British Karting stars are top of the world at Fulbeck Heath

Following two days of dry running, the arrival of rain on the final day piled on the pressure for the drivers battling for the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship - OK & Junior and the FIA Karting World Cup - OK-N at Paul Fletcher International Circuit at Grantham.(13-15 September) writes Paul Horton.

The Mondokart.com - FIA Karting World Championship - OK & Junior got underway last Friday morning with Qualifying Practice. The large number of participants, 105 in OK and 119 in OK-Junior, meant that five heats were needed for each category. The two British polemen Joe Turney and Noah Baglin set very fast times and distanced themselves clearly from their rivals. The competition was tighter between the other drivers. Harrison Whitticombe later took pole position for the FIA Karting World Cup - OK-N.

The Qualifying Heats followed in the afternoon to finish on Saturday evening after a total of 38 races in the three categories. The weather was fine on Friday, with a completely dry track, sunny skies and temperatures more than 15°C.

With his fastest time of 54''558, the reigning European Champion was more than a tenth and a half clear of all his rivals. British driver Joe Turney took pole position in Session 2, three tenths quicker than Session 1 leader Portugal’s Noah Monteiro and between 1.6 and 2.8 tenths ahead of Dmitry Matveev in Session 4, Brits Freddie Lloyd in Session 3 and Ethan Jeff-Hall) in Session 5.

The Ok World championship qualifying heats winners were. Joe Turney, two wins, Matthew Higgins, Freddie Lloyd, Fionn Mclaughlin, Andy Consani.

Great Britain's Noah Baglin set the fastest time of 56'342 in the fifth session to edge out his rivals in the other heats by more than 3.5 tenths, a remarkable performance. The other four session leaders, Roman Kamyab (GBR), Mats Van Rooijen (NLD), Arjen Kraeling (DEU) and Jack Iliffe (USA), were just a tenth apart. The drivers in the fifth session put in some very fast times. Jacob Ashcroft (GBR) followed Baglin by 27 thousandths and even sixth-placed Christian Costoya (ESP) was faster than all the other sessions.

The Ok Junior World championship qualifying heats winners were Arjen Kraeling and Zac Green, two wins, Jacob Ashcroft, Devin Walz, Roman Kamyab, Noah Baglin.

Italy's Gino Rocchio and Federico Rossi battled it out for first place, before Great Britain's Harrison Whitticombe took the lead to claim pole position in 56'978. Frenchman Hugo Herrouin was 53 thousandths back in second place, while Korea's Kyuho Lee finished equal third with South Africa's Muhammad Wally. Fifth place went to Rossi.

Saturdays Qualifying Heats of OK & Junior were hotly contested. After an exhilarating spectacle, Joe Turney maintained his lead in OK while Roman Kamyab took the lead in Junior. The two heats of the FIA Karting World Cup - OK-N were won by Korean Kyuho Lee.

The weather remained fine all day on Saturday. The local track proved to be unforgiving. The battles were continuous at all levels of the competition, with countless overtaking manoeuvres. The event was punctuated by numerous collisions, some of which resulted in retirements. Two Super Heats were on the programme for OK and Junior on Sunday morning, with the OK-N drivers having a third Qualifying Heat to contend with before tackling their Final.

Sunday’s Final’s day Ramped up the difficulty of the competition, the heavy rain around lunchtime and into the afternoon brought dramatic outcomes in the closing moments of each Final. Britain's Joe Turney lost out on the OK title with a mistake on the final lap, leaving his young compatriot Ethan Jeff-Hall take the win, while Noah Baglin (GBR) ran off the track after making contact with Kenzo Craigie (GBR) a few metres from the finish line, having led the OK-Junior race for 18 laps.

OK FINAL

Great Britain's Joe Turney put in a perfect performance, winning all five of his heats despite very strong competition. His compatriot Ethan Jeff-Hall gradually built up his power until he won his last two heats and moved up to second place in the intermediate ranking, which will allow him to take pole in Super Heat B on Sunday morning. Frenchman Jimmy Hélias made up five places to reach third position ahead of three drivers who were making strong progress. Matthew Higgins (GBR) moved up 13 places to fourth on Saturday evening, ahead of Dries Van Langendonck (BEL), a recent transfer from OK-Junior, who moved up 11 places, and Fionn McLaughlin (IRL), who moved up nine places. In 10th place, David Walther (DNK) had moved up 14 places.

OK JUNIOR FINAL

Thanks to his three victories, Roman Kamyab (GBR) was able to gain an advantage over poleman Noah Baglin (GBR), who won only once. Behind him, Niklas Schaufler (AUT) moved up nine places to third with two wins to his name. He is 15 points ahead of Kenzo Craigie (GBR). Arjen Kraeling virtually maintained his position in fifth while James Anagnostiadis (AUS) moved up seven places. The climb continued with Harrison Mackie (GBR) seventh (+15 places) ahead of Riley Cranham (GBR) +13 places and Alfie Slater (GBR) +23 places. Rocco Coronel (NLD) moved up from 16th to 10th place ahead of Christian Costoya (ESP) in 11th (+15 places).

OK-N FINAL

Korean driver Kyuho Lee took an early lead with back-to-back wins in the two Qualifying Heats held on Saturday. Great Britain's Harrison Whitticombe secured second place ahead of France's Hugo Herrouin in the first heat, but they both encountered problems at the start of the second. Whitticombe retired while Herrouin finished 10th. Thomas-Minh Spearing (GBR) took second place ahead of Gino Rocchio (ITA). In the provisional rankings, Lee is clearly in the lead ahead of Zsombor Kovacs (HUN) and Rocchio. Spearing is fourth ahead of Herrouin and Whitticombe is relegated to 8th.

The event hailed a great success and the staff at PFI and Trent Vally Karting Club being commended for hosting and assisting throughout the event, a thoroughly first-class event was had by all, competitors, officials, staff and the many spectators that turned up over the 3 day Word Karting extravaganza.