for beating the best in Britain
It is testament to just how much he has improved during his fledgling karting career thus far that Luke Whitworth has been rewarded for his outstanding progress with a VIP trip to this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone – the highly-rated young Rotherham hotshot’s prize for beating the very best in the country.
When the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship visited Ellough Park Raceway in Suffolk last October, Luke had been karting for less than a year – but he boldly refused to be intimidated by his rivals’ infinitely greater experience, and produced a magnificent performance to finish a superb fifth in the Junior Max class on the opening day. In so doing, he was selected from amongst more than 80 competitors as the ‘Driver of the Day’.
“It felt really good to be named ‘Driver of the Day’,” the Wickersley-based speed demon recollected of the hotly-coveted accolade. “I was so happy when I found out, and I must admit I was surprised, too. It gave me a lot of confidence to know that out of all the drivers competing in FKS that day, I was the one that had stood out the most – and it was my best finish to-date at national level, too. I think that really boosted me ahead of the next day, and just made me really focussed and determined to try and do even better again...”
Indeed, whilst P5 had represented at the time the finest result of Luke’s burgeoning career, on what was truly a breakthrough weekend for him and a watershed in his development as a driver, the very next day, the 16-year-old went and bettered it with his maiden podium finish in the sport.
Confessing that ‘it made me realise I could do it’, since then, he affirms, ‘I’ve kept on getting good results’ – including an extremely encouraging showing in the 2011 curtain-raiser for fellow national series Super 1 at Whilton Mill earlier this month.
Still, the Wickersley School and Sports College pupil will see the action from a spectator’s viewpoint rather than from behind a steering wheel when he travels to Silverstone as a special guest of F1 ringmaster Ecclestone himself for the British Grand Prix in mid-July.
“I’m really excited about that, and it will hopefully give me the chance to meet some of the F1 drivers,” Luke enthused, alluding to the privileged access he will be granted to grand prix racing’s inner sanctum, the hallowed paddock. “I’m a fan of the two Red Bull drivers – Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber – so if I get to meet them, that would be very cool, and if I got to meet Bernie Ecclestone, that would just be amazing!
“It’ll be brilliant to be able to go round the F1 paddock – not many people get to do that! I’ve been to Silverstone before but never for the British Grand Prix, so that will be new for me as well. I’m sure the whole experience will give me a taste of life in the fast lane, and make me even more determined to try to get there myself one day,
