‘Tiger Tom’ produces awesome turnaround for brilliant double British triumph
Tom Harvey has proven to be the master of battling his way from the wrong end of the starting grid to the top step of the podium in recent karting outings, and the third round of 2010 in the hotly-fought national Super 1 Series at Nutts Corner was no exception – as the highly-rated South Wales speed demon brilliantly overcame tyre woes in qualifying to storm to a famous double victory.
Fresh off the back of a similarly dominant double triumph in fellow national championship Formula Kart Stars (FKS) a fortnight previously, Tom arrived in Ireland having only discovered the demanding Co. Antrim circuit for the first time several weeks earlier – but a second-place finish in a club meeting against a whole host of local specialists was a timely confidence boost.
“It’s a really flowing and exciting circuit,” revealed the 12-year-old Cowbridge High School pupil. “You don’t get a break at all, which is what I like most about it – it’s a real drivers’ track. The kerbs are massive, too, and the only way you can be quick is by riding them. That was pretty difficult to get right, particularly as you usually have to be really smooth to go fast in Cadets. It was all about just trying to stay consistent and keep good lines.”
Quickest in practice amongst the 31-strong MSA Cadet class field – the indisputable crème de la crème of young British talent at that level – a bad batch of tyres during the wet qualifying session the following day would unfortunately leave Tom an unaccustomed and entirely unrepresentative 19th, battling against a dire lack of grip.
Worse still, having superbly risen from 13th to fifth in his opening heat race, a tap from a rival subsequently sent the Bonvilston hotshot plummeting down the order again to where he had started – meaning he needed a strong finish in his second heat on Sunday morning. He would deliver and then some.
“We were just praying for it to be dry – I was doing an anti-rain dance!” he quipped. “I was so happy when I woke up on Sunday and it was dry. In heat two I got an amazing start up to fifth, and then I just worked my way through into the lead and hung onto it to the end.t a“I was really pleased with that, because Nutts isn’ track where you can overtake at every corner; you have to be really precise when you try to pass someone, or else you end up slowing your exit down. It was really important for me to get a good result in heat two to get a decent grid position for the finals – otherwise I’d probably have been a long way back.
“I began the first final 11th and made up nine places at the start to move into second, and then I pushed the leader all the way round to make it a two-horse race rather than have eight or nine of us all battling over it. Midway through, his kart began to grip-up and I got past and was able to rapidly pull out a gap.
“I didn’t feel under too much pressure after that and was always confident of staying in front, and it was really good to win – especially having come from 11th on the grid. I think I’m one of the best overtakers out there, and I like surprising other drivers by coming through the field from down the order and then pouncing when they least expect it!
“The second final was a bit more difficult and more of a dogfight. I was starting from the front this time, but the top seven just kept swapping places during the race – if you missed a braking-point the rest would be gone, so I had to be really precise. I did break away for a couple of laps, but then the others caught me back up again by working together.
“Three-quarters of the way through I made my move for the lead and then pushed absolutely to the limit, really on the ragged edge. I managed to break the tow and after that didn’t really have to worry too much – I was almost chilling! I pulled away quite a bit on the penultimate lap, and then I just stayed cool and maintained that gap on the last lap.”
It was an awesome performance and an incredible turnaround from how things had looked post-qualifying, and means not only that Tom remains unbeaten in the last four national finals – a magnificent achievement in itself, and one that underlines his present status as very much the driver in-form in Cadets – but also that he now leads both British Championships, by eight points in Super 1 and 18 in FKS.
Refusing to say die even when the odds look to be impossibly stacked against him – as his head-turning triumph from 17th on the grid in FKS at Whilton Mill ably evinced – Tom is on a roll, displaying the tenacity of a tiger and palpably determined to keep his impressive run going.
“It felt so good to get the double victory again,” the Fusion Motorsports star enthused in conclusion. “I was really, really happy with that, and afterwards we celebrated a bit but now we’re already looking ahead to the next one. If somebody had told me back at the start of the year that I would be leading both British Championships now I would have been speechless, just stunned – but the goal is to keep it up.
“At the end of the season I want to be British Champion. I’m confident, but I know anything can happen so I’ve just got to keep my head down and keep on pushing. I want to carry on banking some good points because it’s all about consistency – and hopefully I can be consistently winning!”
