Shenington Kart Club February 17th and 18th.
First race for Elliot in MiniMax at Shenington near Banbury and practice day went really well, Elliot got faster all day and in the final session of the day with his race tyres on we went out and were fastest so things looked good for Sunday's race.
On Sunday conditions had changed slightly with it being colder and a little damp. the first heat of the day saw an amazing race form Elliot as he started 17th and finished 4th and was second fastest on the track.
Heat 2 saw Elliot start 8th but he had a bad start and dropped back, he tried his best and pushed forward and got back to 10th but unfortunatly Elliot got a 5 place penalty for some contact.
This meant Elliot started 8th in the final, during the 12 lap final Elliot raced really well and tried hard and he ended up crossing the line in 8th place out of 27. for his first time out in a kart for 7 weeks we were really pleased and have seen some big improvements in the way he is driving.
SORRY FOR LACK OF RECENT UPDATES WE HAVE ALL BEEN SO BUSY PREPAIRING FOR RACES.
FINAL CADET RACE EVER AND ELLIOT HARVEY ROUNDS IT OFF IN STYLE.
THIS WEEKEND (November 3rd/4th) saw the final round of Forest Edge 2012 championship and Elliot was in contention to win. Saturday was great with a perfect days testing and was fast in all sessions and had no trouble in the different conditions.
Sunday morning came and there was a problem.........Rain and lots of it. this was not a problem for Elliot as he loves driving in the rain but it was a problem for the MSA as the track was to wet to race on in there view. If we didnt race this would mean 3rd place in the championship because we had to miss one round already. But by 11 o'clock they decided it was good to go. Elliot managed 2 second places in the heats including the 2nd heat where he started in 19th place. This gave him pole for the final. For the final it was a 50/50 decision on tyres we put on slicks but alot of the front runners put on wets. At the start Elliot went straight into 1st place and was ok until Harry King who was on wets caught him. The 2 of them continued to swap positions over the 8 laps but it was Elliot who crossed the line in 1st place to take the win and the 2012 Forest Edge Kart Club championship for the second year in a row. The win also meant Elliot won every final he entered at FEKC this year.
ELLIOT HARVEY WINS IN STYLE AT FOREST EDGE 7TH OCTOBER 2012
Once again elliot was back at his local track near Andover, he managed a convincing win in the final and ended the weekend with the fastest lap in every heat and the final.
ELLIOT HARVEY REIGNS SUPREME IN SUPER ONE CHAMPIONSHIPS
10-year-old Elliot Harvey was once again faced with a new challenge in his assault on the Super One championship. Round 4 took place at the West Scotland Kart Circuit in Larkhall, which is once again a track that young Elliot has never visited.
In his ZIP Honda cadet kart coached by the recently renamed David McBellchambers from Next Gen motorsport he spent Friday learning the track in torrential downpours.
Saturday's heats saw him put his limited knowledge of the track in to practice, bringing home a 2nd place in the first heat and a win in the 2nd heat, giving him a fantastic pole position for the first final on Sunday.
Final one was a tough race, with Elliot, Sandy Mitchell and Kiern Jewiss pulling away from the rest of the pack and changing positions a number of times throughout the race. Elliot took the lead but lost position on the final lap giving him third place.
Final two was equally exciting, and once again the three front runners pulled away and stormed around the track as if they were connected. Harvey chose his moment carefully and took the lead with only one lap to go, and this time managed to hold off the challenges from Mitchell and Jewiss, crossing the line for the win.
Elliot commented "It was a tough few days trying to learn the new track but with the support of RPM, the team at Zip Kart, my coach Dave, my mechanic (dad) and my mum, plus all my fantastic supporters, I knew I could bring home the trophy "
Elliot Drives up to Third Place in the UK
Rising kart star Elliot Harvey has once again been blowing away his competition to head up to a dizzy heights of third place in the whole of UK in the Cadet class.
The 10-year-old in his ZIP Honda cadet kart coached by David Bellchambers from Next Gen motorsport has been continuing his success and is truly becoming the one to watch, however, it has not been an easy ride for the past few weeks.
