The MSA Kartmasters British Grand Prix saw Coles Racing compete in six different classes, with eleven competitors in total - some drivers doubling up in classes.
Minimax saw Tom Adams and Owen Johnson take to the track. The Minimax duo claimed 3rd and 4th respectively in the first qualifying session of the weekend, before going on to claim a 1-2 in the first heat shortly after.
Adams bagged another victory with Johnson 4th in the second. Timed Qualifying 2 saw Adams take pole position with Johnson setting the 4th fastest time ready for the resumption of the heats.
Adams took a 1st and a 5th in the remaining heats to give himself pole position for the Pre-Final. Johnson took 5th and 10th - after a nosecone penalty demoted him from 4th in the final heat, meaning he would start the Pre-Final from 4th.
Adams stormed to victory in the Pre-Final, taking the win by over 2 seconds to give himself pole for the GP Final. Johnson was in a race long battle for 2nd position - ultimately finishing in 4th position.
The Grand Final saw an all race battle with five drivers going for victory. Adams led the race on two different occasions, before a last lap collision into the hairpin took him out of contention for the win. Johnson crossed the line third, but was demoted for a nosecone infringement. Adams recovered to 6th after being cruelly denied!
William Elswood was the sole representative in Mini X30 - taking 4th in the first qualifying session. He took a 4th and 5th in the first two heats, before qualifying 2nd in the second qualifying session of the weekend. Once again he took a 4th and 5th in the remaining two heats - giving himself 3rd on the grid for the Pre-Final.
Elswood was knocked back to the back of the field on the third lap and began to fight his way back through the grid, unfortunately picking up a penalty on his way and being classified 13th at the flag.
Starting way out of position for the Final, Elswood made quick progress through the field - picking drivers off one by one to give himself a shot of the podium. As the field bunched up in the closing stages, he made a brace of moves to get himself up into 3rd position at the chequered flag - just 0.3s off a victory, gaining ten positions in a great final drive. This earned him a well deserved spot on the podium in Mini X30.
Tyler Chesterton took pole in the first qualifying session in Junior Rotax, with Bradley Barrett and William Stennett taking 7th and 9th respectively. Chesterton took a 1st and a 3rd in his two heats whilst Burgess and Stennett took 10th and 11th in heat one, and 6th and 12th in heat two. Qualifying 2 saw Chesterton take the 3rd fastest time. Stennett took 5th and Burgess the 11th fastest time. The trio went on to take 1st, 8th and 10th in heat three, and 3rd, 12th and 11th in the final heats.
Chesterton went on to take a lights to flag victory in the Pre-Final after starting from pole position by over 1.0s in dominant fashion. Burgess and Stennett took 7th and 8th respectively in the Pre-Final.
The Grand Final saw Chesterton in the fight for the victory throughout the race, taking the lead on three separate occasions. On lap 13 however, Chesterton was knocked to the back of the grid and removed from the battle for the win. Chesterton battled back to finish 9th, with fastest lap. Burgess took a strong 5th position and Stennett finished in 10th.
Chesterton doubled up by racing in the Junior X30 class, alongside Samuel White and Matthew Hudson. Chesterton took 3rd overall in Qualifying 1, with White 6th and Hudson 22nd in the 52 kart strong grid.
Chesterton went on to take 3rd in his opening heat, before being taken out of the race in his second heat. He took a 6th and a 2nd in his remaining heats. White had strong heats with a 6th, 3rd, 2nd and a 4th - before a DNF in the final heat denied him a top starting position for the Pre-Final. Hudson took 22nd, 18th, 13th, 28th and 9th in his heats - meaning he also would qualifying for the Finals on the Sunday.
The Junior X30 Pre-Final saw White go off 10th position, Chesterton from 15h and Hudson from 18th. White charged through the field to take a brilliant 2nd position, less than 0.5s off victory. Chesterton likewise made great progress, gaining nine positions to finish in 6th position - whilst Hudson was denied a solid 16th position by a nosecone infringement.
The GP Final saw White in the hunt for the podium, running in 4th for the majority of the race, less than half a second off the victory. With four laps to go however, his shot at GP glory was thwarted after being run wide - forced to settle for 6th at the flag. Chesterton was working with White for most of the race, running in 5th position just behind him. Likewise he was denied a shot at the podium due to contact forcing him down to 9th at the finish line. Hudson put on a great charge through the field, gaining fifteen positions to finish in 13th position overall.
Josh Skelton led the Coles Racing drivers in X30 Senior first Qualifying, setting the 21st fastest time overall out of the 63 participants entering the maximum capacity event. Tom Croydon lined up 23rd, Morgan Rose 26th, Tyler Sullivan 32nd, Jenson Brown 38th, Stephanie Le Vesconte 53rd and Corman Dunne 57th after issues in qualifying.
After six hard faught heats in the run up to Finals Day, Skelton and Rose managed to make their way into the hugely competitive A-Final. Sullivan, Croydon, Brown, Dunne and Le Vesconte raced as best they could, however numerous incidents blighted their pursuit of a position in the A-Final - with Sullivan reaching reaching 7th in the B-Final, just shy of making it into the A Final.
In a frantic final race of the weekend, Skelton put on a valiant performance to bag himself a top ten finish, taking 10th in the final - racing against some of the most successful karters in Kartmasters history and multiple British Champions. Rose also raced well, coming home 24th after a nosecone infringement denied him an 18th place finish.
Overall it was a case of what could of been for Coles, on the front row in three finals but just missing out on victory at the Grand Prix Events. Nevertheless, fastest laps in Minmax, Junior Max and Junior X30 showed the team had the potential to be triple champions and will use this to motivate them into the final rounds of the 2017 season.
The next race takes place at Larkhall, Scotland for the eighth round of the Super One British Karting Championship.
