In 2008, Bowles followed up his win at the Infineon Raceway road course with a superb victory at the Irwindale oval, en route to taking second place in the championship fight. One year later, the former formula car and karting star is poised to accomplish the feat for a second consecutive season. Given Bowles already has two wins this season in his No. 6 Sunrise Ford/Oakley/Joe Gibbs Racing Oil/GS 610/RPM 12/Justice Brothers/Bell/Ford, has yet to finish outside the top-10, and has won the two previous NASCAR Camping World West Series races at Irwindale from the pole position, few are betting against the 2007 Rookie of the Year finding continued success at the California oval.

“We’re taking the same car back that we ran there last year,” said Bowles. “Hopefully, we can repeat by qualifying on the pole and winning the race. Our performance is getting better every week. That’s what needs to happen to try to win the championship.”

The King Taco 200 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale commences for Bowles and his Sunrise Ford crew on Saturday (July 4), with a pair of 45-minute practice sessions. The grid for the 200-lap race will be set via single-car qualifying 4:45 p.m. local time, followed by the green flag scheduled to wave at 8:30 p.m.

Following a seemingly interminable run of bad luck, Jay travelled to the demanding and undulating Cumbrian circuit – what he describes as ‘a great track to race at, and very challenging to drive’ – buoyed by a podium finish in his previous club outing at Shenington and aiming for a top ten finish. He would partly accomplish it.

Quick throughout practice, the Ashton-upon-Mersey speed demon initially lapped second only to championship leader Jack Barlow, and encouragingly paced the last session outright despite being only the driver not to run on new tyres. And then, on only his third lap in qualifying, a brake seal on the calliper burst…

“Our speed in practice gave me quite a lot of confidence going into qualifying,” Jay underlined, “but after being really quick for the first two laps – and looking like I was going to be on pole – the brakes failed. I went to slow down and the kart didn’t want to, so I had to react pretty quickly! Some people think karting is just about turning the wheel and putting your foot on the accelerator, but it involves a lot of split-second reactions too.”

Admitting that the setback was ‘a bit of a bummer’ to say the least, it left the Joe Bloggs and Matrix-backed Evolution Racing ace a lowly 17th overall in the 29-strong Mini Max field, slipping inexorably down the order from second at the time of his brake failure as his rivals improved. The pre-final, at least, would yield a far more satisfying outcome.

“Going into the first hairpin I received a whack from behind, which allowed about five people to go up my inside and dropped me to 18th,” recounted Jay, at 12 one of the youngest drivers in the class. “After that I just focussed on getting positions back again all the way through the race.
“I got back up to sixth by lap five, but then into the chicane the driver behind me went for a silly move that wasn’t really on. He hit the kerb and rode up over the back of my kart. I really felt it and thought I was going to have to come in, but when I realised what position I was in I thought ‘I can’t come in now – I’m doing too well!’

“That left my spark plug hanging off, which cost me about six tenths a lap, and the chain guard was threatening to fall off too – but for once, fortunately, luck was on our side and we were able to hang on to the end.”

With tyre marks on the back of his race suit bearing witness to his assailant’s unwelcome attentions, in the circumstances seventh place was an excellent result, and one achieved under pressure from a train of drivers behind and in a not inconsiderable degree of pain. If anything, the grand final later in the day would prove even more eventful still.

“There was light rain and we were all on slick tyres,” Jay recalled, “but I managed to keep on-track at the start despite getting hit from behind. I came out of the second hairpin well in sixth, and then two drivers ahead got tangled up with each other which moved me up to fourth.

“I was closing on third, too, but then I got passed and when I tried to re-take the place on the following lap we both went wide and I fell back to tenth. I fought my way back up to sixth again and went for a move on the guy in fifth, but he turned in on me and that bent the whole front of my kart, which dropped me to 11th.

“On the last lap I was sixth behind Oliver Myers, but he braked really early to try to get a run on the driver ahead. I didn’t realise he would do that and hit the back of him, which sent me flying off the track. I just managed to keep it out of the barriers, though, so it could have been worse I suppose…
“All credit to Jack Barlow who drove brilliantly for the win, but I feel sorry for my team-mate Harry Crawley whose chain came off on the warming-up lap when he should have been on pole, and my other team-mate Jody Fannin who was black-flagged. It wasn’t a very lucky day for the team all-in-all. Still, now I know I can race at the front in the British Championship, which has given me a lot of confidence, and even though I didn’t finish, I don’t think that reflects how well I drove. We could have been fourth – at least…”

It was indeed an immensely encouraging performance that demonstrated the North Cestrian Grammar School pupil’s clear talent and promise, and the fifth-fastest lap time to his name only went to show what might have been. Returning this weekend to PF International – a circuit that seemed to hold some kind of curse over him until he broke it with an assured rostrum finish there on his last visit – Jay has his focus firmly set on securing the result to match his undoubted pace and potential.