Just like his hero Matt Neal from the British Touring Car Championships, Elliot has sometimes been a little too focused and has been issued with some penalties along the way for his efforts.
Despite a few set-back, Elliot has remained cool, calm and collected, and no matter where he starts in the pack, he always makes each race count.
In a recent race meeting at Forest Edge Kart Club, even though he received a penalty meaning he had to start several places further back on the grid, he still managed to cruise through the field to get to first position, and won the race easily. Not only was this a great win, but gave him the title of "Southern Champion" and gives him the right to use the SC plate on his kart for the rest of the season.
More recently, at the Cumbria Kart Racing Club for the Superone Championship, Elliot had a great win in his first heat, but suffered another penalty in his second heat meaning he started in 26th position for his first final. Once again, an amazing drive saw him go from 26th place to an fantastic 6th place by the end of the final - which gave him the position of 6th for the second final. Another great drive meant that Elliot finished the weekend in 4th place, and the highest Rookie which gained him the Rookie Trophy.
Happy with his final position, Elliot concluded, "I am constantly learning and improving my skills, and I have had to do a lot of thinking over the past few weeks. Like most people, I have made some mistakes, but I able to learn from these and use this knowledge to help me in my next race"
Another Win for Elliot - What a suprise!
This week saw the 4th round of the 2012 Championship at Forest Edge Kart Club. Saturday arrived and that meant practice day, everything was good we went back to a base setting for the dry and it was instantly right and Elliot was just about the fastest all day. There were a couple of other lads who are now getting faster and faster giving us a run for our money now. In the final session of the day we dropped down to a 49 second lap and knew this was a perfect end to the day.
Sunday now and 3 lap practice went well with good times so no worries. The first heat was to be the tough one, starting in 21st position and all the quick lads were starting near the front. After an amazing start instantly on the first lap Elliot was straight into 9th position. He then got his head down and put in consistent lap times slowly reeling in the front pack. By the finish line Elliot crossed the line in 4th position and posted the fastest lap of the race. After the race we were called into the office because somebody had put in a complaint that we were using an illegal fuel tank and asking for Elliot to be excluded. After an investigation this appeal was thrown out and just to disappoint somebody the result stood. This was great for Elliot as 21st to 4th was a hard act for anyone to follow.
Heat 2 and Elliot started in 2nd place and we had a point to prove. Again a great start, straight into the lead which was held for the entire race. Elliot crossed the line in 1stplace some 6.44 seconds ahead of 2nd place again getting the fastest lap which was 4 tenths of a second faster than anyone alse.
Heat 3 and Elliot started in 10th place. He got a good start and pushed through the field by lap3 Elliot crossed the line in 1st place which he managed to hang onto till the chequered flag.
So that was 2 wins and a 4th place giving Elliot a well deserved pole for the final.
Starting pole Elliot had a great start going straight into the lead but 2nd place caught a curb and spun out, this then had a knock on effect of about 5 other karts smashing into each other and the recae was red flagged. A short wait while a couple of lads had medical attention and we were ready for a restart. Again a brilliant start and Elliot was straight into 1st place and pushing away hard, slowly pulling out a lead. With some totally perfect laps Elliot crossed the line after 10 laps in first place 3.6 seconds ahead of 2nd place. And once again Elliot got the fastest lap of the race and at 48.58 this was the fastest lap of the day.
All in all a great weekend and a totally deserved win in the final. Elliot stays in first place in the Forest Edge 2012 championship and has now stretched his lead to 44 points ahead of his nearest rival.
Next week we are taking a well earned break but will be back in action the following week (26th/27th) at Shenington - or maybe somewhere else...
Elliot on the podium…again! - Whilton Mill 29th April 2012
For those who have been following Elliot's progress, the news that he was on the podium again last weekend will not be a surprise, however, this was a very important weekend for him and was a true test of his ability.
The grid was packed with 32 very strong Honda Cadets from all over the country, all trying to battle their way to the front and prove that they are the one to watch this season, but Elliot kept his cool as always, and let the others fight while he chose his moment to push forward.
