James Wharton, who has been with the Parolin Motorsport team for the past two years, was keen to reap the rewards of his hard work during Free Practice in this highly competitive European OK Championship that took place at the Naples International Circuit in Sarno (9th-11th July), the third of four events. "I have a good feeling at this Italian track. It's where I scored my first points in the European OK Championship in 2020."

A substantial gain in places in the Final

The Parolin Motorsport team is lucky to have several drivers in its squad, which creates a feedback loop between all these young hopefuls. "We were able to improve the equipment regularly and this allowed me to be among the fastest of the group in Qualifying." Ranked 5th in his group, 18th out of 62 overall, James had a clean run in the Qualifying Heats. "At this level, it's important to finish each heat avoiding collisions and mechanical problems, in order to consistently achieve the best ranking. This is what I managed to do by being very consistent in each heat, while making the most of the package at my disposal."

21st on the starting grid for the Final, James Wharton showed his fighting spirit in a crowded field. "The aim was clearly to move up the order to increase my points tally in this FIA European Karting Championship. This Final wasn't easy, every lap was a real battle." At his best physically, technically and mentally, the Australian driver made a series of overtaking moves to finally reach 12th place. "It was clearly the best result I could have hoped for in these conditions where the gaps between the drivers are extremely tight."

Three weeks after his excellent performance in the European KZ2 Championship - the category for gearbox karts - James Wharton has now achieved another positive result amongst the future hopefuls of motorsport. This is certainly a good omen before the upcoming European events, which still look as difficult as they are important...

About James Wharton

James Wharton is a 15-year-old Australian kart driver, currently competing in his first international season in the KZ2 class alongside the OK class, a dual programme with the official Parolin Motorsport team.

James started racing karting in Australia at the age of seven. He then shone in the most important single-brand world challenges before making his debut in FIA Karting competition. 13th in the World Junior Championship in his first season in 2018, he also won the KA 100 Junior class in Las Vegas at the SKUSA SuperNationals.

In 2019, in his first full season in OK-Junior, he achieved top results: 9th in the European Championship, 4th in the Italian Championship and 2nd in the legendary Winter Cup in Lonato. He was again victorious at the SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas in the X30-Junior category.

An official driver for the Parolin Motorsport Srl team, James is involved in the development and tuning of the equipment thanks to a very good rapport with Albino and Marco Parolin. Despite a 2020 disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, he has rapidly progressed in the category hierarchy and is aiming for a season rich in results.

Thanks to his competitiveness and fighting qualities, James Wharton was selected to join the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy. Managed by All Road Management, Nicolas Todt's company, James Wharton will continue his career in karting in 2021, before taking the plunge into single-seater racing in the near future.