The final round of the 2011 MSA British Cadet Championship was always set to be a day full of tension and emotion and it didn’t disappoint as the weather over the technical Ellough Park circuit in Suffolk stayed dry and bright throughout.

The autumnal sun eventual shone brightest on Fusion Motorsport teammates William Taylforth and Daniel Ticktum, who won the race and the championship respectively but if Ticktum sealed the title at the conclusion of the heats and could afford to sit out the last race of the year Taylforth had to wait until the very last corner of the very last race to take his maiden British Championship win.

Coming into the day carrying a 22-point advantage over the Eclipse Motorsport kart of Jamie Caroline Ticktum knew that  pair of top three results in the heats would be enough to seal the crown even if Caroline won both his races. As it turned out Caroline would have his own set of problems in the opening heat, which was just as well as Ticktum found himself running almost dead last on the opening lap of his second heat before making a stunning comeback.

Caroline paced qualifying for the second day in succession and was leading a big train of karts in heat one before he ran wide coming out of turn one and allowed most of the field, including Ticktum, through. Ticktum would finish that race third behind Saturday’s final winner Dean Macdonald and Dean’s Shox Performance teammate Lando Norris while Caroline trailed home in 13^th place.

Caroline and Ticktum started first and third respectively in the second heat and there was nearly a flashpoint when, going into turn two on the first lap Caroline seemed to tap the rear bumper of the fast starting Ticktum, sending Ticktum off track and almost into the barriers. Caroline would go on to win the race with Ticktum narrowly avoiding the barriers and then staging a stunning recovery to finish fourth behind Enaam Ahmed and William Taylforth, who had been having a quietly successful day up to this point.

Neither Caroline or Ticktum were drawn in the third and final heat, which was just as well as various protests and appeals were being thrown about behind the scenes over the results in heat two and although Caroline was eventually allowed to keep his win, the mathematicians in the Fusion awning finally concluded that their man had accrued enough points so that even if he sat out the final and Caroline won, Ticktum would be champion by a point.

While the calculators were working overtime in the paddock, back out on the track Macdonald won the third and final heat by a whisker from Ryan Anderton and Taylforth, which meant that the pint-sized Scot sewed up pole position on the grid for the final.

Starting alongside Macdonald would be Anderton with Taylforth and Norris on row two and Caroline, now fully aware that the championship had gone, seventh. After much deliberation Ticktum’s team elected to sit their driver out of the last race of the year and so 29 karts barrelled past the green lights to start the final 19-lap race of the year.

A few moments after the start that number was reduced to 28 when virtually the whole field piled into one another, allowing Macdonald and Taylforth to escape unharmed and leaving Anderton stuck without a chain attached to his kart. Everybody else managed to sort themselves out and continue but at the end of the opening lap the two leaders had a two second advantage over everyone else with Thanassi Barnicoat, Alfie Brown and Hugo Bentley Ellis leading the chasing pack despite starting well outside the top 10. Caroline completed the first lap in 14^th with Norris 18^th. Knowing that any potential disqualification for contact could have had a disastrous effect on his championship, Ticktum’s decision to sit this one out looked a wise one.

With the championship settled the only battle left was the one for the lead of the race and it certainly lived up to expectations as Macdonald and Taylforth worked in harmony for the first 18 laps to extend their lead to more than six seconds. Just when it looked like Macdonald was about to complete the weekend double he left a small gap on the inside going into the final corner and Taylforth pounced. Mounting the kerb and getting fully sideways Taylforth scrambled ahead and then got his kart lined up for the final run to the flag, taking his first win in the most dramatic style imaginable and leaving a somewhat stunned Macdonald in second place.

Behind them Caroline staged a superb recovery to snatch third on the last lap from Bentley-Ellis with Oliver York taking his best result of the year in fifth.

Back in the paddock Ticktum’s winning margin was confirmed at 11 points and he was understandably delighted, which left the lions share of the disappointment to Caroline, who matched Ticktum’s number of final victories but who failed to finish more races than his rival, which proved to be the decisive factor. Anderton’s final round DNF didn’t prevent him from sealing third in the standings with Macdonald’s strong final weekend vaulting him into fourth place overall.