Elliot made excellent progress through the three heats. He was given a few shoves and bumps from the other drivers along the way and ended up on the grass in one heat losing several places, but still managed to battle his way back to give him 4th position on the grid for the final.
He made a good start and managed to stay in third position for the majority of the race, fending off several challenges from the 2 drivers behind to give him the third spot on the podium, and only 1 second behind the leader. It is safe to say that Elliot is more than ready for his Super 1 challenge this season, so watch this space for more podium news.
Elliot's next race is the first round of the Super 1 Championship at Whilton Mill near Daventry, on 28th April.
Kimbolton - 7th and 8th April 2012
This week end saw Elliot racing at the first rounds of Formula KartStars at Kimbolton kart track near Bedford.
The Championship was established back in 1996 when McLaren boss Ron Dennis, Mercedes boss Norbert Haug and karting legend Martin Hines got together to create a junior karting championship which would provide a path for young drivers who wished to pursue a career in motorsport. Today FKS is supported by Formula One Management and is committed to the road to Formula 1 through racing and education.
Elliot entered into his first FKS weekend having never been on the track where he was going to be racing some of the top Honda Cadet drivers in the country. He had a tough task having only 6 10 minute sessions to work out the best way round. First thing in the morning Elliot went out for a track walk with David Bellchambers from Next Gen motorsport and his teammates who were racing in the comer cadet class.
During the first 5 sessions we had real issues trying to get good pace and were only managing to be around 10th fastest. We finaly worked out we it wasn't a driver issue and we had engine problems, this was quickly changed to a borrowed engine. In the final session Elliot went out and put good laps in and went straight upto 4th fastest.
Saturday arrived and the first round of 2012 FKS, timed qualifying was ok with a time giving us 6th pace but this would mean we were starting on the wrong side of the track.
Heat 1 a bad start saw Elliot drop back but worked hard and got back to finish in 6th place but got the fastest lap of the race.
Heat 2 starting 6th again and finishing 5th
This gave Elliot a starting place of 7th place a great start saw Elliot get straight to the front for the 19 lap final, Elliot had a good start and moved into 3rd place by the end of the 1st lap then on lap 9 he took the lead and held it for the next 9 laps, he had 3 different drivers take over 2nd spot and try to take the lead but none of them could until Rory Hudson (who is 2011 club champion at Kimbolton) caught Elliot and passed him with 1 lap to go. There was nothing left for Elliot to give and he had to settle for the runners up position.
Day 2 saw very mixed fortunes, the weather couldn't make its mind up and we struggled with set up. In qualifying Elliot got 7th place, Heat 1 ended up 7th and heat 2 a not so good 10th giving us a 9th place start for the final which was going to be hard to get anywhere from this place.
Again in final 2 we had a great start and went straight into 1st place, but Elliot could only manage to hold onto first for 4 laps when once again he was caught by Rory Hudson. Elliot pushed hard but could not do anything to catch Rory and started to slip back. Ending the 15 lap race in 2nd place 1.5 seconds in front of 3rd place.
Two second places in a top level meeting when we have never raced there before we feel is a top class achievement. We would like to thank David Bellchambers (team boss) Zip kart and Rpm race engines for there help and support.
We now have a big decision do we continue with Fks as this wasn't planned or do we just settle with doing Super1 this year. The obvious answer is both but we really need to get help with funding to continue.
Next up for Elliot is a trip to Whilton mill on Thursday for the Zip karts open day then straight off to north Wales to Glan-y-Gors to race at another track we have never been to before. This time it is a practice meeting to get ready for the 2nd round of super 1.
Forest Edge - 1st April 2012
There was a good grid of 24 Honda cadets. As we now have our caravan we arrived on Friday night and set up camp for the weekend.
Saturday was a lovely day nice and warm with no wind so it was petty much ideal. This week end we were again racing the Zip lightning we have on loan from zip. This is only the second time we have had this kart so both driver and mechanic are learning. Constantly through the practice sessions on Saturday Elliot was the fastest on track and in some sessions by as much as half a second which was great. In the last session we were on brand new tyres ready for race day and again were the fastest on track.
