Reigning Super One InterMAX champion Jenson Sayell took his Pantano kart to Whilton Mill, Northants, for Rounds nine and ten of the championship.
Saturday’s Round nine proved difficult after being fastest in the warm-up practice, Marshland St James’s Sayell qualified fourth.
The youngster lacked pace in his opening heat and in heat two, he finished fifth but was later promoted to fourth when the winner was penalised for gaining an unfair advantage.
Sayell qualified fourth on the grid for the final. It proved a race to forget with the hired engine lacking power on the straights, Sayell ending a disappointing ninth.
The Sayell team changed engines for Round Ten. Unlucky in qualifying, Sayell finished fourth, 0.1 seconds off pole, when the session was ended two minutes early under caution.
In Heat One, Sayell eventually took third on lap seven, with the race coming under caution a lap later, preventing any further overtakes.
A better start in Heat Two saw Sayell into third on the first lap.
Demoted back to fourth on lap three Sayell fought back with fastest laps on laps four, six and seven and retook third place on the final lap with a great inside move.
Good heat results put Sayell third on the grid for the Final.
Sayell was second at the first corner. A collision behind brought out the no overtaking flag, but Sayell was still passed, dropping him to fourth.
Fired up, he took the fastest lap on laps three and four and regained third on lap six, albeit 1.8 seconds away from the leaders.
Sayell rapidly closed down the gap, taking the fastest sectors one and two and the fastest lap of the race to close onto the back of the leaders, but ran out of time and had to settle for the third-place podium.
“Jenson was hampered by a deteriorating engine on Saturday and a disappointing lack of adherence to the rules over the entire weekend,” said his dad, Rob.
“His driving on Sunday was excellent. Jenson made some great overtakes and showed his skill in a very strong 31-kart grid.”
Sayell thanks his sponsors, Sayell JLK Vehicle Solutions, Ark East Anglia Ltd, Sun Lounge Tanning Studio, Hall Clean and InfinityX, plus his team TWR Pantano, and IRemote Coaching for their ongoing support.
He is back at Whilton Mill next weekend for the final round of the CKC championship. The youngster is currently second, some 11 points behind the leader.
