As events go this was one of the most frustrating that Jon had ever experienced. 'You know', he said Sunday afternoon, 'I've had enough of this. I'm glad that it is over and I can now concentrate on racing cars.'



Jon's frustration had stemmed from a weekend of torment, which had started so well during free practice on Thursday and Friday. On old tyres and using his old engine, he was still circulating in the top three, and confidence was running high. 'The chassis is handling great! It is probably the best I have had all year, and I am really looking forward to qualifying tomorrow'.



Saturday dawned warm and with his number 1 engine and new tyres, Jon, feeling in high spirits, took to the track for the warm-up session in group 3 and promptly went 2/10ths slower than the 'slow' set-up from the previous two days! Ending the session fifth in his group might not seem too bad, but with a time of only 49.101s, the 48.8s of the previous day had become but a dream, as nothing that Jon did after qualifying, helped him to find the pace he now lacked from his engines. 'It is totally weird' he said, too shocked and unsettled to say any more at the curious lack of pace.



Remaining in group 3 for qualifying Jon lowered his time to 48.946s, but it was now only good enough for 12th place in the group, with everyone else as expected going quicker by this stage. It left Jon in a disconsolate 37th position overall on combined group times, and he was not happy. 'I feel fine, but the engine is hopeless. I have not got any power at all!'



The three heats Jon had to compete in during Saturday afternoon, became a series of damage limitation exercises. 'The improvement', a spectating Mark Rose said to Lancaster Snr., after the opening heat, 'has to come from the kart, not the driver. Jon is OK, it is the lack of speed that is the problem. You can see that on the straights'. To finish then in 13th place, just 8.6s behind the winner was, in the circumstances, a good result. But it was the lap times that gave the game away. Jon's fastest lap of 49.080s was a long way from the fastest race lap of 48.753s, a time he had been matching only a couple of days ago in testing.



For heat two Jon made a superb start, but struggled for pace as the race wore on, but was losing a lot of time as he tried to accelerate out of the final corner and down the 'key' start/finish straight where he was particularly vulnerable. Finishing 10th was the best Jon could have expected, a respectable 4.333s adrift, with a fastest lap of 49.252s (fastest 48.753s).



The final heat though was a disaster, with Jon once again being very quick away from the start, before then being 'hung out to dry' on the infield, where a slow sideways flight across the grass resulted in an eventual 180 degree rotation. Jon quickly re-started and recovered some ground, but the best he could manage was 28th just behind one of his team-mate's, the Japanese driver Hattori, 26s away from the winner. Again his fastest lap was an unrepresentative 49.386s, compared to the fastest of 48.857s. 'The chassis was fine', Jon said later, 'but I am still lacking power. The title is over now and I am just going to have some fun in what is going to be my last kart race'.



The cut-off qualification point for the Pre-final was close, but Jon made it onto grid 30 to join the 34 starters. More importantly it had started to rain during the early hours, and rain tends to remove any disadvantages experienced from lack of power. It was an eventful race, run in cloudy and damp conditions, but what it did was to see Jon climb from 30th to 15th place, even though outright pace was still lacking. The conditions 'came' to the driver, whose subtle skill in difficult conditions had brought him back into contention.



And so to Jon's last ever kart race where, with just one minute to go to the start, a torrential downpour flooded the track. In a difficult race Jon eventually finished in 11th position. After his soul-destroying weekend, to finish so high up with an engine that had not delivered he expected results, was an excellent result for the soon-to-be 2006 Formula Renault winter series graduate. But for now? 'To be quite honest I'm just glad it's all over. I am disappointed with this weekend and I now just want to get out of here. I did the best I could, but it wasn't to be, was it? I have had four good years and my mechanic Ali has been just great. We have had some good times together and I just wish we could have gone out with the title'.

And so Jon's karting career now comes to an end, with his Formula Renault debut at Brands Hatch due in the coming weeks in the opening round of the winter series. Jon has impressed Team AKA in testing at Silverstone and he is hoping to continue with that aim through the series at both the Kent track, and up at Croft in North Yorkshire in early November.