This week Bill Carne met up with Harri Reynolds and his dad Julian to discover a little more about the 11 year old’s obvious talent in the world of Karting . . .

At 11 years of age Harri Reynolds has created quite a stir in the speedy world of kart racing as he has shown tremendous promise to win the under 8 to13 championship at Llandow, near Cowbridge, and is quickly catching the eye at events all over England as well as he aims to widen his experience against the very best young kart racers across England as well.

Harri has always shared dad's interest in cars from an early age and had his first try behind the wheel of a cart when a family friend loaned him a kart to try his luck at West Wales Karting, at Llwyncelyn near Aberaeron.

He really enjoyed the experience and started a short period of time since September 2016 where he has gone from strength to strength as he joined the junior section at Llandow and was immediately made to feel very welcome as the family provided him with his own cart, which has a Honda 160cc engine that can reach top speeds of over 50 mph as he competes in the Cadet Class.

It was towards the end of the 2016 season that Harri had his first three races and although he didn't meet with immediate success he was very keen to carry on and started the campaign with high hopes - but had to settle for a relatively low finish at his first attempt.

But then something clicked and Harri won his next six races on the trot to take the track's IKR Cadet Kart Championship, which is awarded for the best six finishes over eight races; fitting reward indeed for his willingness to listen to good advice and so learn quickly.

To move on to the next standard Harri had to gain his Motor Sport Association Licence by competing much further afield and having to prove his prowess against much sterner opposition because whereas he had 14 opponents vying for the silverware at Llandow he was taking part in races against over 50 experienced drivers, split in to two sections, in three heats of 10 laps, followed by a final of 15 laps.

"We had to start at the back of the field as novices at tracks like Rissington (Gloucester), Dunkswell (Exeter), Forest Edge (Newbury), Shennington (Banbury), the PFI Raceway (Grantham) and Dorchester - and Harri has done really well to be awarded his MSA Licence as well as starting to appear on the podium," Julian told us.

It now means an immense amount of travel but Harri is totally committed and is lucky to have the tremendous support of his family. His father Julian doubles up us dad and chief mechanic, using his wealth of experience in rallying to the full, having raced across Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland during his involvement,  and always giving a sound mixture of advice and encouragement.

Even eager dads can make a few errors, however, and the pair laughingly recall one first heat at Llandow where Julian changed the gearing and the chain came off in the first lap, bringing Harri's involvement to a speedy halt.

The pair thought it would have to be one of the two races of eight that he could write off but with the help of other parents, which is typical in the sport, the Kart was soon up and running again - and after managing to qualify in third place for the final actually finished in first place!

Mum Mandy is a great supporter as they use the family motor home to stay weekends at the races, which usually have three heats and then a final based on qualification times. Younger sister Lucy is eight and very keen on horses, although she is beginning to take notice of karts as well!

"There is a great camaraderie amongst the young drivers and families and we have made so many friends who also stay on site overnight - and Harri has also become pals with some of the older racers as a bonus,” Julian told us.

It is good to report that Harri also loves other sports after starting out as a six year old in rugby at Narberth, where he now plays centre for the under 12 team coached by Ian Hough - and in the same football age group at St Clears, where he enjoys playing central midfield.

He has even tried his hand at boxing over recent weeks at Narberth ABC, as a means of improving fitness, and loves the training evenings there with Darren.

But it is Karting that definitely remains as Harri's number one sporting love and he is already looking with Julian at the plans for 2018, where the first race was on the calendar for early January at PFI in Nottingham - and run the course of the year.

They will certainly be looking to enhance Harri's experience against quality opposition and could focus on meetings at two tracks to be decided, in readiness for the British Championships later in the year.

"We will also be supporting kart racing at Llandow, because they have been so good to us," said Julian, “and we just want Harri to continue having fun, because that is what kart racing is all about.”

Safety is obviously a key factor in karting, especially amongst the junior members like Harri, who have to wear regulation crash helmet, race overalls, gloves and boots, with marshalls aplenty around the track.

There are still inevitably spills, however, and young drivers have to learn how to cope with them, as did Harri on one occasion when he was clipped by another driver, causing him to spin before his rival’s car flipped over the top of him.

It stopped the race but when the restart was called Harri was out there in a flash and raring to go again!

Ask Harri about racing heroes and he would be quick to nominate formula one racers Max Verstappen and Valteri Bottas, because both started out their careers in karting. In rugby he has Scott Williams as one of his favourites, not least because he already knows Scott through their shared interest in motor sport!

There is no doubt that Harri Reynolds is a future star of his own  in the speed world of karting and we look forward to hearing lots more about this talented and likeable young feller in years to come!