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Courageous Crawley makes victorious return from injury as he targets British podium 

Harry Crawley has returned to both the track and to the top step of the podium first time out since an injury that had threatened to derail his season altogether.

Having hurt his ribs following the Buckmore Park Super 1 Series meeting at the end of June, Harry initially thought it was little more than bruising and ‘nothing serious to worry about’ – but sadly, when he arrived at Bruck in Austria three weeks later for his next outing in the Euro Max Challenge, it swiftly transpired that he was wrong.

“I started to feel the pain during Friday practice,” he revealed. “In the last couple of sessions when all the grip went down it really started to kick in, because that put a lot of stress on my ribs. By Saturday morning I knew I wasn’t going to be able to race; I’d wanted to go out for practice, but I couldn’t even sit up properly so I knew that trying to go out would just do even more damage.

“I can’t describe how disappointed I was, especially as we had gone all the way from England to Austria for nothing – I was completely gutted. I didn’t even want to go outside the awning because I was just that upset.”

Understandably so, as he had been in the lead of the championship on dropped scores and looking very strong indeed – but having already had to miss the round at Salbris earlier on in the year and therefore not being able to afford any more ‘dropped’ meetings, the setback meant Harry’s title bid in his maiden campaign of international competition was cruelly over in one fell swoop.

Worse still, having originally anticipated a healing period of three weeks, after consultation Harry discovered it would be more likely at least six, and with the following Super 1 outing at Larkhall and the annual Kartmasters event next up on his calendar on successive weekends, it couldn’t possibly have happened at a worse time.

Acknowledging that he could arguably have entered Kartmasters, Harry conceded that he wanted to allow everything to heal fully so as to be ‘fighting fit’ for the resumption of Super 1 hostilities at Shenington in Oxfordshire this coming weekend, well aware that sitting in third place on dropped scores, he still stands a very good chance of success.

Following an encouraging test session at PF International – “It gave me a bit of a confidence boost knowing that as soon as I got back in the kart again I was right on the pace,” he reflected – the 13-year-old then headed to Three Sisters near Wigan for a club meeting, both to settle himself gently back into the groove ahead of Super 1, and also as a warm-up for the British finale at the same circuit in October.

With 25 Junior Max class drivers in attendance, Harry sped through the pack from 20th to fourth in one of his heats – setting the fastest lap of the race along the way, and taking the chequered flag less than two seconds shy of victory – and from 17th to fourth in another.

A failure to finish his third heat after his chain guard fell off when he was in the lead meant he would begin the all-important final only tenth, but impressively undeterred, the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil went on to demonstrate that he was not in the kind of mood to be taking any prisoners.

“I got a really good start all the way up to second,” he recalled, “and then into the next corner I took the lead. From there, me and the driver behind just pushed each other away to break the tow from the chasing pack. It was a tough race and really important to make as few mistakes as I could, and towards the end I just kept my composure and defended well to win. For my first meeting back in the kart, I thought that was pretty good...”

Far more than merely ‘pretty good’, it was a phenomenal performance, as Harry triumphed with an intelligent display, aware that he might not have been the quickest driver out there but leaving nobody in any doubt that he was amongst the best out there as he prevailed by two tenths of a second.

Harry is buoyant about his prospects for Super 1’s visit to Wigan in six weeks’ time – but first, he knows, he needs to focus on the more immediate concern of Shenington.

“I felt proper chuffed at the end of the weekend,” he concluded. “Three Sisters is one of my best tracks, but it was the first time I had ever raced there in the dry, and I proved that I’m capable of winning – so I’m really confident for Super 1 now. There is quite a lot of pressure knowing that because I need to count Larkhall as my dropped round, if I make just one mistake it will be all over – I need to finish in the top five in every final until the end of the season, but I reckon I can pull it off.

“I haven’t been to Shenington since Super 1 last year in Mini Max, but I was very fast then and I’m a better driver now, so I reckon I can be quick again and the top five has to be the aim, maybe even a podium – it would be nice to get a podium again after so long away.”

pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

Crawley gains ground to snatch second in standings with consistent showing on ‘home’ turf 

Having claimed a breakthrough Junior Max class triumph at national level the previous time out, Harry Crawley’s consistent form in the Super 1 Series in 2010 has seen the young Dartford karting driver move to within just one spot of the lead in the title standings following another brace of front-running performances on ‘home’ turf at Buckmore Park.

