Harvey hunts Euro crown in Portugal
Newly crowned Asia-Pacific karting champion Jack Harvey heads to the Braga circuit in Portugal this weekend for what will be his biggest and toughest event of the year, the KF2 European Championship.
The 15 year-old racer from Bassingham won the KF3 junior title last season and goes into the event as one of the favourites for the European crown. But the driver knows that the competition is going to be the fiercest he’s ever faced.
“It’s one of the events where points don’t mean prizes,” he said. “It is a one-off event and the title is at the end of the weekend.
“Realistically, winning is the only aim for me, it would certainly be another great title to add to my CV.”
At the qualification event at Sarno in Italy, Harvey was on top form as he claimed victory in the opening final before being shunted out of contention at the start of the second.
His lap times and results have marked him out as one of the top racers in the KF2 senior category so far this year and a repeat of European Championship glory, after claiming the KF3 crown last season, would put him at the top of his game among his peers.
The Balfe Motorsport team came back from a three-lap deficit to take a sensational second place in the latest round of the UK VdeV series at Snetterton in Norfolk.
The result finally put the team back on the podium after a frustrating lack of results in the first half of the season.
The team went into the event with their sights set on just reaching the finish line, following the difficult start to the season so far.
However, right from the free-practice session, the car showed enough pace to be in with a chance of victory in the six-hour marathon race on Saturday afternoon.
At the start of the race, Adam Derbyshire managed to move up to fourth place during his first stint behind the wheel, before he handed over to Caythorpe’s Shaun Balfe. A great drive by Balfe allowed him to move into second place before handing the car back over to Derbyshire just before the halfway stage.
Some fantastic driving and outstanding pit-stop work from the entire team even saw them into the lead with just over an hour of the race left to run, but a final handover to Derbyshire to bring the car home meant that the team had to relinquish the lead and possible victory.
“It’s been a while coming and it was a surprising second place but it’s very welcome for the whole team,” said Balfe.
Manor Competition, the Ollerton racing team, savoured its second podium result in three races after Alexander Sims achieved a well deserved third place finish in round 14 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk, with the result backing up the 20-year-old’s stunning victory during the rescheduled tenth round the previous day.
