Photo: JHR Developments

Karting graduate Lewis Wherrell has joined JHR Developments to race in British Formula 4 next year.

The 15-year-old already has some single-seater experience, making his debut in a Spanish F4 event than landing a top-five finish in a GB4 cameo.

Last month he joined Saudi Arabian F4 for two rounds, and by taking two wins and two poles he was able to come fifth in the standings despite missing over half of the season.

“I’m proud to announce that I’ll be racing for JHR Developments for the 2026 British F4 season,” said Wherrell.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved at JHR for this opportunity. I can’t wait to get started and I’m hoping for a good year ahead for both me and the whole team.”

JHR’s team principal Steven Hunter added: “We’ve had some really good test days so far with Lewis and he’s done quite a bit of running since the end of the season. He’s done a really good job so far. He’s been taking a lot of information onboard and applied what he’s learnt very methodically. With every test he’s gained in confidence and speed, so we’re looking forward to seeing Lewis out racing with JHR and I feel that he’ll be battling up the front in 2026.”

Wherrell has moved into single-seaters after an impressive karting career. In the OK Junior class he was Champions of the Future champion, won the WSK Champions Cup and Trofeo delle Industrie, was fourth in the CIK-FIA European championship, sixth in WSK’s Final Cup, eighth in its Euro Series and ninth in its Super Master Series.

After stepping up to the senior OK class, he came seventh in the European championship, eighth in WSK SMS, 11th in WSK FC and 23rd in the CIK-FIA World championship.

Also debuting in British F4 in 2026 are 16-year-old George Proudford-Nalder (Virtuosi Racing) and 18-year-old Vegard Klemetsen (Argenti Motorsport).

Australian racer Proudford-Nalder, who comes from a family of cattle farmers, switched from karting to cars this year via entry-level sportscar series Ginetta Junior. He came seventh in the standings with two podiums.

Klemetsen, from Norway, came 34th in the European championship for OK karts this year, one place behind Wherrell.

The post JHR Developments signs rising talent Lewis Wherrell for British F4 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Saudi Arabian F4

Two drivers won in round four of Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s season in Jeddah.

A 40-minute practice session kicked off the event on Friday afternoon, and Adam Al Azhari set a 2m07.542s to lead Lewis Wherrell by 0.038 seconds, Scott Lindblom by 0.17s and Kit Belofsky by 0.229s.

Wherrell lowered the pace to 2m06.948s in qualifying, a 20-minute session in the early evening, clinching pole by 0.115s over Belofsky. Al Azhari was 0.181s off in third, with Lindblom and Thibaut Ramaekers trailing by 0.555s and 0.805s.

It rained prior to race one late in the evening, so the field ran on wet tyres and had two formation laps to displace water.

Wherrell was very slow off the line, and Belofsky had wheelspin but took the lead on the inside while Al Azhari snatched second. Lindblom then went around Wherrell’s outside at turn two and with a bit of rubbing got ahead.

Al Azhari came under attack from Lindblom a few corners later, then again through turns 19 to 22 before a dive at the final corner.

Lindblom’s next passing attempt was the outside of turn two, with Al Azhari having defended down the pit straight and then on the run to turn four. At turns seven and 22 Lindblom looked again to get alongside, and at the final corner went for the outside but Al Azhari ran deep to cover him off.

Down the pit straight Al Azhari was defensive again, but through the rest of lap three the presure reduced. He ended lap three 3.3s behind Belofsky, and that gap grew to 5.495s as the track dried.

Wherrell began attacking Lindblom on lap four. They battled until lap 10 of 12, when Lindblom began closing in on Al Azhari again. They finished 0.138s apart.

A five-second penalty for track limits abuse while fighting Lindblom dropped Wherrell to fifth behind Ramaekers by 0.457s.

Esmee Kosterman passed Ava Dobson mid-race for sixth, Abdullah Kamel broke Megan Bruce’s defences with a great move through turns one and two on lap nine to take eighth, and Chiara Battig qualified sixth but finished 11th.

Saturday had an identical timetable, and Belofsky set a 2m07.357s to pip Wherrell by 0.167s in FP2.

Wherrell had the advantage again in qualifying, beating Belofsky to pole by 0.111s and Al Azhari by 0.24s. Lindblom was 0.339s off.

Belofsky wheelspun and dropped to third at the start of race two, and Lindblom then bravely got past him through the first esses. Wherrell led Al Azhari, who ran alongside him from turns two to four on lap two and later lost out to a diving move from Lindblom at the final corner of lap three.

Al Azhari quickly reclaimed second into turn one, then Belofsky nosed into Lindblom’s rear at turn two, causing a rear-right puncture that forced Lindblom to pit.

Al Azhari came under attack from Belofsky at the end of lap nine, and despite being squeezed on the inside down the pit straight Belofsky still got ahead into turn one. These battles allowed Wherrell to pull away, and he won by 6.617s.

