By Matt Gale

NATIONAL Kart Racing Association’s Formula Blue championship returned to action as Dave Watts took victory at Clay Pigeon Raceway in the third meeting of the season.

Watts streaked clear from Stuart Gray and Anthony Cleal in the ‘0’ plate final, while there was an impressive performance from former Team GB bobsleigh star Serita Shone.

With the challenge of managing multiple series on the day Clay Pigeon Kart Club imposed a set of guidance that followed both government guidance and that of Motorsport UK, with registration in advance, face masks, antibacterial hand gel and a strict code of conduct in place to ensure a safe competitive racing environment.

Richard Puddle and Watts took a win apiece in the qualifying heats, while Michael Bell finished a solid second to secure pole position for the final.

But championship leader Anthony Cleal had a disaster as a one-lap penalty and kart issues in the early heats looked likely to end his chances to claim Ben Person’s ‘0’ Plate, eventually lining up 13th.

Michael Ball started alongside Shone ahead of Gray and Watts. Shone had outperformed many of the more experienced drivers to claim fourth in each heat.

However, on the formation lap, stewards noticed fluid leaking from Shone’s kart resulting a second formation lap to allow her to tighten the radiator cap.

Lost coolant required Shone to run her engine at a much higher temperature throughout the race but she took the lead into Billy’s Blind with a simple pass under braking on Bell.

Struggling with reduced power, Shone went on the defensive as Watts and Gray began to push over the next few laps, the duo eventually overtaking as Shone ran her carburettor much higher.

Cleal was making fast work of the midfield catching up with Puddle who had passed Shone for third.

Puddle and Cleal passed Shone before Cleal caught Puddle off guard into Hans Hairpin to claim third.

Russel O’Neill began to head a four-kart train each looking for a shot at fifth place behind the struggling Shone with Nigel Vickery and David Waldron pushing equally as hard to improve their own positions in the race.

In the final few laps Cleal had caught Gray and began to put pressure on him as he could see Watts pulling away.

In a late breaking move Cleal dived up the inside of Grey into Billy’s Blind and the resulting outcome saw the pair flirt with the outside of the track, forcing Cleal to back off and giving Gray enough space to maintain second.

Watts took advantage of the battling duo to edge away and secure victory.

Watts said: “Very pleased to have been able to get the win. Had a difficult heat which put me third on the grid and then Stuart had a better start putting me down to fourth.

“Really had to work for it but managed to get through to get the win.”

Shone said: “Although finishing fifth in the race, I actually finished third overall due to the points of start position being added to finish position.

“I am really pleased with the results, I worked hard all day, and year, for a top-place finish. Also, nice to finish ahead of a field of men too, putting the girls back on the podium.

“The engine temperature was rising really quickly and got to 85 degrees when I knew there was a problem.

“It turns out I had lost all my radiator fluid. I then had to turn the engine down, which meant I ran slower to ensure that I finished the race.”

Bell said: “Unfortunately, the final did not go to plan, a poor start and being caught out of position a few times meant a trip back down the order. I feel that it was a wasted chance at scoring a big result, but at the end of the day it’s still scoring good points for the overall championship and the best driver ended up winning on the day.”

The NKRA Formula Blue grid now has little time to prepare themselves for the final round of the season at Lydd International Circuit in Kent in just two weeks’ time as the motorsport community continues to rally round.

Formula Blue is run by the Two Counties Kart Club for all ages, featuring large grids and low costs.