and eyes another little piece of history
As the dust begins to settle on another season, South Wales speed demon Tom Harvey has been left to reflect on a breakthrough year that saw him not only set a new record for the number of national podium finishes in a single campaign, but also claim the British Championship crown and firmly establish himself as the most consistent MSA Cadet class driver in the country.
It was barely a year ago, indeed, that Tom registered his maiden national triumph in the fiercely-contested, Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars Championship (FKS) at Whilton Mill – and now he has eight more to his name, and 14 further rostrum finishes to-boot up against the stiffest opposition that has been seen for some time.
Incredibly wrapping up the Super 1 Series laurels a round early – impressive indeed given the strength of the 42-strong competition – the highly-rated young Bonvilston hotshot was embroiled in a three-way tussle for FKS glory, too, only to see his determined bid undone by a rogue batch of tyres in the Ellough Park Raceway finale last weekend. After dominating practice, on race rubber he suddenly lost six tenths of a second – and with them, sadly, all chance of clinching the crown.
Still, with victories at Whilton Mill, Rowrah, Nutts Corner and even overseas at Genk in Belgium – as a spellbinding mid-season charge saw him go unbeaten for six national finals on the trot – Tom certainly made people sit up and take notice of his precocious potential in 2010. With it taking a considerable amount of effort to compete successfully in FKS and Super 1 – one alone is challenge enough – the 12-year-old was the only driver in Britain to feature right up at the sharp end and do battle for glory in both.
“I feel pretty good about how the year has gone,” he mused. “There have been good moments and bad moments, and it was a shame things didn’t go right for me at Ellough which meant we didn’t win FKS as well – I’d wanted to win both British championships – but I tried my best all year and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved.
“People have told me the competition in Cadets has been the toughest and closest this year that it has been in ages, and I won or lost races by a thousandth of a second – not a hundredth, a thousandth! It’s been unbelievable. I remember at Genk, it was particularly hectic – any one of 17 drivers could have won...
“I’ve had 22 national podiums, which no other Cadet has ever done before in a single season I don’t think, so that’s pretty cool and quite an achievement – back at the start of the year I hoped and expected to do well, but not that well. I’ve been the only driver fighting for both titles, which means I’ve been the most consistent driver out there as well.”
Indeed, whilst he might justifiably describe himself as ‘ruthless’ behind the wheel, Tom’s sheer consistency has been quite something to behold – and he is quick to point out that his remarkable results owe much, also, to his vital mental edge and the acute sense of timing that has always formed an important part of his make-up out on-track.
“One of the biggest highlights was Nutts Corner, where we had a really bad Saturday and then won everything on Sunday – and then in the next Super 1 meeting at Rowrah, we won again,” the Cowbridge High School pupil recollects. “Whilton Mill is one of my favourite tracks, and I won from 17th on the grid there in FKS – no-one can beat me when I’m on it there or when it comes to defending on the last lap!
“Genk was pretty special, too, to go from seventh to first on the final lap. I had to really think in that race – you can’t win if you don’t keep thinking all the way through the race. In Cadets especially, it often all comes down to the last lap, and if you are good you will start thinking about that from around the fifth lap onwards and just make sure you stay in the lead pack until then.
“At Rowrah, I was in a three-way fight for the lead when I dropped back a little bit to think about how I was going to pass the other two on the last lap – and that helped me to win. You just need to be thinking about the corner ahead all the time, rather than the one you’re approaching...
“People think all you have to do is just get in the kart and drive, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about thinking and preparation – you need to keep going over the data to see where you’re losing out and give your mechanic the feedback he needs – and you need to make sure you eat and drink properly as well.
“My team boss Dan Hazlewood has been really good to me this year – he’s put a lot of effort in to help keep me up at the front, and I want to thank him for everything he’s done. It’s about more than just driver coaching with him, and if there’s a problem, he’ll sort it out. He’s been amazing.”
Making a special point of praising the Fusion Motorsport outfit that ran him in 2010, Soixante Racing for ‘awesome’ engines and, last but not least, his mum and dad, Tom now has one more date on his calendar to look forward to in the immediate future, when he will compete in the inaugural ‘Super Cadet’ race on British shores at PF International. Rest assured, whilst it might have been billed as something of a demonstration outing ahead of a fully-fledged introduction into the country in 2011, the fiercely-competitive Vale of Glamorgan ace has no intention of being there merely for show.
“I’m really excited about it,” he enthuses, adding that his objective is to make one last bit of history before 2010 is out. “If I can win, it would just be brilliant! I want to end the year as ‘Tom Harvey, the first-ever Super Cadet winner in Britain’!”
