Rd.2 of the British Cadet Championships at Llandow
23/24 May 2015
Jonny produced a perfect performance at Llandow and was rewarded with a maximum score that has propelled him into 1st place in the championship table. Despite winning the Grand Final at Rowrah a month earlier, he actually came to Llandow 10 points behind Dexter Patterson. He left the Welsh circuit with a championship lead of six points.
His weekend got off to a bad start on Saturday morning when he was classified 8th in the Timed Qualifying Session. The only consolation for him was that Dexter had fared slightly worse, finishing 9th. Later that afternoon he chalked up two impressive Heat wins, while Patterson could do no better than record 4th and 6th place finishes. That brought Jonny within two points of Dexter’s championship tally.
Sunday’s weather conditions were a bit different and everyone came out on wet tyres for Final 1. Jonny soon pulled out an impressive lead over Patterson and Lorcan Hanafin but, with the circuit rapidly drying, he had to nurse his tyres. Despite being closed down in the latter stages of this race, he won with around 20 yards to spare over Patterson. That result placed both drivers on equal points in the championship standings.
Patterson made a good start in Final 2 and Jonny had to settle for 3rd place on the opening lap, as Hanafin also nipped through. However, he soon got past Patteson for 2nd spot and was content to follow Hanafin for half a dozen laps before taking over at the front. By this stage Patterson had been demoted to 5th position behind Clayton Ravenscroft and Harry Thompson.
By working together, Jonny and Lorcan were able to pull out a lead of more than 100 yards over the chasing pack. They began their final lap with Hanafin tucked in tightly behind, waiting for a mistake that was never forthcoming. Jonny crossed the finishing line half a kart’s length ahead to round off a perfect weekend. Thompson claimed the remaining podium place, with Patterson 4th. Only two other drivers in the history of IAME Cadets have ever returned a perfect score, so this was something quite special.
“With another five rounds remaining it’s still early days in the championship battle but, at this stage we’d rather be six points ahead than six behind,” said Justin. “The good thing about this round was that Jonny proved to be quick in both wet and dry conditions, so we are very happy right now.”
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