Smalley takes 7th overall in Junior Max Euro Challenge

Smalley finishes debut European season 7th overall in Junior Max

At the end of his debut season competing in European Karting, Coles Racing Driver Adam Smalley has finished the season 7th overall in the hugely competitive Junior Max category - to go alongside his Winter Cup triumph at the beginning of the season, to cap off a strong season for the 15 year old.

 

Adam Smalley came into the final round at Salbris (France) with a great shout of a top 5 finish in the standings. However his weekend got off to a horrible start - a difficult qualifying left him down in 26th position after traffic thwarted his six minute qualifying session. This left Smalley with it all to do in his three qualifying heats.

 

Smalley put on a great set of fightbacks in his heats. Heat one saw him gain twelve positions to finish in 13th. In his second heat he gained eight positions to finish in 17th and gained eleven positions in the final heat to finish in 14th.

 

 This gave him a starting position of 15th for the Pre-Final.

 

Smalley put on another good performance through the field. Keeping out of trouble as drivers all around him were making various contacts and getting penalised for nosecone infringements - he managed to take a solid 9th place finish.

 

Going off 9th position in the final, Smalley made a good start to elevate himself up to 7th. However on the fourth lap, a rival driver made contact with him, dropping him to the back of the field.

Smalley then had to fightback from 26th in the remaining ten laps - salvaging 18th at the flag in a disappointing end to such a strong comeback drive throughout the weekend.

 

An unfortunate end to the season meant Smalley was unable to secure a top 5 finish, but ending up 7th overall and taking the Winter Cup Title was a great return for his first season of European karting.