X-Kart Crowns Two Scholarship Winners After Assessment Day at Whilton Mill
Over 50 drivers took on Stage 2 of the 2026 X-Kart Scholarship at Whilton Mill, with the field cut down to a top 12 for the final stage. By the end of the day two names stood out above the rest. Harvey Ball took the main X-Kart Scholarship, securing a fully funded season with X-Kart Racing in The Kart Championship. Theo Thomas, the top scoring driver from within the X-Kart Academy, won the X-Kart Academy Scholarship and with it a fully funded TKC season of his own.
How the Day Was Judged
Stage 2 tested every driver across four categories. A media assessment looked at how each driver presented themselves on camera, followed by a two to one interview to judge communication and to get to know the driver. A fitness assessment pushed the group physically, and an on track session in the rental karts measured raw pace and race craft under pressure. Every driver who advanced had to perform across all four, not just excel in one.
The 12 who came through that process were then put through a full day built around both development and assessment. Drivers took part in a Q&A session with current X-Kart drivers, sitting down with the team to talk through what life as a scholarship graduate actually looks like, and worked through a series of coaching workshops covering the technical and mental side of racing. The standout moment for most was a passenger hotlap for the top X-Kart Academy drivers session with X-Racing drivers Jenson O’Neill-Going and Oliver Heron, who took the group out in their Mini JCW and Fiesta Junior race cars for a taste of what a full time racing programme feels like from the inside. From there the 12 moved into Stage 3, going head to head in the X-Karts themselves, with every lap watched closely by the judging panel.
Harvey Ball
Harvey scored well across every part of Stage 2. He sat right at the top of the group in the media assessment, was among the strongest in his interview, held a strong pace on track, and delivered in the fitness test as well. It was a complete performance rather than a single standout skill, and that consistency is exactly what carried him through to Stage 3.
Once there, it was his raw pace that caught the judges’ attention first, backed up by how quickly he adapted to the Junior Rotax karts and how he handled himself under pressure. Speaking to us after the result was confirmed, Harvey said the day had pushed him harder than expected.
“I’m feeling great. I’m over the moon and it’s a very, very fun day. I’ll see what next year brings.” he said. The fitness test was the part he found toughest. “We had 16 minutes of non-stop work and it was brutal.” Even so, it was the moment he found out he’d made the top 12 that changed his mindset for the rest of the day. “As soon as I got into the top 12 I knew I had an opportunity, I was going to give it my all, and it worked out.”
Harvey now joins X-Kart for a fully funded season in The Kart Championship, and thanked his dad for the support that got him to Whilton Mill in the first place.
Theo Thomas
Theo entered the scholarship as part of the X-Kart Academy, and finished the day as the top scoring Academy driver in the field. That result earns him the X-Kart Academy Scholarship and a fully funded season racing in The Kart Championship alongside Harvey for 2026, giving the Academy programme its first graduate to move straight into a fully funded TKC campaign.
Thank You
None of this runs without the people behind it. Thank you to every current X-Kart driver, parent, mechanic and team manager who gave their time to help run the day, whether that was on the fitness test, in the pit lane, or keeping 12 nervous drivers on schedule from morning to finish. Assessment days like this take a full team effort, and today was no different.
Congratulations again to Harvey and Theo. We’ll see you both on the grid in 2026.
