- on top of the podium!
As he hangs up his helmet now for a well-deserved Christmas break, highly-rated young James Singleton has left his rivals in no doubt at all that he intends to be a force to be reckoned with on the British karting scene in 2011 – by storming to a clean sweep of winter series glory with his fourth victory in swift succession.
Having prevailed at Whilton Mill a month earlier, James returned to the physically demanding Northants circuit off the back of an impressive trio of triumphs one straight after the other – and despite pitting himself against more than 40 Junior Max class adversaries including some with leading international reputations, he was bullish indeed about his prospects of continuing that commanding run.
“Having been up against some pretty good competition in each of the previous three meetings, we knew we could win again,” confessed the 15-year-old Conwy-based hotshot. “Whilton Mill is an enjoyable circuit – probably one of my favourite tracks – and it’s one we’ve always been quick around. I think it suits my driving style quite well, and as it was my last race weekend of the year, too, I wanted to win quite badly.”
Blitzing the field to the tune of a staggering six tenths of a second in morning practice set an early tone, and sent out a signal of James’ steely intent – and he went on to convert seventh on the grid in his opening heat race into a comfortable victory. From 25th, however, heat two would provide him with more of a challenge and rather more work to do.
“There was a big crash at the start, but I just managed to avoid all the carnage and after that picked them off one-by-one to finish second,” recounted the Penmaenmawr ace. “It’s a lot harder to overtake in Junior Max than it was in Mini Max, because you’re going that much faster and you really have to brake late to make a move stick. That’s especially the case around Whilton Mill, which didn’t make it easy trying to come through the pack, but we had the speed to be able to do it. I was really pleased with second place from so far back on the grid.”
Justifiably so, and after vaulting immediately up from ninth to third in heat three, James went on to inexorably and determinedly hunt down the two runaway leaders, passing them both over the course of the last two laps to secure his second heat race success – and with it, pole position for the all-important final.
“We knew there was only really one other driver who was as quick as we were, and he’d had to come through the ‘B’ final so was starting a long way down,” mused the Ysgol Aberconwy pupil. “I got the start nailed, and after that just pulled away from there. By the time the race finished, I had half the length of the straight for a lead. We were really happy to win, especially with it being our last race of the year.”
Always difficult to maintain concentration out front with nobody to either chase or defend from, James handled the situation magnificently and put not so much as a wheel out-of-place to seal a seamless lights-to-flag triumph, imperious as you like and even with the luxury of being able to ‘take it easy’ in the closing stages.
As he reflected afterwards on his peerless recent results, the Coles Racing star conceded that whilst his initial goal for the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series next season had been a top five championship finish, he might have to re-appraise his objectives somewhat.
“The past few weeks really couldn’t have gone any better,” he enthused in conclusion. “We’ve been up against a lot of the drivers we’ll be contending with next year, and I now know we’ve got the pace and racecraft to really take the battle to them and beat them. These four wins have boosted our confidence a lot for 2011, and whilst it will obviously be really hard to win Super 1 next year, I think we’re definitely in with a fighting chance.”
James is seeking sponsors to help support him next year; if you are interested in backing North Wales’ brightest young F1 hope, please contact his father Mark on 07795 297350 or at: gwyneddforklifts@ukf.net
