He was already the form driver on the British karting scene heading into the third round of the fiercely-contested 2011 Super 1 Series at Rowrah – and after battling brilliantly to a brace of hard-fought victories around the challenging Cumbrian circuit, James Singleton has now made it five national-level triumphs in swift succession.
James arrived at Rowrah – a true drivers’ track, undulating and demanding in equal measure and one that rewards genuine talent like few others – buoyed by recent successes in the prestigious ‘O’ Plate meeting there a week earlier and in the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars Championship at Three Sisters near Wigan.
“I knew Super 1 was going to be the toughest of them all,” reflected the highly-rated young North Wales star, “because it’s just such a strong grid with all the best drivers in the country there, but I was feeling confident. Since we were pretty much out-of-contention for the championship after the first two meetings, we weren’t really looking for points; there was only one aim over the weekend – and that was to win.”
The first two meetings to which James alludes had been at Whilton Mill and Shenington – weekends that had all-but torpedoed the chances of a driver who had entered the campaign widely-tipped as a Junior Max class British title favourite. An appalling run of ill-fortune had seen the Conwy-based speed demon turfed unceremoniously off-track in round one, and then beset by engine issues in round two, denying him the kind of results his pace palpably deserved and leaving him an entirely unrepresentative ninth in the points standings.
Happily, at Rowrah, a superb pole position in his qualifying group represented an immediate step forward and lifted James well clear of ‘the crash zone for the heats’ into which he had been blamelessly dragged at both Whilton and Shenington. And from there, the only minor fly in the ointment for the remainder of the weekend was a slightly less-than-perfect set-up in heat one; the rest of it was simply flawless.
“I got a good start to hold second place in the first heat, and within a lap I had passed the leader going into the first hairpin,” recalled the Penmaenmawr hotshot. “I had a fair lead with only a few laps to go, but then the kart just went off massively and I fell back to second again. I was still quite happy with that, though, because it was good points towards the finals.
“We knew what we had to change set-up wise for heat two – we had tried something different for the first heat to see if it worked, and it obviously hadn’t – and I started from pole and just ran away with it, really. We had learned from our mistake, and this time, the kart got better-and-better and came on particularly strong at the end.”
A comfortable win to the tune of nearly five seconds – with fastest lap a mere formality – the results earned James P2 on the grid for the pre-final, in which he fully anticipated a no-holds barred duel with arch-rival Jack Barlow, the pair of them having proven to be head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field all weekend. As it turned out, even a brief brake drama on the grid was unable to throw the Ysgol Aberconwy pupil off his stride.
“I knew I had the kart underneath me to do it, but I knew Barlow did, too,” he confessed. “We were never going to drop him – he was always going to be there-or-thereabouts – so it was all about making sure I kept my head. I got a pretty good start and managed to pass Jack into the second hairpin on the first lap. The two of us broke away, but then as we started battling a bit towards the end, the group behind began to catch us.
“Jack passed me into the first hairpin, but I could see a few other drivers were closing in on us, so I knew I had to get him straight back again, which I did into the next corner. After that, he fell back into the pack, and as they all started fighting amongst themselves, I was able to establish a gap. It was my first-ever win in a Super 1 final, and it felt great – it was obviously good points, and a massive confidence boost ahead of the second final, too.”
With his timing absolutely crucial, James entered the second final – one carrying the same number of points as the first, but generally regarded as more prestigious as it is when the trophies are handed out – psychologically fortified and fired-up to make it cause for a double celebration. But if he had enjoyed the luxury of having no pressure on the last lap earlier on, he would experience plenty this time around...
“I got a good start again to take the lead, but I could sense Barlow was a little bit quicker than me at the beginning of the race, so I didn’t try to hold him off, because that would only have cost us both time and it was better to push him round to build up a buffer over the drivers behind,” the Coles Racing ace maturely reasoned.
“As the race progressed, I noticed his kart seemed to be starting to go off a little as mine came on, and I overtook him into the first hairpin and pulled out a gap of about three kart-lengths. It stayed that way until the last lap when I made a bit of a mistake going into the chicane, and suddenly he was right on the back of me and breathing down my neck, which meant I had to really defend.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking, to be honest! He pulled right alongside me and tried to go around the outside of the second hairpin to undercut me on the exit, but I was able to hold him out, which forced him a little bit wide and gave me the breathing space I needed – and after we had got through the two hairpins, I felt more confident. We were over-the-moon when the chequered flag came down.”
A magnificent achievement and one secured by a scant two tenths of a second, having twice defeated 48 of the finest Junior Max competitors in Britain on what was arguably the most impressive weekend of his burgeoning career, James Singleton will travel next to his home circuit of Glan Y Gors – one that he knows like the back of his hand – with his tail firmly up...and eager to turn the famous five into the magnificent seven.
“We had a tough start to the season, but this definitely makes up for that!” the 15-year-old grinned. “We’re still learning, of course, but as the year goes on, I think we’re getting stronger-and-stronger – and hopefully we can just keep this winning run going!”
James is seeking sponsors to help support his career; 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
