KARTING ace Sam Webster is on cloud nine after picking up his maiden MSA British Championship victory in the KF2 Super One Series at round three at Larkhall in Scotland.

The Weymouth driver displayed pace in both the wet and dry weather before finishing seventh in the timed qualifying following another downpour.

The first heat was also wet and the wrong set-up change left Webster with very little grip, but once again his ability to adapt to the changing conditions still saw him salvage sixth place.

The second day of racing was a lot drier and in heat two the teenager was able to escape from the rest of the drivers with the lead group, only to become embroiled in a dice for fifth place with another kart on the opening laps.

Once he had recovered, Webster then began chipping away at the lead the front three drivers had built up and with three laps to go he was able to take advantage of a collision in front of him to finish fourth.

Following the second heat, the heavens opened again causing everyone to revert to a wet set-up, only for havoc to ensue when it became apparent the pre-final would be a dry race.

The mad rush was evident when Webster’s airbox fell from the kart whilst leaving the pits, causing him to have to sit and watch the race from the sidelines.

That DNS (did not start) left him at the back of the grid for the main final but given his speed in the dry he was soon making headway in the opening laps, moving up to fifth place and closing fast on the leading pack.

An incident between two karts then led to Webster moving up to third with the leader now well within his reach as he looked for a way past the second-place kart.

The race was now gearing up for a frenetic finale with all three drivers battling for victory in the closing stages.

It was clear something had to give and when the leader was forced to retire due to mechanical problems it played into Webster’s hands as his superior speed allowed him to outmanoeuvre his last remaining rival to take the checkered flag by nearly three seconds.

It was a wonderful performance by the youngster but he had little time to enjoy it as just three days later he was off to Braga in Portugal for the first round of the Under-18 World Championships.

Once again, Webster ran well in free practice with his blistering pace placing him second in his group during qualifying and sixth overall out of 70 competitors.

The result saw him start each of his four heats from third on the grid, a position he maintained at the end of an uneventful first outing.

It appeared everything was shaping up well but mechanical gremlins then took hold when the ignition on the motor broke, forcing him to retire from heat two.

By the next race, the engine had been repaired and once again Webster took a comfortable third spot before a bad start in the fourth heat saw him recover to fifth after recording the fastest lap by a comfortable margin.

Hampered in the points by the DNF (did not finish), Webster had to start out of the top-10 positions for the pre-finals where he lined up in 19th out of the 34 karts that had qualified.

Once again though, he did not let this affect him as he produced another dynamic display to finish the race in seventh, which was a remarkable effort.

A reverse-grid in pre-final two then saw him start from 16th, but this time the opening lap did not go to plan with a huge crash in front of him causing him to lose touch with the front of the group.

Webster refused to let up though and after battling his way up to 15th, he proceeded to put in some clean laps to pick up a few more places to eventually cross the line in 12th spot.

These results meant he started from third on the grid in the main final but unfortunately a slight set-up change to compensate for the double-length race cost him a little in the opening stages as he dropped back to sixth.

However, by lap four, Webster was soon back among the leading group where he put continuous pressure on the kart in fourth who was running at almost an identical speed.

Sensing he had to make a move in order to stand any chance of finishing higher, he eventually engineered room for a pass, only for a slight collision during the effort to push him back to seventh spot.

Despite that disappointment, Webster went on to show fantastic mettle to battle back to sixth, another excellent display against some of the most talented up-and-coming drivers from around the globe.

Webster, who would like to thank The Racing Steps Foundation and Zip Young Guns for their continued support, travels to Glan-Y-Gors in North Wales next for round four of the British Championships in just under a fortnight’s time where he hopes to continue his current form by taking another win.