It might have been his final karting appearance of 2010, but Matty Graham made sure he saved the very best ‘til last with an imperious performance to lift the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship laurels – and with it clinch one of the most coveted trophies the sport has to offer.
His debut in the Macau-based event, the weekend similarly marked the first time Matty had raced a CRG chassis. Maintaining the theme of everything being new, he even had to borrow the CRG race suit of five-time world champion Davide Foré as he didn’t have one of his own – but it was clearly a good omen.
Whilst it took the highly-rated young Edmundbyers hotshot a little time to adjust to his mount’s ultra-sharp new brake pads, he swiftly came to appreciate its lights-to-flag consistency. Working well alongside his new mechanic, Msport Karting founder Keiran Crawley, after overcoming starter motor woes at the beginning of practice, Matty wasted little time in proving to be on the leading pace – and come qualifying, indeed, he was the pace.
“I knew Macau was going to be a bit different,” he acknowledged. “We had been in Keiran’s awning before and he seemed to have been doing a really good job, so it looked like an interesting opportunity for us. We got on really well and I think I provided him with some good feedback.
“With the circuit, it was all about getting the kart set-up right, and once we’d nailed that it really showed. A lot of the other drivers already knew the track whereas I obviously didn’t, so that was to their advantage initially – to have to learn a new kart, new engine and new track made it pretty difficult, but we pulled it off.”
That he certainly did, and as the only British entrant in the 16-strong KF3 class field, Matty did his country proud in qualifying, seizing pole position by just under a tenth of a second – with half a second covering the leading eight contenders in a hotly-contested pack.
Confident in the knowledge that ‘there were still a few changes we could make to improve the kart’, the Co. Durham ace went on to peerlessly triumph in each of his three heat races, making them all look like fairly straightforward affairs despite the presence of a number of local specialists.
“It was a competitive field, but I think my consistency shone through,” he explained. “Some of the other drivers could put in a quick lap, but then on the next lap they would make a mistake, for example. I kept very consistent and hardly made any mistakes throughout the heats, which is how I managed to build up a gap.
“I was really pleased with the way they all went – that gave me even more confidence going into the finals. I knew there was one really quick driver who had come through from the back of the grid to second or third in the heats, so I was slightly concerned about him – but not too much.
“There was light drizzle in the air before the pre-final, which left the track slightly damp, and due to an engine rev-limiter problem, I was losing two-to-three tenths a lap down the straights and the driver behind was able to stay with me all the way. There were a few points when I thought he was going to have a go and I did feel a little bit under pressure, but I managed to hold him off and I was always confident I could have got him back again if he had got past me.”
Prevailing by just shy of half a second, Matty might have been narrowly pipped to the fastest lap this time – one of the rare occasions over the course of the weekend that he wasn’t quickest – but it mattered little.
What’s more, demonstrating the benefit of his stringent training programme with Paul Martinson from PM Training at the De Vere Slaley Hall Hotel, the 14-year-old went on to handle the longer, physically-punishing 21-lap grand final almost effortlessly, as his supreme consistency enabled him to edge away to the tune of around a couple of tenths a lap whilst his pursuers committed small errors here and there in his wake.
Impressively continuing to push right the way to the end – in evidence of which, he set what was comfortably the race’s fastest lap on the very last tour – Matty’s margin of victory at the close was a commanding five seconds, and proving that fans recognise a winner when they see one, he even got asked for his autograph after stepping out of his kart.
With the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship regarded as one of the meetings that constitute the very top echelon in terms of global prestige in the karting world, the Ponteland Community High School pupil was justifiably proud afterwards of his tremendous success and the latest addition to his burgeoning career CV.
“Staying concentrated when you’re out front on your own like that is really hard,” he concluded. “You’ve got to keep focussed on your braking-points so you don’t make any mistakes. It was fantastic to take the chequered flag – I can’t really explain the feeling. It was my first big win in KF3, and the greatest achievement of my career so far. It’s given me such a confidence boost for the future, because it showed I’ve got the knowledge and ability to win a major event like that – and now that I know I can do it, I can do it again…”
Matty is seeking sponsors to help support him next year; if you are interested in backing the north-east’s most promising young speed demon, please contact him at: matthew.d.graham@hotmail.co.uk
Pictures courtesy of M. Petrotchenko/kartingphotography.com
