James Wharton remains strong in the face of adversity
The WSK Euro Series, which started in the rain at the beginning of April in Lonato, continued in the heat at the Adria Karting Raceway in the north-east of Italy. Serious and diligent, the Australian James Wharton delivered a magnificent attacking race to climb up the hierarchy after a difficult start to the meeting. Ranked 12th in the Final, the young member of the Ferrari Driver Academy more than ever remains among the best drivers in the world in the OK category.
While the European Championship is taking a break for six weeks after having performed in Belgium and France in May, James Wharton was delighted to return to the atmosphere of Italian karting and the highly competitive WSK Euro Series from 10th to 13th June. The sun and the heat beat down on the protagonists of the competition throughout. The meeting started with a Qualifying session, which allowed James Wharton to make further progress compared to the morning warm-up. Ranked 16th out of 32, the young Australian knew that he would have to make the most of the Qualifying Heats to move up in the hierarchy.
Positive results
From the first heat, James Wharton went into conquering mode and jumped six places to 11th position. His lap times were even better in the second heat and this time the Australian made it into the top 10, as his further improvement propelled him into 8th position. Despite a scramble at the start of the third heat which cost him a few places, James was 10th overall in the three heats.
The Prefinal proved to be very competitive, with drivers who had not all chosen the same strategy for managing their tyre quota. Despite an excellent start and a great fight at the wheel of his Parolin-TM Racing kart, the Ferrari Driver Academy driver crossed the finish line in 11th position. In the Final, the Australian driver was still on the pace of the fastest, especially at the beginning of the race. After constant battles in the middle of the pack, he finally scored points in 12th position.
"It was another very instructive race," commented the All Road Management driver. "We started the race with room for improvement in the equipment, but we worked hard with the Parolin Motorsport team to achieve a much better level of performance. The grip of the track increased as the days went by and we were fast in these conditions. This is positive in view of the second part of the European Championship, which is likely to take place in hot conditions in July, in Italy and then in Spain."