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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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Jack is already in Belgium to contest the concluding round of the Euro Max Challenge (3-5 September) at the superb Genk circuit. Jack drives the Tony Kart EVR chassis and Ogden-prepared engines. For more information about Tony Kart and OTK products, go to www.strawberryracing.co.uk or Ogden Motorsport-prepared engines, visit www.ogdenracing.com |
mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk Barlow pushes team-mate to victory and completes dream 1-2 for team Strawberry driver stars in thriller at Shenington
Just as the changing weather in the Ardennes turned making accurate set-up choices into little more than a guessing game at the corresponding Belgian Grand Prix, so too was the situation in rural Oxfordshire. The rain held off for Timed Qualifying and Jack was able to make the most of the dry conditions to record the third quickest time in his session. From this promising start, he duly won his first heat and took the runner-up spot in the second to earn a front row start for Sunday’s first of two finals. A brief, but torrential, shower caused pandemonium in the pits as mechanics and drivers desperately tried to alter their karts’ settings from dry to wet. By the time the moment came for Jack’s race, the clouds had rolled back and a combination of bright sunshine and strong winds saw the circuit dry rapidly. At the start he was pushed back to 3rd as the 30-strong field rushed into the opening, left-right-left series of corners. A bold manoeuvre at the circuit’s second hairpin - Wilkinson’s - saw him take back second place. As the cut and thrust action continued, Jack found himself in fifth position and unable to quite match the pace of the lead quartet, but able to hold off his immediate pursuers. “I knew that finishing fifth would give me that position for the main final and therefore the inside line for the first corner, so it wasn’t a disaster not finishing in the top three,” he explained. His comments were prescient. In the opening moments of the pulsating feature race, Jack had already moved up to fourth spot and was attacking for third. With the lead changing hands several times just ahead of him, Barlow edged closer. The Strawberry pair (of Marshall and Barlow) took second and third respectively and from there worked together to close the gap to the leader who, under enormous pressure from his two rivals, ran wide at the hairpin. Seeing this, Barlow seized the initiative and literally pushed his team-mate and himself through the gap. The last lap was a nail-biter as the former front-runner harried the two Jacks. With Marshall benefiting from Barlow’s Corinthian defence of his rear bumper, they recorded their first one-two finish of the campaign. “That was really exciting – one of the best races of the year. I had to work hard from beginning to end. Once we were through into first and second I did consider going for the win, but doing that could have tempted fate. At that point, I thought what was best for the team and settled for second.” pic Alex Roache Jack Barlow maintains FKS title push with silverware in Belgium Strawberry Racing driver on a high in the Low Countries The Formula Kart Stars championship moved into its second half with a double-header round held at the spectacular Genk circuit in Belgium last weekend (14/15 August). After reducing his deficit to just three points in the title race, Jack Barlow was eager to maintain the pressure on his fellow title-protagonists. In Saturday’s qualifying session Jack recorded the fourth-fastest time to secure second row starting positions for the two heats. In the first race he initially dropped to 8th in a scrappy start, but came back to finish 2nd at the chequered flag. After being hit from behind he dropped to the back of the field but staged a gritty fightback to cross the line in 10th position. “I started the main final from 5th place and had to scrap my way up the order. It was an enjoyable race, although I made a couple of mistakes, which possibly cost me a crack at going for the win. Still, 2nd place gave me more vital championship points and keeps me very much in the overall hunt,” he said afterwards. Sunday proved to be a tougher experience, with the Benelux weather creating challenging conditions for the competitors. In timed qualifying, Jack recorded the second-quickest lap and went on to score a brace of 2nd-place finishes in the heats to guarantee his third front row start of the weekend. “I went off p2 and there was a lot of argy-bargy at the start,” he explained. “I managed to hold my starting position and to take the lead at one point. I was in a four kart battle for the front and dropped to 4th. I pushed and pushed as hard as I could and managed to get into 3rd but pushed a little too hard in the later stages and ran wide in one corner. This allowed the driver behind me through and I settled for 4th rather than risk any more dramas.” He added, “Overall I’m pleased, because I’m a rookie in the class and at this crucial stage of the season I’m consistently running at, or near the front. All is still to play for and I won’t give up.” Brought to Bruck: Barlow wins in Austria Strawberry’s Barlow scores his maiden Euro Max victory
