Without even turning a wheel over the weekend during the final meeting of the BTE Lawline/Renault MSA British Kart Championship at Larkhall, Scotland, Staffordshire ace Mark Litchfield (Rocester) has been provisionally crowned 2004 Champion.
The 21-year old, who put the title out of the reach of his rivals at the previous round of the season at Shenington, knew competing in the last two races of the year at Larkhall would have potentially jeopardised his points lead, with the outcome of the Formula A championship decided using a double ‘drop-score’ ruling.
Under the rules of karting’s blue riband class, the points-scoring system sees drivers ‘drop’ their two worse results of the year but competitors aren’t permitted to count exclusions as ‘drop scores’. This meant, had Litchfield taken part over the weekend he would have risked relinquishing the title in the event of an incident, which later led to his exclusion.
Litchfield’s victory is well deserved as he has been in dominant form this year, taking five Finals wins and three other podiums. However, during the first points-scoring Final at Larkhall it was former champion Chris Rogers (Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire) who took the headlines with a stunning performance to win from 12th on the grid.
Jason Parrott (Crowland, Peterborough), crossed the line in second position after a last-lap overtaking manoeuvre on Jason Edgar (Cleator, Cumbria) relegated the later to third place at the chequered flag.
In a rain-soaked Final Two, David Gregory (Sheffield) climbed from fifth on the grid to take the lead by the end of lap two and he retained his position at the front all the way to the flag with Edgar crossing the line in second place and Rogers completing the podium in third.
In the provisional championship standings, Mark Litchfield takes the 2004 Formula A title with a total of 478 points, 24 points ahead of David Gregory with Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hampshire) in third on 445 points. Rogers’ fine season-ending performance saw him finish the year fourth overall in the standings ahead of Jason Parrott and 2003 Champion Gary Catt (Thruxton, Hampshire) in fifth and sixth positions respectively.
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