Bayford Meadows Winter Champion 2009/10

Colchester Kart driver James Walkington completed a meteoric first year in owner/driver racing when he was crowned the Bayford Meadows Winter Champion in the MiniMax class at the Kent circuit last weekend.

James Walkington, MiniMax Champion 2009/10

Walkington had endured a frustrating month since his victory in the previous round at Bayford. First, his visit to PF International for round one of their Winter Championship saw him start the final near the back of the grid after a faulty starter motor forced him to miss his second heat. Worse still, a fuel flow problem allowed him to gain only a handful of places fom his lowly start position in the final.

The following week he returned to PFI for round two. All seemed well until the start of lap 8 in the final when Walkington's rear axle snapped in two towards the end of the main straight. "As I came onto the straight there was a lot of vibration from the back end" he recalls, "and then as I reached the braking point the kart just let go and I headed off towards the tyre wall. All I could do was close my eyes and wait for the impact!". Fortunately, neither Walkington nor the kart were seriously damaged.

Next came a snow disrupted test day and race meeting at Shenington. Sterling work by the ground crew converted a circuit under 2 inches of snow at 7am to one fit for slicks by early afternoon! Walkington finished a creditable 11th on only his second visit to the circuit.

James with Team Manager Dean and No 1 Fan William

And so to Bayford for the final round of their Winter Championship. Walkington showed dominant form during the Saturday practice, maintaining a margin of 0.3 seconds over his rivals through most of the sessions. However, anti-climax followed on the Sunday when heavy rain caused the track to flood and the meeting to be abandoned. This led to the championship being decided from the results of the previous 3 completed rounds and, as championship leader, Walkington was declared the champion.

Walkington's attention now turns to the Super One British Championship opener at PFI in March. His progress there and at all of his other races may be followed on his website - www.JamesWalkington.com - in the results section.