Lincolnshire kart racer Jack Harvey was denied victory in the Margutti Trophy event, at the Parma circuit in Italy, at the weekend, when an engine problem forced for the reigning European champion to retire while leading the final.
The 14 year-old Lincoln Minster School pupil, who is an official Birel Motorsport driver, went into the event aiming for a repeat victory, after claiming the KF3 class title a year ago. A great run through the heats meant a second row starting position for the semi-final, where he lead home a British 1-2-3 to claim a front row slot for the grand final.
As the red lights went out for the 20-lap final, Jack lost one place and dropped to third as the field dived through the first corner. He managed to stay in touch with the two drivers in front, though and within a handful of laps had moved into the lead.
He immediately set about stamping his authority on the rest of the field with an extremely rapid pace, setting the fastest lap in the process while pulling away at almost two tenths of a second every lap. However, just before half distance Jack’s ambition of taking back-to-back Margutti titles came to a halt as his engine let go.
A disappointed Harvey was left frustrated at missing out on what seemed to be his first major win of 2008, but took consolation in his pace over the course of the weekend.
“Obviously, I’m really disappointed to end this weekend in this way,” he said. “I really wanted to win the Margutti Trophy, it’s a prestigious title to win and I came out to the event with exactly that aim. It was a good meeting for me right up until that point too. I knew before the weekend that I would need to be on the front or second row in the final to have a chance of taking the win as the starts at Parma can be tricky.”
“The kart was really good through the heats and I won my semi-final so I was exactly where I wanted to be. Everything felt really good when I moved into the lead and I was comfortable with my pace and was pulling away from the guys behind me, then something went in the engine and I was out immediately. It’s definitely more frustrating after being in that position in the final,” he added.
Jack has no time to think about his missed silverware, though, as the opening round of his main European championship, the Winning Series of Karting (WSK) gets underway at La Conca next weekend, meaning he is straight back into action against his European rivals and he’s certainly keen to bounce back with victory at the southern Italian venue.
“I want to go out at the first WSK round and win,” he said. “I want a really good event for the team as they’re working so hard to give me the best kart possible and it would really pick us all up after the frustration this weekend. I’m certainly going to be out there to go for victory again,” he added. |
