National title for young Ballivor kart racer

Young Ballivor motorsport enthusiast Odhran Henry won the KF 3 Irish championship kart racing title when he was crowned at Watergrasshill in Cork a couple of weeks ago. Henry won the title by an impressive 16 points and became the youngest winner of that championship after a campaign that began last March at the Munster venue. However, at only 12 years of age he was too young to represent Ireland in the u-15 World KF 3 championship in Italy and France as the minimum age allowed is 13. The aim now for the young Ballivor driver is to make the frame again next year and compete in Italy and France. There is huge commitment required for the national championship which starts in March annually and apart from his father, Brendan, the back-up team includes Noel Carey and Sean Norris from NCmotorsport in Summerhill and mechanic Dave Collier from Dublin. The Meath youngster made a good start to the series and was showing impressive form in qualifying when he took third, only a 10th off the pace. There was a dramatic start when the first six karts crashed into a tyre wall, but the Ballivor boy extracated his kart and got going again for a very creditable fifth place finish. He fared better in the next race and finished in the runner-up position and also recorded the quickest lap which meant that he started the first final of the day from third on the grid. He won that race and then went on to win the second final from pole position, all those results gave him a great boost at an early stage in the season. The next action was more local with a short trip to Athboy where he won every heat and the final with quickest lap also set at the Meath circuit. He went into the third round in Galway on top of the table where confidence was high as he was the driver to beat. On race day he once again qualified in pole position and won the first two heats and started pole in the first pre-final. He was in the lead until, with less than a lap remaining, he encountered some engine problems which resulted in a last place position on the grid for the grand final. Undaunted, he showed great skill to finish that race in fourth place. Next up was the Whiteriver circuit near Collon for the fourth round. Rain left the track wet, but drying and the Ballivor driver was hit off in the two heats so he started last in the pre-final again. He recovered with some great driving and finished third before improving on that and going on to win the grand final for five wins from seven races which stretched his lead at the top of the table . More action at Galway and Cork brought a second place in the Ireland plate and a win in the Irish open champion race followed by two more victories at Collon. The target for outright victory from the remaining three rounds was 45 points and a return to Athboy in August gave him a great chance of consolidating his position. The young driver won the first two heats in dry conditions, but rain left the track treacherous and although he started on pole for pre-final, he exited briefly on the second lap eventually finishing in 10th place. That meant starting down the grid for the second final where again he exited on the second corner, but this time did not rejoin the race. The Athboy results put on some extra pressure for the next round at Tynagh in Galway. After qualifying in fourth for the first race and finishing third and second in the first two races he went out for the first final full of confidence. He was well in control in the race with a four-second lead going out on the final lap, but the gremlins struck and he was forced out with mechanical problems. That meant starting from last position for the main final, but an accident on the warm-up lap resulted in him missing the race. Going to Cork for the final series of races at the beginning of October he needed a top six finish to become the youngest winner of the championship. That was achieved with good finishes in the heats and then third in both the pre-final and the grand final for a total of 216 points for the season. The awards will be presented on Friday 2nd December.