Sunday morning came and slightly different conditions, It was still clear with no wind but it had been down to -1oC over night so was a bit chilly. At 9am we had drivers briefing and then got ready for our 3 lap practice, this went well and Elliot was happy. In the first heat Elliot started 5th andwon the race but we were not the quickest so it was obvious some of the other lads had raised there game.
For Heat 2 we made a few changes and Elliot had a bit more work to do as he was starting in 9th place after a good start and managing to avoid a first corner incident Elliot pushed on and drove consistently throughout the race to finish in 3rd place and he got slightly quicker with his fastest lap being 2nd fastest overall and only 1/10th of a second down.
Again for Heat 3 we made a couple of slight changes to try and catch up with harry King who seemed to be quickest. Starting in 12th place this time again Elliot had some work to do. Again Elliot had a good start and was quick from lap 1 unfortunately the front 2 had broke away near the start of the race so we had trouble catching them but Elliot ended the race again in 3rd place and now we had the fastest lap of the race by nearly 2/10th of a second and this would end up as the fastest lap of the weekend.
These combined results gave Elliot Pole for the final. In the final 2nd place jumped the start and got in the lead which he held for the first couple of laps until Elliot passed him. For the rest of the race Elliot was put under pressure by the following 3 karts but luckily for Elliot they started scrapping towards the end of the race and this enabled Elliot to finish in first place just over a second in front.
On reflection for only the second time out in the kart we are more than happy and believe that there is more to come from it in the future. Our next outing will be this week end at Kimbolton (Hunts Kart Club) we have been invited to take part in the first round of Formula Kart Stars (http://www.formulakartstars.com/) This is the race series is supported by Formula One Management and is committed to the road to Formula 1 through racing and education. We feel very proud to be taking part in this race. We are not looking for any miracles this weekend as we have never been to Kimbolton before so in practice on Friday Elliot has a lot of work trying to learn the track in 1 day.
Whilton Mill - 27th March 2012
This week end saw Elliot racing at Whilton Mill near Daventry. This was the biggest meeting Whilton Mill have ever held and was the shakedown meeting for Super1 which will be at Whilton for the first round of 2012 on the 28th April.
Our weekend started a little early as on Thursday we got a call to ask if we could go to Silverstone on Friday afternoon to goto Zip karts to meet the team and pick up a brand new Zip lightning which was being loaned to us. We have been asked by Zip to evaluate the chassis.
We arrived at Whilton Mill at around 6pm on Friday and quickly unpacked and got ready for the weekend.
Saturday testing came and all eyes were on Elliot, most of the Zip team were there watching Elliot and seeing how the kart performed. Elliot was told to take it steady for a while to get used to it as it would be totally different to his usual Project1 kart. Elliot went out and was slowly getting to grips with it, then 2 laps into the first session and Elliot was flat out and totally at home with the kart. After each session we adjusted the set up on the kart to get it just right and by the end of the test day we were the quickest kart on the track.
Saturday night we were invited to a bbq with the Zip young guns team, which was really nice to be able to talk to some of the people off the track.
Sunday morning it was a little colder but still looked like it was going to be a great day. First up was 3 lap practice, this went well and Elliot was 6th fastest.
Heat 1 Elliot started in 4th place, he had good pace and finished in 1st place. This win was short lived as we were called to the clerks office and had a 10 second penalty for some contact. Initially we wernt to worried about this but when the result came through we dropped from 1st to 19th place this just showed how close the lads are.
Heat 2 was a good race and Elliot went from 18th place to finish in 6th and was only a fraction off of the fastest lap.
Heat 3 we made a major change to the set up of the kart and it was wrong. Elliot started in 19th and got caught in a 1st lap incident which put him nearly down to last place, he then worked upto 11th place but was caught up I another incident and again dropped back. He finished the race in 19th place.
These results gave Elliot a disappointing start of 18th for the final. At this point we went back to our initial set up which we knew worked well. At the start of the final Elliot dropped back to 21st place as he had a bad start. This meant he had a lot of work to do. Elliot kept pushing and you could see he was faster than anyone else. Lap after lap Elliot was passing and making places up. He ended the race in a very respectable 8th place with a fastest lap only 1/100th behind the fastest of the race.
