Twin Podiums Put Barlow Back On Track

press release

The old sporting maxim has it that form is temporary, class is permanent. This goes a long way to explain how, after the bitter disappointment of the opening round of the Formula Kart Stars Junior Max championship at Rowrah in Cumbria last month, Jack Barlow was able to bounce back into championship contention with a brace of runner-up finishes at Whilton Mill last weekend (15/16 May).

pic - Chris Walker/Kartpix

Nothing puts a title challenge on track better than a trophy - and on Saturday, Jack won his first of the domestic season after a strong run to 2nd place in the final.

Throughout the day, he had been current series leader Ash Hand’s principal challenger – from Timed Qualifying to the two heats.

“Whilton Mill is Ash’s local track, so I expected him to do well,” said Jack. “He didn’t put a wheel wrong and I decided that after Rowrah, where I finished outside the top ten, taking 2nd place was actually a good result. I bagged a load of points, and of course championships are won over the course of a season, not just one or two races.”

Sunday morning presented the Freem UK-backed driver with fresh hope that he could further close the points-gap on his rivals.

pic - Chris Walker/Kartpix

In qualifying Jack again recorded the second-fastest time and duly converted his front-row starting position into 2nd-place finishes in the heats. This once again put him alongside Hand for the final.

A dramatic start saw Barlow clipped from behind, with the Jack Taylor momentarily snagging his kart on Jack’s exhaust. The pair quickly disentangled, but the short delay in doing so dropped the Dan Holland Racing driver down to 3rd.

With his kart’s set-up designed to come into effect later in the race, he simply had to keep tabs on the lead pair and put daylight between himself and the chasing pack. This he was able to do, but a situation of stalemate began to emerge. As the race wore on, his kart’s handling and overall pace improved, but then so did his opponents’. Barlow traded lap-times with the driver in 2nd place, Welshman Fraser O’Brien, but needed to find at least half a second in just one tour, if he was to be able to catch his quarry.

Rather than risk spinning off the circuit, Jack sensibly opted to take 3rd place and more valuable championship points. However during post-race checks, he was promoted to 2nd, after O’Brien fell foul of technical regulations.

“It’s unfortunate what happened to Fraser, and I would have preferred to have beaten him on the track - but at the same time, I need the points! In fact, I’ve now moved from twelfth up to 2nd place and really think I can now build a challenge for the overall lead. It’s going to be tough but who enjoys winning when it’s easy?”

The next round of the championship, in July, takes the drivers to the picturesque Glan Y Gors track in North Wales. However, Jack will return to action long before then. At the end of this month, he will compete in the second round of the Euro Max Challenge, at Wackersdorf in Bavaria on 29/30 May.

You can also learn more about Jack and his racing career by visiting www.jackbarlow.co.uk

 

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