Forest Edge Southern Championships 2026: Favourites

60 Drivers, 10 Flags and One Southern Championship: Who Are the Favourites at Forest Edge?

Forest Edge is preparing for one of its biggest weekends of the 2026 season.

On 5-6 September, the Barton Stacey circuit will host the Forest Edge Southern Championships together with Round 7 of the club championship, bringing together 60 currently confirmed drivers across eight populated classes.

And this is not simply another club meeting.

The entry list includes competitors appearing under 10 different national flags, including England, Wales, Poland, India, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Australia and Canada, giving the Southern Championships a genuinely international flavour.

With six Forest Edge championship rounds already completed this season, there is also enough form to start asking the big question:

Who should we expect to fight for the Southern Championship titles?

ANS News has looked at the current entry list, 2026 Forest Edge championship standings and previous race results to select a maximum of three leading contenders in each class.

The numbers: 60 drivers across eight classes

The current two-day entry list is:

Honda Cadet 200: 3 drivers

Rotax Cadet: 3 drivers

Rotax Inter: 10 drivers

Junior Rotax Max: 28 drivers

Senior Rotax: 11 drivers

177 Rotax Max: 0 drivers

177 Rotax Masters: 3 drivers

125 KZ: 2 drivers

Superkart: 0 drivers

That gives us 60 confirmed entries.

Junior Rotax alone accounts for almost half of the entire field with 28 drivers, making it comfortably the biggest and potentially most unpredictable class of the weekend.

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Honda Cadet 200: Skilton arrives as the benchmark

Only three drivers are entered, but the quality at the front makes this class worth watching.

Max Skilton

If we are looking purely at Forest Edge form, Max Skilton has to start as the favourite.

He currently leads the 2026 Honda Cadet 200 standings with 857 points, making him the benchmark of the class after six rounds.

His combination of consistency and proven pace at Forest Edge gives him an obvious advantage heading into September.

Cruz Jenkins

Jenkins has regularly shown enough pace to remain a genuine threat and should be one of the drivers capable of putting pressure on Skilton.

With such a small grid, every mistake becomes magnified. There is almost nowhere to recover lost positions.

Sebastian Mejer 🇵🇱

The Polish representative brings another interesting element to the class.

Mejer has already raced at Forest Edge this season and could be the outsider capable of upsetting the established order.

ANS favourite: Max Skilton

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Rotax Cadet: Butterfill is the man they all have to beat

Three drivers are currently entered:

Jonny Butterfill, Wilfred Tomlinson and Rio Pocock.

And one name immediately stands out.

Jonny Butterfill

Butterfill currently leads the Forest Edge Rotax Cadet championship with 858 points.

He has already demonstrated his ability to win at this circuit, including taking the Round 3 final after also winning two heats during that meeting.

That makes him the clear favourite based on 2026 Forest Edge form.

Wilfred Tomlinson

Tomlinson will know that in a three-driver contest, staying close to Butterfill throughout the heats could create an opportunity when it matters.

Rio Pocock

The third member of the grid completes a class where tactics could become particularly important.

With only three competitors, this could effectively become a championship match race.

ANS favourite: Jonny Butterfill

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Rotax Inter: West vs Ball could be one of the battles of the weekend

The Rotax Inter field has grown to 10 drivers, significantly strengthening this class compared with the earlier entry list.

And the championship standings give us two obvious names to watch.

Elijah West

West currently leads the 2026 Forest Edge Rotax Inter standings with 848 points.

His season started spectacularly.

At Round 1 he won all three heats and the final. He was again victorious in the Round 3 final.

That is exactly the type of record that makes a driver dangerous in a one-off championship weekend.

Harvey Ball

Ball has also established himself among the leading Inter competitors this season and has already shown he can fight at the front.

If West is the benchmark, Ball is one of the drivers most capable of challenging him.

Arthur Cayzer

Cayzer brings regular Forest Edge experience and has repeatedly competed against both West and Ball this season.

On a weekend where qualifying, heat positions and incidents can dramatically change the final grid, that experience matters.

ANS favourite: Elijah West

But this could easily develop into a West versus Ball showdown.

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Junior Rotax Max: 28 drivers and almost impossible to predict

This is the headline class.

Twenty-eight Junior Rotax drivers are currently entered.

That means traffic.

It means aggressive heats.

It means drivers starting deep in the pack.

And it means that one mistake could completely change the weekend.

Choosing only three contenders from this grid is difficult, but based on the 2026 Forest Edge results there are several names that stand out.

Travis Rose

Rose has already demonstrated exceptional pace at Forest Edge.

At the opening round he won two heats before taking victory in the Junior Rotax final.

He has continued to feature at the sharp end throughout the season and is one of the most proven race winners among the drivers entered.

For us, that puts him at the top of the list.

Ethan Cossins

Cossins has already shown that he can beat a strong Forest Edge Junior field.

At Round 3 he won a heat before going on to win the A Final.

