Ireland’s Robert Butler made an impression on the karting world at the European Junior Championship on September 3rd, racing at the tough Belgian circuit of Mariembourg. A switch to the Maranello kart and a new engine tuner, KVS, gave Robert the boost he needed to move up to the top level of European Junior drivers, shown by his heat win and fastest lap in the Grand Final.

After qualifying 11th out of 72 drivers in timed practice, Robert finished 5th in his first two heats and then went on to win his final heat on Saturday evening, holding off the European Championship favourite and British Champion Will Stevens. This gave him the starting position of 6th for the Pre-Final on Sunday morning, and as rain was forecast the Northern European drivers were expected to have an advantage over the Italians and Spaniards.

“If it’s wet I can win,” he said, “but if it’s dry I’ll give it my best shot”.

His luck was to run out in the Pre-Final though when his lightning start ended in a clash with Stevens at the first corner. From the very back of the 34-kart field he fought his way back up to 17th which would be his grid position in the main race. There was drizzle throughout the day but not enough to make wet tyres necessary.

In the Grand Final Robert was again pushed to the back on the hectic first lap, this time ending up half a lap behind the rest of the field. In a situation where many people would give up he launched into the drive of his life to catch and then pass the tail of the race. During the 19 laps of the Mariembourg circuit Robert overtook 16 karts, putting in a lap 4 hundredths of a second faster than his team-mate and eventual winner Miquel Monras.

“I’m very happy for Miki (Monras), but it also shows what I could have done if the starts had been cleaner and I hadn’t had to come from so far back.”

Robert’s next outing is the final race of the British Championship at Rowrah in Cumbria this weekend, where he is currently laying 8th in the standings.