British karting ace, Jack Harvey, put himself firmly into pole position to claim the title of European champion after dominating the KF3 class of the Western region qualifying event at Essay in France over the weekend.
 |
|
Jack Harvey |
The reigning British junior champion took a victory and a second place in the two finals, after blitzing his rivals throughout qualifying and the heats, to easily claim his place at the European Finals which take place at Sarno in Italy at the beginning of September.
The factory Maranello Kart racer started his weekend by being fast in free practice, before setting the second fastest time in qualifying, with only one rival managing a time just eight thousandths of a second faster than him.
As soon as the heats got underway, Jack immediately showed his intentions for the weekend by taking two wins and a second place in his three heats. His consistent speed and determination meant that he lined up on pole for the first of the two all-important finals.
When the lights went green Jack was forced to take a defensive line from the chasing pack and briefly lost the lead on the opening lap. However, by the end of lap two he had re-taken his place at the head of the field and pulled out a gap over just under a second from the second placed runner.
After soaking up immense pressure over the course of the 17-lap race, he was able to cross the line with a lead of just over half a second. In the second race, Jack led the first lap, but was caught out while trying to defend his place at the front and ran wide. A cool head meant that Jack was able to immediately slot back behind the new leader and go with him as he tried to pull away.
The pair were able to stretch out a lead of over two and a half seconds over the rest of the field and despite being unable to find a way back past his rival, Jack finished just half a second behind him, comfortably taking the position of top ‘Western Region’ KF3 driver in the run up to the finals in early September.
“I’m really, really pleased with how the weekend has gone,†said Jack. “We’ve been right at the top of the timesheets all weekend and have been the ones to beat in every heat and both finals. It was exactly what I wanted to achieve here and I’m confident that we can repeat the performance at the finals in Sarno too,†he added.
Jack’s schedule does not allow him to enjoy his recent success, however, as next weekend he heads out to the Vibrata track for the final round of the Italian Open Masters Championship. The 14-year-old currently lies second in the points and, after his success at Essay, is going into the last championship meeting of the season full of confidence.
“It would be brilliant to win the Italian Open title,†he said. “I just missed out on the WSK championship and we’ve got the kart working exactly how we want it now. I’m certainly going to be going out to Vibrata with the intention of winning it,†he added.