Whilst the Kent circuit is effectively Harry’s local track and one around which he boasts a solid record – finishing ninth there in Super 1 at Mini Max level in 2009 despite engine woes – it is not one that he greatly enjoys, and having not competed there since last year, he acknowledged that he had some re-learning and re-acclimatising to do.

“It’s definitely not one of my favourite circuits,” confessed the Hawley-based hotshot. “I actually think it’s one of the worst on the calendar, and I was just looking forward to getting it over and done with. It’s quite fast and the tightest track in the country, and last year at Buckmore some drivers even went over the barriers – they’re very close around there, which makes it really dangerous.

“It didn’t take too long to get used to it all again, but I hadn’t been out in the kart for a couple of weeks, so it took me one or two sessions to get back into the groove – and when I did, I was really fast. Unfortunately, in qualifying the kart wasn’t quite right and I didn’t get a couple of the corners quite right either – and all of that could have added up to a top three position, I reckon. I’m sure that was on the cards if I’d only got everything together, but it was still encouraging that the pace was there, so it was just a case of getting it all sorted in time for the heat races.”

Lining up 13th amongst the 49-strong Junior Max field only half a second shy of the front and less than two tenths adrift of fourth place meant he would be seventh on the grid for both of his heats, which would yield a mixed bag of fortunes.

“In heat one I got a good start up to fourth, but then into the first hairpin someone behind braked too late and hit me, sending the back of my kart up in the air and spinning me round,” the 13-year-old recalled. “That left me last, but I got my head down and fought my way back through to 13th, which wasn’t too bad in the circumstances, even if it could obviously have been a lot better but for the disappointment on the first lap. My lap times were good even coming through the traffic, so we knew the pace was there again.

“In the second heat I got another good start and jumped up to third, but then my kart didn’t come on until halfway through the race and I dropped down to eighth. By the time it came on, the pack in front of me had pulled away by about two seconds, so I had to work hard to catch them. Sixth was a decent result in the end.”

Setting very competitive lap times on both occasions – in heat two posting a quickest effort a scant eight hundredths off the best of the race – Harry’s confidence regarding his prospects was confirmed in the opening final, when from 15th on the grid he made a lightning-fast getaway and demonstrated his speed and racecraft to good effect to take the chequered flag an excellent fifth.

The Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil then went on to match that result in the second final later in the day, setting fastest lap for good measure this time and coming within a hair’s breadth of snatching fourth place at the line as he contended ‘just one more lap and I’d have got him’.

Still, with the leading two drivers in the standings going into the weekend not scoring well and Harry’s supreme consistency remaining firmly intact – as the only competitor to have finished inside the top seven in all eight finals of the campaign to-date – the outcome means he will head into the last three meetings on the schedule at Larkhall in Scotland, Shenington in Oxfordshire and Three Sisters close to Wigan very much in the hunt.

“I think consistency will prove to be quite important come the end of the season, so I want to keep finishing consistently in the top five every single time and stay right up there in the in the standings,” the Evolution Racing ace concluded. “I’m extremely chuffed with being second at the moment given it’s my first year in Junior Max – I had simply been hoping for the top ten back at the start of the year, and certainly hadn’t expected to be so high up in the British Championship so early on in my Junior Max career.

“The last time I raced at Larkhall in Super 1, I finished second, and I’ve been pretty quick there during testing, so I think I’ve got a good chance when we go back. I was fairly strong in testing at Shenington last year too, but I’ve only had one club meeting at Wigan before, so that will be quite a learning curve, particularly with it being such a fast track – I’ll have to get used to all the lines properly during practice. I think it will all hook up in the end, though, and be an exciting climax to the season. I want to finish inside the top three overall – and I’m confident I can.”

 pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

Crawley beats British and World Champions – and the odds – for stunning

double European triumph 

Three weeks earlier he had registered his breakthrough national victory in the Junior Max class to which he has graduated in 2010, but in the second round of the Euro Max Challenge at Wackersdorf in Germany, Harry Crawley did rather better than that, with a double triumph that required him to beat the reigning British and World Champions.

