Ash’s chances of successfully defending his hard-fought ‘GP’ plate from the 2009 Kartmasters outing were effectively extinguished by myriad tyre woes that left the highly-rated young Nuneaton star battling to all intents and purposes with one arm tied behind his back – but he made damn sure he didn’t go down without a fight.

Twelve months ago, Ash claimed one of the greatest successes of his career to-date by triumphing in the blue riband Kartmasters meeting at PF International in Lincolnshire, and he returned there this year buoyed by the timely boost of having achieved his maiden victory aboard his new CRG chassis – onto which he had only switched a month earlier – followed by a brace of podium finishes in the hotly-contested national Super 1 Series at Larkhall in Scotland.

“I was extremely confident going into the weekend, but not cocky,” the 16-year-old confirmed. “I knew I had the speed to win, but I also knew there would be a lot of other good drivers there as well. All the top names were there, which made it the toughest field of the year.”

Not only that, but with Kartmasters being a one-off event – and a prestigious one at that, uniting the very crème de la crème of British karting talent – a different mentality tends to prevail out on-track, with only one real prize to be had and no championship points on offer, leading to some occasionally reckless driving standards as all 39 Junior Max competitors eagerly chased the coveted trophy. And all that around a circuit that is in any case all-too often a magnet for accidents and trouble at the first corner and first hairpin....

Round 5 of the Super One Championship took place at Larkhall over the weekend.

Ash and his CRG steed managed to post the fastest lap in the qualifier. He went on to win both heats. The first of the two heats was a close run thing with Ash coaxing the CRG chassis across the finish line a full 2.4 seconds ahead of James Singleton. In the second of the heats Ash was able to resist the challange of Andy King to take the win by almost 2/10th of a second.

The performance demonstrated by Ash gave him pole position for the first of the finals. Ash managed a clean start closely followed by P3 man Andy Kingfolowed by the rest of the pack. Ash was able to hold the lead for most of the 24 lap race. On the last lap and less than a handfull of corners from the chequered flag, he found himslef on the defensive which allowed Andy King to poach first place. Despite a vallient attempt Ash had to settle for second place being pipped by a mere 2/100ths of a second.