and the odds – for stunning double European triumph

Three weeks earlier he had registered his breakthrough national victory in the Junior Max class to which he has graduated in 2010, but in the second round of the Euro Max Challenge at Wackersdorf in Germany, Harry Crawley did rather better than that, with a superb double triumph that required him to beat the reigning British and World Champions – and almost inconceivable odds.

Harry travelled to the demanding Bavarian circuit buoyed by his success in the Super 1 Series at Whilton Mill that firmly installed him as a genuine contender for British title glory for the second year in succession – and despite having to learn the track from scratch, rapid lap times and a strong set-up during practice gave the highly-rated young Dartford speed demon every reason for optimism heading into qualifying.

“I was confident knowing I had been quick in the Winter Cup at Campillos in Spain,” he related of his previous Euro Max appearance, “and confident the team was fully-prepared, too. It was the first time I’d been to Wackersdorf, and it’s a proper drivers’ circuit – a lot of fun and really fast for half the lap, before slowing right down for the technical infield section. It’s quite a mix, and that means it’s crucial to get your lines absolutely perfect – because just one small mistake can ruin the whole lap.

“Unfortunately, when we came in from qualifying we found the clutch was broken, which had been costing us straight-line, bottom-end and corner speed and ruined the whole session. It was really frustrating knowing we could have been a lot further up the grid, and it meant I would have to come through the pack in the heats – but I was still confident of being able to do that because of the pace we’d had in practice. Once we’d sorted the problem out we had a lot of work to do – but it was work that had to be done.”

Sixth in his group, the issue was in fact a double blow as due to the intricacies of the Euro Max qualifying format, the result meant Harry would line up just 26th of the 43 Junior Max competitors overall, paying the price for having through no fault of his own been out in the slower of the two sessions – and that left the Hawley-based hotshot to begin each of his three heat races from down on the seventh row of the grid.

“In the first heat I got up to fifth to begin with, but then going into the hairpin at the end of the back straight I went up the inside of someone – and he turned into me,” the 13-year-old rued. “That left me in the gravel, which obviously wasn’t the start I had wanted at all and put a fair bit of pressure on; I knew if I didn’t get good results in the following two heats I would probably be left in the ‘B’ Final, which made things quite nerve-wracking.

“In the second heat I got up to fourth at the start, but into the right-hander after the first hairpin I got knocked from behind and sent straight off the track. At the time I thought to myself ‘that’s it – I’m in the ‘B’ Final now’, but I tried to just forget about it, get my head down and get as many places back as I could. I got four drivers on the last lap alone and finished 12th, but it was really annoying because I was lapping quicker than some of the leaders. If I hadn’t been hit I could have been in the top three easily – and maybe even won. Still, it was quite a confidence boost that I could overtake so many people in such a short space of time.”

With only eight laps in which to recover, to fight his way back from 20th place and cut the deficit to the leader from more than 12 seconds to 10.8s by the end of the race was a laudable accomplishment indeed. After briefly running third following an excellent getaway in heat three, the Evolution Racing ace then found himself forced out wide by a competitor and fell down to seventh, battling his way gutsily back to sixth place – right on the tail of the front pack – by the chequered flag.

“I thought that wasn’t enough and that I would be in the ‘B’ Final,” he confessed, “so I was really chuffed when I found out I was 21st. I know I shouldn’t have been chuffed because I should really have been much further up, but I was pleased to be straight through to the finals, and I was very confident because it was wet the following day and I had been really quick in the rain during practice – so I was definitely up for it!

“In the pre-final I got up to tenth at the start and then as soon as my kart came on I got my head down and caught the leading pack. I got into the lead on the penultimate lap, and though I had to defend on the last lap, I managed to hold on to win. I had been hoping to finish in the top five, so I was proper chuffed to win – I really hadn’t been expecting that given where I had started. It was probably one of the best races I’ve ever driven.”

The top four were blanketed by just a second in the end, but if that race was close, then the all-important grand final later in the day – still treacherously wet, but with the rain having abated and the sun putting in an appearance, bringing with it challenges of its own – would be anything but, as Harry fairly cleared off into the distance from pole position, coming home a staggering eight seconds ahead of his nearest rival in conditions that saw many heading for the barriers.

What’s more, after comfortably defeating the reigning British and World Champions for good measure, the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil now leads the points standings on dropped scores – and he makes it very clear that he does not intend to relinquish that advantage without a fight.

“I had a lot of very quick drivers around me, so I just had to get my head down and try to get away, which I managed to do,” he recounted of the grand final. “There was some pressure to begin with and I was definitely nervous, and for the first half of the race I had to really push, but when I saw I had pulled out quite a good gap I relaxed a bit and just concentrated on holding the lead to the flag.

“The conditions weren’t easy because when it started to dry up the circuit became quite greasy, and then it steamed up halfway through the race because of the sun coming down. That made it difficult, and with the sun reflecting off the track straight into my eyes I couldn’t really see where I was going.

“I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line – it’s my first major win in Europe, and overrides everything I’ve achieved before if I’m honest. It’s one of the hardest championships in the world, and I’ve won in only my second meeting! It was a fantastic weekend, and brilliant to hear the national anthem up on the podium afterwards. I really want to stay inside the top three now to get through to the World Finals at the end of the season. I’m quite confident after scoring my first win in Euro Max – and I just want to carry that on.”