Jack Scents Victory Despite No Nose

press release

Jack Barlow survived a fraught weekend (27/28 June) to maintain his push for the Formula Kart Stars crown. The fourth round of the series visited the superb Rowrah circuit and the Minimax points-leader was hoping that a change of chassis would maintain his advantage over his rivals.

pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

“We’re leading the championship at the moment and wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to maintain that advantage.  I tested a Fernando Alonso kart from Dan Holland Racing and it was wicked, so we bought one and took it to Rowrah and after timed qualifying. It definitely looked like we’d made the right choice.”

The Wavertree Motorsport driver was second fastest and in glorious conditions, with the smell of afternoon barbecues drifting through the paddock and spectator areas, Jack added the distinctive aroma of two-stroke oil to the air and sealed his second front row start of the season.

The balmy conditions of Saturday gave way to leaden skies and unpredictable conditions, although the rain held off for the pre-final.

pic - Chris Walker, kartpix.net

“I maintained my position after the start and was pushing the leader hard in a bid to break away from the pack,” Jack explained. His plan worked and the pair was able to pull away. By lap six, Barlow had taken the lead but was under constant pressure from behind.

“The other driver kept showing his nose and making lunges down my inside, which I was able to hold off, but then he made a silly mistake and ran into the back of me. I’d got back into the lead and we were just two corners from the chequered flag when he made a massive lunge and took my nosecone off.”

Jack just held on to second spot from the hard-charging driver in third but it was during the post-race checks that he discovered he had been disqualified for ‘non-compliance’ – the kart must have its nosecone in place.

Jack and his team appealed the decision, and were delighted to find the authorities in a listening frame of mind, “Basically, the rules state that if you lose your nosecone, you have two laps from the time of the incident to come into the pits and replace it. We argued that given I lost it on the last lap, with only two bends to go, that wasn’t possible and I was re-instated”.

With their nerves jangled, Jack and his team had an anxious wait for the main final, with dark clouds gathering overhead. He left the pits on slick, dry-weather tyres, just as rain began to fall. As the field slithered into the tight first right-hander at the start, Jack was pushed off the circuit and down to fourth place. He fought his way back up to second and by lap five was leading on a drying circuit. Just as in the first race, he was able to make a breakaway with another driver. The duo was the class of the field, extending their margin over the driver in third to nearly twelve seconds. As the race ran to its conclusion it was evident that this was Jack’s day and he took his maiden victory in the Bernie Ecclestone and Lewis Hamilton-backed championship.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” the 14-year old beamed. “This is my first win in FKS but I’ve not been off the podium all season so far. If I can maintain that sort of form, it might be enough for me to win overall.”

Jack’s returns to action this weekend, when he competes in a club event at the superb PFi circuit, near Grantham in Lincolnshire (4/5 July).

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