Mercedes F1 reserve driver Valtteri Bottas will suit up and race at round three of the Australian Kart Championship.
The Finn will compete at Newcastle in the premier KZ2 gearbox category aboard an Australian Arrow chassis.
“I love the Aussie culture, the Aussie people, and so it makes sense to drive an Aussie kart” the Mercedes reserve said.
The deal was signed in the leadup to the Australian Grand Prix. When quizzed about the date clash with the Canadian Grand Prix, Bottas was sheepish before revealing he will not be attending Canada because Mercedes “will use one of its Junior drivers” for the reserve role at that race – but was not permitted to reveal who that might be.
The fact Bottas wants to race an Arrow created a problem at DPE – the Melbourne-based manufacturer doesn’t currently have a KZ2-spec chassis in production.
“Valtteri came to the factory once he had finished at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival” DPE’s Steven Gawne told KartSportNews.
“We discussed his plans, measured him up and test fitted to a chassis so we can prepare a machine for him for June. It will be an X7 branded chassis, but will be quite different to our current 2-stroke single-speed version.”
Bottas recognizes the Australian Kart Championship is one of the most competitive in the world, and says he has no expectation of challenging for the win.
advertisement
But he does have a target.
“I am interested to see how I go compared to James Golding” Bottas revealed.
“I really want to race an Aussie Supercar one day, so James will be the benchmark for me. If I can keep in sight of him, mission accomplished.”
Bottas might also return for round four at Ipswich, pending what Mercedes is doing at the time with its junior and reserve drivers (Ipswich is the same weekend as the Belgian GP).
“It just depends what is going on with Mercedes and its drivers, and also the Mercedes customer teams and their drivers. My F1-duties will likely taper off after mid-year, so Ipswich is, I think you Aussies say, a fifty-fifty chance.”
“I hear it’s not too far from the Gold Coast. I love the surf and the sun of the Gold Coast, so it would make a nice holiday too.”
EDITED: Laughter is good for the soul. Check the date of this post 🙂
advertisement