Ramaekers was fourth, and Kamel passed Rahcel Robertson for fifth mid-race then fended off Kosterman through the last two laps to to keep the position by just 0.065s.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Kit Belofsky 29m04.775s
2 Adam Al Azhari +5.495s
3 Scott Lindblom +5.633s
4 Thibaut Ramaekers +11.029s
5 Lewis Wherrell +11.486s
6 Esmee Kosterman +31.961s
7 Ava Dobson +36.289s
8 Abdullah Kamel +39.218s
9 Megan Bruce +39.686s
10 Wojciech Woda +45.334s
Pole: Wherrell, 2m06.948s
Fastest lap: Wherrell, 2m24.410s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Wherrell 25m32.034s
2 Belofsky +6.617s
3 Al Azhari +9.257s
4 Ramaekers +13.494s
5 Kamel +20.133s
6 Kosterman +20.198s
7 Dobson +24.924s
8 Rachel Robertson +37.747s
9 Faris Organji +43.088s
10 Chiara Battig +45.333s
P: Wherrell, 2m06.433s
FL: Wherrell, 2m07.168s

Championship standings
1 Belofsky 146   2 Al Azhari 125   3 Lindblom 108   4 Ramaekers 82   5 Wherrell 75   6 Kamel 56   7 Theo Palmer 55   8 Kosterman 36   9 Nina Gademan 33   10 Ary Bansal 30

The post Belofsky wins around wet Jeddah in Saudi Arabian F4 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Saudi Arabian F4

The inexperienced Lewis Wherrell starred in round three of Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s season in Jeddah.

Track action began on Monday afternoon with a practice session, and Wherrell — contesting his third single-seater race event after GB4 and Spanish F4 outings — set a 2m08.667s to be fastest by 0.14 seconds. Points leader Kit Belofsky was second, 0.014s ahead of Adam Al Azhari, and a second covered the top seven.

Qualifying was in the early evening, and Belofsky denied Wherrell pole by 0.011s. Abdullah Kamel was 0.569s off the pace in third, Scott Lindblom trailed by 0.68s in fourth and Al Azhari was 0.767s off in fifth. Three drivers were over three seconds slower than Belofsky.

Drivers had to wait until 10:30pm for race one, which took place under floodlights. Kamel and Ava Dobson stalled, while Esmee Kosterman jumped from eighth to fourth. Belofsky weaved down the pit straight at the end of lap one trying to break the tow, then seemed to have Wherrell out of attacking distance until lap five when he suddenly launched an attack on the outside entering turn 13 and got ahead.

Wherrell rapidly pulled away, and won by 1.694s. Lindblom closed in on Belofsky late on, as Kosterman lost fourth.

Al Azhari had fallen to ninth on lap one, and both he and Chiara Battig cleared Megan Bruce on lap 13 before he overtook Battig too into the final hairpin. Thibaut Ramaekers was several seconds ahead, and that gap reduced once Ramaekers began pressuring Kosterman. He overtook her at turn 13 on lap 10 of 12, and Al Azhari did so too a few corners from the end then drew alongside Ramaekers at the chequered flag and finished 0.074s behind.

There was a prolonged fight for 10th, with Faris Organji taking the position from Rachel Robertson after she ran wide at turn five but then spinning some corners later. Dobson got alongside Robertson several times later on, and cleared her on the last lap.

The same schedule was used on Tuesday, and in FP2 Al Azhari posted a 2m07.627s to lead Wherrell by 0.145s and Belofsky by 0.156s.

Al Azhari lowered the pace to 2m06.579s in Q2, and his advantage was trimmed to 0.041s by Wherrell. Belofsky qualified third, 0.323s off pole, Lindblom improved to be 0.465s off in fourth, with Ramaekers and Kamel the only others within a second of the pace.

There was pre-race drama as the starting lights failed to fully turn on and off properly on the grid, and Wherrell edged forward. The start was then aborted and another formation lap was set, with Belofsky initially unable to get going but catching the field after red flags waved.

Seven minutes in the pits followed, and the race started with the safety car leading the field out. When they were released at the end of lap one, the top two accelerated but then began weaving and both were penalised five seconds.

Belofsky went to Wherrell’s outside at turn one and remained alongside for two more corners, allowing Al Azhari to pull away by 1.7s within a lap. His lead grew to 2.4s, before Wherrell rapidly closed in through the last two tours.

More attention was on Lindblom, who pulled off a stunning pass on Belofsky through the esses on lap six and then remained within five seconds of Al Azhari. The gap grew and shrank lap by lap, and Lindblom won by 0.369s.

