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Strawberry gears up for Rotax World Finals
Varley, Reilly and Hunter to give it a pharaoh go
2nd December 2009
The history of Egypt stretches back over ten thousand years, and next week the team is hoping to carve its name back into the record books at the Rotax Grand Finals at Sharm El-Sheikh.
The Ghibli Raceway hosts the tenth annual World Finals for the Rotax category and Strawberry will be represented by three drivers; Henry Hunter (in Junior), Luke Varley and Formula Renault returnee, Joseph Reilly (both in Senior).
Luke Varley
Team manager, Warwick Ringham says, “We’re excited and confident, with regards to this year’s event. I’m delighted to see Joseph return from car racing to compete in Egypt. He is very strong in events such as this and it would be fantastic for him to cap his karting career with a podium in the World Finals.”
He added, “We won this year’s Euro Max title with Luke, and naturally he has to start as one of the favourites. However, he’s up against over seventy of the very best Rotax drivers in the world and competing on unfamiliar equipment. However, if we can get the set-up right, I’m sure he’ll be every bit as quick as the guys who race week-in, week-out on the type of chassis we’re being supplied with.”
Henry Hunter
Turning his attentions to the team’s youngest driver, Warwick comments, “Henry will be on his own in the Juniors but that won’t faze him. He’s a super lad, a good little pilot and this will be a fantastic opportunity for him to demonstrate his talent.”
Strawberry Racing has a proud tradition in the finals - which first ran in 2000 and were held at Puerto Rico – last year at La Conca in Italy, the team’s 2009 KF stars Ben Cooper and Chris Lock finished first and second in the senior class, whilst Benjy Russell won the biggest Rotax title in 2007.
Joseph Reilly
“I don’t know if it adds pressure, especially on Luke and Joseph, or gives them that extra incentive. To be honest, every year we approach each event with a completely open mind and simply aim to do our best. We’ll adopt that approach again – do our best in qualifying and the heats, work out where we are from there and then start to worry about the finals.”
The week-long event starts on Monday 7 December, with the all-important finals taking place on Saturday 12.
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