Inside Revolution: Bartle’s brilliance in Italy

Tuesday 22 August 2023

Harry Bartle rounded out his 2023 FIA Karting Academy Trophy Championship campaign with an 18th-place finish at Cremona, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Revolution explores the dramatic weekend of ups and downs at the Italian circuit.

Revolution is available online, as a PDF download and on the Revolution app (for both iOS and Android devices). 

Harry suffered multiple setbacks over the course of the 4-day meeting, the first of those coming early on. Strong pace in practice was followed by an unfortunate shunt which bent the track rod and steering column and led to Harry’s mechanic Stuart Wright pulling out all the stops to rebuild the chassis in just a few hours. 

Harry maintained his composure, didn’t give up and bounced back with an 11th-place finish in his qualifying heat. With the heat results combined, he lined up 14th for Sunday’s final. 

Representing the UK in this year’s Championship, having come out on top of a tough shootout back in January, Harry has shown great determination throughout the three-round series and that was no more evident in the final after a bumpy opening lap saw him drop to 25th 

Undeterred, Harry made a spectacular ascent back through the order and, after 21 laps, crossed the line in eighth. While a post-race penalty dropped him to 18th, it couldn’t take anything away from Harry’s performance in what is a very competitive series. 

Harry ended up 20th in the overall standings after a mixed season featuring new tracks (to him) and poor weather conditions at the Trinec round. It’s all been part of the learning experience for Harry, who has displayed great attitude throughout, and continues to learn and develop. 

Special thanks go out to Harry, his father Rob and mechanic Stuart for the on-event assistance, and the entire Bartle family for their support from home.  

Motorsport UK Karting Manager Dan Parker said: “It has been such an enjoyable experience working with Harry, Stuart and Rob this year. Harry should be proud of his performance and progress, and I very much look forward to following his results for the rest of the year and in the future. For Motorsport UK to have been a very small part of Harry’s journey so far has been a real pleasure.” 

Read more from Revolution.