In what has been an impressive debut karting season as a senior, Max Walton has successfully qualified to represent Australia at the prestigious Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Sarno, Italy this coming October.
Walton booked his ticket to Italy, after completing a successful campaign in the Rotax Light class at the Rotax National Cup, held on the weekend of August 17-18 at the Ipswich Kart Club in Max’s home state of Queensland. Having qualified third in Rotax Light, the factory backed Parolin Australia driver claimed three seconds in the first, second and fourth heats, whilst finishing third in the third heat. The combined results placed him second on the grid alongside Jace Matthews for CXR Racing and ahead of his Parolin Australia teammate, Harrison Hoey.
Matthews led the opening lap of the 20 lap Final, but dropped back to third on lap two and then down to eighth on lap four. This allowed Walton to inherit the lead on the second lap, a lead that would remain unchallenged for the remainder of the race. Walton took out the Rotax Light Final and claimed his first major karting title since stepping up as a senior competitor at the beginning of the season.
Walton also claimed second overall in the DD2 class for gearbox karts. In almost a repeat of his results in Rotax Light, Walton qualified third and racked up three seconds and a third in his heats. The combined results would place the Queenslander on the front row for the DD2 Final alongside Australian champion and Parolin teammate, Harrison Hoey. Walton threw everything at his teammate, but the more experienced Hoey was too good and took out the Final by almost four seconds from Walton, making it a Parolin 1-2. Hoey’s win also gave him the ‘golden ticket’ to Italy, where he’ll join Walton to represent Australia in Italy this October.
The recent Rotax National Cup success for Walton caps off a busy couple of weeks for the 15 year old. At the end of July, he contested the Northern Territory State Titles where he finished second overall in KA3 Senior Light. He then headed south to Melbourne and the Todd Road complex to contest the City of Melbourne Cup on the first weekend of August, where he took out the TAG 125 Light title, 5th overall in KA3 Senior Light and 6th in X30.
On August 10-11, he then headed to South Australia to contest the SA State Titles where he claimed his first Blue Plate as a senior, winning the TAG 125 Light title. He backed it up with a third place overall in KA3 Senior Light.
advertisement
On top of his recent results, Walton has impressed in his first Senior season of the Australian Karting Championship, currently sitting in third place overall in the X30 class with one round to go.
Walton will now prepare for one of the biggest events of his career to date, where he will fly to Italy in early October – the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at the Circuito Internazionale di Napoli. Prior to this, he will contest the final round of the Australian Karting Championship this weekend at Oakleigh in Victoria.
His last race in Australia before he flies to Italy will be the NSW State Titles at the Port Macquarie Go Karting Club on September 27-29.
2024 ROTAX NATIONAL CUP SUMMARY – CLASS: ROTAX LIGHT
Qualifying: 3rd
Heat 1: 2nd
Heat 2: 2nd
Heat 3: 3rd
Heat 4: 2nd
Final: 1st
2024 ROTAX NATIONAL CUP SUMMARY – CLASS: DD2
Qualifying: 3rd
Heat 1: 2nd
Heat 2: 3rd
Heat 3: 2nd
Heat 4: 2nd
Final: 2nd
advertisement