Laura Tillett

	World and European Championship Super KF kart racer

Laura at Portimao

Photographic contributions by Chris Walker, Ed Robinson, George Bamford and Aki Rask

The next races are in Milville USA on the 1st of August and Sharm el Sheik Egypt on the 31st of October

http://www.wskarting.com/

LAURA'S LATEST NEWS

Laura, Johnny Herbert and Barry McGuigan

Henry's Headway Challenge

Laura joins Johnny Herbert, Barry McGiugan, Andy Stapley and Josh Webster in the Buckmore Old Boys 1 team at a Club 100 charity race. The race was organised by John Surtees to remember his son Henry Surtees and raise money for the Headway brain injury charity.

A great time was had by all and the event raised £60,000. Thank you to Buckmore Park and Club 100 for running this well organised event.

12.07.10

Portimao WSK World series round 1

Portimao saw her first SKF race that actually could be described as having hot weather. Starting from from 12th the prefinal all started well with Laura moving up the field and setting the 4th quickest time of the race. Unfortunately a front tyre destroyed itself as it overheated and she went back to 11th.

Allowed to change one of the fronts for an old tyre used in the heats meant that although able to finish the race, Laura could only remain static in the field finishing 10th.

3.07.10

Laura at Portimao

Sarno WSK Euro series round 5

After having a motor blow up in the heats it was going to be a tough race from grid 15 but Laura survived the intense competition and got to 13th in the prefinal. She finished a creditable 9th in the main final. She finishes 11th overall in the Super KF WSK Euro Championship.

6.06.10

Henry's Headway Challenge Monday 12th July 2010 at Buckmore Park

Laura is to partner Johnny Herbert in the charity meeting organised to celebrate Henry Surtees life.

Henry and Laura used to race together at Buckmore Park and John Surtees helped Laura enormously when she first started.

The charity that will benefit from this event is the Headway brain injury charity.

29.05.10

Genk WSK round 4

The Tonykart Junior team and Vortex engines gave Laura the equipment necessary to be competitive and she was looking forward to another good finish after gaining 10th grid for the pre final. However, before the start of the race another driver swerved violently smashing Laura off the track. She rejoined 100 meters behind the 31 karts, after overtaking half of the grid, she overtook a driver who then knocked her off the track at the next corner, so Laura pulled in to save the tyres for the main final. The main final was going well and she had passed about 10 drivers when yet again she was spun around from behind. She recovered to 21st place. After the success from the previous races it was a disappointing end.

9.05.10

Tonykart are arguably the most professional team in the world of karting so to be offered the chance to drive for them is a real honour. Laura now has that chance and this has created an enormous amount of excitement in the family.

This of course means leaving Dean Panrucker's Millennium Motorsport team and this has caused a certain amount of upset. Laura owes allot of her success to Dean, Dan, Terry and Spike. This team is a fantastic team where no driver is ever left out or neglected and Laura would like to thoroughly recommend them to anyone wishing to succeed in their karting career.

The team move means an engine change too and she would also like to thank GFR for the brilliant TM engines that she has used this year.

26.04.10

Laura at Zuera Laura' new helmet from JLF

Laura made the Superpole top 12 again for the second WSK race in succession and after three tough heats had grid 8 for the pre final. At one stage she ran as high as 5th in the pre final, only to get knocked off the track by someone she had already overtaken. In the final she got a bad start when her side of the grid was held up going over the start line and as a result of this she needed to come from 18th after the first lap. However Dean and Dan had her Tonykart TM working faultlessly and she overtook many works drivers to finish in a fine 8th position.

18.04.10

Laura's story is used as a feature in Kent Life's "Young Guns" monthly article.

17.04.10

Laura with her mechanic Dan on the grid

All through practice and qualifying Laura was setting some of the quickest lap times amongst the best kart racers in the world. In qualifying she made grid 7 which put her into Superpole for the top 12 drivers.

After three excellent heats Laura put her kart on grid three for the pre final. She then comfortably came 4th chasing 3rd place Sauro Cesetti and pulling away from the rest of the pack. Starting on Grid 4 for the second race hopes were high but unfortunately her engine suddenly misfired over the start line, cutting out and causing a false start, she managed to catch it and restart but as they rounded the last corner but one, the engine spluttered and died.

28.03.10

Laura tests an old race car around Brands.

16.03.10

Quick all week Laura was constantly upsetting some of the established works drivers at La Conca.

After getting a 15th grid in the final a typical karting fist corner pile up took her out in the first race but she recovered to 17th in the second final.

07.03.10

Laura photographed by George Bamford

Laura is selected for a book project by one of the countries top photographers.

23.02.10

Laura is the joint winner of the BWRDC Helen Spence Trophy

22.02.10

Laura at the Winter Cup with Nyck de Vries

Things were looking up for Laura in practice, She was fast and quickly at ease with the new equipment. A sparkplug malfunction after half a lap in qualifying forced Laura to start from the back of the grid for the two heats. She made 28th grid in the pre final, made her way through the pack up to 17th but the power started to become intermittent and this resulted eventually in a non finish. In the main final she moved up from 34th to 20th when one of the drivers, of whom she had just passed, spun her round. She rejoined the race to pass another three drivers and 24th position was the result.

