James Singleton has well-and-truly staked his claim as a Senior Rotax front-runner during his maiden campaign at the highest level of British karting, by conquering treacherous conditions to scythe his way to a second consecutive podium finish in the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series.
After his magnificent breakthrough Senior Rotax class triumph at Three Sisters near Wigan that had hoisted him into the top ten in the championship standings, Singleton travelled to PF International in Lincolnshire targeting two more consistent top six finishes to maintain his burgeoning momentum.
Winning at Wigan had delivered us a real confidence boost, acknowledged the gifted North Wales speed demon, but we came back down to earth with a bump at PF on Friday in the rain. We were a long way off the pace, which was quite a shock because Ive got a strong previous record there and wed always been quick in the past. The main issue was with the tyres, and although we were faster in the dry on Saturday, I really wasnt encouraged by the wet weather forecast for Sunday!
Describing it as probably the best circuit on the Super 1 calendar and with the revised layout making it even more challenging and enjoyable than before, Singleton proceeded to qualify fourth-quickest in his group but only tenth overall out of the 31 competitorsthe indisputable crme de la crme of young British driving talentdue to being out in the slower of the two sessions.
The Gwynedd Forklifts-backed, Conwy-based hotshot conceded that after leading the way in two of the three dry practice sessions, he had hoped for rather more, and the disappointment would persist in his opening heat as he found himself in a tangle with the driver alongside him on the grid no sooner had the starting lights gone out. The contact forced Singleton onto the grass and left him a long way down the order at the very foot of the top 20.
Although he evinced race-winning pace as he fought his way valiantly back through to 12th at the chequered flagand with just a lap or two more, would arguably have demoted several further adversaries for good measurethe damage was already done. A solid sixth place in heat twolapping less than a tenth of a second adrift of the outright benchmarkat least served to mitigate the situation somewhat, and salvaged 11th in the intermediate rankings.
I didnt get the best of starts in the pre-final, and there was a lot of defending going on over the first few laps, recounted the highly-rated Penmaenmawr ace. After that, though, my kart got better-and-better and I was able to come through to seventh.
By that stage, the leader was a long way clear and there was a gap to the next five drivers in front of me. It then began raining with just three laps to go, but despite our fears about our pace in the wet, that actually did us a favour as we were quicker than we had expected to be, even though it was extremely slippery on slick tyres!
I was conscious of needing to finish and of not doing anything stupid, but I closed right onto the back of the group ahead and was able to pick three of them off to advance to fourth. I had a few moments along the way, though, and when I went for a move on the driver in third into a 90-degree right-hander towards the end of the lap, I got really sideways and that cost me a position.
In decidedly tricky conditions, fifth place nonetheless marked impressive progress from where Singleton had begun the racein addition to keeping his pre-weekend objective intact. He remained apprehensive, however, about the prospect of a fully wet grand finalbut he would surprise himself.
I gained a position at the start and then passed defending British Senior Rotax Champion Ed Brand later around the first lap to move up to third, related the 16-year-old MSA Academy member. After that, I had an entertaining battle with John Stewart for second, and I was eventually able to make a break on lap five and pull away from him.
As the race went on, though, I became aware that Tom Arme was coming through the pack extremely quickly. I knew I had the potential to go faster, but equally I was being careful to play it a bit safe so as not to risk throwing it off the track when the worst we were realistically going to finish pace-wise was third if we just kept it on the black stuff. I saw Tom entering the first hairpin as I exited it, so I measured the gap that way.
I could tell he was nibbling away at my advantage, but once things had settled down, I was generally able to peg his speed and hold him at bay. As my kart faded a little towards the end, he got very close and the pressure was really on at that point, but again I was able to respond and I was over-the-moon to finish second, particularly considering that my main rivals in the championship didnt do too well.
Although the margin between the pair dipped to less than four tenths of a second at one stage as the seemingly unstoppable Arme shattered the fastest lap again and again and the tension mounted, Singleton demonstrated his laudable maturity for one of the least experienced drivers in the class to raise his game accordingly and pick up the pace with some purple sector times of his own as he artfully fended off the threat from behind.
As he has done all year, the Coles Racing star comfortably exceeded expectations, and it is indeed incredible to reflect that he began 2012 as a Senior Rotax rookie. On a tremendous roll at the moment, he consolidated his eighth spot in the title chase out of the 41 contenders with the second-highest points haul of the weekend at PF, but there is still, he stresses, further progress to be made.
Since Ive been competing at the front of the field, I think Ive gained a lot more respect from the other drivers, Singleton mused in conclusion. The last round of the season is at Shenington, a high-speed circuit that I enjoy and one Ive always been quick aroundthough weve never seemed to have much luck there. Hopefully, that will change this time!
Ill go there with the same approach as I had heading to PF. I dont want to start calculating the points or thinking about championship positionsI want to focus solely on the racingbut to earn a ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Portimo in Portugal at the end of November, we need to finish at least fourth in the standings...so thats the goal.
James is seeking sponsors to help support his burgeoning career; if you are interested in backing him, please contact his father Mark on 07795 297350 or at: gwyneddforklifts@ukf.net