The Strawberry Racing driver was in strong form throughout the event and signalled his intent with 3rd place in timed qualifying. In the following three heats, he took a brace of wins - but was given a time penalty in his second race - after he was adjudged to have been a little too robust with a passing manoeuvre - and classified in 17th position. In the intermediate rankings, his combined scores from his heat finishes put him 8th overall, securing a fourth row place on the grid for Sunday’s pre-final. In baking conditions, Barlow kept a cool head to deliver a mature performance, working his way up the order to take the chequered flag in 2nd place behind reigning World Champion, Japan’s Ukyo Sasahara and ahead of his team-mate, Dutchman Joel Affolter. Although he had the advantage of being on the front-row for the main final, Jack still had to contend with being on the outside line for the first corner. As the 34-strong field charged into it, he couldn’t find a gap in the traffic to come from the left-hand side of the circuit to the right and onto the racing line. He lost several places, but avoided being forced off the track. As the race settled and found its rhythm, the Freem UK-supported driver deftly picked his way back up the order until he had caught Affolter, with Sasahara just ahead. Together the pair bridged the gap, causing Sasahara to anxiously look over his shoulder. At this point the Strawberry duo attacked and managed to dive down the inside, moving the diminutive Japanese off line and allowing three other karts past. With Joel leading, Jack followed him for a lap, picked his passing spot and then went for the lead. Once ahead, he began to ease away and seal matters. As the chequered flag was ready, Jack became aware of the mounting excitement amongst the spectators. “The team was going mad and I could hear my mum, dad and sister screaming in the grandstand. Joel’s 2nd place made it a one-two for the team and he was happy to secure some good points. He has to be the favourite to win the title, but if I do well again, well, you never know. However, finishing 2nd or 3rd in my debut year in this class and championship would be great and would take me to the World Final (at Muro Leccese, Southern Italy in November).” pic: Bas Kaligis/KartXpress
Welsh Gold Imperious Barlow sweeps to double FKS victories
The Junior Max driver opened his account on Saturday with a brace of wins in the preliminary heats, securing pole for the day’s main final. “Shortly after the start I allowed the 2nd-placed driver through and followed him until the last lap. He looked over his shoulder at the moment I lunged him and pulled off the move. He attacked at the very last corner, but I defended and shut the door. It was close though, we were separated by just two one hundredths of a second.” Strawberry team boss, Warwick Ringham was full of praise for his new signing: “Before the racing, I’d had a chat with him about overtaking. I told him to get in late and hard. In the races he was going in really hard, to the point where we were all going ‘Whoah, what’re you doing?!’ He did everything I asked and more. He was fantastic.” Saturday’s hot, dry and sunny conditions gave way to rain on Sunday. Starting from 6th on the grid for his first heat, Jack made short work of clearing the karts ahead of him and delivered an assured drive in the tricky conditions to win comfortably. He was made to work harder in the second race when a startline crash dropped him down the order and into the midfield. This prompted a cool-headed fight back, and some further confident overtaking saw him triumph again. From pole position, Barlow led the 26-strong field into the first corner at the start of the main final. “I got a good start and for the first few laps I was pulling away with a group of four other drivers,” Jack explained. “I was pushing just a bit too hard and dropped a wheel off the track. I fell to 4th but worked my way up to 2nd. I then followed, caught and passed the leader with ten laps to go, and made sure that I didn’t make any more mistakes.” Again, Ringham hailed the developing talent of the Accent Banking and Rollersigns-backed star. “Jack is a very intelligent driver. You can see him thinking about what he should be doing with the positioning of his kart on the track and looking to see where he is faster on particular parts of the circuit than his rivals. He’s developing an excellent racing brain and his driving is just getting better and better.”
