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 Thanks once more to Daryl and the Vision Motorsport team for another win. It was a busy weekend as it threatened to rain keeping us on our toes prepared to make last minute set up changes.

Managed to get lots of testing done on Saturday too and finally happy we've got a good combination of engine and accessories. With limited budget you have to wait for opportunities to arise, but pleased with this find! Fastest lap trophy too!

Whilton Mill treat drivers to Haas F1 visit
As a reward for their success in the Whilton Mill Kart Club Championship last year, eight lucky drivers were given the chance to tour the Haas F1 factory with UK workshop manager, Alan Maybin.
The drivers were, Luke Whitehead, Brandon Abraham, Aaron Drury, Callum Bradshaw, Marcus Pett, Riley Phillips and Tom Smith. They were the club champions in their respective classes last year bar Brandon Abraham who won the ‘Perseverance’ award after his fantastic performances in the Mini Max class on novice plates.

From a parent’s point of view Simon Whitehead certainly took a very keen interest and told me: “What a fantastic experience it was to participate in the tour of the Haas F1 factory. I think everyone was amazed away by the weight and costs involved in individual parts of the car and the different approach Haas has taken. Credit to Alan Maybin who was the perfect guide and kept everyone intrigued throughout the tour. It was a nice touch at the end when the drivers were given some Haas memorabilia to take home. Well done to Whilton Mill for organising a Freya prize!”
​Away from the drivers and parents Club chairman Darren Clarke was also present along with photographer Stu Stretton. Stu commented: “It was eye opening to see the amount of equipment and expense to run just two cars. The stresses on the team to perform are great and the tolerances on the engineers to work to are incredible! It’s so far from the karting world but similar in so many ways to top level karting.”
It’s fantastic to see Whilton Mill are giving more than trophies and an experience I’m sure they’ll never forget.

I was very surprised that Riley was keen that we had a day out at the Grand Pier - given that it didnt involve any technology or motorsport. He helped us pack up and rushed us out to the car, this was getting more suspicious by the minute!

He'd researched that £15 unlimited ride wristbands were the best value and that whilst Lola and I could go on the ghost train, a little go kart track and dodgems, he would be upstairs all day and had his phone if I needed him!

So, what had he found in this most unlikley of places?

Two amazing state of the art F1 simulators!

I have to admit to being firstly a little annoyed at his deviousness and secondly quite impressed, at £15 for all day use (well, I was a bit deaf after a few hours so we had to leave).

Riley would have stayed all day and already had the fastest time the operator had seen in 3 years of operating the ride.

​Outside of peak holiday season its well worth another visit. Find out more here: WSM Pier F1 simulators

The best prize in junior motorsport is awarded each October to the winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship.

The scholarship is open to 14-16 year olds, karters make up the majority of entrants. Our Vision team mate Harry King came 3rd last year and secured a part funded drive for 2016 Championship, where has has had 2 race wins and shown great progress.

For us, any drive would have to be entirely funded and although the likliehood is virtually nil, still....this scholarship exists, miracles happen, youve got to be in it to win it and all those other cliches.

So, for 2 years we have had a transition plan, we have worked on various areas of skills that club karting doesnt necessarily give you. Riley has worked really hard, his school has helped enormously.

Actual driving is prohibitively expensive so we havent actually driven around a track in any sort of a race car, let alone a Ginetta. But thats the same story for much of our karting, we cant practice as much as others, not new tracks or when we move up classes.

Riley is really interested in the actual engineering side of the sport so has a good understanding of what difference set up changes might make, so this helps where testing is limited.

Without ontrack driving we have had to rely on studying Video footage of the track, sim work at home and a trip to IZone and Louise Goodman for Media training.

So, finally today we posted the application form. We may not suceeed, but Im proud we've done everything we planned to do, this isnt an accident, a sudden whim, Riley is ready.

We hope to get through to day 2 with some good feedback so we can modify our plan for 2017s entry where we can really give it a shot.