Maxwell Dodds Takes First European win in Italy

Words: Jake Sanson
Photography © Fotocar13

International karting sensation Maxwell Dodds of Harrogate picked up his first European race win at the 25th Lonato Winter Cup in Italy, the first major international racing event for the OK Junior karting category which is the pinnacle of junior kart racing worldwide.

Having finished 3rd in the final round of the FIA Karting Academy Trophy at the famous South Garda circuit in Lonato back in September, Dodds took on the might of the world’s best junior racers to pick up his first win on a competitive weekend for the Forza Racing driver from Yorkshire.

“I’m relieved and delighted to get my first European win,” said Dodds after the event. “I’m frustrated too because I could have got my second win if not for poor driving standards. But overall I’m just glad to get the first win done!”

After some tough races, Dodds would seal an 11th place finish on Friday’s heat as he was hit by another driver followed by a similar incident in his second race whilst battling for third, before sealing a stunning victory in the third race of the weekend. The result was even more impressive considering Max was unwell going into the event.

“Having not been able to shake off a flu virus, I missed most of the practice sessions this week,” he explains. “I had no expectations for qualifying, and set a time good enough for fourth in my group.

“So far, we’ve not exactly had the results we wanted, and on Sunday we could have had so much more. But we will continue to fight hard to get a good place everywhere we go. I have a great team behind me and we’ve been testing and racing all winter to improve, to be the best that we can be. I know we will get there.”

The frustrations of the weekend continued when he was driven off the circuit by another competitor whilst running second, but with 2019 being such a tough year of development and discovery in his first competitive year in Europe, the strong pace and race winning performance by Dodds shows that the youngster now has all the tools required to compete at the top level.

Dodds now heads into the WSK Super Master Series based in Italy, before heading into the pinnacle of the sport – the FIA Karting Championships – as the season begins in earnest in April at Zuera, Spain.