He has already built up a reputation as one of the championship’s most consistent drivers this season, but in only the third meeting of 2010 in the hotly-fought national Super 1 Series, highly-rated young Dartford karting star Harry Crawley brilliantly established himself as a winner at Junior Max level too – and with it sent out a warning to his rivals that for the second year in succession, he is a genuine contender for British title glory.
Having finished respectively fourth and second in the country in the Mini Max class of Super 1 and fellow national championship Formula Kart Stars in 2009, this year Harry has moved up a gear to Junior Max – and he has wasted little time in finding his feet.
One of only three competitors to have finished inside the top seven in all four finals to-date, the Hawley-based hotshot arrived at Whilton Mill with a winning record around the demanding Northants circuit – one of the UK’s true drivers’ tracks – and designs on his first Junior Max rostrum. He would do rather better than that.
“I was quite confident I could score my best result yet in the class,” he revealed. “I had been quick at Whilton in a previous club meeting, so I thought I had a good chance. We were fast in practice right from the word ‘go’, and just trying out different things to make sure we had a good set-up for the weekend. The competition was much tougher than it had been in the club meeting – everyone was quick, so you needed to be right on it.
“Unfortunately, on my fastest lap in qualifying I made a little mistake going into one of the corners. That cost me a couple of tenths, but it wasn’t the end of the world and I was still pleased to be starting on the inside for both of my heats.”
The resultant ninth spot out of the 52 entrants in tricky wet conditions – just over half a second shy of the outright pace – was nothing to be ashamed of, and meant Harry would begin his two heat races from P5. An engine-slowed tenth position in the first of them as the rain fell was more than compensated by a superb second place in the other, less than half a second adrift of the race-winner as he once again evinced a mature composure and intelligent approach beyond his years.
“Going up the hill for the first time in heat one my engine cut out, which lost me a couple of places,” explained the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil. “It cut out a couple more times later in the race, and it was spluttering quite a lot. That made me quite slow and meant I spent a lot of time on the defensive, and I had to fight really hard.
“Afterwards, we found out that the jets had got all filled up with rubbish, which was blocking the fuel from getting through to the engine – but we sorted it out for the second heat, when it was just a case of getting my head down and getting a good result.
“I got a good start up to second, and I then focussed on pushing the leader away from the rest of the pack. We built up a good gap over them and on the last lap I made a move, but he cut me off so I backed out of it and just played it safe to make sure of keeping second. I didn’t want to do anything risky, because the heats are all about scoring grid points towards the finals.”
Surprised and disappointed to be only 11th on the starting grid for first of the two finals – albeit a mere four points short of lining up fourth – Harry made rapid progress up the order, and by dint of some impressively brave overtaking manoeuvres he had already gained five spots by the end of lap two.
After holding a watching brief for a while in fifth place, the Evolution Racing ace then latched onto the leading group and became embroiled in a fraught and frantic four-way scrap for supremacy, up against pole-sitter Oliver Hodgson, reigning British Champion Matt Parry and multiple Junior Max race-winner Ash Hand.
With precious little to choose between the front quartet, Harry opportunistically followed Parry past Hand into second place with only a few laps to go, and after an incident behind removed their pursuers from the equation, in an eye-catching drive he went on to hassle his more experienced rival all the way to the chequered flag.
“Even starting only 11th, I was still confident I could come through the pack,” he underlined. “It was just a case of getting my head down from the beginning and picking people off. I got a good start, overtook a couple into the first corner and then worked my way up to fifth. I stayed there for a few laps and then managed to get onto the front pack.
“It was a four-way battle, and we were all ridiculously close on pace. I got up to second, and then the collision behind gave me and Parry a big gap over the rest. I tried to push him for the lead on the last lap, but I was just too far behind so I settled for second. I was ecstatic to get my first Junior Max podium in Super 1!”
Fastest lap by more than a tenth of a second to-boot proved that Harry had the measure of his adversaries, and having effortlessly kept up with the likes of Parry, Hand and co. in the first final – despite aged just 13 giving away some three years to them – in the second final he would turn the tables altogether. After artfully fending off an attack at the start from the unfavourable side of grid, he went on to rein Parry in and latch onto the leader’s rear bumper once more – and then he pounced.
“I got a good start and held onto second,” he recounted, “and then I pushed Parry for the first ten laps or so. I made a move for the lead into the hairpin about a third of the way through, but he was able to get me back again and then I had Jack Marshall and Andy King behind me too. I had to really get my head down to try and keep them at bay and reel Parry in again – I had to try to attack and defend at the same time.
“On the penultimate lap I went a bit wide into the hairpin and didn’t quite hit the apex, but I managed to stave Marshall and King off. That dropped me a couple of kart-lengths behind Parry going down towards the next corner, but I kept my head and he then put a wheel onto the grass which slowed him down and I was able to get past with a late-braking move down the inside. I had to hold him out to make sure he couldn’t come back at me into the next corner, and after that I just had to defend all the way to the chequered flag.
“I was really nervous going into the last lap in the lead. I went up the hill and let Parry pull slightly alongside, which then allowed me to run him out wide a bit on the exit and establish slightly more of a lead. It was difficult having a queue of four karts behind me, because I knew that if one of them came past they all would. I just had to defend well and make sure I left absolutely no opportunity or gap. I put both my hands up in the air when I crossed the line – I couldn’t control myself! I just went completely nutty!”
A magnificent performance – under considerable pressure from a bunch of second-year Junior Max drivers right on his tail – Harry eked out just enough of an advantage that it was in fact Parry who found himself needing to look behind going into the last corner.
What’s more, the result was confirmation that twelve months on from staking his claim as a challenger for national Mini Max honours and having closed to within a mere 11 points of the championship lead, the Kent-born speed demon and top Super 1 ‘rookie’ is now every bit as much in the hunt for the Junior Max laurels too.
“It meant a lot to me to get my first podium in Super 1,” he enthused in conclusion, “and even more to get my first win! Back at the start of the year, I’d never have believed I’d win in only my third meeting. The aim now has to be to get another win, to keep scoring good points and hopefully more podiums. It’s a massive confidence boost knowing I can win races and beat the defending British Champion – and I’m only going to get stronger from here...”
