Strawberry Racing’s James Thorp had plenty to celebrate after taking third place in the European Junior Kart Championship this weekend, especially after thinking his weekend was ruined after a mishap in the final qualifying heat. The race took place in the shadow of Vesuvius at the international circuit of Sarno and is the pinnacle of karting for drivers aged15 or under.

James was unable to lap fast enough in his first qualifying session, but after changing the rear axle he was fast enough for 16th overall - giving him seventh on the grid to start the first heat. With the maximum 72 entries for the meeting a reasonable grid position would be vital.

The Tonykart driver made a good start in that heat and ran as high as fifth, but three laps from the end he was forced to retire with damaged bodywork after two drivers tried to overtake him at once but were unable to pull off the move.

After that James would have to battle to come in the top 34 overall and high enough to race in the two finals. With sixth in the second heat and third in the third heat, he looked like he would easily be in contention.

In his final heat, James drove solidly in fourth and then third until he saw his chance to go into second on the last lap, when he dived up the inside of Italian Marc Coleselli. Coleselli was startled by the attack and went wide, then two corners later he was back with James and took the place back, with James also going wide. Unfortunately the officials took a dim view of the exchange and James was docked five seconds, despite most observers considering it a simple racing incident. The penalty sent him down to 12th and a tense wait while the points were worked out ended in relief as he was placed 26th.

A miraculous start to the Prefinal saw James weave his way through the first lap crashes to make up no less than 18 places in one lap, and then after that moved up from eighth to fifth, catching and passing much more experienced international drivers. Finishing fifth gave him an all-important outside grid position for the main race and James was determined to take full advantage.

As the lights went green for the European Championship final, James was straight into third at the first corner, then later on the same lap was second, but already the lead was all but out of his grasp when fellow Brit Jack Harvey started to pull out a lead that would stretch the length of the straight. Halfway through the race though James was caught by another British driver, Tom Grice, and the pair battled for several laps. Although Grice passed him for second, James didn’t let him get away and continued to try to re-pass him right up until the chequered flag.

“I’m amazed,” said James, “I just don’t know what to do now! Finishing on the podium in the European Championship is a dream and I’m so happy that I’ve proved myself against the best in the world.”