Delroy s Lucas Walters in his Tony Kart, which he brought to Australia at the start of the year. (Pic: Daily Liberal)
A 14-year-old boy, born and raised in France, has added a new dimension to life at Dubbo College Delroy Campus this year.
Year 9 student Lucas Walters not only brings life-long experience of a different culture, but also a long list of achievements in his chosen sport of kart racing.
Lucas, who began kart racing as a seven-year-old, made an impressive debut in Australia in June, nine months after his last race in France.
Competing in the Junior National Light Category, Lucas had a podium finish in the annual Three Track Challenge at Dubbo’s Lincoln County Raceway.
He followed this up in July when he finished fourth in the final of the 125cc Rotax Junior Max category.
This weekend he will compete in the Australasian Gold Cup, hosted by Dubbo Kart Club, and he is hoping to pull out a top performance.
“Karting is a major sport in Europe and I was really pleased to find it is also popular at Dubbo,” Lucas said.
“Lincoln County Raceway is a great track and the club has a championship race every month. Most recently I took out a third and fourth place so I was quite pleased with my performance.”
In France Lucas was placed sixth in his category prior to moving to Australia earlier this year.
For racing in Europe, Lucas held an International “C” junior licence and the Australian Karting Association automatically issued him with an Australian “B” grade licence for racing here.
Bruce, his Australian father, first became involved in motor sports in 1964 and moved to France 21 years ago as a qualified ski instructor.
He was instrumental in introducing Lucas to competition skiing and kart racing in Europe.
“Racing in the northern hemisphere is extremely competitive, but Australian karters like Joseph Mawson, Pierce Lehane, Dimitri Agathos and Josh Smith are really making their mark on European kart racing circuits,” Bruce said.
“Hopefully Lucas will progress to follow their traces heading towards top motor racing formulas.”
Lucas shares his passion for kart racing with three other students at Delroy Campus – Kyle Reynolds and Nathan and Bradley Freeman.
All are keen racers and Lucas and Kyle are looking forward to competing together at the NSW State Titles at Lithgow in October.