Belofsky fell five seconds behind him late on, so did not profit from the penalties, and Kosterman came seventh after lengthy pressuring of Battig led to a last-lap overtake.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Lewis Wherrell 25m47.960s
2 Kit Belofsky +1.694s
3 Scott Lindblom +2.959s
4 Thibaut Ramaekers +11.808s
5 Adam Al Azhari +11.882s
6 Esmee Kosterman +12.275s
7 Chiara Battig +13.225s
8 Abdullah Kamel +19.204s
9 Megan Bruce +35.127s
10 Ava Dobson +42.717s
Pole: Belofsky, 2m07.033s
Fastest lap: Al Azhari, 2m07.818s

Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Lindblom 27m01.801s
2 Al Azhari +0.369s
3 Wherrell +1.696s
4 Belofsky +5.174s
5 Kamel +9.040s
6 Ramaekers +10.012s
7 Kosterman +14.999s
8 Battig +15.181s
9 Rachel Robertson +16.635s
10 Dobson +21.501s
P: Al Azhari, 2m06.579s
FL: Al Azhari, 2m07.566s

Championship standings
1 Belofsky 103   2 Lindblom 93   3 Al Azhari 92   4 Ramaekers 58   5 Theo Palmer 55   6 Kamel 42   7 Wherrell 40   8 Nina Gademan 33   9 Ary Bansal 30   10 Kosterman 20

The post Lewis Wherrell stars in Saudi Arabian F4’s first of three Jeddah rounds appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: KSP Reportages

Karting is the training ground of most drivers before single-seaters, and it’s always useful to check what’s happening in the major championships to see which future talents may eventually burst onto the scene

Formula Scout expanded its karting coverage in 2022, and got to report on stories of drama, disaster and redemption. That continued into this year, and there were once again moments that left spectators in disbelief or holding their breath.

Unfortunately, like last year, it was bad news that made for the biggest story of the year. In the final of the CIK-FIA World championship for OK karts, Joe Turney – one of the highest performers through 2023 until that point – had a crash and as he was trying to get his kart going again he was struck by another going by. The outcome for Turney’s ankle was not nice to see.

The race was later red flagged and restarted from the lap Turney’s accident took place on, and Kirill Kutskov went on to win. In other major competitions there were also drama-filled finals, and occasions where one team in particular had the edge.

Several of the year’s top talents had already headed into single-seaters before the end of the year, most noticably Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Alex Powell who moved up to Formula 4 with the Prema team he was already driving for in karting.

Here are the names that stood out to Formula Scout the most in international karting during 2023:

Key

WSK: Champions Cup (CC), Euro Series (Euro), Final Cup (FC), Open Series (OS), Super Master Series (SMS), Super Cup (SC)
CIK-FIA: European championship (CIK European), World championship (CIK Worlds), World Cup (FIA WC), Karting Academy Trophy (FIA Academy Trophy)
Rotax Max Challenge: Euro Trophy (Euro), International Trophy (Int. Trophy), Grand Finals
IAME: Euro Series (Euro), Warriors Final (WF)
Champions of the Future (CotF)

Rene Lammers THE NETHERLANDS 15y/o
OK CIK European champion, 2nd in CIK Worlds, 3rd in WSK SMS, 11th in CotF, 15th in WSK Euro

Photo: Sebastiaan Rozendaal / DPPA

The son of former Formula 1 racer Jan will race for MP Motorsport in F4 next year, and won the Ferrari Driver Academy’s Scouting World Finals but did not receive the prize of becoming a Ferrari junior.

He did at least get to collect his trophies at the FIA’s prize-giving ceremony for his karting accomplishments, which were winning the European championship and coming second in the world championship for OK karts.

Lammers finished third in the final of round one of the European championship, and moved one place higher on the podium in round two but was actually far further away from the winner. At that point he was 14 points off the top of the table, despite a weekend in which he had topped his qualifying group, won four heats and finished second in the other and then won his superheat.

He became points leader after the superheats in round three, which was his least convincing as he finished fourth in the two heats he did not win and was beaten to victory in his superheat. But he made up for it by winning the final.

That put him in an even stronger position for the season finale at Cremona, where he topped his qualifying group, won four heats, finished second in the other, then convincingly won his superheat to become champion and put himself on pole for the final. In that race he kept out of trouble to finish fourth.

A slightly conservative approach in the last laps of the final of the World championship (which is a single event) meant Lammers finished second rather than try to go for first and risk a silverware-losing mistake. It was a shame as those who managed to win the two biggest competitions in karting etch their name into history.

In WSK’s Super Master Series he came third but was 109 points off the champion. Over four rounds he got two poles but only won two heats, did win a pre-final and come second in another, but finished second, fifth, 11th and 15th in the four finals.

Dries Van Langendonck BELGIUM 13y/o
OK-J CIK World champion, WSK FC champion, 2nd in CotF, 5th in CIK European, 5th in WSK SMS, 9th in WSK CC, 9th in Trofeo delle Industrie, 14th in WSK Euro

Photo: sport-in-photo

Van Langendonck won the biggest race in junior karting, and was runner-up in what is becoming its biggest series on second place countback.