Harry travelled to the demanding Bavarian circuit buoyed by his success in the Super 1 Series at Whilton Mill that firmly installed him as a genuine contender for British title glory for the second year in succession – and despite having to learn the track from scratch, rapid lap times and a strong set-up during practice gave the highly-rated young Dartford driver  every reason for optimism heading into qualifying.

“I was confident knowing I had been quick in the Winter Cup at Campillos in Spain,” he related of his previous Euro Max appearance, “and confident the team was fully-prepared, too. It was the first time I’d been to Wackersdorf, and it’s a proper drivers’ circuit – a lot of fun and really fast for half the lap, before slowing right down for the technical infield section. It’s quite a mix, and that means it’s crucial to get your lines absolutely perfect – because just one small mistake can ruin the whole lap.

“Unfortunately, when we came in from qualifying we found the clutch was broken, which had been costing us straight-line, bottom-end and corner speed and ruined the whole session. It was really frustrating knowing we could have been a lot further up the grid, and it meant I would have to come through the pack in the heats – but I was still confident of being able to do that because of the pace we’d had in practice. Once we’d sorted the problem out we had a lot of work to do – but it was work that had to be done.”

Sixth in his group, the issue was in fact a double blow as due to the intricacies of the Euro Max qualifying format, the result meant Harry would line up just 26th of the 43 Junior Max competitors overall, paying the price for having been out in the slower of the two sessions leaving him to begin each of his three heat races from down on the seventh row of the grid.

“In the first heat I got up to fifth to begin with, but then going into the hairpin at the end of the back straight I went up the inside of someone – and he turned into me,” the 13-year-old rued. “That left me in the gravel, which obviously wasn’t the start I had wanted at all and put a fair bit of pressure on; I knew if I didn’t get good results in the following two heats I would probably be left in the ‘B’ Final, which made things quite nerve-wracking.

“In the second heat I got up to fourth at the start, but into the right-hander after the first hairpin I got knocked from behind and sent straight off the track. At the time I thought to myself ‘that’s it – I’m in the ‘B’ Final now’, but I tried to just forget about it, get my head down and get as many places back as I could. I got four drivers on the last lap alone and finished 12th, but it was really annoying because I was lapping quicker than some of the leaders. If I hadn’t been hit I could have been in the top three easily – and maybe even won. Still, it was quite a confidence boost that I could overtake so many people in such a short space of time.”

With only eight laps in which to recover, to fight his way back from 20th place and cut the deficit to the leader from more than 12 seconds to 10.8s by the end of the race was a laudable accomplishment indeed. After briefly running third following an excellent getaway in heat three, he found himself forced out wide by a competitor and fell down to seventh, battling his way gutsily back to sixth place – right on the tail of the front pack – by the chequered flag.

“I thought that wasn’t enough and that I would be in the ‘B’ Final,” he confessed, “so I was really chuffed when I found out I was 21st. I know I shouldn’t have been chuffed because I should really have been much further up, but I was pleased to be straight through to the finals, and I was very confident because it was wet the following day and I had been really quick in the rain during practice – so I was definitely up for it!

“In the pre-final I got up to tenth at the start and then as soon as my kart came on I got my head down and caught the leading pack. I got into the lead on the penultimate lap, and though I had to defend on the last lap, I managed to hold on to win. I had been hoping to finish in the top five, so I was proper chuffed to win – I really hadn’t been expecting that given where I had started. It was probably one of the best races I’ve ever driven.”

The top four were blanketed by just a second in the end, but if that race was close, then the all-important grand final later in the day – still treacherously wet, but with the rain having abated and the sun putting in an appearance, bringing with it challenges of its own – would be anything but, as Harry fairly cleared off into the distance from pole position, coming home a staggering eight seconds ahead of his nearest rival in conditions that saw many heading for the barriers.

“I had a lot of very quick drivers around me, so I just had to get my head down and try to get away, which I managed to do,” he recounted of the grand final. “There was some pressure to begin with and I was definitely nervous, and for the first half of the race I had to really push, but when I saw I had pulled out quite a good gap I relaxed a bit and just concentrated on holding the lead to the flag.

“The conditions weren’t easy because when it started to dry up the circuit became quite greasy, and then it steamed up halfway through the race because of the sun coming down. That made it difficult, and with the sun reflecting off the track straight into my eyes I couldn’t really see where I was going.

