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Harvey Heads Home With italian Open Lead |
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Lincolnshire karting star, Jack Harvey, proved himself to be one of the top racers in Europe, as yet another victory moved him to the top of the points table at the latest round of the Italian Open Championship.
The factory Maranello Kart racer went into the latest round of the series with the aim of stepping onto the top step of the podium once again. In the process the 14-year-old moved into a commanding 23 point lead of the championship, as his main rivals failed to pick up good results over the course of the meeting.
Current British Junior Champion, Harvey, got his weekend off to a great
start by setting the second fastest time in his group. However, a shunt
in one of the heats, losing him several laps while he had his exhaust
replaced, meant that he had to settle for a lower than expected
starting position for the semi final on Sunday.
A fantastic drive from 21st on the grid to take seventh meant that he
was in with a great chance to challenge for the win, as he lined up for
the grand final on Sunday afternoon.
A demon start allowed him to move into third place as the field headed
into the first corner. But, a mistake meant that he had to concede a
handful of places later in the lap. Jack got his head down and
immediately began picking off his rivals to put him back in contention
for the lead within a handful of laps.
With just a few laps left to run he managed to take the lead, only for
his rival to grab it back again a lap later. With only two laps to go,
Jack fought back straight away at the next corner and retook the lead
to claim his second outright victory in the championship and a place at
the head of the standings.
“I came out to Ugento with the aim of taking the lead of the
championship and it’s exactly what we’ve been able to achieve,” said
Jack. “We took a couple of risks on strategy in the early part of the
weekend, especially on tyres and it paid off at exactly the right time,
as I had plenty of grip in the final and I was able to push really hard
right from the start.”
“I’m really happy to be leading the championship. It’s been a great
start to the season for me so far and the team is working so hard to
give me the best kart possible to go out and win races on. There is
still a long way to go, but everything is working well so far and I
just want to keep on picking up more race wins,” he added.
Jack will now have a two week break before he returns to mainland
Europe, for the next round of the Winning Series of Karting (WSK)
Championship at the La Conca circuit, once again in southern Italy.
Italian Open Masters - Championship Points:
1 Jack Harvey 68
2 Matteo Vigano 45
3 Miguel Villalba 45
4 Petro Suvanto 43
5 Gomez Cunill 40
6 Jordan Chamberlain 33
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