Having already established itself as a force to be reckoned with on the international stage with Billy Monger’s outstanding 60 Mini class success in the 2011 WSK Master Series curtain-raiser at La Conca, Prima Racing has now carried that form over to the national Super 1 Series, with Dan Zelos producing a brilliantly opportunistic effort to triumph in the opening round at PF International and Monger maintaining his early-season dominance with a gritty double victory of his own.Having improved progressively over the past couple of years in fellow British Championship Formula Kart Stars – particularly so since joining Prima last spring – Zelos arrived at PF as a Super 1 rookie, but he rapidly showed that illustrious reputations cowed him not at all. A brace of solid heat showings set the 12-year-old up well for the all-important finals, but after beginning the first of them fifth, things unfortunately swiftly unravelled...“Going into the first hairpin, I got a huge shunt from behind, which sent me spinning onto the grass,” he recounted. “That left me right down at the tail end of the field, and I spent the rest of the race gaining positions back again. It was frustrating, obviously, but the adrenaline just kicks in and I was determined to fight my way as far up the order as I could. “The engine was really good and the set-up on the kart was brilliant, so I just got my head down and started moving through the pack. When I came across the finish line at the end I counted the number of drivers in front of me, and I couldn’t believe I was fifth after getting taken out at the start!”With his tail up ahead of the second final, the Dereham-based hotshot and two of his rivals intelligently pushed each other away from the chasing pack before indulging in a frantic last lap battle to determine who would occupy which of the rostrum positions, and after his adversaries briefly tangled, Dan needed no extra invitation to zip through and speed away to an extremely popular breakthrough victory.“It was such a tense last lap and I was really nervous, especially after I got into the lead because I didn’t know exactly where they were behind me – I was just waiting for something to happen!” he confessed. “When the chequered flag came down and I was the first person to receive it, I was so happy – I hadn’t even won a club meeting at PF before! It felt absolutely brilliant, and I had everybody coming up to shake my hand afterwards. It was such an amazing feeling – I can’t really put it into words.”For Prima, however, the glory did not end there, far from it, with a podium lockout in the first of the two Super Cadet finals courtesy of Monger, Sean Gee and Cory Stevens, and Gaby Weyer unlucky in the extreme to lose a strong fourth place to a technical failure on the very last lap. Monger and Gee again shone in the second final to clinch first and third – continuing a flawless run of results for the former in 2011 – with team newcomer Harrison Thomas an excellent and close fourth.There were dogged efforts, too, from Alex Stott and Tommy Weyer in Comer Cadet, whilst James Kellett scythed his way through the field from the back of the pack into 14th place in the opening final on his British KF3 debut as he settles in well to his new surroundings; team-mate Jacob Stilp was the architect of a similar charge in the second encounter. With triumphs in two of the three classes in which Prima competed, it was, reflected team manager Jamie Croxford, a wholeheartedly positive weekend.“All three of our Comer drivers performed really well,” remarked the erstwhile European factory Birel star. “Dan was knocked off at the first hairpin on the opening lap of the first final and sent right into the barriers, before driving the best he has done all year to come back through to fifth. In the second final, he made a really good start to move into third and the three leaders all used their brains to pull away from the chasing pack. They then battled it out over the last two laps, and when the other two got tangled up, Dan was able to pass both of them. “To win was an absolutely fantastic achievement for him and for the team – it had been a long time coming for Dan, and will hopefully be the first of many this year. It will be a massive boost for him. For the last six months, he has been there or thereabouts and was just lacking a little bit in terms of confidence and racecraft, but it all fell into place nicely for him at PF.“Alex and Tommy got caught up in incidents, too, but they both similarly came through really well; Tommy was unlucky, but he kept his head down and showed good improvement again. Alex had a bit of a rough first half of the second final, but he was really fast over the second half and came back through to sixth, which for his first Super 1 weekend I thought was very good.“In the first Super Cadet final, the battle between Sean and Billy over the last lap did get pretty close – I held my breath and looked away as they went side-by-side into the chicane! That’s what it’s all about, though – as much as we are a team, at the end of the day, each driver’s individual aim is to win, and as long as they don’t hold each other up at the start of the race, at the end of it, it’s down to each of them to fight for themselves.“Cory fought his way through into third and Gaby drove really well from the back all the way up to fourth. She was holding her own in that position and it would have been an amazing finish for her, but then her ignition wire unfortunately broke on the very last lap. That was harsh, but I guess that’s karting. “In the second final, Billy got away at the start but Sean, Harrison and Owen Griffiths worked together to catch him. Billy drove really well to hold onto the win, Harrison kept his head down and drove really solidly throughout, Gaby came through well from last to sixth and Esmee Hawkey had a good weekend, too. Super Cadet is a very difficult class, but Esmee learned and improved a massive amount and she shows great potential.“In KF3, finally, Jacob demonstrated great pace in the second final as he worked his way through from the back. He got onto the verges of the top 12 before a brake problem killed the ignition and cost him track position. James again progressed hugely throughout the weekend, and for his first race meeting on home turf in KF3, he was very, very impressive. Obviously he still has a lot to learn, but that’s what we are all doing and I’m very happy with the rate at which James is improving.”Prima still has two drives available in Comer Cadet, and two in WTP Cadet. For more information, please contact Jamie Croxford on 07889 981631 or at: crox2@hotmail.com