Harvey dominates in style at Salbris

Reigning British Junior Karting champion, Jack Harvey, showed why he is the class of the KF3 (JICA) category at the weekend, as he dominated top step of the podium and moved into the lead of the Winning Series of Karting at Salbris in France.

The Bassingham based, Lincoln Minster School pupil, went out to the penultimate round of the pan European series with the intention of taking as many points as possible to boost his championship hopes.

On yet another brand new track to him, the 14-year-old factory Maranello Kart driver was immediately at the sharp end of the timesheets. After qualifying fifth in his group, he would start his first heat from the second row. A minor engine glitch meant that he would suffer his worst race of the weekend, having to settle for ninth place.

He immediately bounced back in the second heat, winning by almost half a second to give himself fifth on the grid for the all important first final on Sunday.

As the lights went green in the first of the two points carrying finals, Jack was able to work his way up into second place and eventually crossed the line just behind the leader. However, at the post race scrutineering check, his rival was removed from the results, handing him the top step of the podium.

With pole position for the grand final, it meant that Jack was able to race away from the rest of the grid in the opening stages of the 14-lap event. After pulling out a huge lead on the chasing pack he cruised to his third visit to the top step of the WSK podium.

A delighted Harvey was pleased to have achieved exactly what he set out to do over the course of the weekend, as well as leaping from fourth to first place in the championship.

“I’d set out to step onto the podium again this weekend and I’m really pleased to have taken maximum points,” he said. “My aim was to get as many points from the two finals as possible, so to win them both is fantastic and to come away from the meeting leading the championship is just a huge bonus.”

“The team did a great job this weekend. The kart was really quick as soon as we got here on Friday. Apart from the small problem in the first heat it, was pretty much a faultless weekend. It was yet another new track for me too, which makes the results even better,” he added.

Jack now leads the championship with a 12 point advantage, with the final round of the series set to take place at the beginning of July. However, there is now less than a week before he has to defend his lead in the Italian Open Masters championship, at the Garda circuit.

“I’m going to Garda to win again,” said a confident Harvey. “Now that I’ve got the lead in both series’ I don’t want to give them up and my sole aim next weekend will be to step onto the top step of the podium again,” he added.

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