MALMESBURY'S Louis Harvey warmed up for the first round of the British Junior Karting Championship with a second-place finish at the Fulbeck Kart Club meeting at the weekend.

Harvey, who also enjoyed a brilliant weekend personally having passed his ARDS (Association of Racing Drivers Schools) test in a Porsche Cayman at Thruxton on Friday, now holds a licence to race cars, both open wheel and saloon at race tracks around the country.

Despite very limited driving experience in a car, due to his age, the 16-year-old had no issues in displaying the skills and precision required to achieve a pass, scoring 100% and being complemented on his car control.

He is now looking forward to a test day in a Formula Ford with Kev Mills Racing later this year.

Harvey also competed in the Fulbeck Kart Club championship as a shake down for the British Junior Karting Championships being held there in two weeks’ time.

The Malmesbury teenager spent most of Saturday's practice day running in an engine he was hoping to use at the British Championships so did not get a great deal of fast track time.

Harvey started the day well, posting the second-fastest time in the three-lap practice, before lining up in seventh for heat one.

Despite Fulbeck being a track that is widely known as somewhere that is trickier to overtake on, it still only took Harvey five laps to get to second place.

However, by that time, his teammate Ben Higgins had pulled out a four-second advantage. Unable to close such a big gap before the flag, Harvey had to settle for second place.

The 16-year-old lined up in 14th for heat two - a heat he really needed to make up places in if he wanted the pole position for the final.

Unfortunately, Harvey’s engine cut out on the rolling lap dropping him back out of the field, and as he accelerated across the start line something failed in the engine bringing him to a halt in the first corner and ending his second heat prematurely.

Heat three saw the Malmesbury teenager start in third before quickly taking the lead, until on lap four kart number nine took the lead from Harvey.

The Wiltshire racer worked with the other driver to pull out a gap to the chasing pack, and a great move on the second-to-last corner saw Harvey move ahead.

However, Harvey was on the outside for the final bend, and unable to keep his nose in front with both karts crossing the line side-by-side, Harvey was forced to settle for second place.

The 16-year-old was down in seventh for the final and had his work cut out if he wanted the win.

A fantastic start saw him up into second place by lap two, followed by 10 laps of him and kart number nine pushing away.

Despite continued attempts, Harvey could not find a way past the defending number nine in the closing minutes of the race with the two karts again crossing the line almost side by side.

Harvey and his team felt it was a good result for Team Klaassen Motorsport considering the challenges with the seized engine and lack of points from heat two.