Thorp wins Industrial Round 2

Strawberry Racing’s James Thorp (Tonykart/Vortex) enjoyed his first international win at the weekend, when he took a lights-to-flag victory in the second and final round of the Industrial Trophy, held on consecutive weekends at Parma in Italy.

Traditionally the races where drivers try out new classes before the start of the new season, James had moved up into the senior KF2 class after his third place in the junior KF3 European Championship back in September.

In the first round, James was fast enough to get noticed but ultimately fell victim to another driver’s accident and didn’t finish the final. Staying in Italy for the week gave him a chance to mentally prepare and when racing started again on the following Saturday he was ready to take full advantage of the experience gained.

After taking pole position, only once did James falter, with a second place in his first heat race, but with only three tenths between himself and the winner Paolo De Conto there was nothing to choose between the two drivers. As the day went on, the positions were reversed, with James soon the best part of a second ahead of De Conto. In the final, James led from the start while his rivals battled amongst themselves, finishing just over five seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

James finished 7th overall in the mini-series, and is now attracting attention throughout the industry and beyond. As well as being mentioned as one to watch in the Sunday Times (14/10/07), he is being courted by several teams and manufacturers for a works drive for 2008. His next race will be at the start of November when he will race in the British Winter Series at PF International in Lincolnshire.

The KF2 championship was won by Maring Burkhard (AT, Birel/Parilla) with two second places, closely followed by James Dixon (GB, Maranello/Parilla).

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