Rising star O’sullivan follows F1 driver by lifting the Rookie Cup
CHELTENHAM’S teenage racing driver Zak O’sullivan has followed in the footsteps of a current Formula One star by winning a championship which has launched the careers of multiple drivers over the last decade.
O’sullivan, 14, has followed Mclaren driver Lando Norris by winning the Ginetta Junior Championship Rookie Cup with one race weekend still to go, after a successful meeting at Silverstone.
Like Norris, O’sullivan’s success has come in his first year of car racing, and he is second in the overall championship standings ahead of the final meeting of the season at Brands Hatch this weekend.
After qualifying ninth for Saturday’s race at Silverstone, O’sullivan clawedhis way through the pack to secure a second place finish.
He also moved forward from eighth to fifth in the wet conditions of race two, before a ninth place in Sunday’s final race.
It has been a superb maiden campaign in the category for O’sullivan, who has secured 14 overall podium finishes with his R Racing team.
The Ginetta Junior series runs alongside the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) over 10 race meetings and boasts live TV coverage on ITV4.
O’sullivan is the youngest driver on the grid and his performances have made some of the leading British F4 teams sit up and take notice – with the single-seater championship his next planned move.
O’sullivan said: “I’m over the moon to be the Rookie Cup champion. Big thanks go out to my team and all of my sponsors. Now we head to Brands Hatch with a shot at the overall title.
“There was a lot more potential than the results show in the end at Silverstone, but in some other ways we were lucky to fight as high as we did considering the circumstances.”
O’sullivan started karting aged nine and became one of the youngest winners of the British Super One Rookie Championship, a series which has launched the careers of drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard.
His progress to date has led former Formula One driver and Le Mans 24 Hour winner, Mark Blundell to say: “Zak has a firm understanding of the commitment it takes to reach the top and that is very impressive for someone of his age.”