Race Report: Club100 Junior Northern Championship, Round 5 – Glan-y-Gors

Returning to the undulating, momentum-critical Glan-y-Gors circuit for Round 5 presented the ultimate benchmark of Harvey Brown’s mid-season progression. Having secured his breakthrough maiden A-Final appearance at Rowrah just weeks prior, the objective in North Wales was simple: prove that top-flight pace was no fluke and conquer a technical circuit where weight penalties bite the hardest.

Friday Pre-Event Testing: Dialling into the Hills

Glan-y-Gors is notoriously unforgiving on minimum-weight margins. Carrying a deficit against the lighter end of the Junior Lightweight grid requires absolute precision through the high-speed commitment sections to preserve rolling speed up the hill.

Friday’s test sessions focused entirely on smoothing out steering inputs, identifying later braking markers into the hairpin, and maximizing exit drive onto the long straights. With every stint, the data and video review showed Harvey tightening his lines, systematically chipping away at apex deltas and finding the confidence needed to carry speed through GYG’s rapid elevation changes.

Official Practice & Qualifying: Front-Row Pace

Saturday morning brought crisp conditions and a green track. Harvey used the official practice run to scrub in and verify the lines dialled in during testing, posting a solid 51.290s to establish a solid baseline.

When Qualifying Group 2 got underway, Harvey delivered one of the standout performances of his Club100 campaign to date:

• Hooked up a seamless lap to clock a blistering 50.354s.

• Finished P3 in Group 2, trailing polesitter James Wall by just +0.095s.

• Locked in direct qualification to the premier A Final grid for the second consecutive round, well clear of the B-Final cut-off.

Pre-A Final: Mixing It with the Frontrunners

Starting from the sharp end of the Pre-A Final grid put Harvey directly into the championship’s fiercest pack. When the lights went out, the opening laps were relentless, with aggressive positioning and zero room for error through the opening sequence.

Harvey held his nerve, defending intelligently and matching the rhythm of the lead pack. Refusing to yield under heavy pressure, he crossed the line in 8th place, securing a hard-earned top-10 result and cementing a competitive grid slot for the main event.

The Main A Final: Hard-Fought Battles

The weekend finale brought together the 26 fastest junior drivers in the championship. Starting mid-pack, Harvey got caught in the frantic mid-field shuffle through turns one and two. As the pack fanned out, multi-kart skirmishes disrupted corner exits, making it difficult to mount a sustained charge back up the order against experienced outdoor racers.

Despite the turbulence, Harvey maintained consistent lap times in clear air, kept out of race-ending trouble, and brought the kart home in 20th position against an elite field.

Taking P3 in qualifying—within a tenth of the ultimate session benchmark—and converting it into an 8th-place Pre-Final finish marks a major statement of intent. Back-to-back A-Final appearances confirm that the race craft and outright speed belong firmly in the top tier of Junior Lightweight racing, providing massive momentum heading into PF International.

A massive thank you goes to our partners Pavers and DSN Glazing—your continued backing and belief in Harvey make competing at this national level possible.