Driving for Forza Racing meant he was with the team to beat in the Champions of the Future series, while the factory squads put maximum effort into the world championship but got beaten by the young Belgian in a customer team.

And it’s important to note that because Van Langendonck started the year with Energy Corse, and it was only once he moved to Forza did he hit winning form. In CotF’s opening round he was fifth in his qualifying group, got one heat podium and was ninth in the final. He turned up to round two in a different team awning, and the impact was immediate as he topped qualifying, won all five heats and although he retired from his superheat he climbed eight places to finish fourth in the final.

Van Langendonck bounced back down to earth in round three, with fifth place in his qualifying group limiting him to one heat podium and in the final he was a penalised 12th. But the pace was there, as proven in round four as he topped qualifying again, won three heats and the final to sit firmly in title contention.

Even more heats were packed into the final round and Van Langendonck won two of them, came second in his superheat and completed a Forza one-two not only in the final but also in the standings.

The way he claimed the WSK Final Cup title showed what could have been in CotF had he done all rounds with Forza, and it was the same story in the European championship as he was turned into a title threat after changing teams.

Christian Costoya SPAIN 13y/o
OK-J 2nd in CIK Worlds, 3rd in WSK SMS, 3rd in WSK FC, 6th in CIK European, 6th in WSK Euro, 7th in CotF

Photo: KSP Reportages

The factory Parolin driver and Nicolas Todt protege was arguably the best driver in mini karting last year before stepping up to OK Junior karts in October. He came third in the WSK FC, and that set high expectations for 2023.

Costoya met them in almost every competition he was in, despite setbacks. His year started in WSK SMS, and he topped the first qualifying session of the season then won his first heat too. He won another and would have had two second places if not for a penalty, was third in the pre-final and fourth in the final.

In round two he was rapid again, winning a heat and coming second in the pre-final but getting disqualified from the final for pushing a rival off. He dropped to seventh in the standings during round three as he was once again rapid but got into trouble, and lessons were learned in time for round four where he won three heats and came eight in the final to rise up to third in the points table.

Costoya was consistent, and always picked up points in the preliminary races which made up for bad finishing positions in finals in various series. He was fourth in two European championship rounds, second in a WSK FC round and most importantly second in the world championship.

That weekend he was the driver to beat in qualifying, won four heats, came second in his superheat but once he was passed by Van Langendonck on lap one of the final his hopes of title glory were over. Second place was impressive all the same.

Cristian Bertuca ITALY 17y/o
KZ2 WSK SMS champion, WSK CC winner, Trofeo Andrea Margutti winner, 2nd in Italian, 3rd in WSK FC, 3rd in Trofeo delle Industrie, 4th in CIK European, 11th in South Garda Winter Cup, 15th in WSK OS, 35th in FIA WC

Photo: sport-in-photo

There was lots of winning by Bertuca on KZ2 karts this year, having stepped up to shifter karting midway through 2022.

But the glaring omission from his trophy cabinet was the World Cup, where he was fourth fastest in his qualifying group, only made the podium in one heat out of seven (with a penalty denying him another) and completed only five laps in total across his superheat and the final. A disaster of a weekend belying a super successful year.

His biggest triumph was the WSK SMS title, achieved with six heat wins, one pre-final win and a run of a first, a second and two thirds in the four finals. However he never topped qualifying.

The WSK Champions Cup and Andrea Margutti Trophy were single-weekend events he also won, he was runner-up in the Italian championship too (which runs over multiple rounds for KZ2 karts but is a single event for OK and OK-J drivers) and also won in a German championship cameo but wasn’t entered for points.

He was comfortably on course to win the WSK FC title until lap four of the final race, when he tumbled down the order from fourth place. Three laps later he retired, meaning no points and dropping to third in the standings.

Alex Powell JAMAICA 16y/o
OK CotF champion, 3rd in CIK European, 9th in WSK Euro, 28th in CIK Worlds   KZ2 2nd in CIK Worlds, 5th in CIK European, 8th in WSK OS, 24th in South Garda Winter Cup, 47th in WSK SMS

Photo: KSP Reportages

Powell starred in two karting classes and also single-seaters this year, fully reinforcing why he became an F1 junior aged 11.

Rather than start on OK karts then switch to KZ2s, Powell combined both from the off because later in the year he would need to be doing learning again with his move into F4. His consistently strong performances (after a disappointing two WSK SMS rounds to start the year) showed he had little trouble switching between the two every few weeks.

In the opening CotF round he topped his qualifying group, won three heats and led much of the final. However once he was passed by Turney for first place he didn’t have the pace to stay with the new leader. During round two he was on the podium in every race until the final where he set the fastest lap but finished eighth after spending the first eight laps in 29th place.

