Dan Zelos proved to his rivals that he is ‘out there to win’ at national level now, after producing a scintillating performance that at one stage left them trailing breathlessly in his wheeltracks when the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship visited Whilton Mill.
Dan travelled to the demanding Northants circuit sitting eighth out of 53 in FKS’ MSA British Cadet class title standings – uniting the indisputable crème de la crème of the country’s young driving talent at that level – and buoyed by having received the prestigious ‘Martin Plowman Fired-Up Award’ in the previous outing at Genk in Belgium.
“I used to race a lot at Whilton in the club championship there,” he revealed, “and I really enjoy the track – it’s uphill-and-downhill with a mixture of fast and slow sections, and the bumps make it really challenging and physical to drive. It’s very easy to find yourself sent off-line or into a slide, which can cost you a lot of time and positions – so you really need to stay fully concentrated – but the aim was to have some solid races and score a good haul of points to try to improve my position in the championship.”
With his kart handling well and Dan palpably on-form, second spot in qualifying on the opening day – a mere whisker shy of the benchmark – was an excellent start. From pole position in heat one, the highly-rated Dereham-based hotshot survived a knock on the opening lap that dropped him to fourth place to intelligently and assertively battle his way back into the lead. He takes up the story.
“There were four of us in the front pack trying to push away,” he recounted, “but as we approached the hairpin on lap eight, I think the others just pushed a little bit too hard – because they pushed me into a spin! That left me down in ninth, but our pace was really good and I was able to work together with another driver to come back through to fifth. I was obviously disappointed, because we had the speed to win, but fifth was a decent result given what had happened – and still good points towards the championship.”
An inspired fightback, Dan’s bid to similarly shine in heat two was hampered by engine overheating issues that swiftly developed into a distraction he could well have done without. After initially holding second place, the Northgate High School pupil soon found himself embroiled in a rearguard defence, and in the circumstances, eighth position at the chequered flag – barely half-a-second adrift of the race-winner in a fraught finish indeed – was an admirable lesson in damage limitation.
“As early as the third lap, I could feel the carburettor getting hot and I had to try to cool the engine down so that it wouldn’t seize,” he explained. “I had to tweak the carburettor and put my hand over the airbox to choke it. That allowed the pack behind to catch right up and I lost quite a few places, but there was nothing more I could have done.”
Beginning the all-important final from 11th, Dan made a bright start and smartly avoided the first corner chaos by wisely sticking to a wide line, rising to sixth in the process. Just as he was looking poised to charge, however, one of his adversaries had other ideas...
“I made up quite a few positions at the start,” he related, “but then a couple of laps later, somebody nudged me and sent me sideways, forcing me off the track. That cost me a lot of ground and left me with a load of muck on my tyres, so I had to try to find the grip again. I was on the back of the pack fighting over fifth place, and I worked my way through to eighth by the end.”
Falling as low as 11th, Dan proceeded to showcase his racecraft magnificently as he scythed his way back through, and he entered day two bidding to do so again – only this time, from the front. A lack of grip during a wet qualifying session left him a disappointed sixth – but fully intent on rebounding in the heats. He would do just that.
A superb start and a sublimely brave overtaking move all the way around the outside at the top of the hill earned the 13-year-old an early advantage in the opening encounter, but after finding himself rudely shoved aside by an overly-aggressive pursuer, he was then left with it all to do over again, and a sizeable gap to close to rein the leaders back in. What followed was nothing short of spectacular.
“I was quite happy when I saw what the weather was like,” he confessed. “It was real Jenson Button wet/dry territory, and I love racing when the conditions are like that, being out on slick tyres on a damp and greasy track surface. I always seem able to find the best lines to take pretty quickly.
“I had to really get my head down to try to catch the leaders again, but I could see I was gaining on them fast. Halfway through, I passed the driver in second at the top of the hill, and two laps later, I took the lead at the same place and then just pushed and pushed to get away. I looked behind a few times after that, and each time, the chasing pack was even further back...”
Going on to cross the finish line the best part of a staggering five seconds in front – a comparative eternity in Cadet terms, given that races are frequently decided by mere thousandths of a second – Dan was truly in a different class, and his utterly dominant performance was indisputably one of the very finest drives produced by anybody all year, and a significant confidence boost into the bargain.
The Prima Racing ace would continue to excel in heat two, featuring firmly in the tussle for the lead throughout and exhibiting his acute racing brain once more with a brilliantly opportunistic manoeuvre to boldly snatch second place on the very last lap. Having ably demonstrated that he had both the pace and racecraft to match anyone else out there, he went on to begin the final from the front row of the grid – before his bad luck curse struck again...
“I got safely around the first turn, and then heading up the hill I was on the inside line,” he recounted. “Going into the corner, I braked as normal, but I just got hit really hard from behind; that sent me off the track, into a spin and down to dead last. I was very angry, but I channelled my frustration into aggression and was really fired-up to come back through – every half-chance that I saw for an overtaking move, I went for it!
“There were some drivers who, after I had passed them, lunged me straight back again which cost us both time and possibly prevented me from getting to the front quicker – that was frustrating, because I knew I was so much faster than they were. Without that, I think I could have got right in amongst the leading pack with a couple of laps to go – and then, anything might have been possible.”
It was a heroic effort as Dan recovered no fewer than 20 positions to wind up tenth, setting the two fastest laps of the race along the way in evidence of his outstanding raw pace – not to mention what might have been. Although the end result was one of disappointment, Norfolk’s resident speed demon could nonetheless leave Whilton with his head held high, and as he prepares to return ‘home’ for the 2011 FKS season finale around his local circuit of Ellough Park Raceway sitting seventh in the points table, he clearly has only one goal in mind.
“I was really annoyed about what had happened at the start of the final,” he reflected in conclusion. “I was so quick after that and gaining on the leaders all the time – I know I could have won that race. Still, on the positive side, I was really pleased with my driving all weekend, and I proved that I can win at national level in the wet and that I’ve got the pace to win in the dry as well. We didn’t get the results we should have done, but I think I’ve shown a few people now that I’m out there to win.
“I’m feeling confident for Ellough, because last year we qualified second there in FKS. I know we can definitely perform right up at the sharp end again, and I’m hoping we might have a slight ‘home’ advantage over the other drivers, too. We’ll certainly be going for it!”
If you are interested in getting involved in life in the fast lane by sponsoring Dan, please contact his dad Andy at: andy.zelos@weselltyres.com
