Bowyer admits: I don’t think anyone really expected us to do as well as this...
It is impressive a feat enough to finish third in the British Karting Championship, but it is quite something else altogether to do so up against a whole host of bigger, older and infinitely more experienced rivals – yet that is precisely what Callum Bowyer has done over the course of a head-turning campaign.
No stranger to battling against adversity and punching above his weight – having invariably had to fight with one arm tied behind his back in terms of finances relative to the opposition – Callum graduated from the KF3 class to the more powerful and even more fiercely-fought KF2 level this year, after finishing a superb second in the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship in 2009, and fourth in fellow national series Super 1.
Continuing in Super 1 into 2010, the highly-rated young Peterborough star found himself pitched against grown men in KF2, with most of his competitors not only older but also – by logical extension – visibly physically stronger than him. Early podiums at Shenington in Oxfordshire – a double – and Larkhall in Scotland did much to help Callum to gain their respect as the ‘new kid on the block’, and ably demonstrated just what he was capable of.
“Everyone was out there trying to prove a point at the beginning of the season, but with the good results we had, they were able to see I was one to watch,” the 16-year-old mused. “On the grid they pretty much all towered over me, but I knew I couldn’t let that get to me – and on the track, I always treated each of them as just another driver and just another kart to pass. I didn’t let it affect me at all.
“The front brakes are really different to KF3, and the racing is a lot harder, too – the standard really is pretty tough. I’d say the biggest thing is the engine, though – it doesn’t have as much bottom-end power as a KF3, and its characteristics mean you have to be a lot more precise in your driving and overtaking and make sure you don’t sacrifice your corner exit speed.”
If the rostrum finishes were some of the early highlights, then as the others began testing with a vengeance – whilst he was unable to due to budgetary restrictions – the gap grew, and truth be told, Callum did a tremendous job to hang onto P3 in the standings, with European front-runner Jacob Nørtoft one of only two drivers to outscore him in the final reckoning.
Comfortably the top ‘rookie’ in the class, he might describe himself as ‘a bit of an underdog’, but the underdog did damn good, and up against high-calibre adversaries and taking into account the limitations that he faced, the Gunthorpe ace has every right to be extremely proud of his efforts and performances.
“I felt we were always two steps behind the whole year, because the others were racing and testing and going abroad to compete all the time,” he explained. “That makes a huge difference. I had four days in Spain towards the end of the season, and I felt a totally different driver coming home again – and a lot of the others were doing that kind of thing ten or 12 times a year...
“From midway through the season, we just seemed to lack something – I think it was a combination of a lot of things, mainly not enough time in the seat and being new to the class. Others could spend a lot more money on kit, whereas that was all out-of-my-hands; we could only do what we could do with what we had and we did the best job with what we had – I can’t physically put any more hard work in – but that was still only so much. If we’d had a bit more money, perhaps it would have been a different outcome...
“Obviously, it was really good to finish third in the championship in my first year in KF2 – if someone had told me back at the start of the season that I would do that, I think I’d probably have snatched their hand off! At some points I actually thought we might be able to do a bit better still and maybe even challenge for the title, but given the limited time we had in the kart due to budget, the end result was pretty good. I don’t think anybody really expected us to be as high up as we were and to finish where we did in the championship in our first year in KF2.
“Having money issues from early on in my career I think has helped to make me the driver I am now, but it’s frustrating at the same time, knowing that with just a bit more we could be winning rather than merely very close all the time – we could be the ones on top.”
That much seems beyond doubt, and the Spanish outing to which he alludes was the highly-prestigious CIK-FIA World Championship at Zuera. The entire meeting was a total trip into the unknown for Callum, as he went up against some 117 KF2 rivals – some of them even with backing from F1 teams – from all four corners of the globe. An eye-opener and then some, come the end of proceedings, the Global Karting hotshot was practically on the very leading pace – as he endeavours to move up again into cars in 2011, a timely advertisement for his outstanding potential.“The whole weekend was just a blur!” he recollected. “It was such a big opportunity for me to be racing against real world-class drivers like that. It took a while for us to get our heads around the driving style out there, because it’s so totally different, but we finished 39th in the world overall – I was pretty pleased with that. It was a great experience for me, and really helped to improve me as a driver.
“The next step now is hopefully cars, but if nothing happens then unfortunately it will probably be the end – there’s only so far we can go lacking budget the way we do. I definitely feel it’s the right time now for me to step up – we’ve done as much as we can do to prove ourselves in karting, I think – and it would be nice to be able to carry on and continue growing in motorsport.”
With no question at all that he is talented enough – as a former double British Champion and even on the basis of his 2010 achievements alone, Callum’s credentials are impeccable – all he needs now, is for someone to believe in him...
Is that ‘someone’ you..? Callum is seeking sponsorship for the 2011 season. If you are interested in backing him, please contact Tracey Bowyer on 01733 701099 or 07960 400731, or e-mail: callumkf3@hotmail.com
