Bailey James Racing

🏁 British Kart Championship Round 4 - Whilton Mill 🏁

𝐖𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋!

After three rounds of getting closer and closer, Round 4 at Whilton Mill was the weekend we finally made it happen.

Whilton is a track I really like and we've raced here several times before, so we already had a good starting point when we arrived.

Friday was a really positive day. We made changes throughout the sessions, found more pace and kept improving every time we went out.

Saturday qualifying was a different story.

Qualifying at this level can become a bit of a game of attrition. Everyone waits in the pits until the last possible moment, then heads out trying to get the perfect flying lap and the all-important tow.

We decided not to play that game.

The plan was to go out earlier, get a banker lap and hopefully pick up a tow when the rest of the field came through.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

We got caught up in the traffic as everyone rolled over and our flying lap was compromised. The result was a lap over a second slower than we'd managed in practice and P23 on the grid for Heat 1.

Then things got worse.

As I came out for the warm-up lap, the engine started spluttering. Halfway around the lap it cut out completely and I had no option but to pull off.

Heat over before it had even started, all down to a 50cm length of hose!

Somehow, post-race penalties and disqualifications meant I was classified P24, so it wasn't quite the disaster it could have been.

Heat 2 started from P24 and this time we had a serious advantage.

Because I hadn't completed a lap in Heat 1, my tyres were virtually untouched while everyone else had already put a heat cycle through theirs.

By lap 6 I was up to P18 and comfortably moving through the pack.

Then I tried a little too hard.

Going for P17, I outbraked myself and sent the kart into a drift that even Ken Block would've been proud of! 😂

Unfortunately, the train of karts we'd already passed came back through and all that hard work disappeared.

I kept pushing and crossed the line P23, which became P21 after penalties.

Going into Sunday, we'd learned something important. You're often so focused on your own race that you don't realise what is happening elsewhere on the grid.

Despite everything that had gone wrong for us, plenty of other drivers had experienced even more problems.

When the Saturday classifications came out, we were P36 overall.

Right on the cusp of the Final.

Sunday's Super Heat was going to be huge.

Starting P18, I made a good start and gained a couple of places, but then an incident ahead caused chaos. I ended up driving over the front of another kart that was facing the wrong way.

We managed to separate the karts, but I was now more than 20 seconds behind the field with a damaged nosecone dragging along the floor.

We considered pitting.

I decided to stay out.

The tyres were still good, the pace was there and there was nothing to lose.

It turned out to be the right decision.

A mixture of retirements, incidents and a technical flag for one of the drivers around me meant that, after everything had been sorted, I was classified P16.

Then came the wait.

Dad's maths suggested we'd made it.

But you never know until the official classifications are published.

And then it appeared.

P36.

WE HAD MADE THE FINAL.

Dead last on the grid, but we were in.

The Final plan was simple: stay out of trouble, don't get involved in the first-corner chaos, use the tyre advantage, be patient and make the moves when they were there.

And it worked.

Lap by lap I moved forward.

By lap 12 I was up to P27 and closing in on the group ahead.

Then, with two laps remaining, another driver decided my kart would make a better brake than their left foot.

I was sent sideways into the corner, producing another Ken Block-style drift.

The train of karts came past.

All that work was undone.

I crossed the line P35.

Was it the result we wanted? Absolutely not.

Was it the result the pace deserved? Probably not.

But that's motorsport.

We made the Final.

After three rounds of getting closer, we finally got there.

And now we know we can do it.

👍 Biggest Positive
My first British Championship Final.

🤔 Biggest Lesson
Keep fighting. This weekend looked finished more than once, but it wasn't.

🎯 Next Mission
Make the Final again — and finish further up the order.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me through the season so far. This one means a lot. 👊🏁

Stortec Engineering Ltd | Fort Vale Engineering LTD | Owkay Clothing | Coles Racing

Race week is officially here, and you know what that means: time for some serious prep! 😉

We spent most of yesterday getting the caravan sparkling clean, ready for another weekend of chasing speed.

It's moments like these that remind you motorsport isn't all glamour and trophies. There's a whole lot of hard work, grit, and even a bit of caravan washing that goes into it. But every single bit is part of the journey.

Thanks for being part of it all!

