Gloucestershire's Ella Stevens comes sixth in second race of season

16-year-old Stevens recovered from having to start on the back-row of the grid for the race to finish in sixth and keep her lead at the top of the standings after two races. 

Damage to her kart forced her to retire without completing a lap in the pre-final race (determines starting position in the actual race) and that left her at the very back. 

But for the second meeting in succession, Stevens put on another stellar showcase of her overtaking prowess, rising up 10 places through the order to take sixth at the chequered flag.

Crucially, the points keep her at the championship summit with half of the season gone, the Brit 8 points clear of nearest rival Tom Adams with events at Shenington (21-23 July) and Rowrah (15-17 September) to follow.

Ella Stevens in action during last weekend's Wera Tools British Karting Championship race at Glan-Y-Gors in North Wales (Image: Kartpix.net)

"The weekend started off really positively, with fast lap times across the practice sessions," said Stevens afterwards.

"I knew from the get-go that managing tyres was going to be a difficult ask on this circuit, but qualifying on new rubber was certainly a help to the majority of drivers.

"I was fortunate enough to find some space and get a good lap on the board in clean air, putting me P2 for the heats. They were tough, with some tricky starts to recover from, but we managed to maintain our place up at the front of the grid.

"The Pre-Final definitely didn’t go to plan. I got caught up in an incident at the start, and that bent the axle on the kart, so it was game over on the spot.

"That did put me last for the Final, but the main thing was to get my head down, keep focus and make as much progress as possible. To come away from sixth from the back was a good feeling, and I think had we started higher up, we’d definitely have been in the mix to win for the second meeting in a row.

"I’m still in the championship lead, so that’s the main positive to take from the weekend. Next up is Shenington, one of my favourite circuits in KZ2, so I’m keen to see what we can achieve there."