West Pinchbeck brothers William and Benjamin Smalley had quite a weekend in the East of England Cup at Fulbeck Kart Circuit.
Teenage talent William, who is 15, was crowned East of England (EoE) Cup champion, while 11-year-old brother William was third in his class.
Benjamin started off what was to be a great day for Team Smalley Racing by securing a podium spot in the very competitive Honda Cadet Class.
The EoE Cup had attracted a massive field of 26 drivers (including two of the country’s elite Super One drivers) for the Honda Class – and it proved to be the largest and hardest fought class of the weekend.
A rough heat one saw Benjamin punted off twice. Starting 16th, he made a superb start by climbing up to eighth coming out of the first corner, only to be hit off at the second chicane, dropping him to 19th.
Once again, he climbed back to 11th before again being wiped out, this time re-joining in 16th. But he was only able to climb back to 12th before the chequered flag dropped.
A relatively trouble-free heat two saw him finish fifth, but as the heavens started to open prior to heat three the wet set-up, provided by mechanic and dad Nick, along with Benjamin’s wet driving style were to prove decisive as he crossed the line in second place.
An extremely wet final arrived and Benjamin found himself starting a well-placed P4. But, once again, bad luck struck as he was hit off at the first corner. Re-joining in 15th he quickly made his way up to 12th by the end of the first lap. He then started lapping some three seconds quicker than the karts around him and, by the end of lap five, he’d made his way back up to seventh.
Some overdue good fortune followed, with both the third and fourth placed karts retiring with engine problems due to the excessive water on the track. This promoted him up to fifth at the end of lap six. Still with a lot of work to do but still lapping quicker than the karts around him by over a second a lap, he went on to pass the next two placed karts on the penultimate lap to lift himself up onto the final podium position.
Indeed, he only finished behind only the two elite Super One drivers as he claimed a well-deserved third place.
William then rounded off a superb weekend for the team. Running in the Junior Rotax Class, he started well with second and third places in heats one and two respectively.
But, as the day progressed and the heavens started to open William and his mechanic Danny Atkin adapted their driving and set-ups much better than the other competitors. A small error in heat three denied him the race win, but as he crossed the line in second he’d easily set the fastest laps of the heat by well over half a second.
An almost torrential final saw William starting second. He sat patiently behind the leader before the pair entered the penultimate lap. He made his move on the leader and completed the needed pass on the inside at the top hairpin to take the lead.
William then held his nerve and went on to stretch his lead, taking the chequered flag a lap and a half later, by a margin of 2.1 seconds.
His final lap was a massive 1.2 seconds quicker than anyone else on track, setting the fastest lap of the final as well as clinching the title.
