The 2024 Tillotson T4 Nations Cup was once again held in beautiful Valencia, Spain at the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero on September 5-8. The Nations Cup is Tillotson’s international karting event where drivers not only vie for the podium in their individual categories, but also for points for their country in the coveted Nations Cup Trophy.  The top 3 drivers from each country accumulate points from the final classification of the Super Heats and the ultimate results of the Final. The country with the most points takes home the travelling T4 Nations Cup Trophy until next year.

This year T4 Nations Cup expanded one day and grew to 212 drivers from 31 countries.  Like last year, the classes included T4 Mini, T4 Junior, T4 Senior, and T4 Senior 168, plus a Masters category run as part of the T4 Senior 168 category.  It also featured an new demonstration Bambino category for drivers ages 5-8.  The event was organized by Tillotson Racing and promoted by RGMMC under the Spanish Real Federación Español de Autovolismo (RFEDA) permit. Motorsport Ireland provided technical officials to keep tight control of the material for the race.

This year’s Nations Cup was sponsored by Maxxis Tyres and featured their new T4 Tyre with an enhanced compound that improves grip and handling.  It also featured Marline’s Premium 4 Temps fuel.  Premium 4 Temps is a highly refined alkylate gasoline with near zero aromatic hydrocarbons (0.4%) and benzene (0.01%), making it cleaner burning and safer for both the users and the environment compared to standard fuels.

A torrential thunderstorm in the early afternoon on Wednesday flooded the paddock, causing a few hour delay in equipment collection, but it couldn’t dampen the spirits of the racers who stormed the gates after the brief delay.  The next few hours were a bit hectic, but by the end of the day, everyone was set up and was ready to start racing the next day!

The event kicked off on Thursday with practice sessions and continued on Friday with qualifying, racing heats and the Drivers Parade.  Saturday was filled with racing heats.  The Super Heats were threatened by rain Sunday morning, making the track a bit slippery for a few sessions, but the Valencia sun came beaming down to dry the track and give way to spectacular weather in time for the Finals.  The Valencia Kartodromo is a fast and technical 1.495 km track with long straightaways, two chicanes and several passing opportunities.  With those perfect conditions, the crowds on Sunday witnessed five finals with multiple lead changes and podium challenges right up to the last lap.

Going into the Finals, the points for the Nations Cup was extremely close.  Germany held a slight lead, but Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands were all in contention.  The drivers for all four teams were confident they would prevail.

T4 Mini

As always, the T4 Mini class offered exciting racing throughout the weekend with several lead changes throughout the races.  During the Super Heat, the lead changed at least 7 seven times in the first five laps, with Ryan White (GBR) starting on pole, Ben McCloughry (IRL) seizing the lead it first lap, followed by Mokhnach Zakhar (UKR) then back to White, then back to Zakhar and back again to McCloughry. Another Irish driver, Senan McLoughlin joined the fray and took the lead in the sixth.  He gave it up briefly to White but then took it back, leaving the finish as McLoughlin, White, Zakhar and McCloughry.  But with the points from the earlier qualifying rounds, White was able to hold on to pole for the finals, followed by McCloughry and Alex Majek (POL).

As the Finals began, White held the lead through the first two turns, but Majek flew past McCloughry early on and then overtook White for the lead as the lap continued.  McLoughlin and Lewis Kirkaldy (GBR) joined the battle by the second lap, when a crash caused a red flag.  At restart, it was Majek, White and McLoughlin in the top three position.  Majek and White created a gap to P3-P8, where a fierce battle ensued over the course of the race.   A big shuffle occurred in Lap 5, with McLoughlin getting shunted down to P8, McCloughry getting pushed to P6 and Jack Harney (IRL) moved up from his starting P9 to P3.  Meanwhile, White and Majek had their own contest going, with Majek holding the lead after a bit of back and forth, but the attacking and defending between the two allowed the rest of the pack to catch up.  As the raced moved to the final laps, it was Majek, White, Kirkaldy, McCloughry and Yuangavin Bugayong (PHIL) running nose to tail, until the start of the 10^th lap when White, Kirkaldy and McCloughry made a brilliant move together to the inside of the Turn 1 to edge past Majek, pushing him off the podium positions to P4.  Majek battled back to P3 but in the back straight of the final lap, McCloughry took it back and held on.  Kirkaldy made a final run at White in the last seconds of the race, but White held him off to secure P1 by a a mere .047 seconds, followed by Kirkaldy in P2 and McCloughry in P3!

