BASINGSTOKE Superkart racer Ben Willshire finished fifth in the BSA National Championship in a strong field of 23 drivers, consisting of six previous National Champions and one ex-European Champion.

He also finished runner-up in the British Superkart Racing Club Championship, which runs alongside rounds of the National Championship but does not apply the dropped points score rules.

His second place is a testament to the reliability and consistency of the RG Racing team this season.

Willshire said: “I would like to thank all those involved in making the 2013 season an exciting and successful year. We are already looking forward to going even quicker in 2014.”

His final two outings were at Cadwell Park and Oulton Park.

Willshire, pictured, arrived at Oulton Park as the lap record holder and had also won five of his last seven races at the Cheshire track.

The Basingstoke driver qualified his RG Racing Bayliss Ware Superkart in sixth position for the start of race one but did not get the best start and dropped down to ninth by the end of the first lap.

However, he drove a superb recovery to take sixth spot.

Race two saw Willshire drop down to 12th place after suffering with a faulty clutch at the start but again he recovered as he settled for sixth place again.

His previous outing had been at Cadwell Park – known in the Superkart community as the mini- Nurburgring.

Despite not attending the prerace test day, the Basingstoke driver qualified fourth on the grid.

He made a clean start off the line in race one and slotted into fifth position, just behind Matt Isherwood, Danny Edwards, Kevin Waring and Lee Plain.

Kevin Gray started to pressure Willshire after the opening two laps but Willshire held his own before the race was stopped at middistance to clear an incident.

Following the re-start, Willshire began to suffer with a lack of grip under braking, but he drove to a respectable seventh position.

The team made some set-up changes for race two, which Willshire started in eigth position.

Willshire drove a tactical and patient race as he fought his way past some very experienced drivers to take a fifth-place finish, putting him in contention for the all-important UK Cup O-plate race later that day.

The Basingstoke karter lined up fifth on the grid for the one race shoot-out for O Plate and, after a few laps, slotted into a solid fourth place. He then drove a clean race to cross the line in that position.