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WSK winner Jack Harvey: "The kart was fantastic"
Published by Bas Kaligis 9 juni 2008 10:06 - Print | | Reigning CIK FIA European karting champion Jack Harvey continued his race winning form over the course of the weekend to win the latest round of the Winning Series of Karting at Mariembourg in Belgium. The victory puts him second in the points with just two rounds of the championship left to run.
The win for the 15 year-old Alpinestars-backed factory Birel racer comes just two weeks after he claimed the Asia Pacific KF2 title at Suzuka in Japan, putting him firmly at the head of the current KF2 class in terms of success.
Despite his brilliant result, Jack was made to work hard for his victory over the course of the weekend, with mechanical problems in one heat and some intense competition every time he took to the track.
In the qualifying session he was unlucky to be in the opening group on a still wet track, as the rest of the class got drier running and faster lap times. His frustration was compounded in the first heat as he suffered an engine problem, which left him with a non-finish.
After the Birel squad sorted the problem he immediately bounced back in the remaining three heats. Two second places and a win gave him an eighth row starting position for the pre-final. A great drive through the field meant that he crossed the line in fifth place, giving him the same position on the grid for the main event.
A fantastic start allowed Jack to move into second place by the end of the opening lap. After catching up to the leader he made a swift decision to pass him early and try to make a break in the lead. As he made his move a local driver went with him and the pair pulled out a distance from the rest of the chasing pack.
Over the second half of the race Jack came under intense pressure from his rival, never more than a single kart length ahead. On the final lap Jack checked where he was and had to keep his lines tight over the last couple of corners to keep himself in place for the win.
A delighted Jack was pleased to have continued his front-running form and vowed to keep the momentum going throughout the rest of the season.
“It has been a great weekend for me and the whole team and I’m really happy to have taken my first win in the KF2 class of the WSK Championship,” he said. “We started the weekend well in free practice but when the engine had a problem in the opening heat I thought we might struggle. But the guys in the team realised what it was and solved the problem straight away.
“The kart was fantastic all weekend apart from that one thing. In the final I made the decision to pass the leader really early rather than stay behind him as I wanted to see if I could get away from the rest of the pack. The guy that came with me was a bit of a local specialist and he put me under pressure all the time after we broke away.
“I had to defend a little bit on the very last lap. I wanted to win again on the back of the Suzuka weekend and I’m really pleased that we’ve kept the form going,” he added.
With just two rounds of the series left to run Jack is now just one point away from the lead of the championship. However, he is refusing to think about the title just yet and is concentrating on the next round.
“If we can have a good round at Sarno and there is no reason why we shouldn’t, then it should put us in good shape to see how the title might go at the last round. I’m approaching each round as it comes though and going out with the same intention at each one, to win,” he added.
Jack will be in action again next weekend, when he takes part in the next round of the MSA Super One British Championship at Rowrah in Cumbria.
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