Barlow races to victory in Scotland

The Pett-based starlet is now within touching distance of the Super One championship lead after claiming a victory in round three of seven at Larkhall in Scotland.

Barlow took the upper hand from the outset with a superb performance in timed qualifying which yielded his first pole position of the season, albeit by just one one-hundredth of a second.

Engine gremlins prevented Barlow from taking a lights-to-flag victory in his opening heat, but he was still able to finish second quite comfortably.

He made a strong getaway from the start-line in the second encounter and powered into an unassailable lead after his two closest rivals collided with each other.

As Barlow and his fellow competitors waited in the pits prior to the pre-final, the rain stopped and it soon became clear that the track surface was drying quickly, prompting feverish activity among the assembled field.

Barlow’s mechanic did an amazing job to change the kart’s wet set-up in just four minutes and the driver responded by getting off to a really good start and going on to clinch victory.

Barlow was on pole for an incident-packed second final. He looked set to repeat his earlier triumph as he assumed a sizeable lead when his engine seized.

The cause of the problem remains unclear. Had Barlow won, he would have been leading overall. As it is, he is just 10 points off the top.

See Friday’s Observers for the full article.