“I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line – it’s my first major win in Europe, and overrides everything I’ve achieved before if I’m honest. It’s one of the hardest championships in the world, and I’ve won in only my second meeting! It was a fantastic weekend, and brilliant to hear the national anthem up on the podium afterwards. I really want to stay inside the top three now to get through to the World Finals at the end of the season. I’m quite confident after scoring my first win in Euro Max – and I just want to carry that on.”

 pic  Bas Kaligis

Mr. Consistent’ Harry Crawley stuns rivals with British victory only third time out 

He has already built up a reputation as one of the championship’s most consistent drivers this season, but in only the third meeting of 2010 in the national Super 1 Series, Harry Crawley established himself as a winner at Junior Max level too.

Having finished respectively fourth and second in the country in the Mini Max class of Super 1 and fellow national championship Formula Kart Stars in 2009, this year Harry has moved up a gear to Junior Max.

One of only three competitors to have finished inside the top seven in all four finals to-date, the Hawley-based driver arrived at Whilton Mill with a winning record around the Northants circuit  and designs on his first Junior Max rostrum.

“I was quite confident I could score my best result yet in the class,” he revealed. “I had been quick at Whilton in a previous club meeting, so I thought I had a good chance. We were fast in practice right from the word ‘go’, and just trying out different things to make sure we had a good set-up for the weekend. The competition was much tougher than it had been in the club meeting – everyone was quick, so you needed to be right on it.

“Unfortunately, on my fastest lap in qualifying I made a little mistake going into one of the corners. That cost me a couple of tenths, but it wasn’t the end of the world and I was still pleased to be starting on the inside for both of my heats.”

The resultant ninth spot out of the 52 entrants in tricky wet conditions – just over half a second shy of the outright pace – was nothing to be ashamed of, and meant Harry would begin his two heat races from P5. An engine-slowed tenth position in the first of them as the rain fell was more than compensated by a second place in the other’

“Going up the hill for the first time in heat one my engine cut out, which lost me a couple of places,” explained the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil. “It cut out a couple more times later in the race, and it was spluttering quite a lot. That made me quite slow and meant I spent a lot of time on the defensive, and I had to fight really hard.

“Afterwards, we found out that the jets had got all filled up with rubbish, which was blocking the fuel from getting through to the engine – but we sorted it out for the second heat, when it was just a case of getting my head down and getting a good result.

“I got a good start up to second, and I then focussed on pushing the leader away from the rest of the pack. We built up a good gap over them and on the last lap I made a move, but he cut me off so I backed out of it and just played it safe to make sure of keeping second. I didn’t want to do anything risky, because the heats are all about scoring grid points towards the finals.”

Surprised and disappointed to be only 11th on the starting grid for first of the two finals Harry made rapid progress up the order, and by dint of some brave overtaking manoeuvres he had already gained five spots by the end of lap two.

After holding a watching brief for a while in fifth place, the Evolution Racing driver then latched onto the leading group and became embroiled in a fraught and frantic four-way scrap for supremacy, up against pole-sitter Oliver Hodgson, reigning British Champion Matt Parry and multiple Junior Max race-winner Ash Hand.

With precious little to choose between the front quartet, Harry followed Parry past Hand into second place with only a few laps to go, and after an incident behind removed their pursuers from the equation, in an eye-catching drive he went on to hassle his more experienced rival all the way to the chequered flag.

“Even starting only 11th, I was still confident I could come through the pack,” he underlined. “It was just a case of getting my head down from the beginning and picking people off. I got a good start, overtook a couple into the first corner and then worked my way up to fifth. I stayed there for a few laps and then managed to get onto the front pack.

“It was a four-way battle, and we were all ridiculously close on pace. I got up to second, and then the collision behind gave me and Parry a big gap over the rest. I tried to push him for the lead on the last lap, but I was just too far behind so I settled for second. I was ecstatic to get my first Junior Max podium in Super 1!” 

Fastest lap by more than a tenth of a second to-boot proved that Harry had the measure of his adversaries, and having effortlessly kept up with the likes of Parry, Hand and co. in the first final  in the second final he would turn the tables altogether. After artfully fending off an attack at the start from the unfavourable side of grid, he went on to rein Parry in and latch onto the leader’s rear bumper once more – and then he pounced.

