Back-to-front ‘O’ Plate charge underlines Hand’s ‘raw talent and raw speed’
He has been racing at Senior level for less than a handful of months, but such has been Ash Hand’s remarkable transition to the highest echelon of Rotax karting that he has already established himself as a genuine front-runner blessed with outstanding ‘raw talent and raw speed’ – something that he wasted little time in underlining in the prestigious ‘O’ Plate outing at Rowrah.
Having ably proven both his pace and credentials in a club meeting around the challenging and undulating Cumbrian circuit three weeks earlier – securing pole position for the final and fighting his way magnificently back from a first corner error in treacherous conditions to salvage a top ten finish from plum last in the high-calibre, 29-strong field – Ash returned to Rowrah buoyant about his prospects for success and palpably fired-up.
“I love lunging,” explained the talented Nuneaton-based speed demon. “I just can’t help myself! I love going for a move from miles back and pulling it off, and you can really do that at Rowrah. I don’t think there’s one corner around the lap where you can’t overtake. I love racing round there – it’s a proper drivers’ track. The main goal for the weekend really was to prepare for Super 1; if we won the ‘O’ Plate, all well-and-good, but even if we didn’t, it would still be a good testing opportunity.”
Up against 21 of the finest Senior Rotax drivers in Britain – including a number of leading lights from the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series, itself set to visit Rowrah just a week later – Ash lapped a scant 15 hundredths of a second shy of the benchmark in a closely-fought qualifying session to position himself fifth on the grid for his two heat races and firmly in the ballpark. Even the distinctly changeable weather conditions were unable to throw him off his stride.
“That did make things a bit difficult,” conceded the Maple Park hotshot, “but I think we adjusted to it quite well, if I’m honest. I knew I had the pace and the confidence to be able to overtake in all conditions, so even if it bothered some people, it didn’t really bother us – it was almost a benefit rather than a hindrance.”
In a semi-dry opening heat, a ‘horrendous’ set-up on his kart caused it to bog down coming off the corners, rendering Ash helpless as he got ‘absolutely mugged – people were passing me on the inside, the outside, driving right the way round me...I was like a mobile chicane!’ A wet second encounter was scarcely any better, and in the circumstances, eighth and tenth places represented damage limitation, and secured the 17-year-old ninth on the starting grid for the pre-final – a race that would similarly swiftly go awry.
“Going round on the rolling-up lap, the engine started popping-and-spluttering,” he recalled of what was subsequently diagnosed to have been a spark plug failure. “Because of that, I was really slow coming out of the bottom chicane on the first lap and somebody drove into the back of me, which knocked my chain off.”
Merely adding insult to injury, the ensuing delay to effect repairs left Ash two laps down and able to do little but thanklessly tour around to the end, albeit setting some extremely encouraging lap times along the way. From 19th on the grid for the all-important grand final – by which time the track had dried out completely – and aided by a flawless performance from his CRG chassis, he went on to produce a tremendously gritty and determined back-to-front charge right the way up through the order.
“We knew we were really quick, and even though we obviously didn’t have a great grid position, that had never stopped me from coming through at Rowrah before,” the North Warwickshire College Student reflected. “As per usual, there was a bit of a scuffle going through the chicane on the first lap; I got caught up in it and had to take to the grass on the outside, which meant I came out of it dead last, but I managed to keep my momentum going and then began working my way through the pack.
“I got past four people by the end of that lap, was soon up to 16th from 22nd and we were really rockin’ – and as the field started to spread out, I just concentrated on hunting them all down. I then came up to a group of four drivers who were scrapping quite aggressively into the second hairpin, so I set myself up in just the right place behind them and went really late on the brakes, putting one of my wheels on the very edge of the track and almost on the grass – and I slipped up the inside of all four of them to move into the top ten!
“I knew I still had quite a lot of work to do at that stage, but I was feeling confident and I kept on moving forward, though I lost some time fighting with one driver who overtook me back after I had got past him. With two laps to go, I was up to fifth behind Ollie Varney and Lewis Plato; Varney started defending, which brought me right into play and I managed to overtake Plato and force him out wide to gain a two-or-three kart-length advantage.
“Then on the last lap, I closed right up behind Varney and by the time we got to the bottom chicane, I was literally on his bumper. There was a gap about three-quarters of a kart wide; it was always going to be tight, but I went for the inside line and managed to edge him wide a little bit to clinch third place. I thought it was a really good move, but unfortunately, the clerk of the course disagreed and docked me the position again, so I ended up fourth.”
In all other respects a wholeheartedly promising outcome as he evinced superb pace throughout – as the race’s fastest lap bore witness – what Ash now has firmly in-mind is to turn it up the last remaining notch and convert that palpable potential into victory at Senior level, a result that on current evidence is assuredly only just around the corner.
“I was still pretty happy with everything,” the Voi Jeans brand ambassador mused in conclusion. “Losing the podium didn’t really bother us, to be fair, because you go to the ‘O’ Plate to win, and after what had happened in the pre-final, that was pretty much impossible anyway. The most important thing is that I think we’re looking in really good shape for Super 1. We’re right there on pace already; we just need to take that final step.”
Those are sentiments shared by Jason Parrott – team manager of the Tim Parrott Motorsport outfit for which the reigning Formula Kart Stars Junior Max Champion competes – who agreed that his highly-rated young protégé’s performance in the grand final at Rowrah was ‘awesome to watch’ and that after running up in second place on his Super 1 Senior Rotax debut at Whilton Mill until engine issues intervened and securing an impressive double podium finish at Shenington, Ash is now genuinely knocking on the door and poised to pounce.
“It’s not easy moving up to Seniors from Juniors, and the first time Ash had been out in the kart prior to the opening Super 1 round was just the weekend before,” revealed Parrott, a former prominent contender on the British and European karting stage himself. “That meant he was on the back foot with no time for any testing – he was thrown right in at the deep end at Whilton Mill.
“There’s no question that he’s got the raw talent and raw speed, though, and his racecraft is second-to-none as far as overtaking is concerned – he’s definitely not afraid to have a go. There are a few little things we need to iron out still to make him into the complete package, but there’s no doubt that Ash is one of the fastest drivers I’ve ever worked with – inside the team, we call him Ash ‘The Pace’ Hand, because he’s always right up there!
“I think he has got a good chance this weekend at Rowrah in the third round of the 2011 British Championship. It’s just a question of putting everything together now, because his pace is certainly strong enough. Ash’s first win in Seniors is only a matter of time.”
