Harvey confirms dramatic progress in intelligent 2009 finale

If there was an award for the most improved driver of 2009, exciting young South Wales
karting star Tom Harvey would doubtless be a leading contender – and in his final outing of
the year at PF International, the Bonvilston ace demonstrated just how far he has come in
recent months.

Arriving at the Lincolnshire circuit off the back of a troubled 2009/10 Winter Series
curtain-raiser at Shenington in Oxfordshire, Tom nevertheless had his tail up following a
superb end to his Formula Kart Stars (FKS) campaign, in which he triumphed in the last round
of the same championship that first set none other than a certain Lewis Hamilton on the fast
track to future F1 glory, and one that now boasts the prestigious official backing of both
the sport’s youngest-ever world champion and also its highly influential ringmaster Bernie
Ecclestone.

Having begun the year battling merely to escape the ‘B’ final let alone win the ‘A’, the 11-
year-old credits his mid-season switch to the Dan Hazlewood-run Fusion Motorsport outfit with
providing the catalyst for his dramatic upturn in form.

“I feel great now really, much more confident,” he asserted. “I’ve had a great experience
with Fusion, and Dan has helped me a lot in terms of understanding where I can learn from my
team-mates and in which areas I need to improve. I’m a lot better with the technical stuff
now too and all the data and the fitness aspect; it’s not just about driving – you need to
work hard during the week too. I’ve got a treadmill at home and am in a running club at
school, because so much of this sport is about brain, heart and fitness.

“PF is a good circuit, but it does get a bit boring after a while, because it’s just
corner/straight, corner/straight, corner/straight. It is quite challenging, though, as it
requires you to be really smooth, especially in the wet – which it was pretty much throughout
race day! It rained all of Saturday night, and when I woke up on Sunday morning I genuinely
thought it was going to be called off. The track was flooded, but fortunately it dried out
sufficiently – and racing in the wet has never really fazed me at all.”

Right on the front-running pace during practice, Tom converted mid-grid starting positions in
the 35-strong Cadet field to fourth and third-place finishes in his two heats, admirably and
determinedly overcoming treacherous puddles, poor visibility, a lack of grip and carburettor
issues in the first of them and storming his way through the pack ‘like a rocket’ on
intermediate tyres as the track surface dried out in heat two, setting the race’s second-
fastest lap time along the way.

Those results earned the Vale of Glamorgan speed demon fourth on the grid for the all-
important final, albeit on the unenviable outside line. A tardy getaway when the lights went
out by the driver directly in front cost him time and positions, but in a brilliantly
intelligent and mature display, Tom proved the importance of having a keen racing brain to
battle his way back through again without resorting to any risky half-moves along the way.

“What happened at the start left me with a lot of work to do,” acknowledged the Cowbridge
High School pupil, “and after that I just pushed to the limit, knowing that wherever I could
overtake, I had to – you have to be committed about it, because if you aren’t then the move
won’t be successful. I was on a real mission and made back all the places I had lost – and
then I just carried on pushing.

“I pushed Trevyn-Jay Nelson for a long time and we both caught Rory Cuff. I got into second
and began to pull away and catch Connor Jupp in the lead, but then when I had a gap of about
ten kart-lengths over third place, I just clipped a kerb at the chicane which unsettled my
kart and allowed them to get back past me again.

“The three of us were still fighting over second going into the last lap; T-J went for it
heading into the first corner, but Rory squeezed him and T-J hit the back of his kart and
went briefly up in the air. I was right behind and just in the wrong place at the wrong time;
I found myself blocked in and so had to back off. I switched across to the outside line for
the corner, but by then T-J had recovered his lost momentum and he nearly T-boned me, which
forced me to brake again.

“I slotted back in down in sixth and then had to drive defensively to the end as there were
other drivers lunging me from behind. It could so easily have been second place, but still a
third and fourth in the heats and sixth in the final would have been good points in a
national meeting – and the whole point of the club meetings is to practice for the nationals.
It was good to test our speed against everybody else and show that we are on the pace. It was
a good weekend and I really enjoyed it overall – and that’s what’s important at the end of
the day.”

In a typical no-holds barred, fast and furious Cadet duel – and a particularly ‘lively’ last
lap – Tom may have lost out on this occasion, but far more significantly he was in the mix,
and when he returns to Shenington for round three of the Winter Series in early January only
days after his 12th birthday, a podium finish, you suspect, might just help him to enjoy it
even more.

To keep up-to-date with Tom’s latest career news and results, please visit:
www.tomharveyracing.com