The P1 and P2 finish by the two UK drivers with no showing by a German driver put the UK in the lead for the Nations Cup, while McCloughry kept the Irish team in the hunt.

T4 Junior

For theT4 Juniors, the starting entries of 58 drivers was whittled down in the qualifying heats and Super Heats to 36 positions for the Finals.  Scott Reilly (IRL) qualified on Pole, giving the Irish another great chance to earn points in the Nations Cup race.  Prix Trivino from the Philippines was off-pole while Daniel Hartley (GBR) was in P3 and another Filipino, Marianoaxel Nocom, was behind his teammate on the grid in fifth.  The UK team hoped to continue to score points with Hartley starting in a podium position and Martin Wright not far behind in a 5^th position.

At the first turn, Reilly held his P1 position, while Hartley and Wright squeezed past the two Filipinos in front of them to move into P2 and P3.  That didn’t last long, though, as Jiggy Javier (PHL), joined the pack and edged his way into P3 by the end of the first lap.  As Hartley and Reilly began to pull away, Hartley seized the lead.  Reilly, a well-experienced driver, settled in behind him to bide his time while the two created a large gap and worked together to leave the true battling for the final laps.  Javier continued comfortably by himself for a few laps but was eventually caught and passed by his teammate Nocom.  By lap 7, Reilly had decided he and Hartley had enough of a gap to start battling, and for the next 3 laps they continued to swap places.  Reilly was in P1 by lap 10, and, despite several well-timed attempts by Hartley, Reilly managed to hold of the UK contender to finish P1.  Hartley held on to finish P2, and Nocom finished P3.

Hartley’s 2^nd place finish continued to expand the UK team’s lead over Germany, but they would need all the points they could muster because Germany’s strongest entries were still to come in Senior and Senior 168 classes.  Reilly’s 1^st place finish kept the Ireland’s teams alive as well.

T4 Senior

Next up was the T4 Senior Category, where once again two full grids resulted in only half the drivers qualifying for the Finals. The Dutch were hoping to re-enter the race for Nations Cup points with three drivers in the top five positions, including Bram Ossewaarde on Pole, Tijmen White in P3 and Tim Elleswijk in P5.  The Germans also looked to start earning significant points, with Danny Krischer in P2.  The American driver Sam Avrutsky completed the top 5.  Another American, Noah Rosser, who was last year’s T4 Senior champion, had some difficulty in the heats was starting in 7^th.  The UK Team’s best starting position was in P9 with Jon Nuttal.  Amelie Acketts, who was in contention for the podium last year as a Junior, had moved up to Seniors this year but had to retire due to a hand injury during practice.

The race started cleanly and by the end of the first lap the Dutch were in P1-2-3 with Ossewaarde, followed by Witte followed by Elleswijk.  Rosser was determined to move up the ranks, posting the fastest lap at lap 2 and taking him to P5, but contact with Avrutksy pushed him all the way back to P18.  In the seventh lap, Krischer and Jose Gomez (ESP) made a move on Witte, dropping him back to P5 and allowing Krischer to take over P3.  Gomez was driving hard to bring the win to his home country in Spain, but the three drivers in front of him were flawless even as they chased and defended against each other.  In the end, it was Ossewaarde in P1, Elleswijk in P2 and Krischer in P3.

So, after three races, three different countries scored P1 wins in three different classes and the Dutch and German teams were back in the hunt for the Nations Trophy.  It would all be determined in the final race, where the Germans had their strongest starting positions but would have to finish with all their strength to catch the UK and Dutch teams.

T4 Senior 168

In the Senior 168 category, last year’s winner Andreas Matis (DEU) was not competing but two other German drivers, Chrisoph Wenzke and Jan Zastrau, were sitting in P1 and P2, with Eduardo Guidi (BRA), Peter Jansen (NLD) and Esteban Yanguas (COL) rounding out the top 5.

The front of the pack made it clean through the first turn, but it was pandemonium in the back half as more than 10 karts tangled up and spun around.  Fortunately, they were all able to get back in the race, but there was more trouble in the chicane as several karts almost rolled over.  Up front, Wenzke and Zastrau held their places while Guidi moved into third.  Guidi, not satisfied with that, made several moves to find himself in P1 at the end of the first lap and start of the second.  His lead didn’t last long, though, as Wenzke took it back before the end of the second lap.  The three leaders continued to pull away from the pack, putting a three second gap between them and P4. As the race continued, Wenzke took it one step further, putting a 1.5 second gap between him and P2.  So, as the race progressed, the big battle became between P2 and P3.  In the 10^th lap, Zastrau made a move on Guidi to take second and start to pull away.  That’s where it ended after a bit more racing, with Wenzke finishing P1, Zastrau in P2 and Guidi in P3.

