Come Back To Karting

2017 is an exciting time as it see’s Laura’s big come back to kart racing.
After being out from behind the wheel for almost a year, Laura has the opportunity to compete in some big races for 2017 and also alongside her brother Archie.
Laura started her 2017 racing competing on the competitive grid of British drivers at the Kimbolton LGM race on the BirelART chassis.

Getting back into the swing of the race weekends, she starting off with some promising testing showing some competitive times, however, the racing was alternate grids meaning Laura had a front middle and back starting grid for the heats so the time’s wouldn’t be as important as the race skills.

Starting 16th in race one, Laura has an amazing start picking her way through the grid, even passing her brother to take the 6th place. However a nudge from another driver pushed her wide, allowing him to steel the 6th place whilst Laura crossed the line in 7th.
Laura was due to start 3rd for the second heat, she was feeling a little nervous as it was her first front grid position in a while, but the adrenaline rush from the first race kept her focus on pushing forward. Throughout the race she kept a consistent pace, holding 3rd, until Oliver Hodgeson (championship leader) overtook Laura with only a couple of laps to go. Laura finished a very well deserved 4th.
It was now time for Laura’s final heat of the weekend, she would have to come through the difficult grid as she was to start 28th.
Another amazing start pushed Laura up into the top 20, but on lap two, the same driver who pushed her wide in race one was on a mission to stop her race weekend. In an attempt to overtake her whilst she was in the middle of the corner, he drove straight over the side of her kart printing rubber all up the engine and also Laura’s arm, this sent her right back to 30th. It wasn’t going to stop Laura, if anything it fuelled her determination to come back through the grid and on her mission to drive through she finished an amazing 17th from 30th.

Final grid went up on the board and the Tillett siblings were to start an impressive 4th and 5th for the final. Laura was beaten by her brother by just one point but she was really pleased to have done so well on her come back to karting. She was now ready for the final and dying to get a result.
The start saw Laura pushing her brother round for the first 2 laps in 6th and 7th. The close nit grid were intensely changing positions and everyone driving with the determination to win.
Laura had a clean gap from the mayhem around her until a competitor jumped off a kerb in his desperate chance to make a place and bounced onto Laura’s kart. Laura continued to race thinking she had got away without a scratch, but as she drove off her engine started to die no more than 100 meters from where she crashed. He had smashed her spark plug clean off and she was to park up on the side to watch her brother compete in the rest of the race.

“I had the best weekend, I enjoyed everything about it, I have made an amazing come back to the sport I love most, and to come back and be competing at the front of such a difficult class reminds me that I deserve to be serious competitor”

 

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