Finlay scores first British Kart Championship podium of 2023
Finlay scored his first podium finish of 2023, in the Wera Tools British Kart Championships, held at Kimbolton last weekend.
Finlay was unable to participate in Friday’s testing due to academic commitments, and endured a difficult Saturday during Free Practice where he finished 26th out of the 34 drivers competing in the event.
Qualifying saw the Maximum Motorsport driver drop down the timing screen, due to contact on lap three, leaving him in fifteenth place for heat one.
Finlay made up seven places during the first heat of the weekend, taking his Dan Holland Racing prepared kart to eighth place at the end of the session.
Starting from 15th place for Heat Two on Sunday, Finlay got stuck in, looking to make up places early on. At the end of lap one, Finlay was running in tenth place, however, an incident between two other drivers on lap three saw Finlay’s on-track position compromised and losing several places because of this.
The Maximum Motorsport driver fought back to finish in 16th position. With his heat scores combined, this left Finlay in tenth place in the Intermediate Classification, which is used to set the grid for the Pre-Final.
Finlay worked hard in the Pre-Final, taking a wide line into turn one after the start, which helped as he made up six places during the twelve-minute + one-lap race.
The Dan Holland Racing driver crossed the line in sixth place, however, was elevated to fourth place after two drivers were awarded post-race penalties.
Starting from fourth place in the Final, which took place over fifteen minutes + one-lap, Finlay used the outside line into turn one with good effect holding his position as he fought for the final podium spot.
Finlay battled with Friend, Barham and Kiteley for third place in the final stages of the race, before passing Kiteley for the final podium place on the penultimate lap, claiming his first British Karting Championship podium of the year.
Finlay sends his congratulations to teammates Cole Denholm and Jacob Ashcroft on finishing 1-2 in the Final this weekend at Kimbolton.
Finlay is very grateful for the help and support he receives each weekend. He sends a big thank you, to his mechanic Jamie for his persistence in guiding and supporting Finlay at each event.
A big thank you to DHR’s Shaun Carter and Dan Holland for all their support. And finally, to Neil Riddiford at IZone Driver Performance for all of his mentoring with Finlay in between events.
