Spring into action

Hi all. Enjoying the weather? I know I am!

Following on from my last post, I thought I’d provide a Spring update on recent goings on here at BJC Racing:

Back on the 12th of April I was karting at Castle Combe at the second round of SRK’s ‘sprint’ championship. Buoyed by recent results at CCKC, I was hopeful for a more competitive day following a somewhat underwhelming round one. As it transpired, I scored enough points to reach the ‘E’ final, which I won in dominant fashion, and ended the day 35th overall (out of 66 drivers), and 6th in class. All in all I was happy with how I drove and, other than losing a couple of positions in my opening heat due to an overzealous driver squeezing me into the barriers at turn one (for which he was rightly penalised) I felt like I achieved the maximum given how ultra competitive the field was. The next round of SRK takes place at Dunkeswell on 8th June. Formerly known as Mansell Raceway, I’m looking forward to visiting this track for the first time and hopefully scoring some good points.

A few weeks later I had the pleasure of driving some beautifully fast cars around Thruxton motor racing circuit in Hampshire, during one of their driving ‘experience’ days. On a gloriously sunny day at the UK’s fastest track, I completed laps in an Alpine A110, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a single seater racing car, sharing the track with Porches, Lamborghinis, and Tiff Needle giving passenger laps to unsuspecting ‘victims’ in a BMW M2 - What a great way to spend a few hours! The Aston in particular was just incredible, with approx. 400bhp and a good old fashioned manual gearbox - Great stuff!!

For more info about Thruxton and their range of experience days, visit their website here: https://thruxtonracing.co.uk/experiences. I promise you, it’s money well spent.

Before the end of May I again found myself at Castle Combe for round 4 of their 2025 karting championship, having opted to miss round 3. On this occasion, I finished 10th overall and 2nd in class, having picked up a couple of wins during my heats. With my intention to enter eight out of ten rounds in 2025 (with only the seven highest results counting towards my final championship position) there is still plenty of time left to ensure I achieve my goals for the year, but I also know I need to step up my game slightly at the next round (which will be held on 22nd June) to give myself an easier time later in the year -

Watch this space!

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben

March Madness ‘25

Hello! How’ve you all? 2025 going ok so far? I appreciate it’s been a little while since my last post so I thought I’d provide a little update:

After deciding to skip the ‘25 edition of the British Rental Kart Championship (held in January, in Milton Keynes) I made the decision to commit to competing in two separate rental kart championships this year, both of which kicked off in March. First up was Castle Combe’s Karting Championship, which is held over 10 rounds from March to November (min. weight 70kg, top 7 rounds count towards final championship position). I’ve driven in this championship many times over the years, with mixed results, but my aim this year is a top 15 overall finish (the championship usually attracts 130+ different drivers over the course of a season), as well as looking to win the ‘masters’ championship, which is a separate category for drivers aged 40 and over (yes, sadly I turned 40 in February, so I’m now officially old)..
Things started off well at round one (held on March 1st) -
Three heat wins (and a 5th..) saw me line up 6th in the ‘A’ final, where I was able to gain one place to finish 5th overall, and 1st in the masters category, which means that I came away from a sunny Castle Combe with a good points haul and some silverware too!

The other championship I’ve decided to enter this year is the SRK (Southern Rental Kart) ‘sprint’ championship, which is held between March and November at a variety of indoor and outdoor circuits across the south of England. Round one took place at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes on 9th March, and I was competing in the ‘SRK2’ (Amateur) class for drivers weighing 80kg+. This event would consist of a practice session, 3 x heats and a final for each driver, with each race requiring a minimum of at least one ‘pit stop’ (using Formula Fast’s high tech system, fine-tuned for the BRKC). Practice went well given it was my first visit to the circuit since January 2024, and the heats were soon underway -
In my first race I started in 2nd place but finished 8th, after making an invalid pit stop - A frustrating error on my part. I followed that up with another 8th in my second race (from 10th on the grid), and 5th in my third heat, having started 5th. This put me firmly in the bottom half of the field, and I would start the ‘F’ final from pole position. Despite my best efforts (and leading 2/3rds of the race) I was beaten to the chequered flag by the driver who started 2nd, thanks to the combination of an effective undercut by him, and me getting temporarily stuck behind an early stopping back marker - 

An underwhelming end to a low key day, it must be said..

