Goff hits the front with European triumph

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Max Goff has stolen the title advantage as the prestigious BRDC Stars of Tomorrow karting championship races towards its final straight, by pulling an unlikely victory out of the bag with a superb performance on the European stage.

The Brigstock ace – competing in the same series that set current Formula 1 World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton on the fast track to success 11 years ago – headed to Genk in Belgium for rounds six and seven of the nine-round campaign knowing he needed to make up ground on JICA class leader Sam Jenkins. He did that and more.

“Genk is an awesome track,” Max enthused, “with every type of corner. Last year I was leading going into the last corner and I got wiped out, and on the second day I came third with a bent chassis so I felt confident there.

“We were really quick in practice. My mechanic worked hard to get the kart ready throughout the day, and I was second-fastest in Saturday timed practice. I knew Luke (Wright) would be hard to beat, but I was hoping I had the racecraft to do so.”

Problems in the opening heat restricted the 13-year-old to an unrepresentative ninth place at the chequered flag, but he more than made amends in heat two by seeing off the challenge of a hard-charging Carl Stirling to seal the win – and with it pole position for the all-important final.

“I think Carl had a bit more pace than we did,” he acknowledged, “but I got a good start, pulled out a gap and after that the others couldn’t really catch me up. I was a bit surprised to be on pole for the final, but I felt confident going into it.”

A second successive triumph was looking to be on the cards in the weekend’s first final, but it was unfortunately not to be as braking woes caused Max to cede the lead to Wright – and, more agonisingly still – second place to Stirling on the very last lap.

“I made a good start and pulled away a bit again,” he recounted, “but then the brakes stuck on. Luke might not have caught me if it wasn’t for that. I didn’t know exactly what the problem was until after the race – all I knew was the brakes had gone spongy and that put a strain on the engine too. It was obviously disappointing that Carl got past me as well, but that’s racing.

“For Sunday we added more grip, but Luke still had two tenths on everyone else in timed practice. I just hoped as the tyres got older we would be able to sneak up on him though, so I wasn’t too concerned.”

Following another close battle with Wright, Max wisely backed off towards the end of the day’s first heat in order to protect his engine and tyres for later on. It was a move that would pay dividends in heat two.

“Luke put me under pressure again after I overtook him at the start,” he said, “and we kept swapping places, with him always getting past at the end of the straight which was frustrating. I finally managed to get by him for good with three laps to go, then when I looked back next he had fallen away so I just got my head down and pushed on.”

A second consecutive pole position for the final was the prelude to one of the most thrilling races of the weekend, and if ever there was a classic case of a driver using his talent to outperform the machinery at his disposal, this was it. Every time it appeared Max had nothing left to give, he found something.

“I knew I had to get a good start and try to get away,” he underlined. “That worked, but with three laps to go Luke caught and overtook me. I knew he had more pace than me down the straights, but every time he made a move I was able to nip straight back through again and when Ryan (Cooper) and James (Godbehere) got past him as well that enabled me to pull away a bit.

“I knew I had to get a good start and try to get away,” he underlined. “That worked, but with three laps to go Luke caught and overtook me. I knew he had more pace than me down the straights, but every time he made a move I was able to nip straight back through again and when Ryan (Cooper) and James (Godbehere) got past him as well that enabled me to pull away a bit. It was fantastic to win. After all the hard work the team had put in it was great to get a good reward for everyone.”

Better yet for his championship challenge was the fact key rival and early-season pace-setter Jenkins could only manage a fourth and sixth place in the finals, handing Max a slender one-point advantage ahead of the closing two rounds at the fast Three Sisters circuit near Wigan at the start of next month. With Wright only a further ten points in arrears, a barnstorming finish certainly looks to be in store.

“I’ve not been there much,” the XTREME Racing star admitted, “but I like the track, even if it hasn’t been the luckiest of circuits for me in the past. Hopefully I will have a bit more outright pace there too. I’m feeling confident.”

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