JP Sleator with his trophy for winning the Irish Grand Prix Junior X30, and Keith McCloughrey (left) and Aidan Tully of T-Sport, who engineer his racing kart in Ireland.

Mullingar karter puts injury behind him to win Irish GP

JP Sleator put a racing accident at Easter firmly behind him as he continued his progress in karting with victory in the Irish Grand Prix Junior X30 in August.

The 14-year-old from Mullingar was determined to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible after his accident, and he credits Joey and Cy Cleary at Performance Driven Fitness for speeding up his recuperation to the point where he was back winning by the end of the summer.

He started the Irish Grand Prix weekend at Nutts Corner in County Antrim with steady progression up the timesheets during the heats on the Saturday.

In the five heats, he recorded a seventh, a fifth two thirds and ended the day on a strong note with a first. He might have had two firsts but the seventh place followed a recovery drive after he tangled with another kart while fighting for the lead.

JP’s endeavours in the heats earned him fourth place on the grid for the grand prix finale, and in what he described as “a tough race”, he fought hard from the green flag to take second place by the third corner.

He held station till he saw an opportunity to take first spot and remained there for a further four laps, till one of the local O’Boyle brothers passed him. That didn’t last long though, as JP fought back and retook the lead on the last lap, and kept it to the chequered flag.

That victory has been the highlight of his year, but JP has since returned to the UK for the first round of the Junior X-30 UK Autumn Cup, in which he was restricted to seventh having been hindered by an under performing kart.

That series will continue into winter testing, and the Sleators also raced in the final round of the MSA British Karting Championship, in which JP was leading the rookie category till he broke his arm at Easter, at PF International in Lincolnshire.

He is planning a “full attack” on next year’s British championship, but in the meantime, has thanked his supporters and sponsors, including: KR Sport, who engineer his kart in the British championship on behalf of the works Kosmic team, and in particular Ash Orchard and Sam Grogan, sponsors Quality Motor Parts, Harbour Street, Mullingar, Jack Sleator Motors, the Monastery Inn, Clonard, and Performance Driven Fitness.