“I got a good start and held onto second,” he recounted, “and then I pushed Parry for the first ten laps or so. I made a move for the lead into the hairpin about a third of the way through, but he was able to get me back again and then I had Jack Marshall and Andy King behind me too. I had to really get my head down to try and keep them at bay and reel Parry in again – I had to try to attack and defend at the same time.

“On the penultimate lap I went a bit wide into the hairpin and didn’t quite hit the apex, but I managed to stave Marshall and King off. That dropped me a couple of kart-lengths behind Parry going down towards the next corner, but I kept my head and he then put a wheel onto the grass which slowed him down and I was able to get past with a late-braking move down the inside. I had to hold him out to make sure he couldn’t come back at me into the next corner, and after that I just had to defend all the way to the chequered flag.

“I was really nervous going into the last lap in the lead. I went up the hill and let Parry pull slightly alongside, which then allowed me to run him out wide a bit on the exit and establish slightly more of a lead. It was difficult having a queue of four karts behind me, because I knew that if one of them came past they all would. I just had to defend well and make sure I left absolutely no opportunity or gap. I put both my hands up in the air when I crossed the line – I couldn’t control myself! I just went completely nutty!”

A magnificent performance – under considerable pressure from a bunch of second-year Junior Max drivers right on his tail – Harry eked out just enough of an advantage that it was in fact Parry who found himself needing to look behind going into the last corner.

What’s more, the result was confirmation that twelve months on from staking his claim as a challenger for national Mini Max honours and having closed to within a mere 11 points of the championship lead,.

“It meant a lot to me to get my first podium in Super 1,” he enthused in conclusion, “and even more to get my first win! Back at the start of the year, I’d never have believed I’d win in only my third meeting. The aim now has to be to get another win, to keep scoring good points and hopefully more podiums. It’s a massive confidence boost knowing I can win races and beat the defending British Champion – and I’m only going to get stronger from here...”

Crawley battles brilliantly from the back in superb Super 1 warm-up 

Harry Crawley proved his pace as he warmed up for the third round of the season in the hotly-fought British Super 1 Series at Whilton Mill – but the young Dartford karting driver was made to work hard after reliability woes during the heats left him with a mountain to climb come the final.

Harry travelled to the demanding Northants circuit aiming to lay down a marker ahead of Super 1’s visit a fortnight later. He was right on the leading pace from the word ‘go’.

“It was basically a warm-up for the Super 1 meeting there to get some practice in for that,” the 13-year-old explained. “It was a big field, with 44 drivers in total in the Junior Max class and a lot of them Super 1 regulars, so the competition was tough.

“We had old tyres on all throughout practice and were only a tenth off the quickest, so we were pretty much right up there – and it was a confidence boost knowing that once we put new tyres on, we would probably be a couple of tenths faster still.”

Harry converted pole position in his first heat into an unchallenged victory at the end of a lights-to-flag race, prevailing by just over a second – but then his luck ran out.

“I started dead last in the second heat, and on the rolling-up lap the fuel pipe unclipped itself from the engine and just fell off!” he revealed. “The engine started choking up and then just slowed going up the hill a couple of laps into the race. That was game over – but it could have been worse, because at least it was only a club meeting and not Super 1.”

The failure to finish meant Harry needed a good result in his third and last heat to secure a decent grid slot for the final, but again, Lady Luck was not in the mood. After being knocked off-track at the start, the Evolution Racing driver regained ten places as he recovered to seventh – and then his engine blew on lap three, bringing a premature end to his charge for the second race in swift succession.

Even in the short time he had been in contention, however, he set a better fastest lap than the driver who went This meant he would start the grand final from a lowly 26th.

“I got a good start and overtook a couple of drivers into the first corner, and then a crash ahead removed another five people,” he recalled. “After that, it was just a case of getting my head down and overtaking as many people as I could. It wasn’t too difficult coming through, and by the last lap I was up with the leading group. I’m sure I could have fought for the win if I had only started nearer to the front.”

Harrydid climb through the pack to gain 20 positions and take the chequered flag a brilliant sixth, barely a second-and-a-half adrift of the runner-up. Hhe is now readying himself to step things up a gear again as he bids to improve upon the fourth place he achieved in the PF International 2010 Super 1 curtain-raiser – by taking his first podium finish in his new class.

