Here you can see driver Sarah Bennett-Baggs chatting to the racing rock star ahead of the race at Snetterton.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When a group of Adrian Flux employees took to the karting track at Red Lodge for the latest round of their in-house competition, they were joined by up-and-coming karting prodigy Jacques Morley, who warmed up nicely for the first round of his KF3 championship.

Add Formula 6 karting British champion Nick Rodgers to the mix, who works for and is sponsored by Flux along with Jacques, and you have some seriously quick competition.

Jacques, Nick and Damien (l to r)

In the race, Nick set the pace, closely followed by in-house championship Damien Cross, while Jacques struggled with a sluggish kart before changing to a smoother-running machine half-way through the 30-lap race.

Thereafter the teenager lapped a full second quicker than anyone else, just outside the lap record, and was a rapidly gaining third behind Nick and Damien at the line.

Jacques said it was “great to be able to go karting just for fun with no pressure, but I still wish I’d had that second kart from the start!”

The Flux karters

It proved the perfect warm-up for his first ever KF3 race, which took place this weekend and for which Jacques is seeded 15. After taking pole position in qualifying on Saturday, he finished between 4th and 8th in heats and the final, ending the weekend in 7th place in the British Championship.

Jay Kay and Sarah in the Porsche

But disaster struck two laps before the end of the 40-minute, two-driver race, when flames licked from the engine compartment with Kay at the wheel, forcing him to retire from his first race on the Snetterton 300 track. He was unhurt in the incident.
The main aim of the day, however, was for the singer-songwriter to collect another signature on the way to completing qualification for his National B racing licence.
“The plan was just to drive sensibly and bring it all home in one piece to get the signatures, but it had no power from the moment I got in it at the pit-stop,” he said.

In full flight

“Luckily I still got the signature as we had completed more than 10 laps of the race.”
Bennett-Baggs added: “We both had a great fun weekend, and Jay has impressed everyone with how he just rocked up and got on with it, new car, new circuit, no fuss and he drove brilliantly. He will be very welcome to race again.”
The pair qualified in 22nd place on the 42-car grid after a wet test day on the Friday in the 1978 Porsche’s first outing after a heavy start-line accident at Castle Combe in 2008.
After a good start, things started to unravel when the rain came and Bennett-Baggs had to contend with a windscreen wiper failure.
After 23 minutes, she handed over to the rockstar racer, who has a private collection of more than 30 cars, but a short circuit sparked an electrical fire, melting the inlet manifold and causing a loss of power before flames brought an early conclusion to the pair’s race.

The engine compartment

“Thankfully the car was not too badly damaged and will be back out for the next round at Brands Hatch,” said Bennett-Baggs.
Pictures: David Petts and Johnny Tipler

And Harry added: “It will enable me to get in some valuable extra practice and hopefully I’ll be able to pass my test sooner, saving more money on lessons and insurance in the meantime.
“It’s the perfect policy for me at the moment.”
Gerry Bucke, general manager at Flux, said there was a clear need to help learner drivers get more driving experience without heavily penalising their parents, family or friends.
“Although young drivers have a higher accident rate overall, this doesn’t apply to learners who have to be accompanied while driving at all times,” he explained.
“But traditional insurance policies don’t take this into account, and therefore the premiums charged to add learners to existing policies are out of kilter with the actual risk.
“We hope this policy will address that and help more young people get that extra practice that will help them pass their test.”
How it works:

• The learner driver takes out a policy for either one, two or three months on a specified car owned and insured separately by a third party
• The cover must be comprehensive and for vehicles up to insurance group 27 valued at no more than £20,000
• Policyholders must have a UK provisional licence and the accompanying driver must be over 25
• Cover automatically stops when the policyholder passes their driving test
• All postcodes in the UK are eligible, split into just two rating areas, with premiums starting at £90 for one month’s cover
• Any claim will be settled on the learner driver’s insurance policy, and will not affect the no claims bonus of the vehicle owner’s insurance

Call 0800 369 8590 for a free quote and immediate cover.