He took the points lead in round three by winning four heats, his superheat and coming second in the final. This time he lost the lead to Gabriel Gomez after they almost hit each, and also got passed by Turney but fought back to second place.

Powell found it harder to get on the podium in round four and retired on lap one of the final, but he still led the points and he secured the title in the final race of the season after losing out to Turney in yet another lead fight.

In the European championship, Powell had a shot to take titles in two categories. It quickly became a title fight between Lammers and Gomez on OK karts, with Powell looking on course for third place just as fast. And it did play out like that, with five heat wins, a superheat win and top-five finishes in every final leaving him some distance clear of everyone else bar the top two. He qualified badly in the last round, hampering his race results, but it didn’t impact his championship position.

The opening KZ2 round was Powell’s fourth weekend in shifter karting, and his most impressive. A bumper penalty did leave him 11th in his first heat, but he topped qualifying and won his next three heats and won the final from fifth on the grid.

It was crucial to get it right again in the title-deciding round two, but that’s not what happened. Powell’s three podiums were accompanied by two retirements in the heats, then a lap two incident dropped him to last place in the final. He scored just four points all weekend, being outscored by 15 rivals, and came fifth in the standings.

He still had the opportunity to be crowned best in the world in both categories, with KZ2’s world cup followed by the world championship for OK karts. In the former he starred, going unbeaten in qualifying, winning six heats, coming third in his superheat and second in the final. He spent every lap in that position, but only two of them within 0.3s of the winner Niels Troger. In the latter contest he won a heat but was eliminated by contact in another and in the final while in third place.

Lewis Wherrell ENGLAND 13y/o
OK-J CotF champion, WCK CC winner, Trofeo delle Industrie winner, 4th in CIK European, 6th in WSK FC, 8th in WSK Euro, 9th in WSK SMS, 35th in CIK Worlds

Photo: Sport-in-photo

The other half of Forza’s CotF domination, Wherrell grew in confidence each time he won a race and he showed he could bounce back from bad results.

In the opening round he won his superheat and came third in the final, then in round won three heats (with a fourth denied by a penalty) and led the first five laps of the final before spinning out. But he moved into the championship lead since nearest rival Thibaut Ramaekers didn’t score in the final either.

There were some setbacks in round three two but he responded each time. Two heat wins sandwiched a retirement, and finishing second in his superheat put him fifth on the final grid. He made it to the front and pulled away once in the lead.

That victorious comeback was followed by a disastrous round four where he only got one heat podium and came ninth in the final, yet still led the standings. Once again he bounced back, topping qualifying, winning five heats, only losing out to Ramaekers by 0.055s in his superheat and then in the final taking a lights-to-flag win in a Forza one-two to become champion by a huge 51 points.

He bookended the year by winning the WSK CC and Trofeo delle Industrie, while in the CIK-FIA competitions he also had an up-and-down time. Third place in the European championship looked to be his after five heat wins, a superheat win and second place in a final over the first three rounds, but he lost wins to penalties more than once and in the final round he retired from second in his superheat following a clash then had another in the final that got him disqualified.

Thibaut Ramaekers BELGIUM 14y/o
OK 3rd in WSK FC   OK-J 2nd in CIK European, 3rd in CotF, 6th in WSK SMS, 15th in WK Euro, 36th in CIK Worlds   X30 Jr IAME Winter Cup winner, 7th in IAME Euro

Photo: Champions of the Future

Ramaekers raced three different types of karts this year at two different levels, and was a frontrunner on all of them. While he did bring home lost of impressive results, even more went amiss.

He kicked things off in February by winning the IAME Winter Cup for X30 Junior karts, then in March won CotF and European championship rounds on OK-J machinery. WSK SMS was the next series to conquer for a weekend in April, but then the results did not show his pace over the next two CotF and CIK rounds, with each series racing at Trinec and Rodby.

On first trip to the Czech Republic for CotF he didn’t even complete one lap of the final and had been 12th in his superheat, but before that had been on the podium in every heat. In the return trip for the European championship he did get a better final result, finishing fourth, and also banked points by again finishing every heat on the podium.

Then to Denmark, and Ramaekers finished 18th in the CotF final in a points-free round. He had won two heats, but been hit out of one and disqualified from another, and finished a penalised 10th rather than third in his superheat. He sat fourth in the standings, one spot behind Stepan Antonov who had missed an entire round.

Attempt two at Rodby in the European championship also resulted in 18th, but left him second in the standings having claimed four heat podiums and third in his superheat.

Ramaekers delivered in the key races again after that, with two trips to Cremona resulting in fourth in the CotF round and victory in the European finale to make him championship runner-up. He only needed 11 more points to be champion…

Next up was a return to X30 Jr for the IAME Euro Series finale, and finishing second in that lifted him from 12th to seventh in the standings. Fifth in the final CotF round brought him back up to third in the points table, and then came the world championship. His bad luck in finals returned, as he and Wherrell were hit out after just three corners.

