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EnduroKA’s first race meeting of 2025 took place on the weekend of March 15/16, with the “12 Heures Du Norfolk” kickstarting the series season for the first time since its inception year of 2019.
Qualifying
Wolf Motorsport and Shine Automotive were the quickest out of the blocks in Saturday’s qualifying session, exchanging fastest laps before AFK Racing and Shine Automotive got in on the action.
Marcus Batty was next to have his say, with the KA Lamaty driver improving on his previous best time to set the new benchmark for his Mk1 Ford KA rivals to best. Previous 12 Heures Du Norfolk winners MilnAir Racing were the ones to set a lap quicker than KA Lamaty, before Batty’s teammate Sebastian Jones-White reclaimed the provisional top spot for the #121 KA.
MilnAir Racing’s Jack Wright had briefly clinched pole position back from KA Lamaty, but the front of the grid would ultimately belong to a different team. Brilliant final laps from British GT star Marucs Clutton ensured it would be the #95 KA-Chow team that started Sunday’s race in first position.
MilnAir Racing would join KA-Chow on the front row, with just 0.020s splitting 11Tenths Racing in third and KA Lamaty in fourth. Shine Automotive lined up in P5, ahead of KaHoona’s Race team in P6. KAmotion, Autotech Motorsport, AFK Racing and Burton Power Racing rounded out the top ten.
Race Start
A tremendous battle between the two leading KAs dominated the first hour of the race. MilnAir Racing’s Jack Wright had got the jump on KA-Chow’s Marcus Clutton, but the pair remained interlocked for all of the first hour, with less than one second separating them over the timing line on every lap.
KaHoona’s Race Team and Autotech Motorsport were both rising through the order, while Wolf Motorsport had gained an impressive nine positions in the first sixty minutes.
At the quarter point of the race, all teams had made their opening pit stops and race strategies were starting to be revealed. KaHoona’s Race Team were up into third place, with PRO-AM Racing hot on their heels in fourth. NJM Racing #2 were up a fantastic eight places from where they started the race, while the MSVT Racing KA – containing the 2024 Trackday Championship Class Champions – were also beginning to pave their way through the field.
Mid-Race
MilnAir Racing continued to lead the field through the hour classifications and began to build a buffer to the cars behind. After five hours, PRO-AM Racing had moved up to second, with KA-Chow back in the podium places in third.
AFK Racing had enjoyed a strong and consistent first half of the race and were running well in P4 at the five-hour classification, while KAsh Strapped Racing had made their way into the top ten runners.
When the race officially reached its half-way point, KaHoona’s Race Team were back into third place. The MSVT Racing KA had continued on its rise and found itself in fourth position, with AFK Racing and Autotech Motorsport behind.
As the sun started to set over the Norfolk circuit, the race entered its final quarter of the race. MilnAir Racing continued to lead and had completed an impressive 306 laps of the Snetterton’s configuration after nine hours. KA-Chow were in second and keen to make a dent into the lead ahead of them, while AFK Racing occupied the final podium spot.
Outside of the top three, KaHoona’s Race Team, MSVT Racing and 11Tenths Racing were the KAs closest in contention for the podium – but there was still plenty of racing to be had.
Into The Night
With night falling at the circuit and each team completing their final scheduled driver changes, the race for the checkered flag was on. KA-Chow, now at the hands of Clutton, were chasing down MilnAir Racing’s George Wright in front.
MSVT Racing were in third position heading into the last hour of racing, but Autotech Motorsport, KAsh Strapped Racing, Burton Power Racing and Wolf Motorsport weren’t too far behind. Every team was pushing hard to ensure they maximised their finishing positions.
After 406 laps (812 miles!) of racing, nothing could stop MilnAir Racing from winning their second “12 Heures Du Norfolk”. The team of Jack Wright, George Wright and Jonny Milner will be delighted with their efforts, earning the first-place trophies and accompanying winners laurels.
KA-Chow’s Ross Faulds, Marcus Clutton and Lee Taylor enjoyed a strong race to come home in second, while the Trackday Championship Class Champions (Nicole Drought, Wayne Cockerill, Henry Wright and Kevin Glover) in the MSVT Racing KA fended off rivals to secure the final step on the podium.
KAsh Strapped Racing beat Burton Power Racing to the flag by just 8.002s to finish fourth, with Autotech Motorsport, 11Tenths Racing, NJM Racing #2, Wolf Motorsport and KA Lamaty completing the top ten.
Congratulations to all!
Further congratulations is extended to second-place finishers KA-Chow for securing the first Dagenham Dustbin of the season, by best capturing the attention and votes of the Orange Army in attendance.
Next up for EnduroKA is Oulton Park on Saturday 26 April.
If you’re looking to take part, entries can be made via this link.
Arrive-and-drive options are available here.
Photo: Gary Hawkins Photography