Karter Roberts has good reason to celebrate (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Karter Roberts has good reason to celebrate

LOCAL karter Adam Roberts celebrated his 19th birthday last weekend with another outstanding result at the Little Rissington circuit.

Last Sunday marked the final round of the 2003 Club Championships and, currently placed eighth in the overall, Roberts, from Fairford, was well aware of the pressure to do well to consolidate his place.

His random grid positions for the three heats to qualify for a good position in the final were not fantastic - 16th in the first, 22nd in the second and fourth in his final heat.

However, Roberts drove with his usual skill and determination to finish seventh and third in his first and last heats.

Unfortunately, his second heat was marred by the collision of three karts right in front of him on The Loop.

With rapid reflexes, he avoided two of them, but the third, which was airborne, dropped out of the skies right on top of him.

As a result, he was unable to start his kart to finish the heat and gain valuable points.

His other two heats were sufficiently good to keep him out of the B final, but he had to start in 21st in the A final with the mammoth task of trying to get into the top ten for a trophy place.

When the start lights went out, Roberts made a good start and, by the time he reached The Elbow on the first lap, he had moved up to 13th.

Positions changed constantly for the top 15 during the whole 12-lap final until, on the final lap, Roberts benefited from a costly mistake by his team mate Amy Barker and Matthew Harris.

And he zipped quickly past them to take the chequered flag in tenth position which should be good enough to put Roberts in ninth place overall in the Little Rissington Club Championship.

Thanks go to Buzzin Hornets for their support on race day and also the post-race birthday and trophy celebrations.

Thanks also go to sponsors DMH of Cirencester, Keyneswell Motor Company, Total Butler Fuels and White Horse Estate Agents for all their support throughout the 2003 season