Macauley Bishop ENGLAND
Rotax Snr 3rd in Grand Finals, 8th in Int. Trophy, 34th in Euro   X30 Senior 9th in IAME WF   Rotax Jr British champion, British GP winner   X30 Jr British champion

Photo: Motorsport UK

Bishop was brilliant in Britain, winning the junior championships for Rotax and X30 karts. He also won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in the former, but a sterner test of his abilities came when he took his talents abroad.

His first overseas trip was Rotax Max Challenge’s International Trophy at Le Mans, and he chose to step up to the senior class. He was 21st in his qualifying group, yet finished fifth in his first heat. That was followed by 30th, a penalised 27th (after rising to 10th), fourth and 13th places. Combined it put him 14th on the superheat grid but he rose to sixth with fastest lap. More climbing was to come, since he had scraped into the final. From 34th on the grid he finished eighth. A big weekend of learning.

Bishop then did the RMC Euro Trophy’s British round at PFI International. He was second in qualifying, came first, second and first in the heats, then was second in the pre-final. But in the final he sank to 11th on lap one.

In a cameo on X30 Senior karts he came ninth in the IAME Warriors Final, then in the RMC Grand Finals in Bahrain won in the heats, pre-finals and was third in the final (after the on-the-road top three were penalised).

As for his domestic success, the X30 Jr season was closely contested and the top two in the championship were disqualified from the season finale. That locked in Bishop’s winning margin of 26 points, a small gap given the top five all scored more than 700. He won the final in three of the five rounds, and more tellingly took the maximum points haul seven out of a possible 15 times (with the combined heat results awarding the same number of points as the pre-final and the final). Bishop was driving one of the Lando Norris-branded kart chassis, and the next best LN driver was 18th in the standings.

In the Rotax Junior season he built more of a gap at the top of the table, scoring the maximum haul of 65 points 11 times out of 15 but again winning three of the five finals. The grand prix began with a big crash, and on lap two Ethan Jeff-Hall and Bishop traded the lead four times. Joshua Graham then took second, and the top two fled. Bishop won by 0.54s.

Daniel Vasile ROMANIA 23y/o
KZ2 2nd in CIK European, 2nd in German, 2nd in Trofeo delle Industrie, 2nd in Trofeo Andrea Margutti, 3rd in FIA WC, 6th in Italian, 10th in WSK SMS, 16th in WSK OS, 31st in WSK FC

Photo: KSP Reportages

This may seem like an unfair inclusion since Vasile has been a KZ2 regular since 2017, but he had a big breakout year.

Third in the 2017 WSK FC and winning the 2018 WSK CC were his last big results prior to 2023, which began with a WSK SMS campaign. He topped qualifying for round one, finished two heats in third, was second in the pre-final and then fifth in the final, but it was downhill thereon. In rounds two to four he was always outside of the top 10 in qualifying, a third place was his only top-six heat result, he was sixth in two pre-finals and 10th was his best final result. The end outcome: 10th in the standings.

But elsewhere he brought home the results. He was Andrea Margutti Trophy runner-up, in the European championship opener made the podium in every heat, won the superheat and was sixth in the final, then in the first round of the German championship finished first and third in the weekend’s two finals.

Vasile became European championship runner-up in its second round, despite only qualifying sixth and finishing no higher than third in his heats, as he took second place in the superheat in a photo finish then was second in the final too. He also delivered when it mattered in the world cup. After making the podium in six heats (including two wins), he went from sixth to third on the opening lap of the final then held his position.

The German season ended in Italy and Vasile won both heats then finished first and second in the two finals to win the fight to be vice-champion. Despite missing two of the Italian championship’s five rounds, Vasile was still able to come sixth in that as he was consistently contending for podiums in the finals.

Iskender Zulfikari TURKEY 11y/o
ROK Jr Supercup winner   OK-J 28th in WSK FC   OK-NJ 5th in WSK Euro, 28th in Road to the WC, 36th in Italian   Mini WSK SMS champion, WSK CC winner, South Garda Winter Cup winner, WSK SC winner, 3rd in Trofeo Andrea Margutti, 6th in Italian, 10th in WSK OS

Photo: ROK Supercup

Not only the most successful driver of the year in mini karting, but now a proven prospect at the next level too.

Zulfikari won the South Garda Winter Cup in his first race event of 2023, a week later won the WSK CC then the week after that smashed the opening WSK SMS round out of the park by taking pole, winning three heats, his pre-final and the final.

He got a week off before the next round, where he won two heats, was denied pre-final victory by 0.115s and led the final until he retired on the last lap and dropped to third in the standings. In round three he climbed a spot despite not winning, but his combined losing margin in the three heats came to 1.311s, he lost the pre-final by just 0.028s and the final by 0.104s.

