as he revs up for Battle of Britain
Ryan Anderton began 2010 – his maiden campaign of national competition on the karting stage – targeting a top 30 championship finish, and he wound up 15th. Having comfortably surpassed all expectations, the highly-rated Somerset speed demon is now aiming considerably higher still in 2011 – and his team manager is confident he can once again belie his lack of experience to punch above his weight.
Following a winter punctuated by podium finishes and impressive raw pace, Ryan is preparing to take on the very crème de la crème of rising British talent at Comer Cadet level in the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship and fellow national series Super 1 this year. He admits that over the past 12 months, the goalposts have shifted substantially.
“I’m a lot faster now, and I’m that much more experienced in terms of actual racecraft, too,” asserted the Glastonbury-based hotshot. “That means my confidence is higher and it has definitely helped to improve me as a driver, so I’m hoping to finish inside the top three in both national championships. Different drivers will be fast at different circuits, and it will certainly be a close battle – there are a lot of quick drivers out there in both Super 1 and FKS. I know it will be hard – but I’m up for the fight!”
Acknowledging that consistency will be of paramount importance, Ryan admits that he is eager to return to Three Sisters near Wigan, scene of his finest national result to-date with a superb seventh place in FKS last September from all the way down in 26th on the starting grid – as well as a unique 360° spin across the start/finish line following a tag from behind in one of his heat races. He assuredly will not be quite so satisfied with P7 this time around – just another sign of those moving goalposts.
The 11-year-old will also race at his ‘home’ circuit of Clay Pigeon in Dorset, where having already ably proven that he is amongst the best in the West Country, he will now have the opportunity to match himself against the very best in the rest of the country, too.
“I’m looking forward to that,” he enthused of the summer Super 1 outing. “It should be fun. I used to race there a lot, and I’ve finished second in the Clay Pigeon Club Championship before and came within just three milliseconds of the lap record. I haven’t gone back there so much since entering national competition, but I’m feeling confident.”
Ryan recently paid a visit to the iZone Driver Performance Centre at the celebrated ‘Home of British Motor Racing’, Silverstone, where he turned heads by getting to within a mere eight tenths of a second of the lap record in the simulator – and he underlines how karting is about so much more than merely getting behind the wheel and driving, with a resilient mental approach, a commitment to physical fitness, a sensible diet and a keen eye for data all similarly crucial parts of the equation.
“You’ve got to be strong in your head,” stresses the St. Dunstan’s Community School pupil. “iZone was a good experience; it taught me how to look ahead and visualise the apex after the one you’re approaching. I feel stronger in a last lap situation now than I did, too – and in Cadets, the last lap is so important, where races are won and lost. It can be quite nerve-wracking, as you can be right at the back of the leading pack and still win on the last lap if everybody starts fighting – which they usually do!”
The last word, though, goes to Dan Hazlewood, who runs the Fusion Motorsport outfit for whom Ryan competes. Fusion has a history of success in Cadet circles with title glory in both FKS and Super 1 in 2010, and five further national crowns over the past seven years – and as a former racer himself, Hazlewood is perfectly-placed to judge his young protégé’s potential.
“As soon as he joined us last year, Ryan immediately registered his first top ten finish, which was way above expectations,” he reflected. “He then backed that up with another top ten with seventh place at Three Sisters, and he has made rapid progress. He had a good end to 2010, with two or three podiums in a row.
“He then had a bit of a dip in form over the first two meetings of 2011, but maybe that did him good as it made him work even harder, and he seems now to have turned the corner and got back on the pace again – he’s back on-track. He puts a lot of effort in off the circuit, and that puts him in a much better position on the circuit, too, which is a real positive.
“Realistically, I think Ryan is definitely one of the favourites in Super 1 and FKS this year, and my ambition for him is to finish inside the top three in both. That’s the target, and I think he is capable of achieving it. I’m fully expecting Ryan to do well, and hopefully he can start off with a win in the first round and then go from there.”