In what was only my second ever SRK event, following an outing at Daytona Milton Keynes a couple of years ago, I did feel as though I underperformed on track, with my pit stop error and subsequent points loss in my first heat leaving with me a big job on my hands to climb the leader board. However, I believe I did my best in the following races so I wasn’t too disappointed at the end of the day. I finished 47th overall (out of 70 drivers), and 11th in class. A big thank you goes to the SRK organisers and the team at Formula Fast for putting on such a well-run event.

Before the month was over I found myself back at Castle Combe for round two of their karting championship, which was held on March 23rd. In cooler conditions than those encountered at round one, I was able to win two of my heat races and finish 2nd in the my other two, which put me on pole(!) in the ‘A’ final. With some very fast drivers starting immediately behind me I knew I was probably looking at a position in the top five at best, and that’s exactly how things panned out, with some aggressive jostling for position in the opening laps. Come the chequered flag, I crossed the line in 5th, right on the bumper of the driver in 4th who in turn was immediately behind the top three. While on the face of it dropping from 1st to 5th may not look great, I was still pleased with the way I’d driven all afternoon, and again came away with a trophy for finishing first in the ‘masters’ category -

What a month!

Next up for me is round two of the SRK sprint series, which will be held at Castle Combe on 12th April, before returning for round four of Castle Combe’s championship on 25th May. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted regarding I get on.

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben

Season’s Greetings!

Hello all. Where has this year gone huh? If only I was as fast in a rental kart! I thought I’d put up one final post before the end of the year just to let you know what I’ve been up to, and what my plans are for 2025. 

Since my last update, I have raced in the final two rounds of Castle Combe’s Karting Championship (CCKC), finishing 4th overall in the penultimate event, before finally scoring a competitive podium with 2nd place at the 10th and final round. To say I was chuffed with that result would be an understatement, after years of competing in this particular championship.

In all likelihood I won’t be doing any more karting between now and the end of the year, however I am looking forward to attending the upcoming KartMania show at Silverstone. It’s been a long time since I’ve been and I’m excited to see how the event has grown since I last visited (back before the event was moved to Silverstone in fact!). KartMania takes place this weekend, and you can still get tickets ‘on the door’ if you are interested. All information about the show can be found here: https://www.kartmania.co.uk -

Perhaps I’ll see you there!

In terms of my racing plans for 2025, I’m still debating whether to give something like Club 100 a go, or some other form of 2-stroke karting. At the very least I’d like to be able to compete in a full season of at least one championship (2 or 4-stroke), and perhaps get a couple more ‘driving experience’ type days under my belt. I also decided against entering the 2025 edition of the BRKC (British Rental Kart Championship) in order to hopefully free up some funds to do more karting elsewhere.. No doubt I’ll be back in 2026 though! Once I firm up my plans I’ll be sure to post an update.

Until then -

Drive safe, have fun and have a great Christmas!

Ben

BIKC 2024 Update # 2

Ok, that didn’t exactly go to plan..

The long and the short of it is; I didn’t make the top 6 in my ‘local’ BIKC final. Gutted isn’t the word!

After a relatively competitive practice session, I was disappointed to find that (following a mandatory kart change) I was only able to qualify in 14th place out of 24 drivers, with my best lap time being 2/10ths slower than I had achieved in practice. This left me lining up 2nd on the grid the ‘B’ final, made up of the slower 12 drivers. My only opportunity to qualify for the  regional finals would have therefore meant finishing in the top 2 in the B final (which I duly did), and then to make my way up to at least 6th place in the ‘A’ final from 14th on the grid..

Sadly, I was only able to make up six positions to finish 8th overall in what was actually a competitive race (in which I set something like the 5th fastest lap), just running out of time at the end to gain two further positions. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement, however other than my sub-par qualifying performance (which I attribute more than anything to a slightly off-pace kart) in general I was pleased with the way I drove on the night in what was actually a very competitive field of drivers. My congratulations go to all of the drivers who qualified across the different weight categories, and I wish you all the best for the regional finals!

Rather than getting down about not qualifying I’ve decided to pick myself up, dust myself off and enter the next round of Castle Combe’s Karting Championship, due to take place on 13th October. I may also look to enter the final round of the championship in November -

After a couple of relatively positive results at Castle Combe earlier in the year I’ll be hoping I can finish off my 2024 season on a high. I’ll be sure to let you know what I end up doing though!

