Callum Bowyer admitted that after qualifying for the second round of the 2010 Super 1 Series at Larkhall in Scotland, if somebody had offered him a third and a fourth place for the two finals he would have eagerly snatched their hand off, so greatly was he struggling for pace – but courtesy of a gutsy and determined performance, that is exactly what he came away with to keep himself firmly in contention for British title glory.

Callum headed north of the border off the back of a double podium finish in the Shenington curtain-raiser for the hotly-contested national karting championship just over a month earlier, and a test outing at Larkhall a fortnight prior to the meeting itself left him with considerable cause for optimism.

During pre-weekend practice, the highly-rated young Peterborough speed demon maintained that encouraging form to lap up at the pointy end come rain or shine – but then in qualifying, a rogue batch of tyres badly offset the handling of his kart, severely stymieing his progress and leaving the 15-year-old more than three tenths shy of the benchmark and down in 11th position in the KF2 class field, unaccustomed territory indeed.

“It’s a circuit that I quite enjoy driving,” he reflected of the South Lanarkshire track. “Obviously it’s so far away that we don’t tend to go there that often, but every time we’ve been we’ve seemed to do quite well. It’s a real drivers’ track, and because it’s such a short lap you have to get absolutely every corner spot-on. You don’t get a break physically, and that makes it quite challenging because it really isn’t forgiving of mistakes. And if your kart is difficult to control, Larkhall really does crucify you...

“I knew straightaway in qualifying that the tyres weren’t even as good as the old ones we’d had on in practice that had done a lot of laps. The grip level was rubbish and we were miles off, but in that kind of situation there’s not really much you can do about it – they’re not going to just give you a new set of tyres. You have to try not to let it affect you and just get your head down.”

Consistent lap times – impressively, similar to those he had set during qualifying – earned Callum a battling ninth place in his opening heat race, a solid result and one achieved in circumstances in which many a lesser driver would have stuck the kart in the tyre wall. When he woke up the following day to find that the heavens had opened, however, the Gunthorpe teenager instantly knew he had been handed a reprieve.

From 11th on the starting grid in heat two, he stormed through the spray to commandingly triumph by almost two seconds after only hitting the front two laps from the chequered flag. Totally dominant, it was a master class in treacherous conditions as the Ken Stimpson School pupil proved the only competitor capable of lapping beneath the 44-second barrier and left his rivals trailing in his wheeltracks to line up in P6 for the first of the two finals.

“I was a lot more confident when I saw it was raining,” he acknowledged, “because with everyone switching over to wets I knew the tyres were not going to hamper us anymore. In the second heat we were half a second quicker than anyone else, but still, starting from 11th I wasn’t expecting to come through the field and win in the way that I did – I was quite shocked to be able to do that, to be honest.

“Unfortunately, the track then dried out slowly-but-surely before the first final, so we had to just keep chipping away, knowing deep down that the tyres were going to let us down again and that we wouldn’t be as sharp as the others because of that. We had improved the kart quite a bit overnight, though, and I just got my head down.

“I got quite a good start and worked my way through to third – so I feel sure that if we’d had a decent set of tyres, it would have been an altogether different outcome. Trailing by half a second in qualifying and setting the fastest lap in the first final just goes to show how much we improved over the weekend – so if we’d had a good set of tyres, who knows, perhaps we’d have been half a second up the road...”

Passing experienced hand Rob Foster for the last podium position with six laps to go, Callum went on to add to that with a solid fourth place in the second final later in the day, having run second early on before finding himself shuffled down the order and then fighting his way back through.

As an exercise in damage limitation given how the weekend had begun, it was a superb display, and one that enabled the Global Karting ace to close to within just two points of second spot in the championship, and lie only 18 markers adrift of leader Jacob Nørtoft heading next to Nutts Corner in Ireland on the last weekend in May. Supreme in his consistency with three thirds and a fourth from the first four finals of the year to-date, next time out, he makes it clear, he intends to step things up a gear.

“We came away from Larkhall with quite a good result in the end,” Callum mused in conclusion. “After qualifying, I’d definitely have taken a third and a fourth place! Considering how bad the tyres were and how far off the pace we were to start with, that was certainly better than we had thought we would come away with – and at the end of the year, points make prizes.

“We’ve just got to knuckle down to some hard work now before Nutts Corner. It’s another drivers’ track where you don’t really get much of a break again, and I enjoy driving there, whereas I know some other drivers don’t get on too well with it. It’s still quite early in the year – Nutts will only be the third round of the championship – so I’m aiming to stay consistent and score some more good points. And we’ll try to make sure Nørtoft doesn’t have it quite so easy next time...”

Callum is still seeking sponsorship for the 2010 season. If you are interested in backing him, please contact Tracey Bowyer on 01733 701099 or 07960 400731, or e-mail: callumkf3@hotmail.com