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Fielding revved up for ‘amazing’ single-seater chance after FKS glory 

Josh Fielding didn’t so much defeat the opposition in the opening round of the 2009 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship, he annihilated them – and his reward for it will be a test outing in a Formula Palmer Audi single-seater later on in the year.

The Chesterfield pilot is one of the front-runners in the KF2 class and he travelled to the curtain-raising meeting at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire with high hopes.

Pole position amongst the seven-strong quality-over-quantity field in qualifying was converted into an unchallenged lights-to-flag victory in the pre-final, and though he had to fight somewhat harder for the same result in the all-important grand final, ultimately he was not to be denied. A tardy getaway left Josh having to battle his way past both Raymie Eastwood and Max Hawkins, but once out front again he was never again headed.

“I’m not going to say it was easy,” he reflected. “That would make me sound arrogant, but there were only seven drivers in the class which was disappointing. While it was a small field, though, the quality of the drivers was actually very good. I felt dominant because I was in the right frame of mind and I’ve been training hard for months. The kart set-up was fantastic too, thanks to David Sutton.

“Pole position was a bit unexpected, because we had carburation problems with the engine in Friday practice. That meant we were two sessions short on the others in terms of time on the track, but come the last session of the day we were quickest, so I was pretty confident going into qualifying. It was very greasy out there, too. The weather made it such a critical decision for me and my mechanic regarding what tyre pressures we should be running and the set-up of the kart, but fortunately we got it all spot-on.

“The pre-final may have looked straightforward from the outside, but every race has pressure for me to be fair, because you just never know what’s going to happen – whether something is going to fall off the kart or if you’re going to make a mistake. I got away clean at the start, though, looked over my shoulder once and saw them battling behind me and was then able to just pull away. I set the fastest lap seven times in a row, so we were very consistent too.

“In the grand final I got pushed out wide at the start and dropped back down to fifth. After that I muscled my way through the pack, saw Max Hawkins in the distance and caught him within two laps to take the lead back again. Following that it was a controlled race. I knew where I had to be on the circuit and was able to sustain my advantage.”

Indeed, the success helped to consolidate what has been a superb season so far for the Derbyshire teenager, and maintained an unbroken run for him in FKS, having similarly triumphed in his last outing in the series – then known as BRDC Stars of Tomorrow – over a year ago. What’s more, it earned Josh a place in a shoot-out for a drive in the Formula Palmer Audi 2009/10 Winter Series – an opportunity that he well recognises could be just the boost he needs to graduate from karts into cars.

“I didn’t actually know anything about that until somebody told me after I had won,” he confessed, clearly delighted. “That made me even more over-the-moon with the result. The shoot-out will be an amazing chance for me, especially due to the lack of funding that we have, and hopefully it will get me even further towards a career racing cars.

“I’ve been up at the front all year to be fair. I won the British Open Championship, and I’m second on dropped points in Super 1. I went to Kimbolton with high hopes – and pulled it off! Two years ago I raced in FKS in Junior Max and I won my last round, and now I’ve come back I’ve won again straightaway, so it means a lot. It’s fantastic!”

pics - Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net