Harvey loses Italian Opens lead

Bassingham kart racer, Jack Harvey, suffered a tough weekend in the latest round of the Italian Open Masters Championship at the Garda circuit in Lonato, losing his lead in the points after being forced off the circuit in the final.

The works Maranello Kart driver had gone into the meeting with a 14-point lead in the series. In practice he suffered set-up problem. But, he was still able to set the third fastest time in his group in qualifying.

In the opening heat he took a third place, before a frustrating seventh in the next one. He immediately bounced back though, taking a second and then a win in the remaining two heats, giving him a fifth place starting position for the first of the two finals on Sunday.

In the first race, he struggled and was forced to settle for seventh place at the chequered flag. In the grand final he was tagged by another racer right at the start and after being spun round in the middle of the track, had to wait for the entire 34 kart field to go past before he could rejoin.

An outstanding drive back through the field followed, with Jack taking two or three karts per corner instead of picking them off one by one, showing his talent for overtaking. By the end of the 20-lap race he’d managed to get back up into eighth place, bagging himself more points to stay second in the championship, just ten points back from the new series leader.

After the weekend, Jack was left a little frustrated with his results, knowing that he had the speed to win the final, but happy with taking points after dropping so far down the order.

“It was a tough weekend, for sure,” he said. “When we got into the finals I know I had the speed to win. I was unlucky to get pushed in the second final. It was a bit heart-stopping when they were all coming past me as I was hoping that no one would hit me to cause me any damage.”

“Once I got going again though I just got my head down and passed as many people as possible. I could see other racers lining up one kart on certain corners and I was taking the pair of them or more in some places. I needed to from that far back. It proved that I had the pace to have won had I been at the front from the start, though,’ he added.

The youngster now has a three week break before the final round of the WSK Championship, again at the Garda circuit at the beginning of July. However, he may take in a round of the UK JICA series before then. As reigning British Champion, he will go out with the intention to show how much this season’s European competition has sharpened his talents even more since winning his title last year.

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