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Jonathan Walker was delighted - if a little surprised – to finish
3rd at last Sunday’s (18 May) second round of the British Super 1
kart Championship.
The Gillard driver had put in a storming drive in the second of
the day’s two finals to finish in 4th place - but Richard Bradley’s
disqualification from 2nd place moved him into a trophy-winning
position.
“I
couldn’t ask for any more really” Walker said, reflecting on
the fact that he’d previously stated that he needed a podium to kickstart his
title ambitions, after a disastrous first round of the UK’s premier karting Championship
- “Beforehand I did say: ‘If I’m not in
the top 3 in the Finals, it’ll be a disaster’.”
His day didn’t start quite to plan. After starting from 6th
on the grid, he’d got up to 4th place when on the last lap, his
chain snapped putting him out on the spot.
Things started to improve in the 2nd heat, when he took
he took an excellent 5th after driving from the back of the field.
In the tough first Final, Jonathan was involved in battles with
three drivers – first with Nick Yelloly and later with Elliott Burton and Sam
Tordoff. At the finish, he crossed the line barely a tenth of a second ahead of
Tordoff, but behind just Burton.
“Considering
I had a puncture for three quarters of the race, 8th wasn’t bad”
he said dryly.
With his AMT team making changes to his kart’s set-up, Walker knew that he
needed to produce something special in the second points-scoring race - “In the first final I didn’t have enough
‘waff’. I needed the sort of speed I’d had in the two heats -when I’d been
second quickest in the first one, and fastest in the second.”
Whatever his mechanics Ashley and Kevin did, it worked. In the
second final, Walker
was in storming form. Overtaking two karts in the first corner, Jonathan earned
the praise of watching 2005 World Kart Champion, Oliver Oakes for his
aggressive start.
Now in 5th, Jonny momentarily dropped to 6th
before (reigning British Champion) Chris Rogers’ exit with a seized motor put
him back into 5th spot.
After losing three places in one move, former race-leader Mark
Litchfield now found himself under attack from Walker.
With three corners to go of the last lap, Jonathan pulled off a
superb move to wrest 4th place from Litchfield - “I tapped Mark wide going into Fletcher’s (corner). He’d braked hard and I just ran into the
back of him. It wasn’t intentional.” He said afterwards, unaware that the
drama wasn’t yet over.
During post race checks, Bradley
was excluded from 2nd-place for an error on his scrutineering card.
Promoted to 3rd, Jonny has also moved into Championship
contention and is now lying in 6th place overall - just 31 points
off the lead. With 50 points awarded for a win, he’s confident that he can
build on his PFi podium -“We head up to
Rowrah for the next round and the last time I was there, I was fighting for the
win. It’s game-on now.”
Jonathan’s website has a
brilliant new look and will give you information about him and keep you up to
date on his racing activities throughout the season, click on www.jonathanwalkerracing.com
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