Off the back of a 2009 campaign that displayed flashes of genuine brilliance intermingled with far too many instances of ill-fortune, exciting young Sale-based karting star Jay Goodwin has warned his rivals that they had better watch out for him in 2010 – because this year is going to be his year.
Jay entered 2009 in a blaze of glory with his breakthrough pole position at national level in the Super 1 Series at Whilton Mill, ahead of 45 of the very best young drivers Britain has to offer at Mini Max level. Unfortunately, for one reason or another the 12-year-old’s season went downhill from that point on, and didn’t truly recover again until the closing rounds – but there were undeniably some bright spots along the way.
A strong performance in the prestigious annual Kartmasters outing at PF International yielded a competitive sixth place in the grand final, whilst an outstanding charge through both the field and the spray when the heavens opened at the same circuit in the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship spectacularly earned Jay the runner-up laurels having qualified way down in 19th.
Working in tandem with James Singleton, the Ashton-upon-Mersey ace intelligently fought his way up the order – reasoning that ‘two karts are always better than one for pushing through like that’ – and even twice threatened his Evolution Racing team-mate Harry Crawley for the lead before falling briefly back to fourth with a mistake in the treacherous conditions as he pushed very hard indeed. Undeterred, he artfully came back through again and comfortably had the beating of the driver who would go on to become FKS champion.
“Everyone knows I’m good in the wet,” he mused, “but still, to do that well was a bit of a shock! The previous day I had been close to wanting to go home because everything was just going so badly. I never expected to finish second on race day – I’d thought the top ten would be out of reach if I’m honest – but then when it started to rain, I thought ‘yeah, we can do this...’ It was a fantastic result, and my best ever at national level.”
That it was, and the performance confirmed Jay’s reputation as a driver at his very best when the chips are down. Alternately aggressive and smooth when the need arises, he has always been a gritty fighter, and if he acknowledges that qualifying is the key area on which he needs to work over the winter-time – with myriad problems having stymied him in 2009, from a sticking throttle to faulty brakes and a fuel tank with a mind of its own – it is patently clear that if he can pull all the strands together this year, the North Cestrian Grammar School pupil will be a fierce competitor indeed.
With a full season at Mini Max level now under his belt, Jay is preparing for a renewed assault on FKS and Super 1 honours, and will also dip his toe in the water with some European racing and testing along the way – what will be irrefutably another step forward in his burgeoning career.
“Looking overall, it could have gone better,” he reflected of 2009 in conclusion. “Joining Evolution was a big step forward, though; they have a history of being a very good team, and Callum Bowyer won three British titles with them in Mini Max in 2008. They’ve helped to bring me on a lot as a driver, and I enjoy working with them.
“I ended the season really well in both national championships, with fourth place in FKS at Whilton Mill and my second Lewis Hamilton ‘True Grit’ award, so I was pleased with that. I think I learned a lot last year, especially in terms of kart set-up, and proved myself to be a good driver, so I was happy with that. I gained a lot of experience too, so we are going to go into this year ready to win! I’m convinced 2010 is going to be our year.”