The Nations Cup

The German 1-2 finish in the Senior 168 category and their strong showing the Senior category propelled them to the front of the points race and secured the 2024 Nations Cup for Germany.  The UK team finished just three points behind, meaning the Nation Cup was decided by less that two positions on the grid.  The Netherlands and Ireland also had strong showing and will be sure to be in contention next year.

Bambino

This year the Nations Cup held an Exhibition Race for Tillotson’s new Bambino kart, which features the smallest T4 chassis and a 105cc four stroke engine.  The category is for drivers 5-8.  Six drivers from six countries took part in the race, including Radhi Harris (ZAF), Benjamin Sljivar (BIH), Kory Lyons (IRL), Axel Ruis (PHL), Bernardo Mateos (ESP) and Christopher Wyler (GTM).  The drivers had practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday, followed by the finals on Sunday.  The bambinos offered fantastic racing, with passing at the front multiple times nearly every lap eliciting roars from an enthusiastic crowd of over 500 spectators.  After the 8-lap race, Harris crossed the finish line in P1, followed by Sljivar in P2 and Lyons in P3.

Masters and Gentleman’s Categories

The T4 platform is the perfect platform for drivers looking to compete in motorsports whatever age they are.  We honor those who are over 30 with the Master’s Trophy and those over 45 with the Gentleman’s Trophy (regardless of gender).  This year’s race group had drivers aged 30 to 60+. The Masters Trophy was to Chrisoph Wenzke (DEU), the winner of the Senior 168 category, and the Gentleman’s Trophy went to Daniel Bowden (AUS) who finished P7 in the same category.

Drivers of the Day

Marline fuel sponsored a Driver of the Day trophy that went to the driver in each category that had the most outstanding outing in each category.  The trophies were awarded as follows:

Mini: Adam Majek (POL)
Junior: William Omar (GBR)
Senior: Jose Gomez (ESP)
Senior 168: Daniel Bowden (AUS)

Pole Position Trophy

Maxxis Tyres sponsored a pole position trophy for the person who finished on pole for the start of the Super Heats.  The trophies were awarded as follows:

Mini: Ryan White (GBR)
Junior: Scott Reilly (Ireland)
Senior: Noah Rosser (USA)
Senior 168: Cristoph Wenzke (DEU)

Tilly Tap Track

This years’ Nations Cup also featured a games area for the kids and some special tournaments, including one for Tillotson’s addicting mobile racing game, Tilly Tap Track. Tilly Tap Track is available for free and is ad-free with no in-game purchases for all ages at the Apple and Android App stores.

Closing

It truly was a fantastic weekend of racing.  You can watch all the races with commentary from Jake Sanson, Simon Byford and John Ratcliff on the Tillotson Racing YouTube Channel.  The livestream was provided by RGMMC, helping bring the event to family and fans around the world.  Our friends at KartSim were also on hand to demonstrate their incredible simulators and the T4 Esports game.

By offering an affordable mono-brand racing, the T4 Series makes the race about the driver’s skill, not about the driver’s budget.  The T4 Series combines the T4 chassis developed in partnership with IPK, Tillotson’s TPP-225RS engine and a set of specifically designed Maxxis T4 tyres, all working together to make for simple, hassle-free karting at highest level of performance possible in a 4-stroke package.

A special thanks goes to Josh East, Stu Stretton and Marc Berchold for all the great photography during the event.  Racers and family can purchase pictures at Josheast.com starting 20^th September.  Thanks also go to RFEDA and RGMMC for their efforts in arranging and helping run the event, and to all our sponsors and partners, including:

Maxxis Tyres
Marline Fuels
KartSim
Xeramic Lubricants
IPK
TTW
Tillet Seats
DWT
Noram
TIDL Sport
MIR Clothing
NewLine Kart Trolleys
PVL Ignitions
Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Gerrero
RGMMC
RFEDA
Motorsport Ireland
Adrenaline Interactive/Tilly Tap Track

We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2025 T4 Nations Cup, currently scheduled to be held once again in Valencia, Spain.  Check online at Tillotson.ie or with your local racing federations for exact dates, local championships and special events where you can win a ticket throughout the year, or join us online on KartSim and Rfactor2 for our T4 Esports Championship Series, where the winner also earns a ticket to the World Cup.

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