MilnAir Racing win at Donington Park!

EnduroKA returned on June 30, with Donington Park’s National circuit the venue for the second round of the 2024 season.

Qualifying:

MilnAir Racing’s Jack Wright immediately got to work in the morning’s qualifying session, setting the fastest time on each of his opening three laps. Wright’s benchmark would stand for over twenty minutes, before GM Performance’s two drivers had their say. Darren Stapleton bettered MilnAir Racing’s time first, before teammate Ian Mitchell went even quicker.

As the session neared conclusion, Shine Automotive improved at the hands of Nathan Brown to take provisional pole, before both MilnAir Racing and GM Performance fought back once more. Mitchell will have felt he had secured GM Performance’s second pole position of the season, however on the very last lap Jack Wright clinched the front of the grid for MilnAir Racing with a highly impressive 1m34:418s – 0.225s quicker than second-placed GM Performance.

Brown’s earlier time was enough to secure third on the grid for Shine Automotive, while North Motorsport and KaHoona’s Race Team rounded out the top five. Round One winners PRO-AM Racing qualified in sixth, ahead of: Boston Racing, Autotech Motorsport #65, Windgat Racing and TCS Motorsport.

Race:

Pit stop strategy is crucial in the outcome of an endurance race and teams were immediately put to the test at Donington Park, when an early safety car period caused a flurry of pit stops. The running order had changed dramatically upon restart, with Orkasport now heading the field and TLA Motorsport following closely in second. A swift overtake saw the #736 TLA Motorsport KA take the lead, with Poorsche KArrera Motorsport following through to take second.

The order had changed further by the one hour mark, with 11Tenths Racing having taken the lead. It had been a highly impressive start for the #11 KA, rising to first from P26 on the grid. There were a number of other teams who had enjoyed a profitable opening stint, including Semprini Racing who were running twenty places higher than what they qualified.

As the timer reached the two hour mark, pit stop strategy continued to play its part in the running order. Polesitters MilnAir Racing had worked their way back to the top, with Silverstone winners PRO-AM Racing hot on the #46 KA’s heels. KM Racing had performed some fantastic overtakes on their way to P3, while LDR Performance Tuning #69 had done the same in fourth. As always with EnduroKA, there was some truly epic battling on circuit for spectators to enjoy.

At the three hour classification, MilnAir continued to lead. KAsh Strapped Racing were now the team in second place, having started the race in P23. Also impressing was the LDR Performance Tuning #49 KA, which had gained twenty-one positions to sit ninth. With the race starting to enter its closing stages, PRO-AM Racing were back in second place and hunting down the MilnAir Racing KA in front – just as the case had been in the previous round at Silverstone!

This time nothing could stop MilnAir Racing’s Jack Wright, George Wright and Jonny Milner from recording a hard-earned victory, their first of the 2024 season. PRO-AM Racing ultimately finished 9.320s behind in second, but it had been a spirited and impressive performance from drivers Louis Harvey, Will Hillyard and Oliver Furnell. KA Lamaty secured the final podium finish, with Marcus Batty and Simon Bonham rewarded for strong drives.

LDR Performance Racing’s Ben Jenkins and Cameron Richardson just missed out on the podium places finishing fourth, but should be delighted with a superb drive from P20 on the grid. Autotech Motorsport’s #64 KA came home in fifth, courtesy of Lee Rickard, Mark Ridout and Yosuf Bin-Suhayl. KAsh Strapped Racing, TLA Motorsport, GloriKA, Burton Power Racing and LDR Performance Tuning #49 rounded out the top ten finishers.

Congratulations to all!

The second Dagenham Dustbin of the season was awarded to LDR Performance Tuning’s #49 KA, for their newest livery creation – ‘The KAke Mobile’.

Rewatch all of the race via the live stream on the MSVT Racing YouTube channel.