To think that Luke Whitworth has only been karting for a handful of months is quite extraordinary. Extraordinary, that is, given that on his fully-fledged British debut in the same championship that first set a certain Lewis Hamilton on the fast track towards future F1 superstardom, Formula Kart Stars (FKS), hetwice finished inside the top 15 up against a whole host of far more experienced adversaries.
Having initially dipped his toe into the water with some corporate karting at Tattershall Kart Centre along with a group of mates, Luke firstly discovered that he enjoyed it and then that it was something at which he was really rather good.
At the comparatively late age of 14 – given that many drivers begin whilst still in single figures – he went on to take to the track with a vengeance at Fulbeck in Lincolnshire last October, and after just four outings was told that he should take a look at events sanctioned by the MSA, the official British Motor Sports Association.
For such a late-starter and having necessarily bypassed the traditional learning curve of the MSA Cadet and Mini Max entry levels in favour of jumping straight in at the deep end in Junior Max, Luke is rapidly playing catching up – and his progress to-date has been nothing short of meteoric.
“I got 12th on the grid for the final in my first meeting on novice plates and I won a few novice trophies,” he explained. “Some people told me I was further ahead than I should have been for my experience. That gave me a confidence boost, and I carried on racing pretty much every weekend over the winter to make sure I got my ‘A’ licence to be able to enter FKS.”
Off the back of that, the Wickersley-based speed demon headed somewhat nervously and apprehensively – if excitedly – into his maiden national meeting, the 2010 curtain-raiser for FKS, a series that now boasts the prestigious official backing of both Hamilton and influential F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. With fewer than 15 competitive outings under his belt and scant prior testing mileage around the challenging, technical Cumbrian circuit of Rowrah, it promised to be a steep learning curve.
“I thought it was going to be really hard, with all the best drivers in the country there,” he reflected, “but it wasn’t too bad in the end. My mechanic told me it would be nice if I could finish inside the top 15, because that would prove I’m good enough to get a number at the end of the year.
“When I first went out I was way off the pace, but then my team-mate Ash Hand let me follow him to learn the lines better. It’s good fun with P1 Racing. It’s quite a young team and everyone has been really helpful – I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for them, and it really helps having a team-mate in the same class to be able to compare notes with.”
Around a true drivers’ track with a real mixture of different corner types from slow chicanes to tight, twisty hairpins and fast, flowing sweepers, Luke’s progress was remarkable, and in his first-ever qualifying session, the Yorkshire teenager placed just outside the top ten in the 27-strong Junior Max field, barely two-thirds of a second shy of the outright pace. Precariously damp conditions only served to accentuate the brilliance of his achievement.
“I was really happy with that, and it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the weekend,” he affirmed. “Qualifying is different to racing, because there’s a lot more pressure on you to pull out a perfect lap. That’s where experience counts – so I will only get better and better in that area. My name isn’t really known at the moment since I’ve only just come off my novice plates, so I think people were expecting me to be a lot further back than 11th.”
That much is indisputable, but despite lightning-fast getaways in both of his heat races – elevating him to third in the first of them and fourth in the second – the over-eager attentions of a rival led to a damaged kart in one, and Luke’s lack of experience told in the other as he slowly dropped down the order. Impressively unbowed, he went on to take advantage of an early fracas ahead in the final and pulled off some neat overtaking manoeuvres to progress superbly through the pack from 25th at the start to 14th at the chequered flag.
The next day, he again qualified well in 16th – indeed, a mere tenth of a second more would have put him up in ninth – and after running just outside the top ten in heat one, a subsequent tussle cost the Wickersley School and Sports College pupil ground and resulted in the same spot on the grid for the all-important final. Following another eye-catchingly mature and focussed drive, however, he would convert that into 15th at the close – meaning he successfully accomplished his stated objective not just once, but twice.
“If you let yourself get angry or wound up, you only make mistakes and drop backwards,” he explained of his approach. “I was really pleased with two top 15 finishes for my first national event – and now I want to continue improving with more experience so I can keep on getting better. It’s all about knowing what to do in different situations, and I learned a lot at Rowrah. It was an excellent weekend overall, and it has really boosted me.”
What he has achieved in such a short space of time has indeed been phenomenal, and as he plans next to conduct some testing and compete in a few club meetings ahead of the second stop in the 2010 FKS schedule at Whilton Mill in Northants in mid-May, Luke has the clear target of further top 15 finishes to consolidate his present standing. On the basis of his Rowrah performance, that looks more than attainable.
“It’s a lot harder than novice racing, but thanks to all the practice I’ve had I’m getting better every weekend and am really improving now,” he concluded. “By the end of the season, I want to get a number. The top ten is the ultimate aim, and with P1 Racing I really think I can achieve that. Beyond that, the longer-term goal has to be to get to the front.”
