Rising Mini Max star marks himself as title contender after back to back podiums
The first race of the Formula Kart Stars season was always going to be something of a nervy affair. With every driver wanting to win, and the competitors as twitchy as squirrels, it was important to get early points on the board. As the old saying says, ‘to finish first, first you must finish’.
Jack Barlow demonstrated an old head on young shoulders last weekend (11/ 12 April ), to get his Formula Kart Stars title bid off to a strong start.
However, things didn’t quite go to plan for the Wavertree Motorsport driver.
“To be perfectly honest, we got the tyre pressures wrong,” he explained after his Timed Qualifying run. “They were too high, and that put me 18th overall on the grid for the pre-final.”
But a battling performance saw Jack work his way up the order to take a creditable 7th at the chequered flag. Starting from that position for the Grand Final, Jack survived the first corner shenanigans to deliver a stirring performance that yielded 3rd place, and the fastest lap.
Buoyed by this, Jack returned to the circuit the following day eager to build on his encouraging start to his FKS campaign.
There were no set-up errors as he took advantage of a better handling kart on a dry track to seal pole position for Sunday’s only race.
A superb start was almost negated as he found his rivals equal to his challenge and a thrilling encounter was assured as Jack and his pursuers each fought for the lead.
With seven minutes remaining, Jack moved to the front - but he was unable to quite match the eventual winner’s pace and rather than risk a desperate lunge, settled for 2nd a good haul of points.
“You can’t win a Championship at the first round” he reflected. “If you’d asked me before the weekend if I’d be happy with a 2nd and 3rd place, I’d have said ‘yes!’ So, I’m happy to leave Kimbolton with two trophies and to be second in the Championship”. Jack is also bidding to lift the British Super 1 title and opened his account with an impressive 2nd place.“I qualified in 38th place, due to my axle moving, which meant I really had to get my head down to come through the two heats and the pre-final. In the final, I was all over the leader when the race was red-flagged five minutes from the end.”He added, “It felt like a win, considering where I started from. But it’s given me the confidence to know that I can come through the traffic and that the kart and engines are capable of running at the front”.
