An encouraging return for James Wharton

James Wharton returned to competition with great excitement and determination at the WSK Champions Cup at the beginning of 2021. On the international circuit of Adria in Italy, the Australian immediately took the lead in the OK category. The driver from the Ferrari Driver Academy and the Parolin Motorsport Srl team showed he would be a force to be reckoned with in 2021.

Preparation for the new season started under excellent auspices for James Wharton. After some hard and fruitful winter tests, he immediately found himself in the leading group of the WSK Champions Cup as soon as the Timed Practice sessions started, with 10th position out of a total of 66 participants. “I was very happy to get back into the racing atmosphere with the Parolin Motorsport team,” James admitted. “We’ve known each other for more than a year and a half, some habits have been created and that enables us to react quickly to find the best solutions to move forward.”

A clear round during the Qualifying phase

In Adria, four heats per driver were on the programme for OK, and James Wharton managed to put together a brilliant phase with four solid results in 3rd, 7th and 4th place. “We used these qualifications to work on fine-tuning the equipment and to develop our Parolin-TM Racing package. However, I wasn’t completely satisfied with our speed during the heats.”

In the Prefinal, the 15-year-old Australian made an excellent start to the race. Starting in 5th place, he quickly found himself in 4th position, before being attacked by equally competitive opponents. “I tried to keep my place, but the last laps were difficult and I had to settle for 8th place, which only put me in 15th position on the starting grid for the Final.”

Once again, James made a good start and soon found himself in 12th position. Unfortunately, a technical problem forced him to retire halfway through the race. “I would have liked to repeat my successful top five in the Junior class in 2019 in this WSK Champions Cup, but it wasn’t possible this season. However, I am not worried. There are still several races to go before the start of the European Championship and I know that with the Parolin Motorsport team we have great potential. Personally, I also want to show the Ferrari Driver Academy and Nicolas Todt from All Road Management that they were right to trust me.”

James Wharton – Press release / Photo © KSP