after phenomenal testing debut
Luke Whitworth has embarked upon a winter testing programme with title-winning Formula Ford UK outfit JTR, with a view to making his car racing debut in the series in 2013and his exceptional pace right from the outset has seen the gifted young Rotherham speed demon lauded as a star of the future.
Despite being a comparative latecomer to the sport aged 14 at the tail end of 2009, Whitworth has made outstanding progress in just three seasons of karting, to the extent that this year he has been a front-runner in both the British Super 1 Series and the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars Championship at the fiercely-contested Junior Rotax level.
Having also completed a handful of laps in a Formula BMW single-seater and Ginetta Junior closed-top sportscar, the highly-rated Wickersley-based hotshot has decided that the time is ripe for a graduation into cars. To that end, he has joined forces with Williams Harfield Sports Group (WHSG)a talent-spotting organisation co-founded by former professional tennis player Chris Harfield, who over the past two campaigns has expertly guided the career of recently-crowned Star Mazda Champion and McLaren AUTOSPORT Award finalist Jack Hawksworth.
Aiming to follow in the wheeltracks of his trail-blazing fellow Yorkshireman by setting foot on the celebrated Mazda Road to Indy ladderleading towards the eventual goal of the US-based IndyCar SeriesWhitworths early Formula Ford tests mark his first steps along the way. Having assiduously prepared for the challenge by watching on-board videos and ramping up his fitness regime, the 17-year-old MSA Academy member travelled to Donington Park for a baptism of fireor rather, rain.
When I climbed into the car for the first time, I will admit that my nerves did kick in a little, he confessed. Its a world away from kartingso completely differentand its a strange feeling at first. The Formula Ford is much more physical, which is where my fitness training really paid off.
You have a lot less vision from inside the cockpit, too, and theres the weight transfer under braking to get used to as well as the suspension, the sheer scale of the circuits, the noise and the speedthe data showed that I touched 138mph down the back straight, for example. Its a big step-up, and to begin with, I think its fair to say the car was handling me more than I was handling the carespecially in the wet, when grip was next-to-non-existent!
Its been mega so far, though, just awesomeits a new adventure, and Im so excited about it all! Ive primarily been trying to build up my confidence in the car, especially in the faster cornersfinding out how hard I can push without going too far, too soon and straying over the limit. Ive been very wary of not attempting to run before I can walk, because what I need more than anything at the moment is mileage.
The main objective is to learn as much as I can and extract the maximum out of my potential, and its been encouraging to see the improvements Ive been making with each test, as well as my feedback and consistency. Being quick is just an added bonus at this stage, as I know that with more seat time to enable me to feel more comfortable inside the car, Ill be able to go a lot faster still.
Its been brilliant working with WHSG; Chris has really been helping to open doors for me, and theres no doubt that I wouldnt be where I am now without his support. He has all the right contacts within the sport, and Im looking forward to continuing to work closely together with him. He is an athlete himself, so he has personally gone through it all before and can give me invaluable advice regarding how to handle the media and manage the pressure. I know I can benefit hugely from his knowledge and expertise.
JTR is similarly an extremely slick operation, and theyve made the whole experience really enjoyable. The boys have all been great; theyre a lot of fun to work with and were getting along really well. Theyve been helping me to analyse the data and explaining everything in a lot of detail to make it easy for me to understand. I cant fault them in any way, and they seem pretty happy with my pace and overall performance so far, too.
Indeed, acquitting himself admirably, Whitworth got to grips with his new office in double-quick time, and the Wickersley School and Sports College A-Level student was soon lapping within a second of the 2012 Formula Ford benchmark at Doningtona feat that he repeated in subsequent tests at Snetterton, Silverstone and Brands Hatch as he effortlessly exceeded all expectations.
From the day Luke came along to watch the last round of the season with us to his visit to the workshop for his seat-fitting and his testing outings to-date, he has been hugely impressive, underlined JTR team principal Nick Tandy. I mean that not just in terms of his ability inside the car, but also his whole persona and attitude out of it. Everybody in the team from the mechanics to the data engineers has really appreciated working with Luke.
On top of that, for a guy with such limited racing experience under his belt, his speed in the car straight out-of-the-box was exceptionaland he has got quicker-and-quicker every time he has taken to the track, which is precisely what we are looking for. He listens to everybody and takes everything in, and the progress he is making is simply phenomenal. Luke certainly has potential and I would definitely rate him as a star of the futureI would have no questions at all about running him in our team.
Affirming that he is working hard in every area, Whitworths commitment is unquestionable, and his enthusiasm is shared by WHSG director Harfield, who moreover points to Formula Fords impending addition to the immensely popular, ITV4 live-televised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) support package as a tremendous profile boost for the series and a golden opportunity for interested sponsors to come on-board.
We have been in talks with Luke and his family since the beginning of 2012, when he was highlighted by various industry professionals as a driver with great potential, Harfield explained. After spending time with him, it became evident that he is a very focussed driver with a real hunger to become the best. Luke hasas expectedreceived glowing reports from all at JTR. We are very excited to work with him and look forward to ensuring that he fulfils his potential and becomes a leading light in British motorsport.