Jacques receives his seeding from Paul Di Resta

Jacques, who is backed by Influx, the magazine of Adrian Flux, finished 15th of 50 drivers in last year’s KF3 championships after technical problems in the first half of the season left him with ground to make up on the leaders.
But he is hoping to move into the top 10 at least this season with the help of former world karting champion Benjy Russell’s Intrepid UK team, before moving into the KF2 class in 2013.
“I was delighted with 15th and being in a seeded position considering where we were after the first couple of races,” said Jacques, who still harbours a long-term dream of earning an F1 drive.
“The target is stop karting at 18 or before and move into single seaters. It was great to receive my seeding from Paul because he came from karting and it shows what can be done.”

Jacques with Intrepid UK team manager Benjy Russell

Before that Jacques hopes to earn a place on the Motor Sports Association’s elite driver training programme at Loughborough College when he finishes school next summer.
Gerry Bucke, general manager at Adrian Flux, said: “Jacques is a very determined young man and we’re happy to continue to back local talent like him. It’ll be fascinating to see how far he can go.”
Jacques is looking for additional sponsorship. Local businesses should contact him via his website

“They will offer cover where many would just give you a straight ‘no’, including heavily modified bikes and superbikes,” said Carl, “The staff there also know their motorbikes, which is important for many people who have specific requirements.”

Carl gamely agreed to answer some questions posed by Bikesure staff – you can see the resulting interview right here:

You can read more about Carl’s tie-up with Bikesure on the Bikesure Blog

The show itself is a feast of the best in performance automotive excellence, and this year we’ve landed a rallying star for our stand in the shape of this superbly-restored BMW M3, pictured here in action on the track.

The M3 was launched in 1987, and is the most successful touring race car ever built. This car, chassis number M3-120207, was sold new in 1991 to the famous CiBiEmme, official race team of BMW-Italia to be entered in the Italian Superturismo.
It was raced by BMW touring car legend Roberto Ravaglia and five-time Le Mans winner Emmanuale Pirro in 1991 and 1992.

In its first year Ravaglia won the championship, beating the 450bhp Alfa 75 IMSA, before being sold to a collector, ending up as a Group A hill climb racer in France in 1994 after being sold via famous classic car dealer Jean Jacques Bailly.
In 1998 and 1999 it won the French Hill Climb Touring Car Championship, and nearly a decade later in 2007 the M3 was meticulously restored back to its original 1991 livery when raced by Ravaglia, wearing Number 1.

The restoration revealed no crash damage, and today it stands in fantastic original condition.

The show runs today and all weekend at the NEC.

TyreSafe is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of correct tyre maintenance and the dangers of defective and worn tyres.
In 2009, TyreSafe was awarded with the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in recognition of its achievements in raising awareness about the dangers associated with driving on defective and worn tyres.
TyreSafe supports the government’s ACT ON CO2 campaign which promotes Smarter Driving tips to help cut CO2 emissions from driving.
TyreSafe is a signatory to the European Road Safety Charter which aims to reduce road fatalities.
TyreSafe is a supporter of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety which aims to make roads safer and save lives.

At Adrian Flux Insurance Services the presents in the Santa’s sack frequently have a motoring bias, as they are all car buffs. So what’s around that they may consider? Here are five of the most viewed items in a motorist’s Secret Santa trawl.

• The Auto Emergency Kit on Present Finder is an all-in-one tool designed to help out in the event of an accident. It combines a blade to cut through a seat belt, a pointed hammer to shatter windows, an air-bag spear, a bright LED torch, a red flashing warning light and a whistle to attract attention.

• For those interested in safety and becoming a better driver the book Roadcraft: The Police Driver’s Handbook:  is essential reading. Used by the police service to train their drivers, it aims to increase awareness of all factors that affect driving from characteristics of the vehicle to road and traffic conditions

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• If your partner is the sort who keeps losing car tickets, season tickets etc then the visor organisers on Extreme Auto Accessories could be just the thing. There are also visor CD organisers to sort out the jumble of CDs that accumulate on the shelf under the glove compartment.

• For the office joker the fake parking tickets over on Hawkins Bazaar could keep him amused, and his colleagues annoyed, in the New Year.

• Over at Nodding Toys there’s a great selection of these perennial favourites if your recipient would appreciate a silent canine friend for the journey.