Smith came into the event not having won a feature race but his consistency kept him atop of the championship standings. He narrowly earned 10 bonus points for the fast lap in qualifying, missing out on the pole position by just 0.032-seconds. Once the racing began however, Smith put himself into the lead and would go on to win both heat races unchallenged. A slow start to begin the feature put Smith back to the third position as they came around to the line for the opening lap. The next time by, Smith was up to second and a lap later regained the lead reestablishing himself as the man to beat. From there, Smith put down the fast laps of the race to extend to a two-second margin of victory, his first of the season.

Smith was joined in the S4 category by Phil Dunford and Peter Workum. Dunford was just a tick back of Smith in qualifying, only 0.066-seconds off the pole while Workum was only a tenth back of the fast lap in the session to line up fifth in the class. Dunford however would have an off-track excursion in the opening heat race, retiring on lap four while running in second place. Workum took advantage of the opportunity and finished the race in third. The next heat Workum would have a mechanical misfortune during the warm-up lap and unable to complete a lap. Dunford worked his way from the last to fifth again posting quick lap times. In the main event he dogged second place throughout the race finishing third and missing second by a nose at the stripe in a side by side photo finish joining Aluminos teammate Smith on the podium. Coming from the back forward, Workum worked his way up the fifth spot after the 20-lap event posting fast lap time like the rest of the Aluminos S4 squad.

Brad Dunford and Harley Owen continue to record solid results in the S3 category, keeping them in the top-20 of the eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings. The duo qualified fourth and fifth, running near identical fast laps in the timed session. The two swapped positions in the opening heat with Owen, who had a personal breakout performance for 2009, was able to pick up the pace just enough to work by his Aluminos teammate for fourth. Owen continued to get faster, posting the fast lap of the race and working himself up the second position. Dunford held his ground in the fourth as the top-four crossed the line within a second. The early stages of the 20-lap feature looked good for Owen as he held his second position in the opening lap and came around as the leader the next time by. Lap three however he was shuffled back to third and laps later fell back to fourth, battling with Dunford. On lap nine, Dunford was able to slide by for the position and they would run that way for the remainder of the race. Though neither finished on the podium, the weekend was a solid one for both drivers as they each improved their pace and showed they have the complete package running under the Aluminos tent to challenge the best in the S3 category.

ProKart Challenge West Coast Shootout G1 winner Fernando Diaz looked to earn his second straight win however a few challenges stood in his way. Diaz qualified his Aluminos machine in the second spot, putting him on the front row for the start of the opening heat. A bad first lap however dropped him outside of the top-five. Diaz eventually worked his way back up to forth after the 10-lap race. From there, he held onto the spot through the second heat race to start outside of row two for the feature. After losing one position at the start of the 20-lap race, Diaz was up to third by lap four. Running the same pace as the leading duo and ultimately setting the fastest race lap in the main, Diaz was unable to make up the lost ground and crossed the line third for his second straight podium finish.

The Team Aluminos squad will now return to the ProKart Challenge North program on July 11 for the fifth round of the championship at the Jim Russell International Karting Center in Sonoma, California. The PKC South championships will be decided on August 29 at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana, California for the seventh and final round.

He started in 13th in the Prefinal which he felt would be a big disadvantage on the narrow Wackersdorf track, then a rear tyre was damaged causing grip problems so he had to be content with 11th.

In the Final, Fore made up two places at the start, using a rear tyre from the heats. With the right set up for the situation, he was able to make up several more places until he was part of the second group headed by his team mate Thonon who was third.

However, after contact from Ardigo, Fore’s rear bumper was bent in towards the tyre and he was slowed by a lack of power and grip. Ardigo overtook again but Fore continued to fight to hold fifth.

Fore is now looking forward to the WSK round at Salbris, his favourite track, and would like to thank the CRG team as well as his mechanic Mansell and engine mechanic Patrick Savard.

After setting the second best time, just one 100th of a second away from the pole position, Jonathan Thonon emerged immediately as one of the candidates to victory in Germany. European champion in 2008 and winner of the World Cups in 2007 and 2008 with his CRG-Maxter, the Belgian driver always remained in the leading pack during qualifiers and then in the pre-final.

“I think I managed my race perfectly, to play my best cards in the final” Jonathan Thonon commented. “Unfortunately a driver slowed me down when he overtook me and the first two drivers took advantage of that to gain more ground. A pity, because I was really determined to fight until the end and give CRG and Maxter a new title. Then I kept pushing hard up to the arrival, to reach the third step of the podium. It is an excellent result anyway, given the level of competition. We were not far from victory and unfortunately you cannot win every single time. Anyway, I am very happy about this result, especially because I had a chance to show the potential of my equipment”.

