West Norfolk’s Jenson Sayell was pushed to the limit in the fifth and sixth rounds of the SuperOne Series Championship at the weekend.
Competing at the Clay Pigeon Raceway, in Dorset, Sayell picked up two excellent podiums and was involved in a bad crash in his Micromax Kart during an eventful weekend.
Gear Up team boss Jason Livings was very pleased with Sayell’s performance, saying: “The real test for any professional is when you get knocked down and hurting from the pain, is to pick yourself up and get back to business.
“Jenson showed what he is made of today. He did the team proud.“
His dad Rob added “Having not been to Clay pigeon for two years Friday practice was important and Jenson soon found the quick lines and was showing great pace.
“I think this weekend is the best I’ve seen Jenson race, even after being taken out into the barriers stopping him winning, to then jump into a different kart and drive from 15th to third in a short time shows his real talent.”
In qualifying, Sayell was consistently second fastest but was hampered by slowing down karts on the last lap and dropped to fourth.
The youngster got off to a great start in the opening heat and went on to win his first outing – only for the top three drivers to be given a five-second penalty for being deemed to have jumped the start and this relegated Sayell, had taken the fastest lap and fastest sectors 1 and 3, to sixth.
He dropped to fifth at the start of the second heat before eventually finishing two seconds behind the eventual race winner.
Qualifying fifth for the final and dropping a place after the start, Sayell eventually worked his way up to second to secure his first podium with the Gear Up Racing Team and in his new Synergy kart.
Sunday’s sixth round started well with Sayell taking a front row slot in second just 0.03 seconds off pole and he finished a tenth-of-a-second off the race winner.
Sayell claimed an early lead in the second heat before one of his rivals moved into him, sending him into the barriers at full speed with a out of the kart.
A very heavy impact threw the youngster, who had taken fastest lap and was fastest in all three sectors, out of the kart.
Despite being badly shaken, Sayell opted to compete in the final as dad Rob and grandad Harry set about building up his old chassis.
Two separate incidents in the final saw the West Norfolk driver, who had qualified ninth for the final, drop down to 14th as the red flag came out.
Sayell was 15th for the restart but pulled out all the stops with an amazing drive to eventually finish third to collect his second podium trophy in two days.
With his old chassis being written off, Jenson Sayell Motorsport will source and build up a new chassis before his next outing at Kimbolton.
The team thanks sponsors HD Installations and Will Bowles plus the Gear Up Racing Team and James Taylor for their support and tuition throughout the weekend especially after the contact incident.
If anyone would like to sponsor Sayell with help towards a new chassis and advertise on the kart please contact them throughout Jenson Sayell Motorsport on Facebook.
