Double victory joy for Russell
19 May 2010


Strawberry Racing Mini Max star takes FKS series lead after twin wins at Whilton Mill

Fresh from taking the initiative in the British Super 1 series barely a week before, George Russell repeated his earlier success, to leave Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire with the Formula Kart Stars championship lead also under his belt.



With the double-header format offering two days of racing, rather than the more usual one, George was keen to get his FKS title bid back on track after last month’s encouraging championship opener at Rowrah in Cumbria. 

On Saturday (15 May), a strong performance in qualifying enabled him to capitalise on a good grid position and take 1st and 3rd place finishes in the two heats. 

In a nail-biting final, he waited until the last lap to launch his dramatic bid for the lead. Once ahead, he was able to hold off his pursuers and win by three tenths of a second. 

Having started the day fifth overall in the points table, his victory moved him up the order - but with his closest rivals also scoring well, it kept the pressure on the Cambridgeshire driver.

An incredibly close qualifying session saw George post the 6th-fastest time, just over a tenth of a second off the pole time. Just as he had the day before, he drove sensibly to take 2nd and 3rd in the heats and ensure he would be at the sharp end for the 20-lap final. 



As the 28-kart field plunged into the aptly named ‘Oblivion’Corner, Russell found himself pushed back into 4th spot - but just three corners later, he was up to 3rd with the entire remainder of the field falling into line-astern behind him. Successfully attacking for 2nd place through Inkerman’s he then began to size up the leader. Tracking him through the remainder of the lap and through the first two corners of the following tour, George then took the lead with a superbly-judged move on the run up to ‘Christmas’ Corner. 

White responded, and despite a spirited defence from the Strawberry driver, was able to retake the lead moments later. Once again, on the drag up to Christmas, Russell had a quick glance over his shoulder to check if an attack from behind was imminent. Seeing one wasn’t, he repeated his earlier move on White to again assume the advantage. However, just as quickly as he’d earned it, he lost it. 

Incredibly, George successfully repeated the same move at the same corner. This proved to be the decisive pass when, through the bumpy Chapman’s bend, White span leaving Russell momentarily clear. A determined Bobby Thompson led the chase and managed to claw his way up to Russell’s rear bumper, but just lacked that final bit of pace to enable him to commit to a move. Nevertheless he put George under enormous pressure, which he handled with considerable maturity. 

With the race nearing its conclusion, George continued to lead and survived a stunningly brave, last-gasp bid for the win from Adam Glear, who tried to drive round the outside of the leader and 2nd-place man at Inkerman’s. As the lead trio for track position, so the drivers in 4th and 5th saw their chance and joined the fray with all five arriving into the first part of the Boot as one. Russell drove a perfect line through the two part corner and emerged out of the fray with his nose clear of his pursuers to take a thoroughly deserved triumph and the championship lead.

The series now takes a break through the month of June to allow for school exams before resuming in July at Glan Y Gors, in North Wales.

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