Joshua’s first Kartmasters event – the biggest race in the UK!

Following a lot of success at club level so far, Joshua took the plunge and was entered into the biggest karting meeting in the country – the British Kartmasters Grand Prix! The event spans over 4 days, with practice on the first, two days of qualifying and heats and then the main finals on Sunday! The best Honda Cadet drivers from across the UK were all entered and it would be the toughest competition Josh has faced.

The practice day involved a huge amount of learning. Josh has the least experience at the PFI circuit out of all the tracks he has competed at, and with it being the UK’s biggest circuit, there is a lot to get right! Josh and the Project One team kept improving throughout the test sessions.

Day 1 of qualifying and heats: the qualifying session went extremely well for Josh. Getting good track position and hooking up a great lap saw him come 5th out of the 31 entered. A great start to the event! Heat 1 proved just how tough the racing was going to be, with the pack extremely close and no room for error. Unfortunately, Josh lost a few places but still finished 11th. Heat 2 worked out much better for him, with a fantastic 3rd place finish in a very tough race!

Day 2 of qualifying and heats: another solid qualifying session saw Josh end up in 8th spot. A good starting position! Heat 3 didn’t go to plan, with an error made which cost Josh a lot of places. He crossed the line 18th. A good start to Heat 4 with Josh moving up to P7, however some contact pushed Josh right down the order and down in 19th.

The Final –

After all of the heat results combined, Josh classified in 12th place. Not too bad considering the two difficult heats! He drove a sensible pre-final to finish 12th and be in a good position for the main Grand Prix. Prior to the main final, Josh got some words of encouragement from his coach Kath Sore to calm the nerves and go out and enjoy the race! The 15 minute final was full of action, Josh bounced up and down the field throughout, but worked himself up to a good place for the closing stages. He managed to take home an amazing 6th place in the Grand Prix! A fantastic result and a huge confidence boost that Josh can race with the very best drivers in the country.