Matty Graham took a giant step forward in the second meeting of 2010 in the hotly-fought Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship at Whilton Mill, registering his breakthrough KF3 class victory only fourth time out as he leapt up to second in the title standings in his bid to follow in Lewis Hamilton’s illustrious wheeltracks.
FKS is the same series as first set Hamilton on the fast track towards global superstardom, and what’s more now boasts the prestigious official backing of both the youngest-ever F1 World Champion and its hugely influential ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.
In 2010, Matty has graduated from the entry MSA British Cadet level – in which he finished a superb second in the country last season – to the far more powerful and fiercely-contested KF3 class, and after first trying out his new mount late last year, the highly-rated young Edmundbyers hotshot acknowledged that to begin with at least, it was quite a leap.
“Everything is totally different, and not at all how I’d imagined it would be,” he confessed. “It’s a lot harder and there’s loads more power, and you really need to be on it all the time. The speed is unbelievable – when you see it on TV, it’s scary how fast we go, but that also makes it a lot more fun!”
After gradually settling in, Matty received a lift earlier this month when he successfully and impressively qualified for the prestigious CIK-FIA European Championship Final at the first time of asking, by dint of progressing safely through his qualifying round at PF International in Lincolnshire, up against the crème de la crème of international opposition. The Co. Durham star would maintain that form at Whilton, a demanding circuit around which he had not previously enjoyed the best of fortunes.
“At PF I quickly found out how good some of the European drivers are,” he revealed. “I was competing against some really top names, and I wasn’t really sure I would get through – it was a big confidence boost that I did. Most tracks I haven’t been to before in KF3, only in Cadets – and the lines and braking-points and so forth are so different. That means I’m effectively having to learn them all over again.
“At Whilton, I was just aiming to score some more decent points towards the championship. It’s a good track, but the only downside is that it’s really bumpy and rough – that makes it quite physical, and means you need to be strong and have good stamina. Your arms get more-and-more tired as each lap passes, but you just forget about it when you’re out there because you’re so focussed. The adrenaline keeps you going – it’s only at the end that you realise how achy you actually are!”
After qualifying a strong second on Saturday, in a dead heat for pole position and faced with some potent adversaries – “I would obviously rather have been first, but I wasn’t really too bothered whether I was first or second; I just wanted to be on the front row,” he maturely reflected – the Ponteland Community High School pupil remained super-fast and consistent during his two heat races, taking a brace of close runner-up spots, barely two tenths of a second shy of the winner in the first of them and seven tenths adrift in the second, with fastest lap to his credit to-boot.
That paved the way to an excellent run to third and the bottom step of the podium in the all-important final, right on the tail of second place and setting another fastest lap after initially dropping down the field – “It was good to get a trophy;
I was pretty proud of that,” he affirmed – and meant Matty went into Sunday confident in the equipment underneath him and with his tail up.
Second in qualifying again – just a tenth off the top spot – the teenager found himself on the receiving end of one of his rival’s unwelcome attentions as he ‘took a swipe at my sidepod’ and left him to take the chequered flag a lowly tenth in heat one, but a far more representative third place in heat two after duelling for the lead throughout earned Matty P7 on the grid for the final. It would turn out to be his lucky number.
“I just had to try to get on with it,” he mused of his harpooning during the opening heat. “I knew if I got frustrated, my driving would deteriorate, so I had to stay cool. In the final I made a good start – our side got away a lot better than the drivers on the other side of the grid – and I was up to fourth by the first corner. Then after my kart came on, I slowly worked my way through.
“I got into second, and at that stage I didn’t think I would be able to catch the leader – but I put in some good laps and after he slightly messed up a corner ahead of me I got into his tow. I carried a lot more speed into the following corner than he did, and I managed to stay right in his slipstream and then get past. After that it was still fairly close between us, but I was just able to pull out a bit of a gap.”
Everything that was thrown at him, indeed, Matty handled with admirable aplomb, looking every inch the seasoned and accomplished KF3 class veteran as he edged away to prevail by just over a second and once more snatch the race’s quickest lap time. A second consecutive rostrum finish, this time it was the coveted top step, and a timely birthday present after he had turned 14 just two days earlier.
Better still, having stated pre-weekend that his objective was to move up from P4 into the championship into the top three, he now sits second – allied to his fifth position in fellow national series Super 1, ably defying the cynics who had reckoned
Matty would be doing well merely to get into the top ten in his maiden campaign in KF3, given the sheer level of transition from Cadets. Buoyed by his success and brimful of optimism, he is now heading to Ireland for the next outing on the Super 1 calendar at Nutts Corner fired-up to maintain his charge.
“It was really good to get a victory in FKS,” he enthused in conclusion. “I saw my dad jumping up-and-down at the side of the track after I took the chequered flag! It was quite a relief, and up on the podium afterwards I just felt so much joy – everything had come together, and it made the whole weekend worthwhile.
“I raced at Nutts Corrner in Cadets, and it’s very bouncy and rough again like Whilton, with really high kerbs. I’ve not been there before in KF3, so it will likely be another completely different experience – but I just want to keep the results coming now.”
