James Singleton might have been an unknown on the international stage when he travelled over to Spain for the 2010 Euro Max Rotax Winter Cup at Malaga – but by the time he left again at the end, none of his rivals were in any doubt at all that the young North Walian will be a very serious force to be reckoned with this year indeed.

Having broken through as a genuine challenger for British title glory in 2009 by finishing a brilliant third in both Super 1 and fellow national championship Formula Kart Stars (FKS) – the same series that first set a certain Lewis Hamilton on-track for future superstardom just over a decade ago – James has stepped things up a notch again in 2010, and will be competing in the hotly-contested Euro Max Challenge on foreign shores. The Winter Cup marked the annual pre-season warm-up.

“We were hoping for a top ten finish,” the 14-year-old recounted. “The competition was very high, with some very experienced drivers out there. A lot of the others had already been out tyre-testing during the week too, whereas we had to go straight into it blind, which immediately put us at a bit of a disadvantage. The tyres they use in Europe are quite different from those we have in the UK, and don’t warm up as quickly when you leave the pits which means they’re not as grippy initially.

“The track is brilliant, with great facilities. It’s really fun to drive, and because the kerbs are quite low down they’re easy to ride. I thought the layout looked quite simple when I first saw it, but when you’re out there in the kart it no longer seems as straightforward as when you’re just walking round it! It’s a long lap as well, which made it very important to save your tyres during the races.

“There was one thing that took us completely by surprise, though – having gone out there expecting it to be nice and sunny, it ended up raining and pretty horrible for most of the meeting! It hammered it down at times, and it was so bad on Saturday that they actually had to call the day off early.”

That scarcely helped James’ acclimatisation to both the 1.6km Circuito Campillos and the Vega tyres, and nor did a breakdown in the opening practice session that cost him valuable track time. In evidence of the fact that he was on a steep learning curve, the Conwy-based speed demon lagged a full two seconds shy of the leading pace early on, leaving him with a veritable mountain to climb.

What’s more, with no fewer than 41 Junior Rotax class drivers in attendance – astonishingly composed of some 18 different nationalities from all around the globe – it was a truly international gathering, uniting the very crème de la crème of worldwide talent at that level, headed by reigning world champion Ukyo Sasahara. The Japanese contender was inarguably the man to beat – and in qualifying, that is precisely what James did.

“On the Wednesday morning when we first went out we were nothing special really and we thought we had no chance of getting pole position,” related the Penmaenmawr ace, before revealing that within just four sessions he had expertly hauled himself right onto the front-running pace. “Throughout practice we just got closer and closer and closer – and by qualifying we were the fastest!

“I was over-the-moon to beat the world champion, and it was quite a relief too, because being on pole obviously gives you a massive advantage heading into the first corner, as provided you make a good start, you will be out of reach of any trouble that might break out behind. After that, we knew we had both the racecraft and pace – so we were out to go for the win!”

It was a superb way to announce his arrival on the European stage, but the first two heats the following day would throw another variable into the equation, as the rain that had been absent during qualifying resurfaced with a vengeance and transformed the circuit into something more akin to a skating rink than a race track. That being the case, a second and third-place finish was a very solid achievement.

“People were coming off all over the place,” James admitted, “and the front of the kart was just pushing on everywhere – you had to really be in control of it or else you’d be off. We weren’t as quick in the wet as we had been in the dry, so we thought if we could just finish in the top three that would be great – and we did!”

Far happier to wake up to dry weather on the Sunday morning for his remaining heat and the two finals, the Coles Racing star thoroughly dominated heat three, leaving his pursuers – including reigning British Champion Jack Barlow – to squabble over the scraps in his wheeltracks.

Such was James’ scintillating raw pace – almost a full seven tenths of a second a lap out of reach of anybody else – that he had the luxury of being able to back off in the closing stages to preserve his tyres for the finals and still triumph by nigh-on five seconds, a tremendous margin of supremacy. The result also represented a timely confidence boost ahead of the pre-final, which he would begin second.

“I got into the lead and started to pull away in the middle part of the race,” he recalled, “but Barlow caught me again towards the end; unfortunately, I made a little mistake on the second-to-last lap and gave him a chance to get through. We were close all the way through, but we could see that we clearly hadn’t moved on as much as some other drivers had set-up wise, and they had caught us up.

“I made another small mistake at the start of the grand final and fell back a couple of places, but then the kart came on around lap three and I caught and passed Barlow and Harry Crawley to move into second. I pulled a little bit of a gap out over them, but the leader had already opened up a big advantage.

“As my kart went off again in the closing stages, Barlow began to catch me back up, and going down towards the bottom corner on the penultimate lap I over-defended and he was able to come up my inside. He pushed me right out onto the grass, which left me with no chance of trying to fight back.”

It was undeniably a frustrating and disappointing way to end what had been otherwise a stellar weekend, but nonetheless third place was a magnificent accomplishment, and one that proved that James will be a threat all the way through the Euro Max campaign. As a calling card, it was a potent one.

“We hadn’t expected to finish third, that’s for sure,” the Ysgol Aberconwy pupil mused in conclusion. “We were really pleased with that, and hopefully we can do it again during the season – and who knows, maybe snatch the odd win along the way too... It felt great to be up there on the podium – it always does.”

On present form, seeing James Singleton up on the podium is something his rivals ought to perhaps start getting used to...

James is seeking sponsors to support him in 2010, and if you are interested in backing North Wales’ brightest young F1 hope, please contact his father Mark on 07795 297350 or at: gwyneddforklifts@ukf.net