Round 3 — Glan y Gors | Club100 Junior Northern Championship

Glan y Gors, a fantastic track set in a beautiful part of North Wales, was always going to be a challenge. A circuit I'd never driven before, no Friday test day to fall back on, and a strong field that knows this track well. Going in with eyes open, the goal wasn't to set the world alight — it was to learn, stay out of trouble, and find pace as the day went on. In that sense, there were more positives to take from the day than the results alone would suggest.

Practice: start slow, build steady

With only YouTube track guides in my preparation, morning practice was my first time on the circuit. The plan was simple — take it steady, keep the kart on the track, and build up gradually rather than trying to find the limit straight away.

It worked. I built through the session consistently, picking up pace lap by lap, and finished 22nd of 26 in my group. I was around two seconds off the fastest drivers by the end, which I knew going in was likely. More importantly, I felt like I'd approached the session the right way and came out of it with a much clearer picture of the track.

Qualifying: a disrupted session

Qualifying didn't go to plan. The first half was interrupted by yellow flags and I had a small spin on my own — nothing dramatic, but it cost me time and rhythm. The second half of the session cleared out, but I was struggling a little with the kart feeling short of power, and then lost two of my best laps to another yellow flag period just as I was starting to push properly.

I finished 50th out of 52, starting 28th in the Pre-B Final. Not where I wanted to be. But after the first two rounds — where I'd qualified better only to lose positions at the start — I knew what I needed to do. Put qualifying behind me, focus on the racing, and start climbing.

Pre-B Final: progress, then a mistake

The Pre-B was actually a pretty encouraging race for most of it. I kept my head down early, stayed out of the drama — which included my mate Jacob getting taken out from near the front — and was up to 22nd after the first lap.

Then I made a mistake. I locked up, spun, and dropped back down to 28th. Frustrating, because up to that point things had been going well. I got back into it and worked my way up to 24th by the flag. Not the result I was after, but without that spin it would have been a solid recovery drive. Lesson noted.

B Final: everything that could happen, did

The B Final is probably the race I'll be thinking about most from this weekend — for all the wrong reasons on paper, but some genuinely encouraging reasons underneath.

A false start caught me out. I knew I was entitled to get back to my grid position for the rolling restart, but the gaps weren't there, and I wasn't sure how to force my way back in. I ended up rolling over the start line in last place. Not ideal — and definitely something to file away for next time. At the end of the day we had a chat with John Vigor about it, and he gave me some really useful advice on how to handle that situation if it comes up again. It's exactly the kind of thing you can only really learn by being in it, and it's good to know what to do when it happens.

From there I put my head down. I was already 20th by the end of the first lap, continuing to work through the field — and then, midway through lap two, going around the outside of a left-hander through the technical section, the kart on my inside lost control. As it spun it caught my back left wheel, sending me into a spin and leaving me stuck on the grass. I couldn't get going again myself, and by the time a marshal got me back on track, the leaders were almost back around on me.

I went round on my own for a few laps before the leader came through — someone who had broken clear of the rest of the field. I let him by at Turn 1, and then just focused on staying with him. For the remaining laps I kept pace with him, didn't let the pack catch me, and showed — at least to myself — that when I had clear track and a kart to race, I could match the front of the B Final. That felt important.

A late incident and a penalty to another driver meant I finished 26th of 28. The result is what it is.

Taking the positives

It wasn't the day anyone would have drawn up. But racing doesn't always give you clean days, and what matters is how you respond to it. A small mistake in the Pre-B, an unfortunate incident in the B Final, and a tricky qualifying session all stacked up — but none of those things were down to a lack of pace or effort.

Once I was up to speed with Glan y Gors, I felt genuinely comfortable. The track suits me — technical enough to reward racecraft, and I was finding the lines more naturally as the day went on. The pace is there. It just needs a cleaner weekend to show it properly.

After the races I was on the fence watching Reuben come home 6th in the Pre-A Final and then 8th in the A Final. Brilliant results — it was great to see, and a good reminder of what's possible.

We have a little gap until round 4 at Rowrah in July. Finally a race in the actual North!