Peterborough’s Jason Parrott was denied the British Kart Championship just a lap and a half from victory on Sunday when his piston broke up at the Rowrah circuit in Cumbria.

Going into the final event, Jason had a four-point lead over reigning champion Mark Litchfield (Ripley) but this margin disappeared when both drivers worst scores were discounted from the total. Jason needed to win both points-scoring finals and have Litchfield second and third or lower to make sure of taking the championship.

He was well on course to achieve this when he won both of his qualifying heats to start on pole for the first race. He held on to the lead at the start and his championship aspirations were given a boost when a hard-charging Chris Rogers (Waltham Cross) overtook Litchfield. He began to pressure Jason as well but Jason was able to pull away to look confindent of a win.

All was looking good for the championship until the penultimate lap, spinning Jason off into the dirt and giving Litchfield the title unless he had a disaster in the second race. Jason, however, would be starting from the back of the grid.

He put in one of his best drives of the year in the second race, finishing 5th and posting the fastest lap of the race but it wasn’t enough to resurrect his championship hopes, meaning that Litchfield lifted the British Championship trophy for the third year in a row.

“It’s disappointing of course,” said Jason “But that’s racing for you. We just have to get on with it and think about next year.”

Jason is in action next at the World Championships on October 1st, the highlight of the karting year which is taking place at Angerville in France.