The final round was similar at first, Zulfikari being just 0.004s away from winning a heat, but he won the pre-final and second in the final delivered him the title. Before that event was the Andrea Margutti Trophy, which he finished third in, then June’s WSK Super Cup – which is only contested by mini karts – was won by the Turk. Like Vasile he also came sixth in the Italian championship despite missing two rounds. In the three he contested he took two poles, two heat wins, won a final and in round two climbed 12 places to finish third in one final then was second in the next.

In September he stepped up to junior karting, coming fifth in the WSK Euro Series for OK-N Junior karts and winning the ROK Supercup on his ROK Junior debut.

Ten more to watch…

It could be argued that many of the names here should have appeared in the main list of 10, and vice versa, since they were high achievers in some international competitions but also got outperformed in others.

Kirill Kutskov became world champion and won the WSK Euro Series in a top three lockout for drivers racing as neutrals (as all three were Russians), but finished no higher than 12th in any other series.

Photos: KSP Reportages

Alpine junior Kean Nakamura Berta finished two places behind him in the biggest race of the year, was fifth in the European championship after a disastrous opening round but was CotF runner-up. Like team-mate Powell, who beat him to that title, he was also busy on KZ2 karts and was sixth in both the world cup and European championship.

Tomass Stolcermannis was also a Prema driver this year, but only for his F4 debut as the Latvian was a factory Energy Corse driver on OK and KZ2 karts. In the former he came fourth in the European championship and WSK Euro Series, and in the latter was third in the European championship and seventh in the world cup.

Like the two above, Sasha Bondarev had high expectations on him after a breakout 2022 and he delivered in part. He was European champion, fifth in CotF and eighth in WSK SMS on OK-J karts, then after being signed as a Williams F1 junior he stepped up to OK karts and came seventh in the WSK FC.

The new OK-N class grew in stature through this year, and Antonio Apicella was one of the stars in its events as he was WSK Euro Series runner-up and won the ‘Road to the 1st World Cup’ event. In X30 Snr he was also sixth in the WSK CC.

Dean Hoogendoorn was Zulfikari’s big rival in mini karting, losing the WSK SMS points lead to him in the season’s penultimate race, coming third in the South Garda Winter Cup and WSK Open Series and fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy.

He got some redemption on OK-NJ machinery by winning the WSK Euro Series title and being ‘Road to the World Cup’ runner-up, and on X30 Jr karts he was fourth in Trofeo delle Industrie.

Filippo Sala was a consistent OK-J star, ending 2023 as WSK SMS runner-up, making the Trofeo delle Industrie podium, being fourth in the South Garda Winter Cup and WSK FC, and fifth in WSK’s Champions Cup and Euro Series.

Although he didn’t match his 2022 accomplishments, Sean Butcher still came second in the RMC Euro Trophy and BNL Series, was seventh in the Grand Finals and was third in the British championship for Rotax Senior karts.

Riccardo Ferrari won the WSK CC and Andrea Margutti Trophy as an X30 Jr karter, then won the Trofeo delle Industrie when he stepped up to X30 Snr. Similarly, Ernesto Rivera won the Florida Winter Tour (in a ROK Jr kart) and the USA’s national summer and winter X30 Jr championships then won the end-of-year SuperNationals in KA100 Senior.

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The post The top karting stars of 2023 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sauber Group

The addition of a new driver to Sauber’s young driver development programme and its karting team was one of the big talking points of the WSK Champions Cup weekend.

Joining Formula 2 star Theo Pourchaire and GB3 race-winner Roberto Faria in Sauber’s academy is Taym Saleh, a German teenager who is going into his third season of junior karting.

In 2021 he was third in the ADAC Kart Masters and 11th in the German championship for OK Junior karts, then last year he was third in the WSK’s Open Cup, 10th in the Champions Cup and 16th in the Euro Series. He was also 18th in the CIK-FIA World championship and 20th in the Champions of the Future series.

His time with Sauber started on a high this weekend at South Garda as Saleh finished third in the Champions Cup’s OK-J final behind the dominant Lewis Wherrell and Niklas Schaufler.

Wherrell topped qualifying and won all three of his heats, with Niklas Schaufler, Saleh and Iacopo Martinese winning the other three, then he dominated his pre-final.

The second pre-final was won by new factory Kart Republic driver Sasha Bondarev, which put him fourth on the grid for the final behind Wherrell, Dries van Langendonck and Filippo Sala.

There was no question of who was going to win the final, although Sala gave Wherrell a challenge early on which kept the front six tightly packed. Once Sala made a big mistake though, Wherrell started to pull away and Ukrainians Lev Krutogolov and Bondarev moved into second and third.

WH Sports-managed Bondarev passed his compatriot halfway through the race, with Schaufler following him past Krutogolov who like Sala started to tumble down the order. But Bondarev then made a mistake, leading to a condensed fight for second again and enabling Schaufler to get through.

