Karting whizkid Powell recovering well
Published:Friday | December 20, 2019 | 12:47 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club president Stephen Gunter said Jamaica’s junior driver Alex Powell has recovered well from a minor injury during the final of the 24th Trofeo Invernale “Ayrton Senna” event held at Circuito Internazionale, Napoli, last week. Gunter says Powell will be back in action next weekend.
Powell is scheduled to compete at the World Karting Association race day in Daytona, Florida, from December 27 to 29.
The 11-year-old Powell injured his arm during the race in Naploi after an opponent spun and hit four other competitors, which sent the young Jamaican off the track before his vehicle overturned.
“All indications are that he will recover in time,” Gunter said. “I was in contact with his father yesterday and the swelling in the affected hand is going down and in another week, he will be fine.
“I am very happy that he is going to recover and that the accident wasn’t more serious.
“We are expecting great things from him because he has performed very well so far. He has won the last championships that he entered and he has now moved up from the mini class to the junior class and he is now the youngest junior class driver.”
History
Powell made history earlier this year by becoming the first Jamaican and Caribbean driver to sign with a Formula One (F1) team. He was signed by Mercedes-AMG F1, who introduced Powell and his former Energy Corse karting teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, as the two youngest members of the Mercedes junior programme. He is the son of veteran Jamaican rally driver John Powell, and the cousin of former world’s fastest man, Asafa Powell.