Harry Crawley proved his pace as he warmed up for the third round of the season in the hotly-fought British Super 1 Series at Whilton Mill – but the highly-rated young Dartford karting star was made to work hard after reliability woes during the heats left him with a mountain to climb come the final.
Harry travelled to the demanding Northants circuit – one of the country’s true drivers’ tracks – aiming to lay down a marker ahead of Super 1’s visit a fortnight later. In characteristic fashion, he was right on the leading pace from the word ‘go’.
“It was basically a warm-up for the Super 1 meeting there to get some practice in for that,” the 13-year-old explained. “It was a big field, with 44 drivers in total in the Junior Max class and a lot of them Super 1 regulars, so the competition was tough.
“We had old tyres on all throughout practice and were only a tenth off the quickest, so we were pretty much right up there – and it was a confidence boost knowing that once we put new tyres on, we would probably be a couple of tenths faster still.”
Harry converted pole position in his first heat into an unchallenged victory at the end of a peerless lights-to-flag performance, comfortably prevailing by just over a second – but then the Hawley-based speed demon’s luck abruptly ran out.
“I started dead last in the second heat, and on the rolling-up lap the fuel pipe unclipped itself from the engine and just fell off!” he revealed. “The engine started choking up and then just slowed going up the hill a couple of laps into the race. That was game over – but it could have been worse, because at least it was only a club meeting and not Super 1.”
The failure to finish meant Harry needed a good result in his third and last heat to secure a decent grid slot for the final, but again, Lady Luck was not in the mood to smile upon him. After being knocked off-track at the start, the Evolution Racing ace regained ten places to scythe his way back through to seventh – and then his engine blew on lap three, bringing a premature end to his charge for the second race in swift succession.
Even in the short time he had been in contention, however, he set a better fastest lap than the driver who went on to finish third, so his potential was clear to see, and following a straightforward and impressively focussed passage through the ‘B’ Final – unaccustomed territory indeed for one of Britain’s undisputed front-runners – the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil prepared to begin the all-important grand final from a lowly 26th.
“I got a good start and overtook a couple of drivers into the first corner, and then a crash ahead removed another five people,” he recalled. “After that, it was just a case of getting my head down and overtaking as many people as I could. It wasn’t too difficult coming through, and by the last lap I was up with the leading group. I’m sure I could have fought for the win if I had only started nearer to the front.”
That much seems beyond doubt after Harry soared through the pack with aplomb to gain a staggering 20 positions and take the chequered flag a brilliant sixth, barely a second-and-a-half adrift of the runner-up. Endorsing his superb record around Whilton Mill, he is now readying himself to step things up a gear again as he bids to improve upon the fourth place he achieved in the PF International 2010 Super 1 curtain-raiser – by taking his first podium finish in his new class.
“Overall it was annoying, pleasurable and a learning curve,” he reflected of the weekend, “and we learned a lot that will all make me a stronger driver for Super 1. Obviously the competition will be even harder still there, but I’m feeling confident – and hopefully the outcome will be my best national result yet at Junior Max level.”