“Overall it was annoying, pleasurable and a learning curve,” he reflected of the weekend, “and we learned a lot that will all make me a stronger driver for Super 1. Obviously the competition will be even harder still there, but I’m feeling confident – and hopefully the outcome will be my best national result yet at Junior Max level.”

pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

Crawley creeping ever-closer to podium with burgeoning national form 

Harry Crawley believes ‘the podium is in sight’ after his second national outing in the Junior Max class to which he has graduated this year in the hotly-fought Super 1 Series – one during which the young Dartford karting driver established himself as the championship’s leading ‘rookie’.

Having finished fourth in Super 1 and second in Formula Kart Stars last year at Mini Max level, and off the back of an excellent debut to his Junior Max career with third on the grid and fourth and sixth at the chequered flag at PF International, Harry travelled to Rowrah bidding to make further solid progress.

“The aim was to keep up there and score some more good points towards the championship,” explained the 13-year-old. “I’ve always been consistent around Rowrah, and I set a new lap record there in Mini Max. It’s one of the best tracks in Britain in my opinion, with loads of uphill sections and one of the scariest corners in the country – the first turn heading up towards the chicane, which because it’s blind means you really have to hold your breath!”

What’s more, in FKS last year at the Cumbrian circuit, Harry was looking all-set for a clean sweep of pole position and a brace of victories in the pre-final and grand final until his chain flew off on the way to the starting grid for the latter. This time around, despite a few early issues during practice, he was there or thereabouts once more from the off and encouragingly within striking distance of the outright pace. Until qualifying, at least.

“In qualifying we struggled,” he related. “We had no power coming off the corners, and the engine was popping quite a bit. In the circumstances I thought I did the best I could have done, though just a little bit more time would have got me a lot further up the grid, because the competition was immense. It was much harder than PF had been in that respect – at Rowrah half the field was on the pace!”

A whisker under four tenths off the pole position time equated to only 14th in the 50-strong field.

Two top six finishes from his heat races, however, kept the Evolution Racing driver in the hunt and earned him P11 on the starting grid for the pre-final, prior to which it was discovered that some rubbish and dust that had worked its way into the fuel the previous day had been the culprit for the qualifying difficulties. With that issue now resolved, Harry was set to charge.

“I got a good start up into fifth,” he recounted, “but the kart then didn’t really come on until a few laps in, so that cost me some early positions. After that I managed to get my head down and come back through to seventh. It was quite hard work, but I did the best I could and I was pleased with how I drove. It was a solid result and more good points. 

“That left me all fired-up for the grand final, but unfortunately I made a bad start and got put onto the grass, which dropped me down to the bottom of the top ten, and then because I lost momentum from that it cost me two more places at the second hairpin. I got my head down and fought my way back up to fourth – but then I got driven over by someone trying to overtake me. That meant I fell down the order again, but I got my head back together and came through to seventh in the end. It was certainly action-packed – a mad race!”

Harry maturely and impressively kept his head and the reward for his consistency , as one of only three of the 69 entrants in 2010 to have finished inside the top seven in all four finals to-date, is fourth spot in the title standings heading next to Whilton Mill in Northants, a scant two points shy of the defending British champion. Everything remains very much to play for.

“I was a little bit frustrated with the grand final, but that’s racing and these things only make you stronger,” mused the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil in conclusion. “I still got two good results and some good points, and I moved up a position in the championship too. I’m just 17 points off the leader, which is nothing to be honest – I can make that up in just one meeting – so fingers crossed I’ll be a bit further up the table again by the end of the next round. Being top rookie is really good and a bit of a confidence boost as well.

“I’ve had a lot of wins at Whilton, in FKS and club meetings. I like the circuit and have always been quick around there. It will only be my third time out in Junior Max in Super 1 so it will be difficult to repeat that, but I’m feeling confident and hopeful of getting another good result this time. I’m learning a lot with every race in the class – and I’m getting better every time I take to the track. I reckon the podium is in sight...”

pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

Crawley mixes it with the big boys on British new class debut 

Having challenged for the British Mini Max Championship crown in 2009, Harry Crawley has taken a step up the motorsport ladder in 2010 in graduating to the more powerful and fiercely-competitive Junior Max level – and in his first national outing in the Super 1 Series curtain-raiser at PF International he demonstrated that he will be right up at the sharp end once more.

