James Singleton seems to have been tracked mercilessly by ill-fortune during the early phases of 2011, but a thoroughly well-deserved and long-overdue podium finish in the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) curtain-raiser at Rowrah has finally revved the talented North Wales speed demon’s season into life with a vengeance.

James entered the new campaign targeting a top three championship placing in the fiercely-contested Junior Max class of the national Super 1 Series – uniting the veritable crème de la crème of young British driving talent at that level – but understeer troubles for the Conwy-based hotshot in the opening meeting at Whilton Mill scuppered a likely top three grid slot.

Notwithstanding a couple of impressively feisty heat performances to regain vital ground, James was forced to begin the first of the two all-important finals mired right in the midfield danger zone – and he was duly and blamelessly eliminated in a first corner pile-up. From the back of the grid for the second final, the 15-year-old scythed his way up through the order to secure a top ten finish at the chequered flag, setting the third-quickest lap time along the way – a sure sign of what might have been had only Lady Luck deigned to smile upon him.

Engine issues in round two at Shenington – ‘it just kept coughing and spluttering down the straights, and we couldn’t get rid of the problem all weekend’ – could scarcely have been more ill-timed, with the layout of the Oxfordshire track amongst the most power-dependent on the calendar. A gritty eighth place in the second final was a triumph of dogged determination over exasperating adversity – and having climbed from 18th to ninth in the title standings out of some 56 competitors, James is adamant that he is far from out-for-the-count.

“We’re not down yet!” he insists. “We can take Whilton as our dropped round, and we made the best out of a bad situation at Shenington. We’ve obviously still got some ground to make up, but I’m sure everyone will have a bad round at some stage. We’ve been quick enough so far – we just haven’t had any luck – but we’re still feeling confident and aiming high.”

Off the back of those misfortunes, the Coles Racing star headed to the demanding and popular Cumbrian circuit of Rowrah following a year’s absence from the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed FKS championship bidding simply to achieve a clutch of top five finishes and a solid haul of points to kick his season properly into gear.

“FKS has always been a good championship, and it was a competitive field,” he confessed. “We were gobsmacked by the number of drivers right up at the sharp end during practice. Rowrah is one of my favourite tracks, too; it’s really challenging, with a good variety of corner types and hairpins and chicanes all over the place! It’s very undulating, and you have to be right on top of your game to be quick round there.”

Quick James certainly was – breathtakingly so on a slippery surface on Saturday morning – and a comfortable pole position in qualifying on the opening day marked an immediate improvement over his Super 1 woes and showcased the Penmaenmawr ace’s scintillating raw speed, ably demonstrating that when everything is right, he is tough to beat. A brace of flawless heats then saw him twice prevail at a canter – to the tune of more than six seconds in one of them – pulling effortlessly away as his pursuers battled over the scraps in his wake.

All was looking promising indeed for the final, but then, what had begun as spots of light rain towards the end of the heats, suddenly turned into something altogether different...

“We felt confident for the final,” James recounted, “but as we went outside again following lunch, it was hammering down. We saw all of our rivals hurriedly changing their set-up and we were a bit panicked by that, which meant we didn’t quite get ours right – it was still slightly oriented towards the dry. We led for the first two laps, but the kart was understeering a bit and it was a little down-on-power coming out of the hairpins, and as the race wore on it increasingly went away from me.

“On lap three, George Williams passed me – but he never pulled away massively. He was constantly only about three or four kart-lengths in front, but then with a handful of laps to go we came up to lap a backmarker. George managed to get past going down the straight, but I had to go off-line into one of the hairpins. That cost me a fair bit of time and effectively ended any remaining hopes I had of fighting for the win – but we were happy enough to finish second. It didn’t quite go our way, but it was still a good result.”

With a kart set-up that was far-from-perfect, the runner-up spoils in the circumstances were indeed an excellent effort, and the Ysgol Aberconwy pupil’s first national podium of 2011 was just reward for a doughty performance – and all-the-more satisfying for the run of bad luck he has been afflicted by this year to-date.

The following day, P2 in qualifying out of the 26 Junior Max contenders – less than a tenth of a second adrift of the benchmark – again underlined James’ potential, but starting on the unenviable outside line counted against him and the upshot was third place in a closely-fought first heat and tenth in heat two, a case of damage limitation after inadvertently clipping the leader through the chicane on the opening lap and slipping well down the field.

With his kart struggling slightly in the hotter conditions compared to Saturday, the former FKS ‘Driver of the Day’ began Sunday’s final from sixth – but he was fated, sadly, even before the starting lights had gone out.

“The aim was to just keep it steady and try and come away with a top five finish,” he explained. “Unfortunately, on the rolling-up lap, Bobby Thompson accidentally drove into me and rode up over the back of my kart – and although I didn’t know it at the time, that damaged my exhaust.

“Then, as we went through the chicane on the first lap, Sam Marsh tried to hold on around the outside and knocked me into a spin; I don’t think it was intentional – it was simply a racing incident. That left me dead last, and I was just starting to come back through the pack – going down the straight and focussing on trying to catch the two drivers in front of me – when I heard a loud noise and looked behind and saw part of my exhaust was missing...”

With a spring having snapped, it was game over on the spot, but still, on balance, James admitted to being content with his weekend’s work, and as he sits a close and challenging fourth in the drivers’ standings, he is in bullish spirits looking ahead.

“It was good fun and a good experience overall,” he mused in conclusion, “and it’s always nice to head home with a trophy! Now I just want to stay at the front and keep on bagging solid points throughout the season to secure a good championship position at the end.”

James is seeking sponsors to help support him in 2011; 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