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben

BIKC 2024 Update # 1.5

Just a quick update today folks to confirm that I have qualified for my ‘local’ British Indoor Karting Championship final, which will be held at Teamsport’s Avonmouth venue on 12th September.

Around 150 drivers across multiple weight categories recorded qualifying times for BIKC in Bristol, and my combined (average) lap time saw me rank 11th in the ‘heavyweight’ class. My next goal will be to finish in the top 6 at the local final, further to which I hope to go on to represent the area at a ‘regional’ final, the location for which is kept secret until after the local finals have concluded.

My congratulations go to all of the drivers who qualified, and I’ll see you later in the month :-)

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben

BIKC 2024 Update # 1

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m currently in the process of attempting to qualify for the ‘local’ final of the British Indoor Karting Championship, which is a competition run by Teamsport. To do so I must rank inside the top 24 drivers in my weight class, with best lap times being taken across multiple sessions between June and August (with each driver needing to record at least three lap times across separate events)*. 

As of today I have recorded two qualifying times, set during a 45 minute ‘members’ race on 20th June, and an ‘arrive and drive’ session on 15th July.  This means that I only need set one more time between now and the end of August to be eligible to qualify, but in all likelihood I’ll end up doing a couple of extra events to ensure I give myself a better chance of ranking highly within the top 24. If all goes to plan, I’ll then compete in the local final which is scheduled to take place on 12th September. The top drivers from that event will then go on to race in a ‘regional’ final at an as-of-yet undisclosed Teamsport location in October, ahead of the ‘national’ final in November (which will be held in Warrington) - Wish me luck! 

*There is still time to enter BIKC 2024. If you wish to do so, or would like more information about the competition, check out the website here: https://bikc.co.uk. I’ll be sure to post another update regarding my progress in the coming weeks.

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben

Hello

Welcome to the new look home of BJC Racing on Blogger!

Here you’ll find updates regarding all of my karting and motorsport-related activities. If you’re not already doing so, please feel free to follow BJC Racing’s pages on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share/uvQg5zdtZWcN1RBT/?mibextid=LQQJ4d) and Instagram (@bjc.racing). Any likes and shares are very much appreciated!

So, what I have been up to in 2024? As is now tradition, my ‘season’ started in January at the annual British Rental Kart Championship (BRKC) event, held at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes. After mixed results over the last few years, it was my personal aim to finish in the Top 50 (with 100 drivers competing in all). Unfortunately once the points were added up I was officially ranked in 52nd place, but level on points with the drivers who were classified in 50th, 51st, 53rd and 54th, so not a complete disaster. The most surprising thing was that I ended up being more competitive in the races where I expected to struggle, whereas I under performed in my first and last heat races to the detriment of my overall position. As usual though I had a great time and it was fun catching up with some people who I only get to see maybe once a year. If you’ve never entered BRKC I would seriously recommend it. It’s such as well-run event and there are some fantastic prizes on offer. Full details can be found at their website: 

https://www.britishrentalkartchampionship.co.uk

Since January I’ve only raced in a handful of other events, most notably a ‘members’ race at Teamsport’s Avonmouth track (where I finished 2nd in class), two rounds of Castle Combe’s Adult Championship, finishing 4th and 5th (overall) respectively, and most recently a ‘Superchamps’ round at Daytona Milton Keynes. Using their 4-stroke Sodi karts, I finished 13th overall and 5th in class, so all in all I came away pretty happy with that result, especially given my lack of familiarity with the karts and the track layout used on the day (‘Linkback / Cliffdrop’, if you’re interested!).

In terms of what I have on for the rest of ‘24, I’ll soon be turning my attention towards trying to qualify for the British Indoor Karting Championship (BIKC) regional and national finals. To do so, I first need to set three separate ‘qualifying’ times between now and the end of August, further to which a ‘local’ final is held for each weight class. The top drivers from that will then progress to the regional final, etc. With Teamsport (BIKC’s organising body) adjusting the ‘heavyweight’ class down to a minimum of 85kg, I feel that this should allow me to be competitive - 

Certainly more so than I would have been at the heavier end of the ‘middleweight’ class (for which driver must now weigh between 70 to 85kg). I’ll be sure to post updates as to how I’m progressing in regards to this particular competition.

Until then -

Drive safe, and have fun!

Ben