As the UK temperature rises and the competition in the fiercely-contested British Super 1 Series heats up accordingly, talented young South Wales karting star Tom Harvey has hit a rich vein of form to banish a rotten run of early-season ill-fortune and vault himself firmly into the title reckoning.
After the norovirus had scuppered his chances in the 2013 Super 1 curtain-raiser at Three Sisters and an exclusion led to what he described as the lowest point of the year so far in round two at Rowrah, Harvey arrived at the Welsh Championships at Llandow in need of a timely confidence boost to put his faltering challenge back on-track.
Having been on-course for a commanding victory there in 2012 until a chain link agonisingly let him down with three laps to go, he returned 12 months on with a point to prove and a score to settle. Fastest throughoutstorming to pole position in qualifying, prevailing in his two heat races and winning both finals at a canterthe highly-rated Bonvilston-based hotshot secured the coveted C Plate in style, confessing that the result meant a lot to him and hoping it would herald a turning-point in his hitherto disappointing Junior Rotax class campaign.
I know Llandow so well now, I can almost drive it with my eyes shut! he quipped. I grew up there in karting terms, and I always enjoy going back. Id last won the C Plate towards the end of 2009, which was the year before I truly broke through and lifted the Super 1 title at Comer Cadet level. Having it on my kart seems to bring me good luck, so hopefully it will prove to be a good omen again...
It certainly has done thus far, and Harvey subsequently headed to Glan Y Gors in North Wales for round three of Super 1 with a renewed sense of optimism. Qualifying seventh out of the 34 distinctly high-calibre entrantsa scant six hundredths of a second adrift of the benchmark in his grouphe finished second and fourth in his two heats to line up P4 on the grid for the pre-final.
After losing out at the start by dint of being on the unenviable outside line, the 15-year-old clawed his way grittily back through only for his eye-catching charge to come undone when the driver in third turned in on him as he attempted to seize the position. The collision relegated him to a frustrated and unrepresentative eighth at the chequered flag, but fastest lap ably demonstrated that he had the potential to regain ground in the all-important grand final later in the day. He went on to do just that.
Its always a nice feeling to race in Wales and benefit from that extra home support, he acknowledged. The start to the grand final was a lot cleaner, and the pace at the front of the field was pretty hot. We had geared our kart for good straight-line speed, though, to help me work my way through, and I was soon up into third.
I was lapping half-a-second quicker than the two leaders and reeled them in. After catching them, I knew I had to act pretty swiftly if I wanted to win and I pulled off a do-or-die move on Josh Price for second going into the last corner on the penultimate lap. I was then chasing Ben Hingeley, and on the last lap, I went for the lead at the end of the straight from a long way back. I dont think Hingeley was expecting it at all, because he didnt defend, and somehow I managed to get my kart slowed down in time for the corner and made it stick.
I think that showed how much I wanted it, and some people in the paddock told me afterwards it was probably the best overtake theyd ever seen in karting, which made me feel extremely proud and ensured I went to the next round at PF International a fortnight later with a real spring in my step.
With the top five flashing across the finish line blanketed by a mere three-quarters-of-a-second, it was a spectacular success, and a second consecutive fastest lap simply served to underline Harveys dominance in his THR Graphics and VIP Vehicle Integration Products-backed KR-Sport kart. The third-highest scorer of the weekend, he travelled to PF and promptly proved that he is every bit as capable of triumphing away from home turf, too.
Quick in all conditions right from the off, the Cowbridge Comprehensive School pupil comfortably paced his session in qualifying and lined up third overall amongst the bumper, 47-strong field before leaving his pursuers trailing by an incredible six seconds in his first heat. Fastest lap went almost without saying, whilst the runner-up spot following a titanic tussle in heat two earned Harvey second on the grid for the pre-final, missing out on pole position by a single point.
Despite finding himself hung out to dry when the starting lights went out, he battled back magnificently to clinch the win by just seven hundredths of a second in a fraught four-way scrap for supremacy. A similarly wild opening lap to the grand final demoted the Vale of Glamorgan ace to sixth, but displaying tremendous strength of character and composure, he refused to let the setback defeat him, and having scythed through into the lead by half-distance, he thereafter controlled proceedings beautifully to seal a superb double victory.
Harveys peerless form in recent outings has catapulted him up the title standings into fourth position out of the 52 contenders, only 11 markers shy of the top of the table on dropped scores, meaning with two meetings remainingat Larkhall and Sheningtonhe is very much in the hunt for glory.
PF was an amazing weekend, and we scored a lot of points towards the championship, he concluded. Ive climbed a long way up the order since Rowrah, but theres still a bit further to go if I want to have the #1 on my kart again next yearand that is definitely the goal.