21.02.10

Laura has spent this morning posing for the national press.

The story that the pink helmet just had to go, to help stop the rear end attacks by the boys, has ended up in the Metro and we hope that other publicity will come from the great photo's that were taken by the other main papers. See the latest article in the Metro.

10.02.10

Regretfully Laura is to leave PDB in 2010 as she wants to keep her association with her UK team manager Dean Panrucker and the Millennium Motorsports team. Because of this she is to switch to the Tonykart chassis and she will also use the GFR TM engines as used in the UK events last year.

Laura would like to thank Tim Gillard for the fantastic chassis and his continual support for the last 5 years. Laura would also like to thank the whole of the PDB team for their generous support, they really are a great team to be involved with and we have thoroughly enjoyed our years karting with them.

19.01.10

Jenson presents Laura with the 11th place award won at the Super 1 Championship. Laura was also a nominee for the Gold Star award by the BWRDC.

16.01.10

Laura racing at Vendrell Spain

After getting a bent axle in the pre final Laura came from the rear of the grid to 11th in this the final big race of the year.

06.12.09

Laura has a feature in the Metro Magazine and an interview broadcast on Radio 5 live.

After appearing in the Metro Magazine, a number of magazines and Radio 5 live contact Laura for her story.

Metro article

06.12.09

A feature about Laura's kart racing career appeared on the BBC today. Showing her driving around Buckmore and being interviewed. She also had a live interview broadcast on BBC Radio Kent. BBC

13.11.09

Although on the pace again, two of the 4 heats were spoilt by being knocked off at the start, so the final was going to be difficult to make with 70 drivers entered. She was unlucky enough to be pole in the repecharge but a great drive saw Laura in a comfortable 2nd. Despite a tough battling race, the final of 34 drivers saw Laura make the 6th quickest lap and she was the fastest driver using the Parilla engine. 21st was her final position.

Laura is now looking forward to 2010 where she will compete in SKF.

01.11.09

Fulbeck was the last round and after getting a 5th grid for the pre final hopes were high for a good result. The reeds broke on the roll up lap and she was unable to take the start. In the main final she got up to 7th from the back and the engine broke again. Two non finishes meant that a top ten finish in the championship was lost.

Laura was the first British female to ever compete in the World Championship of the premier class of karting and she made it through to the final in conditions that were anything but easy. The track was breaking up, which caused everyone a headache with set up as the track was constantly changing.

In qualifying she was 5th in group and 16th overall. She was faster than many super stars and out qualified 5 times World Champion Davide Fore and current KZ World Cup winner Jonathon Thonon. In the first heat an Italian driver drove right over her, so she had a smashed up kart and a non finish. A non finish could have taken her out the final but she battled to get two good finishes in the other heats and this got her grid 30 in the 34 kart pre final.
In the main final another driver drove up her back at the start getting stuck on top of her, 25th was her final position.

The track was breaking up at the World Championship
11.10.09

Laura is getting quicker at every European event and qualified on grid 16 for the pre final, finishing the main final in 12th.

this was here best result of the year and shows that she has become one of the fastest drivers in the country.

22.09.09

Starting on grid of 7th of Final 1, she was knocked back to 16th but came back through to 11th and she was only three 100ths off of setting the fastest lap. The start of Final 2 lasted only 1 lap as another driver buried her into the fence with a move that earned him a penalty and bent her kart.

Even with this problem Laura has moved up to 9th in the championship.

13.09.09

Over to Northern Ireland for this one where a hovercraft would have been a more suitable vehicle, we spent the whole meeting wading around in 2 inches of water.

Laura achieved 6th place on the grid and after a dry, wet, dry, wet final on slicks she came away 9th.

Then the heavens opened up and the second final was cancelled.

23.08.09

In the World's top karting class a spirited drive in race one saw Laura comfortably in 10th until the very last lap when the engine blew up. She was still classified 14th which was a point scoring position and therefore classified here overall as 24th.

In race two her back bumper was rammed into her tyre destroying her chances by wearing out the soft Bridgestone specials and dragging the engine down. She finished 17th.

Laura makes it to the final of a WSK event for the first time.

Laura's fastest engine seized in practice but she still managed a creditable 6th place from 18th on the grid.

Laura is 11th in the British Championship using her Gillard TM equipment.

05.07.09

Laura's speed was back at Genk and with both the new kart and Parilla engine performing well she qualified 5th in group and ahead of the eventual winner of the meeting. Various incidents put her out of contention as the first corner of every race seemed impossible to negotiate without the driver behind using her as a brake.

14.06.09

Laura and friend at the Genk WSK championship

A good start saw Laura up to 7th but a strange lack of speed from the equipment meant that it could not be sustained and she slipped back to 13th.

07.06.09

Laura finishes 6th in the final of the Shennington round of the Super 1 KF2 Championship .

