Jason North got off to an ideal start to the new Bermuda Karting Club National Championships campaign with a perfect outing in the opening round at the Southside Raceway on Sunday.

Competing in the L206 Senior Class, North was at his dominant best winning each of the three heats. Scott Barnes finished second in the opening heat, as well as third in the final heat, while David Barbosa and Marc Tucker also each claimed a second-place and third-place finish apiece.

North also enjoyed success in the Shifter Class, picking up victory in the first race and finishing second in the following heat. Stephen Corrado, who finished behind North in the opening heat, responded superbly with back-to-back wins in remaining races, with Ryan Burgess finishing third in successive races and second in the final heat.

The Tag Senior Class proved just as competitive with Ryan Burgess and Brian Bulhoes sharing race victories. The former won the first and third race, with the latter tasting success in the second. Bulhoes also picked up a second and third-place finish, with Bilal Binns finishing second in the opening two heats. Richard Walker-Talbot also enjoyed an encouraging afternoon, with two third-place finishes on the day.

There was also a dominant performance in the Cadets Class, where Jonah Moniz picked up a clean sweep of race wins in each of the three heats. Moniz finished ahead of Isaiah Daniels Green in heat one and three, with Roman Wilkinson finishing in second in race two. Wilkinson also claimed two third-place finishes, with Syan Pedro completing the podium places in the second heat.

“This was out first of ten races in this series. we had around 24 drivers and it was another great race day,” said Barnes, president of the Bermuda Karting Club. “With Covid guidelines we had to do things a little differently and split the classes across three stages and made the whole day a SafeKey event to make sure we met government requirements.

“We will keep what we need to make sure we can keep on racing and keep the season going but in the safest possible way.

“The highlight for me is that we had four new drivers competing in the Cadet class. Having as many new junior drivers as possible come into the sport is something we really want to push this season.

“We can provide everything from the kart to safety gear to allow these young drivers to see if they enjoy the sport before going on to buy their own kart.”