MALMESBURY’S Louis Harvey was crowned the Motorsport UK British Junior Karting champion after a dramatic final round of racing at the PFI International Kart Circuit last weekend.

After several setbacks in this year’s British Karting Championships, the 16-year-old finished the season 10 points clear of second place to secure his maiden national title with a podium finish once again.

Having set the fastest times in practice sessions one and three, timed qualifying was something of a disaster for Harvey as a nose-cone penalty saw him start the two heats in 12th - well behind championship leader, Cresswell.

Heat one saw the Malmesbury racer clinch second behind Klassen Motorsport teammate Higgins and make significant inroads into the championship standings as he finished well ahead of the chasing pack in intermittent weather conditions.

Harvey consolidated that performance with another excellent finish in heat two – a third place, not beaten by any championship contenders, saw the Wiltshire teen move into the lead.

Following a tricky grid position in the heats, Harvey started from a much more comfortable second for the pre-final, well ahead of fellow title contenders Cole (fourth) and Cresswell (seventh).

The Malmesbury teen would make that advantage count as he won the race ahead of Cresswell in second and Cole in fourth.

Unfortunately for Cole, he was given two five-second penalties, dropping him to 16th and out of contention for the championship.

Ultimately, it would go down to the final race to see who would be crowned Junior TKM British Champion for 2020 as Harvey lined up on pole with Cresswell alongside him in second.

The two drivers entered the fastest part of the track on lap one side-by-side with Harvey just keeping his foot in long enough to take the lead – teammate Lomax made a move on Cresswell a few corners later.

Lomax took the lead during lap three and Harvey knew he just needed to finish ahead of Cresswell to win the championship.

Harvey crossed the line in fourth to secure the championship, and in a twist of fate was promoted to second as two of the battling karts had received five-second penalties.

Harvey said: “I could see by mid-race that all I needed to do was finish without tangling with anyone and I would win the championship.

“But it was honestly really hard to stay out of trouble as everyone around me was battling to win the final round.”

Harvey is hoping that the Motorsport UK Awards evening will be able to go ahead in the near future where he will be able to collect his championship winning trophy.

The Malmesbury racer said afterwards that he would like to sincerely thank everyone who has made his journey to the top of British Karting possible.