Luke finds the Wright stuff on road to glory

Luke Wright’s 2007 has been very much a story of two halves, with a mid-season switch of teams and chassis’ proving the catalyst for an instant change in fortunes – and propelling him from the role of midfield runner to title challenger almost overnight.

Competing in BRDC Stars of Tomorrow for the first time following his maiden national campaign in Mini Max in Super 1 in 2006, Luke stepped up to JICA this year, and immediately found it ‘a lot faster and more competitive’. Driving for Mick Barrett, his best result from the opening four rounds was seventh, as he languished mid-grid and off the pace.

A switch to Strawberry Racing – and with it from his unloved Intrepid mount to a Tonykart – reaped instant rewards, as the 15-year-old wiped the floor at Llandow, not letting any of his rivals get so much as a look-in in any of the heats or finals, before going on to blitz them in the first final at Genk too, despite never having visited the Belgian circuit before when the majority of the opposition had.

“We had a feeling the kit we were on wasn’t really race-winning stuff,” he admitted. “We thought after the switch we would be more competitive, but perhaps not quite as competitive as we were. I don’t think I realised it at the time, but I always seemed to be fighting the Intrepid, whereas I immediately found the Tonykart a lot smoother to drive.

“Racing up there with the front-runners made me learn faster, in terms of racecraft and a few other things I wouldn’t have learned in the midfield. Once we got up there we fit in quite well.”

He certainly did, and another strong result on day two at Genk left the Bristol ace heading into the season-closing double-header at Three Sisters as the outsider in the thick of a three-way tussle for the title with Max Goff and Sam Jenkins. His chances effectively bit the dust when he was fired off the track on the very first lap of the opening heat, however, and though he would fight back to stand on the bottom step of the rostrum in the final, the two men accompanying him up there were Goff and Jenkins.

Still, finishing third in his debut campaign in the category was far from anything to be ashamed of, particularly given the start he had endured, and any disappointment was more than atoned for when Luke later claimed the runner-up spot in the prestigious Bridgestone Cup at Lonato near Garda in Italy – only his third outing in KF2 following the Industrial Trophy at Parma, and up against a high-calibre field.

“KF2 is a lot faster,” he underlined, “and getting used to the front brakes was really difficult. We did half a day’s testing at PF International until it rained, and that was it before we flew out to Italy. I found the first weekend of the Industrials really difficult, but we steadily chipped away and knew we would get there in the end.

“It was the first time I had done the Bridgestone Cup, and only our third race in Europe following the Industrials. It was also my third race in KF2 and I’d never been to Lonato before, but the circuit seemed to suit us quite well. It’s quite a heavy-braking track with several hairpins and long straights, and after testing there from the Thursday by late Friday we were on the pace.”

Indeed he was, lining up an impressive third on a 32-kart grid after qualifying, which he would convert to a brace of second places and a fourth in the heat races, earning him third spot on the grid again for the pre-final.

“I was really pleased with that,” Luke acknowledged. “All the front-runners were really close in times.

“We changed something on the kart before the pre-final, but it didn’t really help and we ended up slipping down to seventh. The final was over 28 laps, though, so we knew it wasn’t going to be too difficult to get back up there again. We knew we had the speed.”

Up to sixth no sooner had the lights gone out, Luke then worked together with countryman James Thorp as the pair fought their way through the traffic. A subsequent move on Robert Foster-Jones would not only seal the runner-up spot, but also the mantle of top Brit as Luke set fastest lap along the way for good measure – a timely confidence boost as he prepares for a potential full-on British and European KF2 assault in 2008.

“I was really pleased,” he enthused, “especially considering it was in a class I had only been doing for three races. If I had been told I would finish second back at the beginning of the weekend, I would definitely have taken that!”

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website