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14-year-old Queensland karter, Charlotte Page will make her international racing debut after being selected as an F1 Academy scholarship winner for a six event international karting series, which is backed by the Mercedes-AMG F1 team and counts Susie Wolff as its Managing Director.
Page will compete in the six round Champions of the Future Academy Program which begins in Italy over the weekend of March 27-31.
Nine girls were selected to represent the Academy across three classes at the events which include two in Italy, one in Spain and three in the Middle East.
Wolff – the wife of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal – Toto – has backed females in motorsport programs having come through as a racer herself and has driven this initiative through heading up the F1 Academy.
The F1 Academy representatives have received subsidies to join the field in the events – which use Kart Republic-built chassis and IAME engines – all controlled by event organisers and issued by a random draw at the start of each weekend.
The Ipswich-based racer has been in the sport for four years and this weekend qualified third for the KA2 SP Tools Australian Kart Championship opener in Adelaide.
KA2 is Australia’s premier junior kart racing category and counts Oscar Piastri as its first ever round winner; Australian Champions in the class include Alpine F1 reserve driver, Jack Doohan and today’s Thrifty Bathurst 500 race winner, Broc Feeney.
The notification came to Page at 4:30am in the morning, which was a surprise, however led to much excitement for her and her family – she is one of five girls. Her father is a former kart racer.
“I applied for the scholarship late last year and then they let us know via a text message at 4:30am in the morning,” said Charlotte.
“It happened that I was up when the message came through and it is something that’s so exciting. I am looking forward to getting to Italy next month and taking part.”
Karting Australia Chief Executive Officer, Kelvin O’Reilly commented that part of the governing body’s strategic plan was to increase female participation, but also to create further opportunities to Australian karters to pursue pathways both in Australia and internationally.
“Part of Karting Australia’s strategic plan has been to assist in developing Australian talent with one of our objectives being to increase female participation,” said O’Reilly.
“This year, we launched the Girls Race Too entry-level program – a free, two day program purely for girls interested in racing. The second Girls Race Too event will take place in April at Greater Sydney Kart Club in Western Sydney.
“The opening round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship in Adelaide there are no less than 14 female racers.”
Page joins fellow Australian karter, Aiva Anagnostiadis into an international academy with a focus on developing female talent for Formula 1. Anagnostiadis moved from Melbourne to the UK at the end of 2023 to continue her pathway with the Alpine Academy. Aiva’s brother – James – won the final round of the Champions of the Future Academy Program in Juniors in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.
Fellow Victorian, William Calleja next weekend will fight for the WSK Super Masters Series crown in the Mini category, where he heads to the Sarno circuit 10 points in front of the Title race after finishing on the podium every one of the three rounds so far, winning round two.
Speedcafe.com will carry the international livestream of the Champions of the Future Academy Program from the first round at Cremona on the last weekend in March.
The dates of the Champions of the Future Academy Program are as follows:
Round 1: 27-31 March / Cremona, Italy
Round 2: 10-12 May / Valencia, Spain
Round 3: 26-28 July / Franciacorta, Italy
Round 4: 04-06 October / Middle East *
Round 5: 15-17 November / United Arab Emirates *
Round 6: 02-04 December / Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi
