2018 Round-up

ANOTHER BIG YEAR FOR MBR

2018 was another successful year for everyone at Mick Barrett Racing – one which saw a series of wins, podium finishes and records broken for our rapidly developing group of talented young drivers.
As ever, the MBR awning proved to be a magnet for young speedsters looking to progress their racing careers with new people joining us throughout the year but, while all of the team can look back on 2018 with pride, it was one of our more established drivers who led the way on the track.
Step forward Sean Butcher, who had a superb first season racing in the ultra-competitive Senior X30 class. Sean ended the year as the holder of the E plate English Championship title and was crowned the TVKC Club Champion in November. But it didn’t stop there. The London-based teenager also spent the season at the front of the Super One grid, ending the year in a highly creditable 6th place in the championship and earning the right to race with the number 6 on his kart in 2019.
Sean was chased hard throughout the year by another established MBR racer, Singapore-based Alex Huang, who marked his first year in Senior X30 with a number of heat wins and podium finishes as he continued to develop his driving and undoubted pace throughout the season.
As the UK baked in the hottest heatwave since the 1970s, August also saw the brief return to the MBR awning and the track of former team member Ben Barnicoat. Now a McLaren GT racer, Chesterfield-based Ben had been working with Alex Huang as a driver coach but chose to step back into a Senior X30 kart with MBR in a bid to become only the second driver ever to win seven Kartmasters British Grand Prix titles – which he duly delivered on a baking Sunday afternoon, somehow staying cool as the mercury soared to bring home yet another Grand Prix win in MBR colours in a nail-biting final.
As well as former drivers returning, we also saw new racers adopting the MBR livery to help improve their fledgeling racing careers and the team was delighted when one of its newer members, Matthew Hudson, from Barnsley, ended 2018 with a superb 2nd place at GYG in Super One in Junior X30 and an excellent 3rd place in the TVKC Club Championship in the same class.
Staying in Junior X30, 2018 also saw the return of Leicestershire racer Rufus Hunt, who moved back to the MBR awning in the summer and notched some impressive finishes in both the Super One and ended the season in 2nd place in the Shenington club championships.
Our Senior X30 driver ranks were boosted by the addition of a second Barnsley racer, Cole Kilner, whose highlights for the year included a superb 5th place in a keenly fought Kartmasters British Grand Prix field in August and a brilliant 2nd place in the December Christmas Cup at the PFI circuit. There were also strong performances from fellow Senior X30 driver Callum Barnett, who raced in a number of events across the year, travelling from the Isle of Man to do so.
Last, but not least, 2018 also saw MBR’s first foray into the Mini X30 class with the addition of Oliver Duffell, whose undoubted pace was rewarded in September with the lap record for the Mini X30 class at PFI in an incredibly close Super One race which saw the Shepley speedster unfortunately come to grief in a last-lap tangle with another driver as he lay 3rd on track. A number of fourth places in his rookie year in Super One would be the other highlight for the youngest member of the MBR team.
A final word of thanks to all of those off the track who make it happen week after week – including our talented and dedicated mechanics whose vital work on the karts, sometimes under real pressure, ensures our driver’s race safely and successfully every weekend.
And so to 2019 with a new look livery and a strong driver line up, as we continue to help our young team members develop their skills and enjoy their motorsport. Stay tuned for updates on our successes and the stories from another year of high octane thrills and spills in the world of MBR.
A very Happy New Year from us all. The team will kick off the 2019 racing calendar this weekend at PFI. Good luck to everyone.

(Pictures courtesy of Chris Walker at Kartpix.net, with thanks)