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Tom’s first taste of karting came just after lockdown when, as a family, we all went to TeamSport karting in Cardiff to get out and do something as a family again! Tom loved it and quickly signed up for their academy, soon competing in their Thursday evening elite members’ events and also entering the BSKC and BIKC events.
Within a few months of this, we ended up getting Tom his own kart, a second-hand Tony Kart, junior Rotax, around mid-2022. As with everything in karting, venturing into this was a maze. We didn’t know half of it, so most of 2022 was spent just owner driving at our local track at Llandow, learning and trying to understand it all.
Late 2022 and early 2023, Tom entered his first IKR races. Trying to manage the kart and learning on the job was tough. There were always some kart issues and many mistakes made, but over time we started to slowly pick things up.
It was about this time (early 2023) that we came across the Daniel Ricciardo series (DRS). This looked like a great option, as DRS provided you with all the support needed and helped you learn not just the racing skills but also the kart maintenance and prep. So 2023 became the real first competitive season for Tom.
During this rookie season, Tom finished around mid-table within the DRS 125 division, a good division with some great drivers. Tom also finished the season off by competing at the easykart world finals in Italy, placing 16th out of 30 drivers, having to start last on the grid due to missing qualifiers with a kart issue (so good overtaking practice) 🙂
Also in 2023, Tom and his school team (Westbourne) came second in the BSKC regional finals and 8th in the UK overall finals. In BIKC in 2023, Tom came 2nd in the local finals but couldn’t go onto the regional finals due to a clash with the karting competition in Italy.
Tom finished off 2023 by being awarded Rookie Driver of the Year for DRS. All in all, 2023 was a great first season, where Tom learned a lot and developed well. Looking forward to 2024!