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Two weeks after winning the British Open Championship, Robert
Foster-Jones returned to the same circuit and was again the class of the field
– taking victory in the opening round of the British Super 1 kart Championship.
But Robert had to overcome a difficult start to the weekend, after
his kart lacked pace during practice and Timed Qualifying: “It was all bad. The kart was exceptionally slow in all conditions”, he
explains. “We went into Qualifying and
the problems continued and I ended up in 26th place! We were
wondering if it was down to the chassis, the engine or me”.
Finding himself - unusually - back on the 9th row of
the grid, Robert knew that he’d be right in the thick of the action. Before the
off, his mechanic Mickey ‘Moose’ Higham told him to “just chip away, don’t get involved (in any crashes)”. Doing just that, Robert picked his
way through the pack to finish in 7th place. In the following race,
he took the chequered flag in 9th place and earned himself 10th
on the grid for the first final.
Still feeling that he lacked power, the team changed all the
electrics on Robert’s kart and this provided the cure. The 17-year old stormed
through to 5th place and gave himself the vital inside line position
for the second final.
As the field blasted down the circuit’s long main-straight and
then headed up its steep incline, Robert could see plenty of pushing and
shoving going on at the front. With a collision taking the poleman out at the
first corner, Robert seized the opportunity and moved into 3rd
place. From there he passed the two drivers ahead of him and began to pull
away.
The rain that had blighted the meeting threatened to return. As
spots began to hit his visor with increasing frequency, Rob eased off his pace
to bring his kart home without any further dramas.
Afterwards, a clearly delighted Foster-Jones said: “My consistency pulled me away (from the
field) rather than outright pace, but
everything was working perfectly. Moose and Rick (Flynn - boss of Rob’s
team - Ricky Flynn Motorsport) were
relentless in trying to find the problem and solve it. I’ve also proved that I
can get a good result from such difficult circumstances. After Timed Qualifying,
I started the day with a mountain to climb - but a winner’s confidence made the
difference.”
Robert now lies 2nd overall in the Championship table,
just one point off the lead - but says he plans to “move up a space and stay there for the rest of the year.”
Robert now has a four-week wait until his next race, the third
round of the Winning Series Karting Championship on 10-11 May. Ironically, it’s
back at the Lonato circuit in Italy,
where he won the Winter Cup in February.
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