MALMESBURY'S Louis Harvey pushed back mechanical issues and poor qualifying setbacks to finish 10th in only his second race in the SuperOne British Karting Championship against the top 30 Junior TKM drivers in the country at Little Rissington Circuit.

After the bad luck and atrocious weather for round one at Rowrah, the 12 year old held promising initial practice sessions but had to settle for 29th out the 31-driver field after problems with his kart in qualifying.

Harvey boosted his confidence by moving through the field to finish 16th in heat one, although problems returned in the second race, which was initially red-flagged then saw him side-swiped after making a good start.

With a damaged front wheel valve and deflating tyre, he eventually crossed the line but incurred an addition 10-second penalty for a dropped nose cone.

With a starting position of 19th for the first final, he again moved up and finished 12th, before making up two further places in the second final to finish 10th, moving him up to 16th place in the overall standings.

His next SuperOne round is in June 3-4 at Clay Pigeon raceway in Dorchester.