Christchurch karting champion Louis Sharp has come through two high pressure weekends of competition on his European racing debut with a win and a podium finish to his credit.
Sharp was one of eight New Zealanders competing at the ROK Cup Superfinal event in Italy over the weekend of 9-12 October 2019 at the South Garda Kart track near Lonato, east of Milan in northern Italy. The 12-year-old multiple New Zealand champion was among 134 entrants aged nine to 13-years from around the world competing in the Vortex Mini ROK category.
First up was the big Trofeo D’Autunno (Autumn Trophy) meeting, which ran 4-6 October, at the same circuit. Sharp’s goal was to learn the circuit and be among the fastest 34 of 102 Mini ROK competitors to make the ‘A’ Final.
He started strongly, fastest in the very first test session in mixed wet/dry track conditions, impressing the Italian team, Parolin AV Racing, which was running his kart for these two Italian events. In later sessions on a dry, super grippy track, he was within the top ten in terms of lap times. Engine issues hampered the second day of testing, but Sharp used his braking and passing skills to best advantage.
Eleventh fastest in the first official practice, he then qualified 24th fastest from 102 racers, which put him 10th on the grid for the group heats. Sharp finished the first heat in fifth place with the current European champion third and the US champion sixth. However, a racing incident in heat two saw Sharp taken out on the very first corner which meant he didn’t have the chance to make the ‘A’ Final and would start well down the grid in 16th place in the ‘B’ Final.
To everyone’s amazement, Sharp drove an incredible race to win the ‘B’ Final! He made up 15 places to take the lead then pull away for the win by just over a second from top Polish driver Franczisze Czapla and Romanian Tudor Tudurachi.
Following the Trofeo D’Autunno meeting, Sharp was delighted with his ‘B’ Final win and said he felt confident going into the ROK Cup Superfinal knowing that he had quickly learnt the track and was able to race with the fast guys.
“However, I needed to work on how to qualify with so many drivers on the track,” he said, “so I spent some time with my driver coach Chris Cox looking at videos of previous qualifying sessions.”
Sharp’s goal for the ROK Cup Superfinal remained the same – qualify for the ‘A’ Final.
Early test sessions saw Sharp among the top ten pace-setters and then the young racer impressed his team and coach even further by qualifying fourth fastest out of 135 competitors.
Unfortunately, two incidents meant he ultimately missed the cut for the ‘A’ Final – the chain came off his kart engine in the first heat and a racing incident in the second heat sent him off the track before he managed to get going again and finish 17th. The team was disappointed, as they believed Sharp could win the category. Sharp was also understandably disappointed but remained positive as he went into the following day’s heats when he crossed the line second in the third and fourth heats to secure his place in the ‘B’ Final (Singha Trophy).
Starting in 14th place in the Singha Trophy, Sharp drove a sterling race to work his way past 11 other competitors to grab third place and the final step of the podium. Commentators described the performance as the drive of the day.
Sharp says he’s proud of his efforts in Italy. “I’m happy to know I can compete with best in the world and can’t wait to do it all again.”
The Parolin AV Racing team manager Allesandro Villa was very complimentary of Sharp’s talents, saying he should have been in the ‘A’ Final and worthy of a podium finish. The team has invited him to come back and race for them again in the future.
Next up for the young karter are the South Island Championships, running 26-27 October at KartSport Dunedin’s Silverstream Raceway at Mosgiel, where he hopes to defend his current title and claim his fifth South Island title in a row.
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