Karters to make the jump to F1000 series
A pair of promising 16-year-old karters will join the F1000 field later this year.
Highly-rated Rob Welham – who was rookie champion in the Super One Junior TKM series last year and is targeting the title this term – will make his debut in the Rockingham races on June 23/24.
Then later in the year successful club karter Reece Lycett will also compete, with both drivers having benefited from the F1000 izone driver development programme.
“I had an amazing test day with the Jedi Racing Cars factory team,” said Welham, who will be 60 years younger than the oldest competitor on the grid – Peter Lague – at Rockingham. “I had a few prep sessions at izone on the simulator but nothing prepared me for how I felt after the first run. I’m still buzzing! After a few sighting laps I let it go a bit and was hooked.”
Lycett, who is set to begin competing at Croft in September, added: “From as early as I can remember I’ve dreamt about driving a race car. Getting the chance to drive the Jedi was amazing, the speed and acceleration are truly breathtaking. I’d recommend it to anyone making the step from karting to car racing.”
There are three other karters who are part of F1000’s testing and coaching programme.
Championship manager Frazer Corbyn welcomes the diverse range of drivers on the grid. He said: “Although the Jedi Racing Car is fast it’s also very forgiving, so it’s a perfect choice for youngsters to step up from karting into single seaters.”