Harry Crawley

A courageous young karting star has made a victorious return from injury as he eyes up the podium.

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Wilmington Grammar School for Boys pupil Harry Crawley has proved that he is worth challenging the best, with a return to the top step of the podium for the first time since an injury that threatened to derail his season altogether.

Having hurt his ribs at the end of June, the Dartford speed demon was unexpectedly hit with an enforced eight-week lay-off, ending his bid for glory in the fiercely-contested Euro Max Challenge, which he had been leading.

Having given himself enough time to recover, the Sidcup-born youngster headed to a race at Three Sisters, near Wigan, last Saturday, to get back into the groove and warm-up for the British finale at the same circuit in October.

The 13-year-old sped through the pack from lowly grid positions in two of his heats to a brace of fourth-place finishes. Whilst a failure to finish his third heat after his chain guard fell off as he was in the lead meant he would begin the all-important final only tenth, he went on to scoop poll position.

The teenager said: “I got into the lead on the first lap and from there, me and the driver behind pushed each other away to break the tow from the chasing pack. It was a tough race and towards the end I just kept my composure and defended well to win. For my first meeting back in the kart, I thought that was pretty good.

“I’m really confident for Super 1 now. There is quite a lot of pressure knowing that having had to miss a round, if I make just one mistake it will be all over — I need to finish in the top five in every final until the end of the season, but I reckon I can pull it off.

“I haven’t been to Shenington since last year, but I was very fast then and I’m a better driver now, so I reckon I can be quick again and the top five has to be the aim, maybe even a podium — it would be nice to get a podium again after so long away.”

■ To keep up-to-date with Harry’s latest career news and results, visit 
www.harrycrawley.co.uk