Photo: Sportinphoto

As the top two broke a way a battle between Kart Republic’s drivers and Saleh heated up over third place. Saleh resisted several laps of pressure from a queue of karts, just about holding off Kart Republic’s Mercedes-AMG F1 junior Luna Fluxa and Sala.

Sauber’s only other karter is Miguel Costa, who is now in his fourth season with the team but is not one of its F1 juniors. He finished 22nd in the Champions Cup’s OK final on his debut in the senior kart category. Sauber is yet to confirm either driver’s programme of events for the year.

The first final at South Garda was for X30 Junior karts, and despite making an awful start Riccardo Ferrari was able to win for Zanchi Motorsport.

He spent most of the race battling with Sacha van’t Pad Bosch, but the Dutch protege of FIA Formula 3 champion Victor Martins was never in victory contention due to a five-second penalty for jumping the start.

Angolan karter Lorenzo Campos led early on before Ferrari and then Tiziano Kuzhinni came through.

Kuzhinni had the pace to pass Ferrari too, and the latter then spent the next laps sat right behind but not willing to make a move. He finally darted by with three laps to go, and Kuzhinni responded on the next lap but only momentarily held the lead.

That fight allowed van’t Pad Bosch to close right in for the final lap and there was a photo finish between the three. Ferrari won by 0.049 seconds, with van’t Pad Bosch 0.114s behind before his penalty.

That dropped him to sixth behind Victory Lane’s debuting Rocco Coronel – son of 1999 Super Formula champion and 2022 TCR Europe runner-up Tom – and Clovis Nougueyrede.

While the track action took much of the weekend attention, ahead of the event there were two major announcements.

Brando Pozzi won the WSK Champions Cup X30 Senior final by 0.005s

The poleman led early on from Pacome Weisenburger, who led some laps before losing a four-way final corner fight. Federico Rossi then rivalled Pozzi, who defended the last lap before Rossi tried a last corner move pic.twitter.com/0ogSie7rbg

— Formula Scout Karting (@KartingScout) January 29, 2023

The first was about the FIA’s new International Karting Ranking that has just come into effect. The logarithmic ranking will position drivers based on their results in FIA and non-FIA races across the world in many kart categories, and aims to limit “unrecognised competitions” and use driver experience for entry eligibility.

It is inspired by the ATP tennis rankings, and follows TCR’s recent adoption of a ranking for its touring car drivers worldwide. The FIA’s own competitions will be weighed at the highest coefficient for scoring points, followed by likes of Rotax and X30 kart competitions in ‘Category 2’ and mini karting in ‘Category 3’.

The second announcement was that the the racing debut of the new OK-N and OJN-Junior kart categories has been postponed from next week’s WSK Super Master Series opener to the first round of the WSK Euro Series at the end of August “due to ongoing tests by the teams for the technical preparation”. A global FIA contest for OK-N is set to arrive in 2024.

OK-N is a restricted engine that is forming the basis of a cheaper but heavier alternative to OK and OK-J karting, with the FIA intending to have more national championships take on ‘OK’ karts with the new OK-N ruleset.

Results round-up
OK-Junior final (17 laps)
1 Lewis Wherrell Forza Racing [Exprit] 14m00.654s
2 Niklas Schaufler DPK Racing [KR] +2.292s
3 Taym Saleh Sauber Academy [KR] +5.082s
4 Luna Fluxa Kart Republic [KR] +5.362s
5 Filippo Sala Sodikart [Sodikart] +5.503s
6 Stepan Antonov Kart Republic [KR] +6.805s
7 Sasha Bondarev Kart Republic [KR] +7.042s
8 Iacopo Martinese Kart Republic [KR] +7.267s
9 Dries van Langendonck Energy Corse [Energy Corse] +8.458s
10 Simon Rechenmacher TB Racing [KR] +8.603s
Fastest lap: Sala, 48.658s

X30 Junior final (17 laps)
1 Riccardo Ferrari Zanchi Motorsport [Tony Kart] 14m21.995s
2 Tiziano Kuzhnini Team Driver [Tony Kart] +0.049s
3 Lorenzo Campos Team Drive [Tony Kart] +2.062s
4 Rocco Coronel Victory Lane [Redspeed] +2.671s
5 Clovis Nougueyrede Victory Lane [Redspeed] +3.551s
6 Sacha van’t Pad Bosch Victory Lane [Redspeed] +5.114s
7 Christian Romeo Giovanni Romeo [Tony Kart] +5.203s
8 Fabio Reale LA Motorsport [Falcon] +5.278s
9 Alberto Fulgori Jr [Kosmic] +12.042s
10 Paolo Tizzano DK Racing [IPK] +16.570s
FL: Coronel, 49.800s

The post Sauber’s new junior one of many talking points at WSK Champions Cup appeared first on Formula Scout.