Matt won his first senior level race at the weekend, in the Open Championship at Shenington, where the country’s best racers come together to pit their skills against each other and the conditions. Racing for Tim Parrott Motorsport, Matt was the youngest of the serious competitors at just 17.

The British Open Championship, known as the “O Plate” as the winner races for the next year with the number zero on their kart, is a one-off event with entries from the best racers in the country in the Rotax Max class.
Shenington, Oxfordshire, is one of the most challenging circuits in the country which regularly holds major kart races and is a combination of fast straights and tight hairpins with some fast, sweeping bends thrown in.

In Matt’s previous race, the national championship finale at PF International in Lincolnshire, he finished fourth and sixth in the double header, despite running on his second best engine after technical problems.

After a slow start in testing at Shenington, the team worked together to improve the kart setup and by the first heat, Matt was able to come through from 11th to second.
The last heat on Saturday afternoon was a bit too eventful though, as starting 21st Matt was right down in the pack and the race was stopped soon after the start after a crash where a driver was injured. At the restart Matt was caught up in another incident and his chain came off, leaving him parked by the side of the track.

On Sunday morning, there were two more heats to get through before the Final, and in the first one Matt came through from 23rd to ninth, despite being stuck in traffic. But in the last heat, he sounded a warning for the Final to come when he was among the leaders and took his turn at the head, eventually coming home third with the fastest lap.

After starting eighth, Matt avoided the crashes to make up a place, then fought with Ross Wylie before pulling away and closing on the leading group. After the two leaders, Joe Reilly and John Stewart, made contact and lost ground, Matt slipped into third, poised to attack the leaders.

When Jack Whelan took the lead on lap 14 Matt followed him through to take second, then less than a lap later he took the lead at the tough Wilkins corner after a brave lunge, and Whelan was demoted to third by Daniel Graham. Matt had to defend for the rest of the race.

“It’s very hard to ‘break the tow’ at Shenington and get away from your rivals as when you get past on a corner they just catch you up again on the straights,” said Matt.
Stewart had recovered from his delay early on, and attacked Graham, which allowed Matt to get away slightly, but Stewart was the fastest man on the track and soon he was back to challenge for the lead.

On the last lap, there was a long trail of karts behind him and at the hairpin Matt stayed ahead with hard braking and tight lines. He was pushed wide at one point, but just managed to hold on to the lead and stayed in front to win the race, his first win since moving up to the Senior class.

“I’d like to thank Tim Parrott Motorsport, especially Tim, ‘Big Al’ McKay, and my mechanic Tom Arme. It was my first time winning with Tom as my mechanic so he deserves a lot of credit for the result. Thanks also go to Steve Ogden who prepared me a great engine, and my parents for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to race in the first place.”

With F1 drivers such as Jaime Alguersuari and Felipe Massa using karting to train for Grands Prix, the sport is enjoying a boost in it’s reputation as the source of motorsport’s biggest talents and Matt is confident he is in the right place to prepare for a successful career.