Luke Whitworth obviously has something of a thing about Wales. Just over a month on from securing his maiden top ten finish in a karting meeting at Llandow, the exciting young Rotherham hotshot went even better in the third round of 2010 in the hotly-contested Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship at Glan Y Gors, with a breakthrough on the national stage that proved he is fast becoming a bona fide contender.
Having taken the chequered flag an excellent eighth in the Welsh Championships in late May and matched that in the Wigan Club Championship the following month, Luke – who incredibly only began karting seriously this year – travelled to Glan Y Gors in North Wales aiming to replicate the results he had achieved in the Rowrah FKS curtain-raiser three months earlier, and in stunning his rivals by topping the timing screens in Saturday morning practice, he did that and then some.
“I’m starting to get closer to the front, and everything is really beginning to fall into place now,” he affirmed. “I’d tested at Glan Y Gors beforehand, and it’s a good circuit, with some fast parts and some technical sections as well – it’s probably one of my favourite tracks I’ve raced on.
“I got into it straightaway and then just kept chipping away, and to finish first in practice felt really good, and gave me a lot of confidence for qualifying. It just all came together and all the conditions were right – and when I saw my name up at the top of the timesheets, I knew I was starting to get there...”
That he assuredly is, and the 15-year-old went on to qualify 11th amongst the 27-strong Junior Max field – the very crème de la crème of homegrown talent at that level, and in the same series as had first set a certain Lewis Hamilton, no less, on the fast track towards superstardom and one that now boasts the prestigious official backing of both the youngest-ever F1 World Champion and the sport’s influential ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.
Better yet, Luke was separated from the top spot by a scant two tenths of a second, and from his championship-leading team-mate and the class benchmark by a single tenth, despite having been hindered by a bad batch of tyres. Entering the heat races, it was very much game on.
“I was really close to the pace and happy with that,” acknowledged the Wickersley-based speed demon. “It was the best I’d ever qualified in FKS, and having generally been around seven-tenths-to-a-second off the pace, to be just two tenths away showed how much I’ve improved. I knew then that I could be amongst the fastest round that track, so I just aimed to keep building on that in the races.
“In the first heat I made a pretty good start and I was one of the quickest out there again. I always drive a bit better when I’m chasing someone, and I had people to chase and just tried to stick with them. To finish ninth was encouraging; the leaders were slowly pulling away, but not dramatically, and I was hopeful it would be a good weekend after that.
“In the second heat I dropped right down to last at the start after there was a tussle ahead and someone spun into me. I then just focussed my efforts on trying to move forwards again, but another accident right ahead left me with a damaged nosecone and I had to retire. That was disappointing, but still it didn’t bother me too much because I knew I had the pace – I just had to work twice as hard in the final!”
The final Luke would begin from P14, but being on the outside line heading into the first corner cost him time and saw him fall down the order on the opening lap, from where he set about working his way back through again to 16th at the flag, demonstrating strong pace along the way once more and much-improved overtaking prowess, what had been a bit of an Achilles’ heel in his early national outings but has now come on in leaps and bounds as his confidence has blossomed.
That stellar form was maintained with P2 in Sunday morning practice, ahead of a genuine breakthrough as the P1 Racing ace made it into the top ten in qualifying for the first time in his fledgling career, ticking off another box on his ‘to-do’ list and lapping just a tenth off the reigning British Mini Max Champion and the driver who would go onto win the day’s final. And a superb effort in heat one resulted in another ‘personal best’.
“It was raining, which made it quite confusing knowing what to do in terms of tyre pressures,” the Wickersley School and Sports College pupil recounted. “We had to take a bit of a gamble, and fortunately we got it right. I had plenty of grip, and I was really happy to finish seventh in the first heat. Unfortunately, on the first lap of heat two someone spun on the back straight, which caused quite a bit of chaos and ended up involving a lot of drivers, including me. That put me down towards the back again, but I came through to 15th in the end.
“I began the final tenth, but at the start my kart got tangled up with another driver’s bumper, which dragged me out wide and dropped me down to the rear of the field yet again! I had to work my way back through from there and just concentrated on trying to move forwards, but it wasn’t easy with so much nudging going on in the pack.”
As he truly got stuck in with regards to overtaking – “I feel quite confident in that aspect now; I just need to try and put the kart where I want it to be and stay in control of it, rather than letting it control me, but I’m sure that will keep coming and I’ll continue to get better and better,” he explained – Luke wound up a mere three seconds away from ninth place at the close, a sure sign of what might have been but for his opening lap misfortune.
Still, with his performances and results improving by the meeting, the Yorkshire teenager has now moved up from 21st in the points standings to 16th, a significant gain and just one place away from his stated top 15 goal – a target that looks increasingly achievable as he inches ever-closer all the time.
Although he recognises that there is still some work to be done with regard to his fitness so that he can maintain his speed all the way through – with his arms tiring towards the end of the long finals, and both the style of driving and contact nature of Junior Max making it a particularly physically gruelling class – there are no longer any doubts at all over Luke’s raw pace and potential. As he prepares next to head across the channel to Genk in Belgium to compete on European shores for the first time, the least experienced driver in the field is in the mix, doing a phenomenal job and has every right to feel immensely proud of his progress.
“Overall it was a very positive weekend that earned me a lot of points, and I was happy with that,” he concluded of Glan Y Gors. “I was a bit annoyed by the bad luck I had in the two finals, but I’ve put that in the past now and will start over at Genk and try to repeat or improve again upon my performance.
“It will be really good fun to go and race abroad, with a different atmosphere. I’ve heard it’s quite a long track, and pretty technical with some very demanding corners. I just want to keep on building on what I’ve achieved so far; I want to continue to improve every time I race, and hopefully I will end up in the top 15 and get a number at the end of the year for 2011.”
