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British kart racer Tom Grice described last weekend’s WSK International Series event as “one of the best races of my career” after proving he has the talent to race against the best in the Super KF class at Castelletto in northern Italy. He ran third for most of the gruelling half-hour final before dropping back, but Tom had done enough to get himself noticed.

The WSK is Europe’s most popular championship for top-level karting, and consists of four events of which this was the second. The first round was less than ideal for Tom, and team difficulties meant it was essential to make a move, which Tom did to Birel Motorsport in time for the prestigious Winter Cup at Lonato, Italy.

Now only on his second race with Birel, one of the “big three” of factory race teams in kart racing, Tom is fast becoming an essential member of the team, alongside lead driver and reigning WSK champion Sauro Cesetti from Italy and young Czech driver Libor Toman. Super KF is a new class introduced for 2009, designed as a showcase for the top drivers and the latest technical innovations in karting technology. The front-runners are usually professional drivers in their 20s and 30s like Cesetti, but some ambitious teenagers have decided it is the right place to hone their talent and Tom is among the best of them.

After qualifying 16th at a track he hadn’t been to before, Tom climbed to ninth in his first heat in the wet, then fourth in the next once the track had dried out.

The final was to last 32 laps – at half an hour the longest race Tom will have to do until much later in his career. After his results in the heats, Tom started seventh on the grid, one place behind reigning World Champion Marco Ardigo, and after the start he immediately got stuck in. He made short work of Ardigo, but the leaders, Finnish driver Aaro Vainio and Tom’s Birel team-mate Libor Toman, had built up a comfortable lead. After prevailing in a fierce battle with four other drivers Tom ran third for much of the race, but started to tire and a few drivers passed him, dropping him back to seventh by the chequered flag.

Tom still counted the race as a major breakthrough though. “I think it was one of my best races in my career so far and there’s more to come with Birel!” said Tom. “They’re a great team and we all help each other out, I’m so happy there. All I need now is to be stronger and I could have come top three.”

Tom will race next at the German Championship at Oschersleben on 26th April, where he will start his campaign for a title he has won two years in a row in his two previous formulae.