On refection we were very happy as if this had of been a Super1 final we would have had another 8 minutes and with the pace that he had we truly believe that Elliot could of caught the leading pack and passed them. We were very pleased with the Zip chassis and have been asked to take it away and race it again next week end. So the next outing will be Forest Edge near Andover on April 1st. [Words by Andy Harvey, Mechanic and proud dad]
Forest Edge 4th March
This weekend we were racing at Forest, on Saturday we had a great days practice and were one of the fastest all day. Weather was really good but forecast for Sunday.
Sunday morning and it was raining, we got to track and set up and the rain got worse. We managed to do our 3 lap practice and first heat but shortly after this the meeting was abandoned.
This was a real shame as Elliot won the race by 3 seconds and was 3 tenths of a second faster than the next lad.
On a plus note Elliot has been finding it hard in the wet but we think he has now turned a corner with that.
Whilton Mill 26th February
This weekend saw Elliot racing at Whilton Mill Kart Club near Northampton. this was only the 2nd time Elliot had raced at this track and there was a tough grid of 21 cadets most of which were practicing ready for the 1st round of Super1 Championship which takes place in April.
After a solid days testing on Saturday we arrived at the track on Sunday morning to be greated by some lovely weather which was good for us.
In Heat 1 Elliot started pole and lead the race until right near the end when his tyres went off and 2nd place passed him. Elliot managed to hang on to 2nd place.
In heat 2 Elliot started in 22nd place giving him a hard job to get a good finishing place. Elliot had a great start and worked very hard moving up to finish in 10th place with a fastest lap only 0.04 of a second slower than the best.
Heat 3 starting 9th he had another great start getting upto 5th, but he had some real quick drivers in front. Elliot got his head down and pushed hard and on the final lap moved into 1st place to take a well deserved win.
For the final Elliot had earned a starting place of 4th. He had a good start and after a mid race battle with 3 other lads Elliot managed to get into 3rd place just behind Luke Wooder. The front 2 who were both did Super 1 last year had got away but on a positive note Elliot was catching them but ran out of time. As this was only our second race at Whilton we were more than happy picking up 3rd place.
Next Stop Forest Edge 3rd / 4th March.
forest Edge 5th February
This was the first race of the year at Forest and after winning the 2011 championship we felt we had added pressure this weekend.
Saturday practice went great with a really gripy track we were the fastest all day.
However when waking up on the Sunday morning and seeing 2 inches of snow everything changed. The circuit did a great job to clear the track but the track its self was terrible with next to no grip.
In heat 1 Elliot started near the back and seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time with 3 spinning drivers collecting him on 3 separate occasions. Elliot ended up finishing 7th
Heat 2 was a bit better finishing 2nd
Heat 3 was very good with a win and the fastest lap of the day
The final Elliot started 2nd and went into first place on the 2st lap which he held through the whole race to take the win.
Whilton Mill 29th January
Elliot raced for the very first time at Whilton.
In the heats we showed instant pace by finishing 2nd, 2nd and 1st. This gave him pole position for the final.
Elliot had a good start but was pushed back to 2nd place but was sat just behind Max Wieteska, unfortunately contact at the top of the straight resulted in Elliot getting excluded.
But what we did show is that we know we had the pace ready for the first round of Super1
First race of 2012 - 22nd January - Shenington
Saturday saw a good days practice with some good times so all was looking ok for Sundays race.
Race day started with much the same weather as Saturday so that was good, dry with strong winds.
Heat 1 saw Elliot starting in 16th place he worked hard and finished 4th.
Heat 2 Elliot started in 6th place and went straight into 1st place he held on to this until he made a small mistake which dropped him to 6th place. But Elliot got his head down and worked back to 1st place.
For the final Elliot started in 4th place totaly surrounded by top comer team drivers from Fusion. Elliot got a good start but got tangled up with another kart that span out, this dropped Elliot to 18th place. In front of him he had some real quick Honda drivers including Super1 driver Max Wieteska. Elliot again got his head down and worked hard and after an amazing drive he got back to 8th place overall and into 1st Honda position.