Unlucky in qualifiers, Davide Forè staged a superb recovery up to fifth place. And with Arjan Kievitbosch’s CRG in 9th place (CRG Holland) followed by Rick Dreezen and Arnaud Kozlinski, the famous Italian brand had its five CRG karts in the first 11 places of this European Championship!

CRG was also happy about the excellent job made by CRG Holland team. In addition to the good performances shown by Kievitbosch and Dreezen in KZ1, Jorrit Pex was third in Race 1 in KZ2, then second in Race 2. He is therefore 5th in the European championship, just ahead of his brother Yard Pex.

The technically challenging, undulating and physically demanding Cumbrian circuit may have been the scene of the 14-year-old’s breakthrough KF3 class triumph in the national Super 1 Series last year, but by the same token 2009 had been slated at the outset as a development season for his JM Racing outfit’s new BRM chassis, which only a matter of months ago languished as much as two seconds off the leading pace.

“To get a win at Glan Y Gors was just incredible,” Russ enthused, “but I still thought we would be struggling a little bit at Rowrah, because we had raced there previously in Super 1 and had been lacking pace. There are some very tight corners and a longish straight, for which you have to rely on the engine quite a lot, and we were a bit down in that respect. It’s probably one of the best drivers’ circuits in the country because of its technical nature, though, and if you make just one little mistake it can affect you so much.”

Up at the sharp end in practice, engine issues in qualifying left the Dore ace just ninth on the grid in qualifying, but some changes for race day seemed to do the trick. A strong showing in the pre-final earned Russ a competitive sixth place – and the all-important grand final would be better still.

“I got a very good start up into third,” recounted the Westbourne School pupil, “and I was just about keeping up with the two leaders, when going into the bottom corner I got hit from behind, which sent me flying and dropped me to tenth. Luckily, though, the heavens then opened and in one lap I went from tenth to first! I didn’t actually think we’d be quite that quick, to be honest – in fact, to begin with I was pushing too hard and put two wheels onto the grass, but as soon as I calmed down I was able to pull away.

“The kart has always had a lot of grip in the rain, and since I’ve been karting I’ve always been quite natural in the wet too; I just seem to be a lot more comfortable than some other drivers are. If you’re too jagged on the steering wheel it’s quite easy to go off, so my smooth style probably helps as well.”

With all 22 drivers out on slick tyres on the treacherous track surface, Russ’ deft touch paid dividends, and a commanding advantage of more than 11 seconds when the red flags flew on safety grounds earned him the winner’s trophy and elevated him to a superb second in the drivers’ standings, something he confessed he could never even have dreamt of several weeks ago. Next time out at PF International in Lincolnshire, he will doubtless be gunning for the hat-trick, and whilst refusing to get carried away by his and JM Racing’s outstanding recent success, it is unquestionably now game on.

“I was proud not only of my performance but of that of the whole team,” he summarised, “and not just for this weekend, but for every weekend leading up to it. My driver coach Tom Brown has worked with me since my second year of karting when I was 12 and we have a very special relationship, my mechanic Tyrone has been working so hard to help me and the team get the kart to this point, and James Mills is doing a brilliant job with the engines too. I’d like to say a big thank you to BRM as well, and to all the FKS team for doing such a great job and really putting the championship on the map in the karting world.”

FKS’ first double-winner of 2009 – in the same series that first set none other than a certain Lewis Hamilton on the fast track to superstardom, and one that over the winter gained the prestigious official backing of both the reigning F1 World Champion and the sport’s ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone – Russ now has a busy couple of weeks ahead of him, with the upcoming Super 1 outing at Whilton Mill this weekend, followed by the high-profile CIK-FIA European Championship Finals at Zuera in Spain a week later still, when he will be hoping for a belated 15th birthday present.

“We were quick when we last tested at Whilton,” underlined Yorkshire’s most exciting budding grand prix prospect, “and if we can get the kart a bit more accustomed to the track, hopefully we can get a win there too. To be honest, I had been expecting to be battling just outside of the top ten at this stage, given how hard to drive the kart was back at the start of the year – so to be fighting with the front-runners now is amazing.

“If you had said to me that in less than half a year’s time I would be second in one of the two main British championships, winning races and starting to close on the class leader I would never have believed you. The kart has improved a ridiculous amount – I can’t even put it into words really – just in terms of how much work everyone in the team has put into it and how much time we’ve found from it. Nothing about it is the same anymore; it’s changed so dramatically it’s unbelievable.”