Chamberlain switches kart and makes spectacular comeback

After struggling with carburettor problems all day, Newport’s Jordan Chamberlain made a spectacular recovery in the Grand Final at last weekend’s Kartmasters GP, coming through from 26th to 6th after suffering an ignition failure in the Pre-Final which prevented him from taking the start.

Jordan only switched back to the Tonykart chassis on the Friday before the race after he tried it and promptly broke the lap record. He had been racing another make of kart for several races but struggled to get the best out of it in this summer’s unseasonably cold weather.

The ignition problems he suffered meant the heats were a write-off, with Jordan only qualifying on the last row of the grid for the Pre-Final, the race which sets the grid positions for the final. He didn’t even get off the grid as the engine refused to start!

As the main final approached, rain set in for the day and once the lights went green each driver had a battle just to stay on the track. Jordan skilfully picked his way through to 11th on the first lap, then ran as high as 5th before slipping back a place to 6th. However, everyone was happy with his performance, making up 20 places in the rain-shortened 10-lap race.

Next weekend Jordan will head north to Sunderland for the penultimate round of the British Championship, where he will attempt to improve on his 9th place in the championship standings.

The Duffryn High School student has also been selected to race for Wales in two weeks time, also up near Sunderland in a team event that pits teams of drivers from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland against each other.

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