A grid position of 6 after qualifying and an eventful pre final which saw Laura knocked back from 8th to 22nd was culminated with a fine performance back through to 11th and an equal fastest lap. The main final was less eventful and Laura passed a few drivers to move up to 6th but was unable to close the gap to the leaders.

10.05.09

Laura qualifies 5th out of 60 drivers in the KF2 Western region European Championship Qualifying event.

Will the luck never change? After qualifying 1st in group in the time trials and getting 5th grid after the 4 heats, Laura was expected to qualify for the finals with ease. Unfortunately a kart flying through the air struck Laura from behind and put her out of the first final. Starting 32nd on the grid this meant she had to finish in the top ten to qualify. A fantastic drive to 7th looked like putting her through when 8 laps from the end the reeds on the engine blew apart.

3.05.09

Laura and Maisano are victims of agressive driving at the European qualifiers

Laura's dream is ended at the European qualifiers

Laura finishes 20th in the repecharge of the Caselletto round of the WSK Championship in Italy.

Motor problems in the heats put pay to any thoughts of making the finals directly although a good performance in the wet coming 12th from the very back of the grid helped her confidence when it was wet for the repecharge.

Unfortunately Laura was knocked off from behind when in a good position loosing any chance of qualifying for the final.

05.04.09

Laura with her Gillard kart at PF 2009

Laura finishes 11th in the 1st final of the PF round of the Super 1 KF2 Championship .

After a fine 11th from 25th on the grid and a fantastic start seeing her move into 5th in the 2nd final, a mistimed overtaking attempt by another driver takes Laura out of the race hurting her arm.

22.03.09

Laura finishes 20th in the repecharge of the Sarno round of the WSK Championship in Italy.

With testing totally wet, the first time Laura had a lap on a dry track Sarno was the first heat, she came from the back to 16th and despite a huge crash in the third heat was looking strong and moving forward in all the races. Then on Sunday Laura, and mechanic Dean Panrucker were both very ill with food poisoning which did not help her performance.

08.03.09

Laura at the 2009 Winter Cup

150 drivers in KF2 and Laura finishes 18th in the repecharge of the 14th Winter Cup in Garda Italy.

Laura qualified straight into the Semi finals in 16th place but with only 11 drivers going through to the main 34 kart final it was always going to be tough. She was pushed to the back and came through to 13th only to loose out in the bedlam caused by the fight for the final few places.

22.02.09

Laura finishes 11th in the repecharge at the first round of the WSK championship in La Conca Italy.

For the first time Laura raced against 79 of the Worlds' best KF2 drivers, After an eventful and chaotic race where she lost 10 places in one incident, she came through to 11th from 20th on the grid missing out on the 34 kart final by just 5 places.

08.02.09

Laura Meeting Nigel Mansell

Laura meets Nigel Mansell

Nigel Mansell visits Tillett Racing Seats for a personalised seat fitting.

12.01.09

THE DRIVER

Eighteen year old Laura Tillett is the daughter of
renowned kart seat manufacturer Steve Tillett

Laura's first drive in a cadet kart was a bit slippery

Racing in the World Championships against Davide Fore

2009 has seen Laura's first full year racing abroad

Laura has been a constant fan of Motorsport from the first day she watched her father competing in the British Formula “A” Kart Racing Championships during the early 90’s.

After a whole year of resistance from mum Martine, Laura was first allowed out to drive during the Christmas holidays of 2001. Unfortunately the night before she was due to drive the kart for the first time, it snowed. Determined not to miss her chance she decided to go to Buckmore Park anyway.

It was so icy that Nan and Grandad Tillett had to help push her up the slopes when her wheels spun to a stop!

RACING AT LAST

Laura finally started racing in late 2002, at the age of 11.

She raced in the Cadet class for drivers aged from 8 to 12 and then after completing her Cadet novice races in 2003, she changed to the more powerful Mini Max class for drivers aged 11 to 13.

After winning Buckmore Parks “Most promising young driver of the year” award, she was picked to represent the junior kart racers at the launch of a new Motorsport initiative by the ex World Champion on two and four wheels, John Surtees MBE. Laura was used in all the press photos with Sir Stirling Moss, Bernie Ecclestone and John Surtees as well as his own son the late Henry Surtees. Henry was tragically killed in an F2 race in 2009. John and Henry were very supportive of Laura in her early racing days so we were very sad to learn of this horrific incident.

By the end of 2004 Laura was the right age to race the fast Junior Max class and the even faster and more prestigious Junior Intercontinental “A” class, which both contain drivers up to 16 years old.
It was decided that Laura should participate in both classes during 2005 to accelerate race experience and this strategy proved successful, with vastly improved speed and race craft.

It was this year that Laura had her first taste of European racing in the European Junior Championship at Salbris in France.

Although a little early to have any hope of winning some valuable lesson were learned. One of the most valuable lessons was that a father and daughter team on their own was up against it in today's top level professional karting. Things had changed a bit since Laura's father finished racing in 1995.