Harry has a good record at Lincolnshire circuit PF, having stormed to a maiden Junior Max victory there only third time out in the class in the 2009/10 Winter Series and having raced to a victory in the teeming rain in the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship last summer.

Fast again in practice and up at the pointy end in the 54-strong Super 1 field with third position in qualifying, a whisker behind reigning FKS Champion Matt Parry was an excellent way to begin. The frustratingly unpredictable weather conditions over the weekend, however – every time it looked like it was going to dry up, the heavens would open – did not make things easy.

“I was just hoping to score a good, solid top five result and then keep on getting better throughout the year,” the Hawley-based hotshot revealed of his objectives for what was still only his second major outing in Junior Max, having finished a brilliant fifth in the Euro Max Winter Cup at Malaga in Spain last month.  

“The competition in Super 1 is really tough with a lot of very good drivers, and the racing in Junior Max is quite aggressive too – and this was probably the most aggressive meeting I’ve been in so far. If you make just a single mistake you pay the price for it, but I’m used to that pressure now.

“I like PF a lot – it’s quite undulating, with a lot of different varieties of corners. It has a nice mix of fast and slow sections, and is an enjoyable circuit to drive. Having proved that I’m quick there in both the wet and the dry was also a bit of a confidence boost going into the weekend.

“It does make it a lot tougher having to keep adapting according to the way the weather changes, though. It can get quite annoying, because if you are about to go out and then suddenly it starts lashing it down with rain, you have to hurriedly make the necessary changes to the kart. That throws in an added element of pressure – but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to manage the best you can with what you’ve got.

“I was very pleased with qualifying, but I made a mistake on my quickest lap and just caught one of the wet patches on the track which cost me a tenth or so. I was only two hundredths off P2 in the end, so whilst I was happy with third for my first time in Junior Max in Super 1, I also knew it could have been even better.”

Third again in heat one was a very solid result, and in heat two Harry snatched the lead into the first corner and never looked back, mastering a generally dry surface dotted with wet patches to absolute perfection and putting in impressively consistent lap times throughout to seal a dominant five-second victory – a near eternity in karting terms – and annex the outside front row starting spot for the pre-final.

Converting that into sixth at the chequered flag after experiencing the inevitable learning pains in a new class, a ‘lively’ opening lap in the all-important grand final later in the day sent the 13-year-old plummeting down the order to 15th place. Undefeated, he went on to battle back to grab fourth position at the close, setting a better fastest lap time along the way than both the winner and runner-up.

“Halfway round the first corner I got tapped from behind, sending me out wide and allowing a lot of drivers to dive up the inside of me,” recollected the Evolution Racing speed demon. “That was an early blow, but I just had to put it behind me and get on with the job. I got my head down and was overtaking practically every lap; my pace was good, especially given that my fastest lap was on a lap when I overtook someone.

“Without what happened at the start, I’m fairly sure a podium would have been on the cards. I was happy with the outcome in the end, though, and I’m going to keep on getting better throughout the season – and hopefully that will show through in my performances and results.”

Next its Rowrah, the Cumbrian track is a real drivers’ circuit and one that he loves – “It’s really, really difficult to get right, but when you do it’s extremely rewarding,” he explains – and one where in FKS last year he claimed pole position, won the pre-final, set a new lap record into the bargain.

pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

Determined Crawley battles back from adversity on superb European debut 

Harry Crawley headed into his maiden European karting outing with the aim of getting his name out there on the international stage – and after out-pacing the reigning world champion he battled doggedly back from a post-qualifying blow that left him at the very bottom of the order to fifth place race day.

The annual Euro Max Rotax Winter Cup represents a kind of pre-season warm-up for the hotly-fought Euro Max Challenge – held across France, Germany, Austria and Belgium – and the 2010 edition, at Malaga in Spain, brought together the indisputable crème de la crème of global Junior Max class talent from a staggering 18 different countries worldwide.

Harry also had to get to grips with both the 1.6km Circuito Campillos – upon which he had never so much as set eyes before the weekend, and the longest track the young Dartford driver had ever raced at. He also had to get acquainted  with the different tyres used in Europe.

