Jack Barlow maturely settled for 3rd and 2nd place finishes in Cumbria last weekend (4/5 June) and was rewarded with the Super One Rotax Championship lead.
The Arai and Freem supported youngster responded to advice from his Strawberry Racing team and went for a good haul of vital points, rather than outright glory, in the third round of Britain’s toughest junior kart championship.
“Going for the win was not the right thing to do,” Jack observed after wresting the initiative from his team-mate Nathan Harrison, who crashed out of the main final.
Barlow had come through the preliminaries at the Lakeland Stadium, dramatically located in a former quarry near Rowrah, with pole position in timed qualifying and back to back triumphs in the two heats to secure P1 on the grid for yesterday’s first of two finals.
However, as he sat in the pitlane waiting to go out on track, rain began to spot on his crash helmet’s visor.
“The whole field was on slicks and it began to drizzle. We’d been waiting for rain all day, but it had held off until that moment. We were all sent out and the track had quickly become quite greasy. On the formation lap I approached a hairpin, braked in the normal place and went straight on! I had to quickly get back on the circuit and fight my way back to the front of the grid before the race started with me out of position.”
He made it and was able to lead for the race’s opening few laps. However, in an increasingly close fight, the Tony Kart EVRR driver found himself pushed back to 4th place - but with the drivers just ahead hotly disputing 2nd, he saw a gap and pounced. Now in 3rd and knowing it would give him a handsome addition to his points tally, Jack defended rather than attacked and held the place to the chequered flag.
“This also gave me a great position to start the main final from. At Rowrah, I’d much sooner be 3rd and on the inside for the first (right-hand) corner than 2nd and on the outside.”
As the lights went from red to green, he slotted in behind the pole-sitter to claim 2nd place and moments later snatched the lead but as the pair tried to establish a margin over their pursuers an accident brought the red flags out, stopping the race.
The accident had involved Nathan Harrison and with him unable to take the restart, Jack knew that he now held the aces. “With Nathan absent it wasn’t essential for me to win at all costs, and with my other rivals having a bad day it meant that I could look after my equipment and avoid any unnecessary collisions.”
As the race recommenced with the field in single file, Barlow duly gave fellow EVRR driver James Singleton room to pass - but was given a few anxious moments when his engine’s temperature started to rise. “To cool it down I had to remove some sticky tape that we normally put on the motor’s radiator to keep it nice and warm. Only this time it was too warm. Once I’d pulled the tape off, it did the trick and I caught James up. On the last lap I had a big look down the inside and thought, ‘Shall I go for it?’ but realised what everyone in the team would say if I got it wrong.”
Jack returns to Super One action later this month (24/25 June) at Larkhall in Scotland.