In a 28-driver Southern Championship grid, knowing how to convert pace into a final victory is enormously important.

Ethan Hunt

Hunt is another driver who has shown genuine front-running speed this year, including a heat victory at Round 3.

With so many competitors, outright pace alone will not be enough. Racecraft and the ability to move through traffic could decide this title.

There are several other drivers who could easily spoil our prediction, including Arthur Way, Jayden Shearing, Harrison Stacey, Lucas Knibbs, Barnaby Grubb and others.

And there is another interesting detail.

The current Forest Edge Junior championship leader is Jesse Whitmore, but he does not currently appear on the two-day Southern Championships entry list.

That opens the door even wider.

ANS favourite: Travis Rose

Biggest threat: Ethan Cossins

But if there is one class where our prediction could be completely wrong by Saturday afternoon, it is this one.

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Senior Rotax: no championship leader, no obvious winner

Senior Rotax could be fascinating for a completely different reason.

There are 11 entries, but current Forest Edge championship leader Bobby Rosier is not among them.

That leaves the Southern Championship wide open.

Zac Burke

Burke is one of the strongest Forest Edge regulars on the entry list and already has plenty of experience racing against the front of the Senior field.

He should therefore be considered one of the leading contenders.

Cian Downer

Downer has demonstrated serious pace at Forest Edge this season and cannot be ignored.

If he finds the right setup early in the weekend, he is capable of challenging for the title.

Taylor England

England is particularly interesting because his experience extends beyond regular Forest Edge competition.

That wider racing experience can become valuable during a one-off championship meeting where adapting quickly is crucial.

But the field also includes Jacob Clay, Harry Clarke, Spencer Trayhorn, Rhys Green, Charles Green, Zhen Zong Lim, Ethan Griffiths and Daniel Gurney.

There is no obvious runaway favourite here.

ANS prediction: Zac Burke, narrowly.

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177 Rotax Masters: Hammett brings championship-leading form

Three competitors are entered:

Daniel Hammett, Gary Cox and Neil Hemming.

Daniel Hammett

The numbers make Hammett the obvious starting point.

He currently leads the 2026 Forest Edge 177 Rotax Masters championship with 851 points.

That gives him both local knowledge and proven consistency heading into the Southern Championships.

Neil Hemming

Hemming has also been a regular contender in the class and should provide the biggest direct threat.

Gary Cox

With just three drivers entered, Cox cannot be discounted.

One mechanical issue or one mistake could completely transform the result.

ANS favourite: Daniel Hammett

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125 KZ: only two drivers, but one is the championship leader

Sometimes you do not need a huge grid to create an interesting battle.

Only Jonathan Burch and Jack Price are currently entered in 125 KZ.

Jack Price

Price leads the 2026 Forest Edge 125 KZ standings with 852 points.

He also won the Round 3 final, demonstrating that he already knows exactly how to win at Barton Stacey.

He therefore arrives as the clear favourite.

Jonathan Burch

But with just two competitors, there is nowhere for Price to hide.

This could become a pure head-to-head contest where reliability and consistency are every bit as important as outright speed.

ANS favourite: Jack Price

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A genuinely international Southern Championships

Another interesting feature of the 2026 entry is the diversity of the grid.

Alpha Timing currently lists drivers under 10 different flags.

Alongside the large British contingent are competitors listed from:

🇵🇱 Poland

🇮🇳 India

🇭🇰 Hong Kong

🇪🇸 Spain

🇫🇷 France

🇦🇺 Australia

🇨🇦 Canada

as well as England, Wales and UK-listed drivers.

That gives the Southern Championships a much broader feel than a standard regional club meeting.

Junior Rotax is particularly international.

Kartheek Kummeta is entered under the Indian flag, Connor Yu under Hong Kong, Oskar Johnson under Spain and Joshua Jestin under France.

Senior Rotax also includes Australian-listed Zhen Zong Lim, while KZ brings Canadian-listed Jack Price.

And Honda Cadet includes Poland's Sebastian Mejer.

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Our picks for the Southern Championship

If we had to choose the winners today:

🏆 Honda Cadet 200: Max Skilton

🏆 Rotax Cadet: Jonny Butterfill

🏆 Rotax Inter: Elijah West

🏆 Junior Rotax Max: Travis Rose

🏆 Senior Rotax: Zac Burke

🏆 177 Rotax Masters: Daniel Hammett

🏆 125 KZ: Jack Price

But Southern Championships are not won on championship tables.

They are won on track.

With 60 drivers, a 28-kart Junior Rotax field and competitors arriving from several countries, Forest Edge could deliver one of its most entertaining meetings of the season.

And there are still two weeks remaining before the first race.

The entry list could grow further.

Now we want your predictions.

Who have we got right?

Who have we completely underestimated?

And most importantly:

Who leaves Forest Edge as a 2026 Southern Champion?

Drop your predictions in the comments before the racing begins.