Teenager Henry Howarth wins the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship at Silverstone
Teenager Henry Howarth came through the “most stressful 10 minutes of my life” to win the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship.
Howarth’s car was damaged towards the end of the third and final race of the weekend at Silverstone on Sunday.
He nursed it home with his title rival in his wing mirrors to secure the crown in his debut season.
“Unfortunately we got hit from the side by another driver which damaged the steering and bent the car quite a bit,” said the 17-year-old, who lives near Bingham.
“I had quite a lot of damage for the last 10 minutes of the race so I was quite stressed at that point because I didn’t know whether the car was going to hold together.
“I decided I was going to stay out either until I got the technical flag to say I had to come and get everything repaired or the car fell apart.
“On the last lap, my championship rival caught me and was only a second behind.
“I knew it was going to be close but fortunately I was able to get the car home and took first in class and fifth overall to seal the championship.
“If I’d retired and my rival had stayed where he was, I’d have lost the championship, so that was the most stressful 10 minutes of my life, hoping the car would stay in one piece until the end.
“It was a very emotional moment to cross the line, a very happy moment, and there was relief that I’d done it.
“To win the championship at Silverstone, the home of British motorsport, was amazing.”
Howarth took seventh overall and second in class in Friday’s qualifying but a problem with his exhaust on the formation lap saw him start from the pit lane.
With the race red-flagged, he began the restart from 18th on the grid and used his slick tyres on a drying to track to land seventh place and third in class.
He achieved an identical result in a chaotic second race, staying out of trouble while his title rival dropped down the field, before clinching the crown in race three.
Howarth is hoping to secure sponsorship to compete in the Mini Challenge Series next season, a support event to the British Touring Car Championship.
He tested at Donington on Monday, with the next aim to secure funding.
“In an ideal world it would be nice to race the Minis because they run alongside British Touring Cars,” said Howarth.
“It’s on ITV4, so you get some really good coverage.”