Luke Whitworth ensured that he will head into the national Super 1 Series with his tail up and ready to do battle for a top ten finish in what is commonly acknowledged to be the toughest karting championship in Britain – after producing the latest in a string of front-running performances to claim an excellent fifth position at PF International in Lincolnshire.
His final winter rehearsal as such before the serious business begins in earnest at Whilton Mill with the Super 1 curtain-raiser, Luke’s PF adventure saw him measure himself against no fewer than 37 Junior Max class rivals of a very high calibre – and despite his lack of experience in the sport in comparison with many of them, the fast-improving young Rotherham star proved weekend-long that he is capable of taking the fight to the very best in the country.
“There were a lot of quick drivers there,” reflected the Wickersley-based speed demon of the sizeable starting grid. “That made it a good warm-up for the Super 1 meeting that will be held at PF – and for Whilton Mill, too, with many of the same competitors I’ll be up against there.
“PF is a good circuit to drive, a lot of fun and with plenty of variety. We’ve done a lot of racing there as it’s the closest track to us geographically, but we do need to do more, because I’m still lacking a little bit of consistency. More testing and time in the seat will help to build my confidence up, though.”
Lapping quickest of anybody in the sole dry practice session was certainly a timely boost, and in the first of his two heats, Luke drove brilliantly to climb from 21st to sixth, making superb progress up through the order and betraying no hesitation whatsoever in his incisive overtaking manoeuvres along the way as he underlined his potential with a better fastest lap than the race-winner.
Unfortunately, a knock from behind at the beginning of heat two put the 16-year-old on the grass and sent him tumbling down the order, and thereafter he found himself having to contend with a bent kart that left him lapping more than half-a-second shy of what he was capable. To recover to 11th spot at the chequered flag was in the circumstances something of a minor victory in itself.
That combination of results left the Wickersley School and Sports College pupil tenth on the grid for the all-important final, on the unenviable outside line and right in the middle of the pack – danger territory, in other words. It was a situation that Luke handled with admirable and almost seasoned aplomb.
“I made a good start but then got a big hit from behind into the second corner, which sent me a bit wide,” the Yorkshire ace recalled. “I worked my way back into the lead group of five karts, though, and we were able to pull away from all the drivers behind – later in the race, I looked back a few times and there was no-one there.
“To show that kind of pace and stay up towards the front all the way through the race has given me a lot of confidence ahead of Super 1. I know I can take on the Super 1 front-runners now. I know I can still improve, and where I can improve – but that has merely given me another target to aim at.
“At Whilton, the goal has to be to get a top ten finish. We’ve done lots of testing round there, and each time we have been amongst the quickest. It’ll just be a case of keeping my nerves under control, but like I say, the top ten is the goal, and if I go there and simply treat it like a big club meeting, I believe I can achieve it.”