Strawberry move bears instant fruit for Barlow Podium for Junior Max star on debut with new team
The British Super 1 championship reached its halfway point at the challenging Buckmore Park in Kent and saw the 15-year old deliver his best performance to date in the UK’s premier series. Inspired by taking 3rd place in a club event at the same venue just a week beforehand, Jack built on this early promise with another fine performance during Saturday’s timed qualifying session by being fastest in his group and third-quickest overall. Despite enjoying pole position for the first of his two preliminary heats, he had to keep a cool head as a crash brought out the red flags and his engine temperature soared. “I didn’t have a clue what was going on. We weren’t told where to stop on the circuit so we all just drove round slowly. Because the air was so warm and the low speed, I couldn’t cool the engine enough and the data-logger showed that the temperature was over 60 degrees. Eventually they stopped us and that allowed the engine to cool down a little. At the re-start I got the jump and was in the lead and had just started to pull away when the race was red-flagged again. They stopped us and we took the re-start in single file. That was still a bit wild but I got a really good start and won from there.” A collision whilst contesting the lead in the second heat saw Jack’s kart throw its chain and put him out of the race. This affected his aggregate score to determine his grid position for the pre-final and he found himself on the 10th row of the grid - “My mechanic said to me before the start, ‘go out there and entertain them (the crowd). There was no pressure on me, so it was just a case of doing my best.” Despite starting in 19th place he produced a storming drive and carved his way up to the order to take an excellent 4th position, after 24 gruelling laps in the 30 degree heat. Starting from the outside of the second row for the main final, the Accent Banking and Rollersigns-supported driver knew that he needed to sweep across to the inside line quickly if he was to avoid losing places - or worse, risk a crash as the field bumped and bored for position through the first three corners. As the field swarmed into the first bend, he had already chopped across to the right-hand side of the track and escaped the crash that removed the drivers who had started immediately behind him. “I slotted in behind the driver in 3rd but dropped to 5th. We lost time fighting each other over 4th but once we’d settled down we soon caught the 3rd-place man. We were both able to pass him but by then the pack behind had started to catch up. I had to keep a cool head and make sure I kept my place. I managed my tyres and made sure my lap times were consistent and brought the kart home in 3rd” “It was a good result for my first time with the team (in the Super 1 series) and I’m really happy because it also moved me into championship contention. I’m going to really push now.”
Barlow’s title hopes back on track at Whilton Mill
Nothing puts a title challenge on track better than a trophy - and on Saturday, Jack won his first of the domestic season after a strong run to 2nd place in the final. Throughout the day, he had been current series leader Ash Hand’s principal challenger – from Timed Qualifying to the two heats. “Whilton Mill is Ash’s local track, so I expected him to do well,” said Jack. “He didn’t put a wheel wrong and I decided that after Rowrah, where I finished outside the top ten, taking 2nd place was actually a good result. I bagged a load of points, and of course championships are won over the course of a season, not just one or two races.” Sunday morning presented the Freem UK-backed driver with fresh hope that he could further close the points-gap on his rivals. In qualifying Jack again recorded the second-fastest time and duly converted his front-row starting position into 2nd-place finishes in the heats. This once again put him alongside Hand for the final. A dramatic start saw Barlow clipped from behind, with the Jack Taylor momentarily snagging his kart on Jack’s exhaust. The pair quickly disentangled, but the short delay in doing so dropped the Dan Holland Racing driver down to 3rd. With his kart’s set-up designed to come into effect later in the race, he simply had to keep tabs on the lead pair and put daylight between himself and the chasing pack. This he was able to do, but a situation of stalemate began to emerge. As the race wore on, his kart’s handling and overall pace improved, but then so did his opponents’. Barlow traded lap-times with the driver in 2nd place, Welshman Fraser O’Brien, but needed to find at least half a second in just one tour, if he was to be able to catch his quarry. Rather than risk spinning off the circuit, Jack sensibly opted to take 3rd place and more valuable championship points. However during post-race checks, he was promoted to 2nd, after O’Brien fell foul of technical regulations. “It’s unfortunate what happened to Fraser, and I would have preferred to have beaten him on the track - but at the same time, I need the points! In fact, I’ve now moved from twelfth up to 2nd place and really think I can now build a challenge for the overall lead. It’s going to be tough but who enjoys winning when it’s easy?”
Jack enjoys serious fun in the Florida sun Barlow takes first and second on American debut
He then delivered a performance worthy of his hosts' expectations. The event had also attracted IRL star and former Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who commented on Jack's quality. The pre-race buzz was all about the massive field of 55 drivers, combined with the arrival of Jack and his compatriot, Matt Parry - also making his Florida Winter Tour debut. Their pedigrees were substantiated by the end of the first lap, as Parry led Barlow in a UK one-two. By the third lap, Jack held the upper hand. On the seventh lap, the tension was ramped up as the English pair touched. Matt slipped to 12th with Jack also losing places and dropping to 4th. As the American commentator noted, "the party's just starting." Jack made short work of the two American drivers in second and third places on consecutive laps, and now began reeling in the leader. With eight laps to go they were nose to tail, with the American Nick Neri's pace "barely keeping him out front", as the commentator excitedly noted. As he pushed hard, Barlow almost ran off the circuit but demonstrated great kart control to keep his nose pointing forward. Which he was especially relieved about after hearing that alligators live in the lake bordering the circuit! On the penultimate lap, Jack put matters beyond dispute and after again closing in on Neri, made a successful bid for the lead and crossed the finishing line a clear winner. "That was fantastic," he gasped in the Floridian heat. "It's a very different style of racing over here, not as aggressive as Europe - and I've had to work with completely different equipment to what I race at home. To win on my first time out here is just fantastic!” Sunday’s final saw drama right from the start. A tangle in the first turn saw pole-sitter Neri get a clean getaway, with Jack held up in the melee. Having dropped to 7th he quickly began to fight back, picking his way up the order, whilst Neri tried to nail home his early advantage. By lap 6, Jack was into second and chipping away at the substantial gap to the leader. Despite a sterling effort, a second victory was not to be - but he was delighted to seal his second podium in as many days. “To be honest, the race was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” he said afterwards. “Nick (Neri) gave me something to aim for, but today was his day. There are a lot of fast drivers in this series and it’s every bit as hard as racing in Europe. I must thank everyone who made this trip possible and made me so welcome – especially Mike Ferrucci (Maranello North America) who generously provided all my race equipment; Bill Wright (FWT) and Carolynn Hoy (FKS) who put the deal together for me to come out and race. I hope I made a good impression because I'd love to do this again."
