A FIRST-CORNER incident denied Louis Harvey the chance of a potential podium finish in his first race in the new Klaassen Motorsport ARC chassis at the weekend.

After a few testing winter sessions, young Malmesbury racer Harvey did not disappoint in his first competitive outing and despite battling a cold, managed to secure a second row grid position for the final.

With the knowledge that the kart had proven form, Harvey had his eyes firmly set on a podium position.

However this was not to be as he was punted straight off the track in the first corner and had his race ruined.

Earlier on, Harvey had started from second in heat one, and although he started well, as the race progressed it became evident that the set-up still needed some adjustment as he dropped ninth.

Starting 16th for heat two, Harvey had some work to do in order to cut through the grid, but one at a time he made his way up before crossing the line in seventh.

In order to secure a good position for the final, he needed to repeat that performance in heat three and starting 11th, Harvey soon picked his way through the field and by lap five he was chasing the leader.

However, a mistake allowed Conner Kearney to close the gap and the two had to battle it out for second, which Harvey eventually claimed.

When the points were all added up from the heats, Harvey had secured a fourth on the grid for the final and knowing he had good pace was looking forward to a clean final race.

This was not to be when just moments after crossing the startline, another driver hit Harvey from behind, leaving him off track and stuck on the grass.

From there, Harvey’s determination shone through as he dragged his kart back onto the track and spent the rest of the race chasing down the pack.