Don't forget to Follow for more behind-the-scenes 'action', your support means the world! 👇

Stortec Engineering Ltd | Fort Vale Engineering LTD | Owkay Clothing | Coles Racing | The Strategy Coach | Designer Travel by Simon Collinge

🏁 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟑 | 𝐊𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 🏁

Straight after finishing my Duke of Edinburgh expedition, it was off with the rucksack, on with the race suit and off to Kimbolton.

The weather couldn't have been more different to the last time we'd raced here. Last time here, it was all about wellies. This time it was hot, dry, dusty and unbelievably grippy.

Friday was all about learning.

I'd only raced here once before and never in conditions like these. We started the day over a second off the pace and spent every session chasing the setup.

Thankfully, every session we improved.

By qualifying we'd found some better pace, although the split-group format meant I started much further back than my lap time deserved.

Starting both heats from P25, Heat 1 was all about surviving the opening lap. I managed to avoid the first-corner chaos and climbed all the way to P11 before eventually crossing the line P18. A post-race penalty, which we couldn't get an explanation for despite asking, dropped me back to P21.

Heat 2 was much cleaner and another solid drive saw me promoted to P17 after penalties.

That left me P23 for Sunday's Super Heat. With the officials switching to a single-file start, there wasn't the same opportunity to gain places early, but I kept things clean and finished P18 after penalties.

When the final points were calculated, I'd missed out on my first British Championship Final by just four points.

That definitely stings.

From my point of view, I didn't achieve what I'd gone there to do.

But looking back at the data afterwards, the progress was huge. We started Friday over a second away from the front and by race day we'd reduced that to just a couple of tenths.

The results don't quite show it yet, but every weekend we're closing the gap.

👍 Biggest Positive
Closing over a second to the front in one weekend.

🤔 Biggest Lesson
Consistency and experience. Every lap at this level counts.

🎯 Next Mission
Turn all that progress into my first British Championship Final.

Thanks to everyone who's supporting my journey. 👊🏁

Demon Tweeks Motorsport Stortec Engineering Ltd Fort Vale Engineering LTD Coles Racing Owkay Clothing

🥾 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐡 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞! 🗺️

Last week, 𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐤 and headed to the Peak District for my three-day Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award expedition.

The adventure actually started a little earlier than planned. We travelled down on the Saturday, only to get within 15 minutes of the campsite before discovering the road into Bakewell had been closed for the town's annual festival. With the caravan on the back and nowhere to turn around, we did the only sensible thing... parked up, enjoyed the festival for a couple of hours and waited for the roads to reopen!

Sunday was a chance to relax before things got serious. One of the other students in my expedition group was staying on the same campsite, so we spent the day getting to know each other before meeting up with the rest of the team the following morning.

Monday marked the start of the expedition.

From the moment we were dropped off at Matlock Bath, it was down to us. Using nothing more than our maps, compass and teamwork, we had to navigate our own routes through the Peak District, finding checkpoints, making it back to camp, pitching our tents, cooking our own meals and preparing for the next day.

Over the next three days we covered more than 40km on foot, carrying everything we needed on our backs.

The weather certainly didn't make life easy. The temperatures were high, the hills seemed to get steeper as the days went on and by the final morning there were definitely a few sore feet. Like any team, there were the odd disagreements along the way too, but we worked through them and kept going.

One of our group even managed to break her ankle during the expedition, which was a reminder that things don't always go to plan and sometimes you have to adapt.

Thankfully, there were far more highs than lows.

New friendships were made, plenty of laughs were shared and there were memories that I'll remember for a long time.

By Wednesday afternoon, after packing away camp for the final time and hiking into Bakewell, I was definitely a little more tired, a lot more scruffy and very happy to see Mum and Dad waiting to pick me up!

The Duke of Edinburgh Award isn't just about walking. It's about resilience, teamwork, problem solving and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone.

It's safe to say I learned a lot... and I definitely appreciated a proper bed that night! 😅🥾

A brilliant few days, loads of memories made and another challenge completed.

But, there was no time to put my feet up though... it was straight back into the race suit, swapping the hiking boots for racing boots as, the following day, we headed directly to Round 3 of the British Kart Championship. 🏁🥾