This year began as the last one ended for Jimmy Helias – with great results! The rising star in French karting has made a very successful transition from the Junior to the OK category. After his convincing performance concluded with a marvelous fourth place in the Winter Cup, the opening event of the season, the driver from Normandy put on another scintillating display on the Lonato circuit in Italy with the Ward Racing team. In the first round of the WSK Super Master Series used by the big international teams to prepare for the European and World Championships, Jimmy drove a flawless race rewarded by a place on the third step of the podium.

So Hélias is proving that he is one of the Juniors who has done the best job of making the step up to the OK field, the top-tier category for drivers dreaming of a professional career in motorsport. His ability to adapt is very impressive. It has to be said that the driver is a hard worker who’s 100% involved in what he does and very demanding of himself: precious qualities when it comes to fine-tuning his kart’s setup. “I’ve already had several seasons racing at international level and all the experience I’ve acquired is very useful to me today,” Jimmy says. “But it’s also important to know you have the full backing of your team, which is the case with the members of Ward Racing. I feel they have absolute trust in me! Evolving in such a high-quality human and technical environment helps me to give the very best of myself as soon as I take to the track.”

Helias has perfectly adapted his driving style to the extremely powerful engines and to the increased grip of the soft tyres in the OK category and he arrived at Lonato more determined than ever. In timed practice, he immediately broke into the top 10 out of more than 50 drivers. The young Frenchman was fast and consistent in the qualifying heats and he upped the pace even further in the superheat, which he finished in fourth place. Thanks to his calm, reflective approach, he managed his final in masterly style and clinched a podium finish in the first of the four rounds of the WSK Super Master Series.”

“I gained places on a regular basis in the final without pushing too hard and I was really quick at the end of the race. I even managed to close the gap to the leaders in the final laps! My Tony Kart-Vortex was ultra-quick and Ward Racing and I worked in the right direction. I’d like to say a big thanks to its manager, Joakim Ward and his staff, my coach Julien Abelli from Simumotion as well as my manager, Christophe Perrin. During the weekend I also thought about the advice Esteban Ocon gave me on my debut. We’ve kept in close touch and it gave me great pleasure to tell him about the good results I’ve scored recently.”

With two third-place finishes plus a fourth, the results of Helias’s first three races in OK couldn’t be more convincing. 2023 has got off to a flying start and that bodes well for the rest of his season!