Barlow stuns on European debut Jack is Rotax Winter Cup Runner-up
From the outset the Dan Holland Racing driver was amongst the pace-setters, and in a close timed qualifying session recorded the fifth fastest time. In his three following heats, Jack scored two impressive victories and a second place to seal pole position for the first of Sunday’s two finals. He scored a comfortable victory in the pre-final to again give him the advantage for the main race. At the start of the final, having made a good start from pole position, Jack headed the 34-strong field - but a bold manoeuvre by the recently-crowned World Finals victor, Japan’s Ukyo Sasahara - saw him lose the initiative and several places. Now fifth, Jack knew he had to clear the trio ahead of him quickly if he was to peg the gap to the fast-disappearing Sasahara. For the spectators it made for an enthralling encounter. Within two laps, Jack was back up to third and closing in on the 2nd placed driver. He then spent the next six tours chasing his quarry down, and once he had bridged the gap, a tight, close private battle unfolded. Neither would yield and as the remaining laps wound down, they repeatedly passed and re-passed each other - trading stickers on their sidepods. “That was a good race,” he said afterwards. “Neither of us was giving each other any room and it was a very equal contest.” Jack eventually managed to gain the upper hand, but could do nothing about Sasahara’s substantial advantage and took the chequered flag some six seconds adrift. Nevertheless he expressed his satisfaction with his performance: “I’m delighted to be on the podium at my first attempt in European competition. I’ve learned a lot and really enjoyed the experience. It has given me a lot of confidence, especially for Florida next weekend (20/21 February).”
pics Bas Kaligis/KartXpress
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After
watching Jack Barlow push his team-mate to a crucial victory in the
penultimate round of the British Super One championship (28/29 August),
Strawberry Racing’s principal Warwick Ringham observed “Barlow didn’t
need to win, but Marshall did. Jack (Barlow) told me afterwards that
though he could have challenged for the victory, he was happy to do the
right thing for the team and take 2nd.”
The
Euro Max Challenge is set to go down to the wire, after Jack Barlow
triumphed in yesterday’s (18 July) penultimate round at the
appropriately named Speedworld circuit at Bruck, near Vienna.
Just
a week after scoring his first British Super 1 championship podium with
his new team Strawberry Racing, Jack Barlow stunned his rivals with
back-to-back victories in the 5th and 6th rounds of the Formula Kart
Stars series at Glan Y Gors last weekend (3/4 July). 
A
mid-season switch to reigning European and World title holders
Strawberry Racing proved instantly fruitful for Jack Barlow last weekend
(26/27 June)..jpg)
Twin
podiums move DHR driver into second in Formula Kart Stars driver
standings. The old sporting maxim has it that form is temporary, class
is permanent. This goes a long way to explain how, after the bitter
disappointment of the opening round of the Formula Kart Stars Junior Max
championship at Rowrah in Cumbria last month, Jack Barlow was able to
bounce back into championship contention with a brace of runner-up
finishes at Whilton Mill last weekend (15/16 May). 
As
part of his prize for winning the 2009 Formula Kart Stars championship,
Jack Barlow had been invited to contest a round of the Florida Winter
Tour, held at Palm Beach International Raceway last weekend (20/21
February). 
Junior
Rotax graduate Jack Barlow delivered a superb performance on his
international debut at the Rotax Winter Cup, held at Campillos in Spain
last weekend (13/14 February).