KARTING

turned to despair in his next outing.

Russell was shunted off the track and into a gravel-trap by an errant rival, leaving his hopes of another high finish in tatters. He did eventually manage to get going again but could only limp home in 26th position.

But it shouldn’t cost him too much in a championship which is completed on home soil in July.

Russell ( right) added: “We can drop one race from our total score at the end of the championship, so I’ll be dropping that second final.

“Hopefully, I’ll have the upper hand at the PFI circuit in Lincolnshire in the second round and we can go from there.”