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Post-Shenington quotes and a look forward to the CIK Asia-Pacific race in Japan
13 May 2009
After scoring back-to-back KF1 victories, Ben Cooper was understandably delighted. “I feel like I’m definitely in the driving seat now,” he said. “I was fast at PFi (at the opening round) but wasn’t consistent. Now, we seem to be fast everywhere. That’s down in part to me now understanding how to drive a KF kart. It’s a very different style to that of a Rotax”.
Commenting on the exciting, close racing he added, “Everyone was a threat. A lot of my competitors were fast, as I was. I just couldn’t pull away. The racing was so close, it was really good.”
Looking forward to the CIK Asia-Pacific Championship, in which he will switch back to the KF2 class, the Oxford Brookes University student says, “We’ve got the pace. So I think we’ll be certainly able to run at the front. Luck will be a factor too. Racing in Japan will be a new experience for me, but then it’s almost like any other race. We’re going there to do the very best we can, and on our current form I’d say a podium is a possibility.”
“Id like to thank everyone at Strawberry Racing for all they did towards my first KF1 victory, Philippe from Marechal Motorsport, he put a lot of effort in with the engines and of course my parents for all their help and support.”
Luke Wright was also thrilled with his maiden KF1 podium.
“I’m pleased, really pleased. To have this just a week after taking my first podium with the Tony Kart Junior Race Team at Angerville is fantastic. Hopefully we can carry on this form from now on”.
Acknowledging the team’s delight, he said “Paul (Spencer) was delighted. So was Philippe. I’m glad to have given them another good finish, and for my mechanic Dodge’s sake to have brought the kart home in one piece.”
The team will fly out to Japan on Tuesday (19 May) and he is clearly keyed up about making his debut at the legendary venue, “Am I excited? Of course! It’s going to be a proper race, very much in the style of the old days because we’ll largely have free tyre, engine and chassis choice. That will make it so much more open and fascinating from a driver’s point of view. It should be great fun.”
Chris Lock remained upbeat despite his obvious disappointment. “I qualified okay and the speed I had over a lap was really fast”.
Chris is also eagerly anticipating the trip to Suzuka and admits to have been quietly practicing his Japanese, “I know how to say ‘thankyou’ - domo arigato,” he says with a laugh. The current European Rotax Champion has raced abroad extensively, but not in the Far East - “I’ve never been out to Asia before. The Asia-Pacific event is a big race and it’ll be hard. I’ve been looking at the results from previous years and not only do you get the best drivers in Europe going out there but also some very good Japanese drivers taking part also. It seems to be that there are always about ten to twenty drivers who can win. I think we can be up there but will be quite hard”.
Team boss reflected on his drivers’ performances with satisfaction. “I’m very happy. Ben delivered a perfect performance and now leads the points table. Luke showed great determination to come through from ninth to third and poor Chris had a really tough time. We suspect his problems were caused by a batch of bad fuel. Don’t forget he’s the same driver who won the first final at the European Qualifier at Angerville the week before, so I’m confident that he will bounce back and be fully on the pace in Japan.”
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