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Jack Harvey stunned the KF2 category of karting
on his debut in the class at the weekend with a fantastic drive from the back of
the field to take third place in the Winter Cup at the Lonato circuit in
Italy.
The reigning KF3 European
Champion and factory Birel Motorsport driver had set out his stall in the
opening qualifying session, taking pole position in his group, amongst a
staggering 132 kart field. However, a technical supply issue meant that his
times were unable to count, putting him to the back of the grid for his opening
heat, effectively in 130th place.
A sensational first race
allowed Jack to climb from 28th to sixth place in the ten lap sprint,
setting the fastest lap in the process. A 13th place finish in the
second heat, also from the back of the field and once again with another fastest
lap to his credit, gave him an eighth row starting place for the semi-final. A
brilliant drive through the 14-lap event meant he narrowly missed out on the
podium, settling for fourth place.
His hard work gave him a sixth
row starting position for the grand final, with a handful of more experienced
drivers ahead of him for the epic 28-lap race. As the lights went green Jack
immediately set about making up ground on the leaders and within a handful of
laps had moved into sixth place. Another charge allowed him to move into third
place, with the leaders seemingly out of reach after breaking away from the rest
of the pack.
However, as the pair in front began to battle
with each other, Jack put in a sensational series of laps to close right up on
the top two, finishing just three tenths of a second behind as the chequered
flag fell. An incredibly happy Harvey was pleased to be back on
podium-taking form on his Birel debut in the senior class of
racing.
“I’m incredibly pleased with
how the weekend turned out and to be on the podium in my first major KF2 event,”
he said. “If you had told me at the start of the weekend that I would be coming
away with third place I’d have taken it there and
then!”
“I got a good start in the
final and I had to pick my way through to get up to the front pair as they had
broken away right at the start. By the time I got up to third I knew they might
be too far ahead, but they started battling with each other and I just got my
head down and as we started the last lap I was right on them. If there had been
another lap I could have challenged for the lead.”
“It was hard work coming from
the back throughout the heats, but the team worked brilliantly and I’m really
happy to get this result for Birel too, especially at my first event with the
factory team. It’s a great way to start my first season in the senior category,”
he added.
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