Photo: WSK Promotion
Norwegian karter Martinius Stenshorne has become the latest protege of Nicolas Todt, who has overseen the careers of the likes of Felipe Massa and Charles Leclerc.
Stenshorne is currently racing in senior karting for the Leclerc-branded Lennox Racing Team, stepping up from junior karts this year in the WSK Champions Cup and finishing 13th, followed by 19th in the Super Master Series after missing the final round.
He is currently 20th in Champions of the Future and 36th in the WSK Euro Series after the opening round in each championship and even more impressively is sixth in the CIK-FIA European championship at the halfway point.
The 15-year-old had spent the previous two years in OK-Junior karts, with his top accomplishments including winning the South Garda Winter Cup, finishing second in Trofeo delle Industrie and the Champions Cup, and coming third in the WSK Open Cup and fourth in Champions of the Future. In his second season he raced for Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg’s team.
Before that he had a lot of success in the 60cc Mini karts, winning the Italian, Open Cup and Super Master Series championships in 2018, and being the runner-up in the Champions Cup and third in Trofeo delle Industrie.
The first six years of Stenshorne’s karting career took place entirely in Norway, and he won the national cup in Cadet karts before stepping up into Minis and then moving to Italy to compete.
His father Martin Stenshorne was a Barber Dodge Pro Series racer in the 1990s after his own successful karting career, but he then switched his motorsport interests to off-road and was a winner in Norwegian rallies and a frequent competitor in the Junior World Rally Championship.
The younger Stenshorne isn’t the only karter being looked after by Todt right now, as he also manages Ferrari junior James Wharton. The Australian youngster is set to graduate into single-seaters in Formula 4 later this year once he turns 15.
There are already a host of junior single-seater stars under the All Road umbrella, including Wharton’s Ferrari stablemate Marcus Armstrong in Formula 2, Alpine junior Caio Collet in FIA Formula 3 Championship and Formula Regional European Championship racer Gabriele Mini.