Former Australian Rotax Champ Wins FF2000 At Sebring
press release
2005 Junior Rotax Australian Champion, Luke Ellery, has won his first race overseas after a frantic USF2000 race at Sebring. The Australian will head to next weekend's initial 2011 IndyCar round at St. Petersburg with a 3 point buffer in the IndyCar feeder series.
He will return to Australia between US F2000 rounds this season to continue with spanner duties for CIK racer Scott May, and in more recent times, helping develop a Formula Ford career for Victorian Karter, Adrian Lazzaro.
"We had a great weekend at Sebring, winning on the world stage. We have one more weekend of racing here at St. Pete to try and extend our Championship lead, then I head back to Australia to run young Adrian Lazzaro in the Victorian State series. Stepping from a kart to a formula ford is a big step for anyone, let alone coming from a class like Junior Clubman as a 15yo. I always had my sights on Adrian because he has a level head so it will be interesting to see how he performs in a race car." Stated Ellery.
Above: Luke Ellery leads David Sera back in his Junior Clubman days
Ellery says that without a karting background he wouldn't have got to race and let alone win an F2000 race in America.
"Karting is essential for any young driver these days. What I do think is that some people base their whole career on how well they do in karts. I just wished more people realised they have to re-learn nearly everything once they get into open wheelers. Getting up into cars young and just doing testing miles would be my suggestion for a young karter who wants to move up the ranks. Watching the recent CIK stuff in Australia has been great. It gets everyone used to putting a full season together instead of leading the last lap of a State title."
Luke Ellery competed in karts from 1998 - 2006, winning the inaugural Junior Rotax Championship as part of the Red Bull Sponsored Kartstars CIK Series. He was put into the seat of a Formula Ford as part of the winning prize and started a working relationship with Borland Racing Developments. In 2007 and 2008 Luke competed in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship, Winning the Championship in 2008 with his family run car. In 2009 Ellery was selected as a CAMS Rising Star and competed in Formula Ford at a national level. In his rookie year he progressed well, winning the Inaugural Fiesta Cup for Victoria. Last year Luke made his International Debut At Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans, and rounded the weekend with a podium in only his second US F2000 Race.
