Just as his 2010 campaign was beginning to rev into life with a show-stealing performance in the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship, Jay Goodwin’s momentum has come crashing down around him after a rival’s inattention left the highly-rated young Sale-based speed demon with a broken arm and facing a frustrating stint on the sidelines.
Three weeks previously, Jay had stormed to pole position and the runner-up laurels in FKS – the same series as first set Hamilton on-track to future F1 superstardom a decade-and-a-half ago – at Whilton Mill, one of the country’s true drivers’ tracks, meaning he headed to PF International for the Lincolnshire circuit’s latest club meeting in high spirits and buoyant about his prospects.
Sadly, that optimism would swiftly be undone when an adversary neglected to give the Ashton-upon-Mersey ace sufficient room to overtake during practice and turned in on Jay, causing a collision that would have unforeseen consequences.
“I don’t know what happened,” the 12-year-old recollected. “I remember going up the inside of someone, and the next thing I knew I was out of my kart and sat on the barrier – I think I must have nearly passed out. I knew there was something wrong with my wrist, but everyone there was telling me it wasn’t broken because I was able to move it. I was planning to carry on with the weekend, but when I got up the next morning it was hurting a lot more and I couldn’t even get my clothes on.”
A subsequent trip to hospital for an X-ray diagnosed that Jay had in actual fact broken his radius – ‘the bone was hanging on by a thread,’ he revealed – and he now faces a period of convalescence before being able to return to the cockpit.
Following consultation with a bone specialist, the Matrix-backed hotshot is preparing to undergo laser treatment to help to speed up the healing process and thereby limit his time away from competition, with the objective being to rejoin the fray at Buckmore Park at the end of June for the next round of the UK-wide Super 1 Series and pick up from where he left off. Whilst the timing may have been bad in that the accident happened just as Jay was really coming on strong, at least there is a six-week gap in the national schedule to mitigate the damage done to his title hopes.
“Everything was starting to come good,” the North Cestrian Grammar School pupil mused in conclusion, “so hopefully they can fix it quite quickly and it won’t upset my rhythm or interrupt my season too much. We’ll do a test before Buckmore to see if I’m ready for it, and to get my confidence back in my arm and my wrist. I want to come back then, because I usually go well round there.”
Jay Goodwin has proved on innumerable occasions in the past that he is nothing if not a fighter, so there seems little doubt that when he does return, this tough little cookie will do so stronger than ever.
