Wright Shows Fighting Spirit In France
press release
Queensland kart racer (Cairns, QLD) Aidan Wright showed his fighting spirit during Round two of the CIK-FIA Under 18 World Karting Championship in France on the weekend.
Wright, who is the first Australian to compete in the prestigious championship, finished 12th in the opening round in Italy last month and entered this weekend’s round at the Essay circuit with high hopes of a top ten result.
With 74 drivers from across the globe assembling for the event, qualifying well was going to be vital. Unfortunately for Wright, he was unable to find the perfect set-up aboard his Zanardi kart when it mattered most and as a result he could only manage the 42nd fastest time in the competitive field.
“In qualifying, I had a lot of trouble with the kart set-up. I just couldn’t get the kart to come out of the corners as well as what I needed to, it just wanted to keep on sliding,” said Wright.
Determined to fight back, the 16 year-old drove with maturity during the Saturday’s three heat races to claw his way up the standings. In Sunday morning’s final heat race, Wright needed to finish inside the top 15 to secure a starting position in the 34-kart grid main events – he did so with ease by crossing the line ninth.
“In the last heat I needed to finish inside the top 15, I managed to get a good start while going around the outside of a few people and kept moving forward throughout the race,” said Wright.
In the opening 13-lap pre-final Wright started from 22nd position, despite showing good speed to move inside the top 20 mid way through the race, he later dropped a couple of spots to finish 21st.
The reverse grid pre-final race saw Wright line up 13th on the grid, however, he wasn’t able to take advantage of starting closer to the front when two karts collided in front of him on the opening lap. The collision left Wright with nowhere to go and he was forced to watch the race from the sidelines.
Determined to move up the order in the 19-lap final, where he started 31st, Wright steered clear of a lap one incident which saw the field slowed for a three-lap caution period.
After the restart, Wright made some good movement up the order to be running as high as 16th place with six laps remaining and on track to snare a top ten result. Unfortunately, a coming together with another competitor forced him to retire with damage to the radiator and exhaust on his kart.
“I made an alright start, then we had the yellow flags out for three laps where it was important to keep the tyres warm – that was a new experience for me,” said Wright.
“After the restart I was going along pretty well and I managed to get through a pack of karts in front of me but once I got in front of that things turned pretty chaotic.
“I just came around a corner and someone jumped across a kerb and ran right into the side of me which ended my race.
“It’s unfortunate that I was involved in the crash as I feel as though I had a lot of pace by the end of the weekend but it has made me more eager to show the world what I can do during the final round in Italy.”
Frenchman Anthoine Hubert won the main event ahead of championship leader Pyry Ovaska and Matthew Graham.
The third, and final, round of the 2011 CIK-FIA Under 18 World Karting Championship will be held at the Circuito Internazionale de Sarno-Napoli in Italy on November 4-6.
2011 CIK-FIA U/18 World Karting Championship
Top 10 Points Standings after Round 2 of 3 (unofficial)
1. Pyry Ovaska (FIN) – 131
2. Matthew Graham (GBR) -106
3. Anthoine Hubert (FRA) – 93
4. Dave Blom (NLD) – 86
=4. Henry Easthope (GBR) – 86
6. Tomi Katajamäki (FIN) – 75
7. Stefan Riener (AUT) – 73
8. Lucas Speck (DEU) – 69
9. Toni larcon (GER) – 69
10. Simone Favaro (ITA) – 60
=20. Aidan Wright (AUS) – 45
