Volante Rosso Motorsport signs 14-year-old karting sensation, Max Walton
Volante Rosso Motorsport has added to its junior development stable by signing current Australian Junior Kart Championship leader, Max Walton.
Walton headed into last weekend’s second round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship in Perth leading KA2 after a solid opening round in South Australia last month.
The youngster is the latest addition to Volante Rosso Motorsport’s program which debuted 16-year-old Alex Gardner in its Radical Cup program last weekend and yesterday, announced that former Dunlop Super 2 Series frontrunner, Jayden Ojeda would join its Harrolds-backed Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia team for the remainder of 2023.
Queenslander Walton comes from a strong bloodline in motorsport, his father Kris having won a national karting championship as well as the Australian and New Zealand V8 Ute Series’ and a win at the SuperNats in Las Vegas – arguably the biggest karting event in the world.
Equally, Max’s mother, Danielle Argiro-Walton has her own storied career covering Formula 3, V8 Utes, Production Cars and Aussie Racing Cars.
Earlier this year, Walton joined the Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 team for its pre-Bathurst 12 Hour test session to observe the internal workings of the professional race team, which went on to chase down a podium in their division.
Walton will be introduced to Volante Rosso Motorsport’s Radical program and also be alongside the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia program. He’ll be introduced to testing when old enough under Motorsport Australia licensing rules.
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The youngster is no doubt ecstatic to be signed to such a program.
“What Volante Rosso Motorsport have planned for the future is pretty exciting and I’m thrilled to be joining the team under this development scholarship,” said Max Walton. “We’re working out the program at the moment and as soon as I can test in a racecar – I will.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be part of the team at their test sessions this year already, which has allowed me to see how the team goes about its business and it is also giving me an introduction to the data processes. It is great to be part of Volante Rosso Motorsport and everything they have planned to move forward.”
For Co-Team Principal, Chris Papadopoulos, adding Walton is the next step in providing opportunities for young Australian motorsport talent.
“For Volante Rosso Motorsport to provide pathways for the next generation of Australian motor racers is really important to me,” said Papadopoulos. “It gives not only us but young drivers opportunities to build their careers. Our team has the experience to strengthen drivers on and off the track, having been exposed to many racing categories around the world ourselves.
“We ran several drivers through our Formula 4 cars last year and it proved beneficial for then heading into the Ferrari Driver Academy Asia Pacific and Oceania Selection Trials.
“Now we’re starting to see that with the Radical program having Alex Gardner on board and securing a couple of top three finishes in his first outing with us and then our GT program is continuing to grow, particularly after this week announcing Jayden Ojeda for the year and landing another Mercedes-AMG GT3 entering the championship from Philip Island onwards.
“So to add Max, at 14, is another string to that bow and he will be part of it all. He will be alongside us wherever he can be and learning the ropes – we feel that the best drivers have a holistic understanding to thrive in the team environment, not just from the driver’s seat, and as the cliche, we may even have a broom in his hand to sweep the floor at some stage!”
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