15 replies to this topic

[DX_Doppler]

I've read some comments on Button's and Trulli's karting performance. How good were they?

Also are there any karters who dominated but never made the grade in the higher formulas?

[Real Estate Queen]

Don't know abot Button, but I hear that Trulli was first class and a multiple champion.
As for the second question, Mike Wilson was the one man who should have made it in higher formulas, but couldn't gather the proper sponsoring, and when he was offered a free ride, he couldn't do it because he had to support his family. Apparently, it was all a matter of timing.

[Peter Perfect]

Jenson:-

• 1989
  ->Winner - British Super Prix
• 1990
  ->Winner - British Cadet Championship
  
• 1991
  ->Winner - British Cadet Championship (8-12 year olds). Won all six rounds.
  ->Winner - British Open Championship
  
• 1992
  ->Winner - British Championship for Junior TKM (11-16 year olds)
  ->Winner - British Open Championship
  
• 1993
  ->Winner - British Open Championship
  
• 1994
  ->RAC British Junior Championship - fourth place
  ->Drove for Italian Birel Team
  ->Junior Intercontinental A European Championship - race winner
  ->Junior Intercontinental A Italian Winter Championship - double race winner
  
• 1995
  ->Winner - Senior ICA Italian Championship
  ->Runner-up - Formula A World Championship in France. The youngest ever runner-up.
  
• 1996
  ->Fifth place - European Formula A Championship
  ->Third place - American Championship at Charlotte
  ->Third place - World Cup at Suzuka
  
• 1997
  ->Works driver for Team GKS-Tecno-Rotax-Bridgestone
  ->Second place - Winter Cup (warm up for the European Championship)
  ->Winner - European Super A Championship. The youngest ever winner.
  ->Winner - The Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup at Suzuka, Japan

Jarno:-

• 1983
  ->Mini Kart
  
• 1987
  ->Winner Gold Medal "Youth Games" 100 cadet class
  
• 1988
  ->Winner Italian Go-Kart Championship 100 National class
  
• 1989
  ->Winner Italian Go-Kart Championship 100 National class
  
• 1990
  ->Winner Italian Go-kart Championship 100 National Class
  Winner Grand Prix of Hong Kong Class 100 FA
  
• 1991
  ->Winner World Go-kart Championship class 100 FK
  
• 1992
  ->World Go-kart Championship lass 125FC, 2nd
  
• 1993
  ->World Go-kart Champion class 100 SA 2nd
  ->Winner Grand Prix of Japan Class 100 FSA
  
• 1994
  ->Winner World Cup "Memorial Ayrton Senna" class 100 FSA
  ->Winner European Go-kart Championship class 100 FSA
  ->Winner North America Go-kart Championship class 100 FSA
  ->Winner World Go-kart Championship class 125FC
  
• 1995
  ->Winner Grand Prix of Australia 100 FSA
  ->Winner Italian Go-kart Championship class 100 FA
  ->Winner World Cup "Memorial Ayrton Senna" class 100 FSA

They were both pretty good in karts...

[jpf]

Hot Damn! Trulli was kicking ass and taking names in karts. Keep your fingers crossed for Renault next year...

[JayWay]

Trulli is one of the best of all time. However, from what I hear, Fisichella was nearly as fast, but Trulli always had the factory support, and the newest tyres, chassis' etc.

[DX_Doppler]

Are Trulli Karts and Trulli in some connected or is it just a coincidence?

[MortenF1]

The Trulli Kart is actually "Jarno's" kart yes, so no coincidence there! I believe they're made in co-operation with Birel or Tonykarts.

[Billy]

Originally posted by DX_Doppler
Are Trulli Karts and Trulli in some connected or is it just a coincidence?

His homepage http://www.jarnotrulli.com has a section on the Trulli Karts.

Jarno is very enthusiastic in his sales pitch:

I must confess that even today nothing thrills me or makes me happier than a couple of hours spent driving a go-kart because it exhilarates me in the same way as a F1 car and at the same time it is stimulating and fulfilling from a technical point of view. This is the reason why I decide, when I stopped go-kart racing, that I had to do something more for this sport in recognition of how much it had given me. I wanted to place the knowledge and experience I had acquired during a long winning career at the disposal of you drivers and go-kart lovers. In order to make my dream come true I worked personally on testing and developing a frame which had all the requirements I felt were necessary in order to be a winner. To produce it I addressed a company whose technology was capable of facing the project: Tony Kart, the same one which assisted me during my successful career as a go-kart driver. This was to give birth to the Trulli frame, the way of connecting my name to the go-karting world, of enabling you to experience unbelievable emotion and of opening the doors to all the secrets behind this fantastic world.

[birdie]

I've read some comments on Button's and Trulli's karting performance. How good were they?

As has been amply covered, they are probably the best karters in the F1 field. Fisichella and Raikkonen may have been better in terms of pure speed but getting yourself into the best position to win is part of the sport as well.

Also are there any karters who dominated but never made the grade in the higher formulas?

Many... (I don't consider most of the formulae to be higher though) Gianluca Beggio, Peter De Bruijn, Davide Fore, Danilo Rossi, Terry Fullerton, Max Orsini... Think about it, you're earning good money as a professional kart racer and then you have to give that up on the off chance that you might make F1 or CART. If you're in the sport purely because you love racing you're gonna stay where you are.

[RedFever]

Fisichella had a better reputation as a driver in Italy, but Jarno was extremely respected as well. Fisi however showed again more speed in F3, when he dominated the Italian championship (11 wins in one season in a series were JV never won a race). Yes, Jarno won German F3, but Fisi topped him by scoring two poles in Monaco (where all F3 top guns from UK, France, Germany, Italy, etc, show up), winning one and retiring in the other while leading.

[Jason]

Can someone post Giancarlo Fisichella's karting results?

[Nustang70]

i know this has been asked recently somewhere??...but is there a good site for F3 information?

[Alien]

Have you ever seen Alonso´s career in karting, very impressive!!!!

I don´t know about you guys but i want to see Alonso beside Trulli at Bennetton, i wonder if he would beat him, now that would be something!

[Jason]

Originally posted by Nustang70
i know this has been asked recently somewhere??...but is there a good site for F3 information?

http://www.speedsportmag.de/
http://www.clarinet.fi/~spitkane/

[MacFan]

Originally posted by DX_Doppler
Also are there any karters who dominated but never made the grade in the higher formulas?

Mike Wilson (Italian kart driver) was faster than Capelli in a F3000 test, despite never having driven a racing car before. Not sure if it was money or some other factor that prevented him from making it.

Terry Fullerton, as mentioned above, was an awesome kart racer, having beaten Senna for the world championships twice.

Bryce Wilson, a Scottish kart racer, won an F2 race when he was 18, but didn't have the "other attributes" required to be a profesional driver. (I've raced against him, and he was far quicker than anybody else I've raced against)

There was an Italian karter called Orsini who went from about 17th on the grid for the 1987 world championships to lead by miles, passing all the best drivers of the day, only to be forced by his team to retire 1 lap from the end, as he would have been ineligible to race in the same category the following year if he had won.

[kartpete]

Alessandro Manetti has been at or near the top of karting since the early nineties. I think he had a F3 drive in about '96, but nothing came of it. Lack of sponsorship, or perhaps realised that karting is more fun, who knows!