WEYMOUTH karter Mark Vaughan kicked off the new season in style with victory in round one of the 2009 British Championships.

Vaughan was forced to overcome a host of problems at Oulton Park, Cheshire after suffering a main engine bearing failure and then a cracked engine mount, which put paid to Vaughan’s hopes of running in the afternoon practice sessions.

However, he produced a top-notch performance in the race itself to bag first place despite experiencing a high-speed spin in the wet conditions.

Vaughan, who is sponsored by Pro-clean, Cocoa Media, Proppa.co.uk and Vaughan’s Bistro, said: “The kart had so much grip in the wet and it gave me the confidence to really push but I lost the back end when it wheel spinned at over 130mph, which set me over the chicane and on to the grass facing the right way.

“I kept the engine running popped it into gear and drove away to the flag.”