FastR Junior Athlete Lucas Blantford Racing became involved in an 11-kart pileup at Whilton Mill Go Karting and Outdoor activities last weekend during the weekend’s third heat.
The 13-year-old, who hopes to enter the world of car racing next season, was hit from multiple angles at the FastR-supported circuit on Sunday at more than fifty-five miles per hour, exacerbating a chest injury from earlier this year.
The junior racer had won both previous heats across the weekend, leading one by 5 seconds before a Battenberg flag, and was leading the championship at the time, but despite being forced to retire from the event, stayed to watch his teammate compete. Regardless of being unable to take part in the final round of the weekend, Lucas left the circuit in joint second place, just one point behind the leader.
He is now undergoing a course of rigorous cryotherapy and hyperbaric Oxygen therapy hoping to be strong enough to race later this month in both the Shenington and Whilton Mill Championships, the former of which he is leading, and is hoping to clinch both titles.
This injury came on the coattails of Lucas’ first foray into car-based motorsport, as the teenager spent the weekend before getting to grips with manual race cars for the very first time. Despite never having driven a car before his first test day, instructor Matty Street remarked that the Warwickshire-based Blantford was just over one-second off his pace by the end of the day, demonstrating his natural talent and impressive future. This was followed by a test session in a Citroen Saxo Junior Saloon Car, a potential option for his first season in tin-tops next year.
Lucas’ next event takes place at Oxfordshire’s Shenington Circuit on the 17th & 18th of September, and the young driver is working hard to ensure he is well enough to race.