UK Birel Art : Matt Pearce, an Oakenhurst sponsored racer and his journey

“The start of the season saw us secure wins and many podium finishes”-Says Matt, pictured above.

Oakenhurst sponsored race driver Matt Pearce narrates his journey throughout 2018 and 2019 thus far. An interesting and challenging course involving adapting to changes and overcoming hurdles:

“2018 race season was extremely tough, as it was the first year that the minimum weight limit was altered, raising it so that the senior heavies could join the senior lights. Therefore adding even more quality and competition to the race field.

The start of the season saw us secure wins and many podium finishes; we were very well placed and fighting for the championship title, when trouble hit the performance of the engine in round 6. The team tried everything to get the engine back to top performance, replacing endless parts in search of the mysterious problem that baffled every experienced mechanic in the paddock, unfortunately it took the rest of the remaining season to fix the power issue, resulting in a full engine re-build, which still didn’t solve the lack of power. At this point we had lost too many points to challenge for the championship win. The main goal now was to hold onto 4^th place in the championship. Despite the lack of power and intermittent behaviour of the engine, the last race went very well and managed to finish 4^th overall in the championship. During the last race we finally identified the lack of engine performance was in fact a combination of electronics malfunction issues.

“I qualified on pole position 5 out of 8 rounds” – highlights Matt Pearce.

2018 was an interesting year as we went from top spot finishes to battling in the mid pack. I held onto one record, which gives us great confidence going into the 2019 championship. I qualified on pole position 5 out of 8 rounds, showing that with a little more luck in the engine performance, we have a very strong chance in going all the way in 2019.

“A new kart has been purchased with the generous help from Oakenhurst Aircraft Services LTD.”

2019 has seen a huge shake up for the championship; BirelArt UK has been bought by F1 star Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel first created a race series in his home country of Australia a few years ago and this is the first franchise that has been brought to Europe. It is called Daniel Ricciardo Race Series, or DRS for short. The format will be exactly the same as before but with the DRS logos over the karts. My current kart is not race worthy of entering the new race series; therefore a new kart has been purchased with the generous help from Oakenhurst Aircraft Services LTD. The kart was delivered in February, testing has commenced prior to the season getting underway in April.

I would like to finish by saying a massive thank you to my sponsor Oakenhurst Aircraft Services LTD for your continued support and effort in giving us the best chance of success in this upcoming season.”