“I was hoping just to get a good result to set me up well for Euro Max,” Crawley reflected, “and I think we were able to prove that we’re going to do well. It was an opportunity to get recognised and get my name out there a bit.

“The tyres feel a lot slippier, and are especially different in the wet. The kart slides around a lot more on them, which means you have to drive a lot smoother or you will wear them out too quickly – as we found out on the test day! The driving style in Europe is very different to in Britain too, but once you’re out there you just have to adapt to it, and it came pretty naturally to be honest.

“Campillos is the best track I’ve ever driven! It’s really quick and challenging, and hard to get right – one mistake can cost you loads of time, and you can lose as much as half a second if you muck up just a single corner. It was a lot to take on-board to begin with, but I just got my head down and got on with it really and it only took around three sessions to get used to it.

“Before long we had mastered the circuit and were really fast – we were on the pace by the end of practice. We were really quick straight out-of-the-box in the wet, in fact, thanks to a good engine and good lines – and you can go even harder into the corners in the wet than you do in the dry.”

Be that as it may, qualifying took place on a dry track – and still Harry was quick from the start, enough to take second spot on the grid out of the 41 starters, a scant 0.07 secs off pole and  ahead of the defending world champion.

That joy, however, would sadly prove to be short-lived, as after his Evolution Racing kart weighed in at just 500g underweight, his time was disallowed and the 13-year-old was relegated to the rear of the grid for each of his three 21-strong heat races – leaving him on the back foot to say the least. To his immense credit, Harry simply dug deeper and kept on fighting.

“We were really quick, and it was certainly pleasing to be on the same pace as the world champion and to beat him in qualifying,” he acknowledged. “That was a definite high point of the weekend! I was fairly confident of being inside the top ten, but I hadn’t expected to be in the top three – I was chuffed to bits with that. I think the whole meeting would have been different without the penalty, though; I reckon we would have been up there fighting for the win.

“There were quite a lot of crashes in the first two corners in all of the heats, which I had to try to avoid, and that also allowed the leading runners to get away. It was really hard work to come through again and catch them back up – especially as I only had six laps each time to try to do so! There are quite a lot of overtaking opportunities around the track, but I wouldn’t say it was easy to overtake – because it certainly wasn’t.

“I had to get on with it really quickly. With so few laps I really had to make every move count, and it was just non-stop! Considering where I had to start, I think I did the best I could, and though we struggled a bit for speed in the first two heats in the wet, in heat three in the dry the following day we were right on the leading pace.”

Fifth, seventh and eighth-place finishes secured Harry ninth position in the intermediate rankings – and his superb recovery was enough to haul him right back into the reckoning for glory. Very much in with a shot once more, the Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil was determined to have his say.

“I was hoping to get up there for the grand final,” he revealed of his pre-final objective, “as that would have put us in contention to win. I got a good start to move up to fourth, and I was catching the leaders to begin with, but I think we had gone a bit too low on the tyre pressures. That meant it took a while for the kart to come on and I ultimately had to settle for fifth, which I was still fairly satisfied with in the circumstances.

“I got another good start up to second in the grand final, but I was knocked wide in one of the bottom hairpins, and then coming up to the first corner I got hit again which caused me to fall down to tenth. I was able to fight my way back through to fifth and was catching fourth, but unfortunately the kart just came on too late.

“If it had come on a little earlier I’m pretty sure I could have been in the top three, but I was still pretty happy considering it was only my first real race meeting in Europe and the bad luck we’d had in qualifying. I was pleased with myself for having come through from 41st to fifth.”

Justifiably so – and by setting a better fastest lap time than all four of the drivers who took the chequered flag ahead of him, Harry demonstrated that there is plenty more still to come, a sobering thought for his rivals indeed. As a learning weekend it was a hugely successful one, and the outcome has left Kent’s budding F1 hope feeling buoyed and with his tail up ahead of the remainder of the Euro Max campaign.

“I learned a lot,” he concluded, “and I know more what to expect now from the other drivers out there. I know how aggressive the racing is, and how high the standard of driving is in Europe. I want to try to repeat my top five finish in the overall championship, and the key will be to stay consistent all the way through – and just to go out there, enjoy it and have some fun!”

And after that, well, winning would just be the icing on the cake...

pics Bas Kaligis/KartXpress