Jack Sales has had a fantastic season in the Caterham Academy Championship this season finishing second overall.

Jack couldn’t have asked for better a better season on the track and off of it and he is already looking forward to getting back out there in 2014.

Speaking exclusively to Kent Sports News he said: “It’s been so much better than any of my seasons in karting. The results have been fantastic, especially in the latter part of the season, the racing has been really close and very enjoyable, I have managed to go the whole year without spinning, crashing or getting any damage and I have met some great people and made some fantastic friends along the way.

When the season got underway all those months ago now Jack never imagined that he would enjoy such a season that would see him finish second overall.

He added: “I certainly didn’t after I came sixth at Aintree! Before the season started I had no idea how I was going to fare; I didn’t really have much time in the car before the first round so I was in at the deep end and I didn’t have that much pace.

“The racing has been really close this year; all the races I’ve competed in this year have been tough battles for the win with no one running away to a dominant victory. The points system in Caterham’s is one which results in small points gaps anyway, so it’s not actually as close as it looks unfortunately!

“The championship winner got the majority of his lead early in the season when everyone else was getting up to speed. To be fair to him he is a worthy champion because he was on the pace from the word go and he was still the man to beat come the end of the season. As I said earlier, most of my point’s deficit came at the start of the year where I was getting up to speed, but I had got into my stride from Brands Hatch onwards with all the pole positions from thereon in, two fastest laps and two victories from four races.

“It was only a seven round championship so you could afford to have one bad race, but the other six had to be perfect. Unfortunately I had two non-podium finishes so I had to count one of my non-podium results which is a shame because every other race I competed in I was either first or second.”

The end of the season resulted in Jack scoring some impressive victories but the work started back at Brands Hatch to get to that stage, as he explains.

“I really started to feel comfortable in the car from Brands Hatch onwards and didn’t finish outside the top two in any race after that point. Rockingham was fantastic with my first win there and then Silverstone came round which was certainly very challenging with regards to the weather! The last round of the championship took place on Saturday with the non-championship Caterham Academy Trophy taking place on Sunday.

“Qualifying on Saturday was wet and was the first competitive wet session of the year so nobody had a clue where they were going to qualify! I was quite relieved to find I was not too bad in the wet and I got my third consecutive pole position. It dried up for the race in the afternoon and I was involved in a fantastic lead battle which consisted of me and two others.

“I watched my on-board video back and there were 24 lead changes, it was mad! I ended up coming 2nd after leading onto the Hangar straight on the last lap; I was a sitting duck as Caterham’s produce the most unbelievable slipstream and I almost dropped to third, but managed to hold on to second in the race and in the championship.

“The non-championship race on Sunday was a blast too; both of the Academy groups were amalgamated into one, up to the circuit’s capacity meaning there were 42 cars on the grid! The grid was worked out using the championship points from the two groups meaning I started fourth on the grid.

“There was heavy rain overnight and the race took place late in the morning, so the track was mostly dry, but the inside of the first corner was wet, the whole of Stowe (the corner at the end of the Hangar straight) was wet and it was wet off line, so we were all set for a very challenging race!

“I had a great start and managed to get the whole shot into the first corner, but unfortunately had a slide and relinquished the lead. For the first half of the race, the battle for the lead was between me and 2 others which was really intense with multiple lead changes each lap.

“At just over half distance, the champion form the other group lost it on the wet at the end of the hangar straight and it was between me and the champion from my group. I managed to take the lead with three laps to go when we were going through back markers and managed to hold on until the end to take the win. I was over the moon with that one being against so many cars!

Looking back across the seven rounds of the season Jack reflected on his best race weekend and there is no surprise on which one it was.

He said: “The best race weekend was probably Silverstone to be honest. It was pretty cool using the incredible ‘Wing’ pit complex at Silverstone and Caterham had the F1 team there doing demo runs with Alex Rossi during the lunch breaks, but most of all the races that weekend were the best ones I have ever participated in. The race on Saturday was more fun and extremely close, but the race on Sunday was very challenging and it was very rewarding taking the win.

The season is now over and Jack wants to get back out there racing again and he is already planning for 2014.

He added: “I’m missing it already! Monday and Tuesday last week weren’t too bad as I was recovering, but the post-season blues really started to kick in on Wednesday as the thought that there was no more racing for another 5 months dawned on me!

“I will definitely be racing Caterham’s next year; the package is fantastic as you get full factory support from Caterham, good TV coverage with great commentators, you go to great circuits (with one round being held abroad), durable tyres that don’t cost a fortune and I have met some great people this year and I want to continue racing with them next year. I will competing in the Caterham Roadsport championship.

“The main differences to the car will be that it will have much better tyres, we will be allowed to use a rear anti roll-bar and we will have the option of fitting a brake bias adjuster, which I will fit as I keep locking up the rears! I will hopefully get a bit of testing in before the season, but it all depends on how much money I have at my disposal!

“Words cannot describe how much I’m looking forward to next season! I have had quite a good run of form in the latter part of 2013 and I really didn’t want it to end. Hopefully I can kick off next year in a similar way to how I’ve ended this year.”