Young Kiwi karter Billy Frazer had an early end to his ROK Cup International Final weekend in Italy, being knocked out of the Mini ROK class before the Pre-Final.
Contact and two 27th place finishes in two key heats were his undoing, the 12-year-old from Pukekohe ending up 43rd in the Group 2 pecking order after the qualifying heats with only the top 15 advancing to the Pre-Final and the next 15 to the Petronas Trophy consolation.
Earlier at the event the youngster had shown good pace, qualifying eighth in his group and 42nd (out of 116) overall in class.
He then finished fifth in his first heat race – making up six places – only to dnf the next two heats after being hit by other drivers.
“Billy got shunted in a first corner incident at the start of heat 2,” his father James said from Italy. “The Ward mechanics worked hard to straighten his kart’s chassis as he still had an outside chance to make the B final however after moving up through the field in the third heat he was turned around after passing an American driver with two laps remaining.”
“The whole Ward team were extremely disappointed for Billy as they have seen how much hard work and determination he has put into each session over the last 10 days.
“I was really proud of the way Billy handled his disappointment and would like to thank everyone who has supported us during this amazing experience.”
It’s been a heady to weeks in Italy for father and son with Billy finishing 39th (from an original field of 103) in the Mini ROK class at the Bridgestone Cup meeting at Lonato the weekend before.
The international final meeting Billy completed at this last weekend is an annual event for drivers from ROK (engine) categories from 38 different countries around the world.
