.Mansellraceway.com for more details.

Final standings

Cadets (23 Entrants)

1. 22 Izaac Channing Zip

2. 49 Bradley Drowne BRM

3. 44 Connor Hall Zip

Rotax MiniMax (6 Entrants)

1. 21 James Moorcroft Wright

2. 97 Lewis Bowles Storm

3. 31 Will Foulkes Wright

Junior Blue & Junior TKM (6 & 3 Entrants)

1. 42 Ryan Edgecumbe Kosmic

2. 70 William Goodhew Kosmic

3. 25 Ben Pearson Kosmic

1. 37 James Chubb Octane

2. 34 Ashley Goodliffe CRG

3. 52 Jamie Andrews Jade

Junior Rotax (18 Entrants)

1. 97 Joshua Collings BRM

2. 21 Sam Morgan Lewis Hamilton

3. 29 Will Maslin Exprit

Senior Rotax (11 entrants)

1. 23 Adam Murphy Kosmic

2. 39 Gordon Isgrove Redspeed

3. 29 Gemma Batstone CRG

Rotax 177 (12 entrants)

1. 95 Stewart Baker Redspeed

2. 67 Carl Watts Wright

3. 25 Matt Isgrove Redspeed

250 National (6 entrants)

1. 66 James Clarkson Anderson

2. 99 Luke Plain Anderson

3. 55 Frazer Everett Cyclone