Dan Zelos has made it three trophies in as many years at Kartmasters, the blue riband outing on the British karting calendar, as a gritty effort secured the talented young Norfolk speed demon the runner-up spoils on a day when up to 13 competitors looked to be in with a shout.

Zelos has been a regular podium-finisher in the fiercely-contested Mini Max class in 2013, currently lying a superb second in the British Championship standings with one round remaining. That meant he headed to PF International in Lincolnshire for the prestigious annual Kartmasters showdown bullish about his prospects for successbut equally, under absolutely no illusions as to just how fraught the contest would likely be.

Kartmasters demands a unique mentality and an entirely different approach to most races, he explained. In the British Championship, you know you need to finish at all costs if you want to fight for the title, whereas being a one-off meeting, Kartmasters is very much a case of win it or bin ittheres no option to play safe or settle for points.

That tends to result in rougher racing and a lot more pushing-and-shoving and desperate manoeuvres right the way up-and-down the field. Throw into the equation the very best drivers in the countryand some front-runners from abroad, tooand its pretty much the hardest race of the year to win. I felt confident, though, because PF has always been one of my strongest tracks and Ive got a very good record round there.

That much is no idle boast, and after missing out on Kartmasters victory at Comer Cadet level in 2011 by a scant hundredth of a second and claiming pole position and pre-final glory in Mini Max in 2012, the rapid Dereham-based hotshot qualified an excellent second-quickest amongst the 33 supremely high-calibre contenders on the opening dayand converted that stellar form into a brace of heat race triumphs aboard his Tooley Motorsport mount.

The next day was no less impressive, with the fastest time in his qualifying session and second place in the first of his two heats. An uncooperative engine then obliged Zelos to begin heat two from the pit-lane and left him some way behind the pack, but as the rain fell, he showcased his tremendous racecraft and overtaking prowess to fairly scythe his way through the spray and past his rivals as he stormed up the order from 21st to fifthearning him P2 on the grid for Sundays pre-final.

I had started on the outside of the front row in one of my heats on Friday, so I knew what I needed to do and I managed to get through the first corner whilst only conceding one position, recounted the 15-year-old Northgate High School pupil. I regained second into the first hairpin on lap two and then moved into the lead at the same place on the following lapalthough I didnt stay there for long!

I settled into second for a while and tried to push the leader away so we could break clear of the group behind, but he wasnt willing to work with me and the upshot was that the others caught us again and going into the closing stages, there was a long train of karts all vying for the lead.

I made my move with a couple of laps to go and then concentrated on defending the position, but on the penultimate lap, I left my braking just a fraction too late into the first hairpin and was forced out wide on the exit, shuffling me down to fifth. That was frustrating, obviously, but ultimately, the pre-final is not where the prizes are handed out.

Taking encouragement from his performance and pace in a race in which barely a second blanketed the top seven drivers and nine more flashed across the finish line less than four seconds adrift of the winner, Zelos resumed his challenge in the all-important grand finala frenetic, non-stop encounter that made the pre-final look almost pedestrian by comparison...

With the stakes being so high and everybody lunging and defending right from the startand with the strength of the tow down the long main straight at PF making it nigh-on impossible to break freeit swiftly degenerated into an all-out dogfight, recalled the East Anglian teenager. It was relentlessthere was never a single moment to catch your breath as positions changed constantly.

I battled for the lead throughout and moved to the front going onto the last lap, which was pretty nerve-wracking with 12 other karts right on my tail and all seemingly determined to use me as a brake! I dont think Ive ever been in a race before where that many drivers had the opportunity to win.

I got hit quite hard going into the first hairpin on the last lap, but I stuck firmly to the inside line to ensure there was no way past, and once I had safely navigated the second hairpin and chicane, I thought I had cleared the worst of it. Unfortunately, going into the next right-hander, whilst I knew there was someone behind me, what I didnt know was that he had the benefit of having nobody behind himand not needing to defend meant he could take a tighter exit from the corner and just sneak his nose up the inside.

I felt completely crestfallen when the chequered flag came out, because I had been so close to getting the job done. A lot of people told me Id raced really well, though, and when you consider that so many drivers never even get one trophy at Kartmasters and Ive achieved three in the past three years, beyond the initial disappointment, there were definitely reasons to be cheerful, too.

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