Happy New Year / Bonne Année 2015...!!!

Happy New Year! May 2015 be a even better year than this fabulous 2014 we had together. May it have more races, more podiums, more fastest lap times, more overtakes, and of course, more victories! I hope you have a great year ahead and stay tuned for more updates!

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Bonne Année! Que 2015 sois une encore meilleure année que cette faubuleuse 2014 on a passé ensemble. Qu'il aura plus de courses, plus de podiums, plus de record de temps, plus de dépassements, et bien sûr, plus de victoires! Je vous souhaite une super année devant vous et revenez pour plus de mises à jours!

Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noël

Merry Christmas to you and thank you for visiting this blog. I would like to thank you guys for supporting me this far, it means a lot to me. I am training hard again in the winter preparing for the new 2015 season with hopefully many good results but of course with lots of surprises awaiting me... I thank you again for supporting me, have a good Christmas time with family and friends, and see you in 2015!!! :)
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Joyeux Noël à vous et merci d'avoir visité ce blog. Je voudrai vous remercier de m'avoir soutenu si loin, cela me signifie beaucoup. Je m'entraîne encore cette hiver pour préparer la nouvelle saison de 2015 que j'espère aura beaucoup de bon resultats mais bien sûr avec beaucoup de surprises qui m'attendent. Je vous remercie encore pour m'avoir soutenu, je vous souhaite des bonnes fêtes entre famille et amis, et on se reverra en 2015!!! :)

Minicup Rotax France - Angerville

After a season with the the Kart Racing Academy, Alvis decided to put what he has learned to test in the French Rotax Minicup.

The race environment was more intense than that of the KRA where all engines, equipment and setup were the same for every driver. The concept was to develop the driver's driving technique rather than setting up the chassis to suit the driver's driving.

It was the first time that chassis setup communication was involved and the feedback given after each session was crucial too. It was a good experience for Alvis to prepare himself for what will be coming up for him next year.

Classification after heat 1 and 2

Formation lap during pre-final

 A write up on Alvis on Kartcom website (in French)

A write up on Alvis on Kartcom website (translated in English)

We would like to thank Kart Racing Academy management and staff for the great effort and hard work rendered to the drivers and parents too. It was really a very good learning environment for Alvis and we could see his progression throughout the season. In return, Alvis will win races in years to come to appreciate what was given to him.

The Kart Racing Academy Final Race

The KRA final race took place at Circuit International Aunay-Les-Bois, Essay, located in the lower region of Normandy, France. Though it is still summer, the weekend morning temperature was about 4 to 12°C. It was better in the afternoon - partly cloudy and windy and even at about 20°C, it was still fairly chilling.

Cameraman riding high on a cherry picker for live TV coverage

Alvis came to the final race standing 5th in the championship after 12 races, 32 and 28 points away from Bastien FLAHAUT in 3rd and Benjamin GONZALEZ in 4th. He was determined to finish ahead of them to secure a spot in the KRA 11-15 Championship podium.

KRA Championship Driver Standings

The start of Friday free practice session wasn't that smooth for Alvis as he experienced acceleration and brake problems. The kart continued to accelerate even though the acceleration pedal was released and the brake pads were not biting effectively on the brake disc. Alvis was struggling and eventually he spun out at a corner but was able to recover and return to the parc ferme.

 KRA mechanic Pascal and X30 Challenge Europa Champion Vincent Fraisse checking Alvis's kart

More than 2 seconds away from 'pole sitter', Gaetan, an invited local racer.

Reduced to a 4 tenth gap on the 2nd session after some checking and cleaning

 Lap time was looking good with the gap down to one tenth from Gaetan

It was a relief for Alvis as the kart was working normally after that and at the end of the day, he was able to keep his pace up with Gaetan. Keeping in mind that he was 5th in the championship, he needed to maintain his speed and perform during the race in order to get onto the championship podium.

Alvis knew that he needed to relax and stay calm for the final practice on Saturday morning and condition himself up for the qualification session later.

 Having some fun imagining driving round the corner with the kart trolley 

Alvis stayed away from the traffic and lapped by himself during Saturday practice

It went well and the gap was down to 5 hundredths of a second

The final practice gave Alvis a great confidence boost now that he was within reach of getting pole. He knew that he needed to put in a perfect lap in order to achieve that. However, he tried not to give himself too much pressure by watching a GP3 stream to relax his mind instead of thinking too much on where he needed to push harder during qualification.

Just before heading to the parc ferme for the qualification session, Alvis turned to me and said 'I believe I can be on pole'. I said nothing but gave him a thumb up and a smile.

 Alvis heading out for qualification

 Weighing after qualification in parc ferme

 Yes...!!! Alvis on pole with purple sectors 1 and 3, narrowly missing out on sector 2

Alvis had put everything together into a single lap to grab pole from Gaetan. It was really important for Alvis as he needed to be in that position to be competitive. The objective was to finish as high as possible in front of Bastien and Benjamin.

Alvis got off to a really good start and stayed ahead of the pack with Alexandre (No.22), 2nd in the championship, following behind. There were some attacking and defending moves for 3rd place and that allowed Alvis and Alexandre to get away from the chasing pack. There were moments where Alexandre was right on Alvis's bumper but a few mistakes allowed Alvis to build a gap.

Formation lap through turn 12

 Alvis passing the first corner on the final lap

Objective met for race 1. To finish as high as possible in front of Bastien and Benjamin. Alvis won the first race and that brought him closer to them with just 5 and 9 points to the championship podium.

 Alvis and Alexandre in parc ferme

Podium for race 1

Champion spraying celebration with Gaetan as Alexandre jumped off the stage

Finishing in front of Bastien and Benjamin remained the objective for race 2. Again, Alvis had a good start and there was a small incident with the 2nd and 3rd position at turn 3 during lap 1 which helped Alvis to pull away with a one and a half second gap. He built his momentum for the remaining laps and maintained his more than 2 seconds lead all the way to the checkered flag. Alvis met his objective again for race 2 and scored the highest points possible for the two races and put himself in the final spot on the podium for the championship. However, that was not the end as there were two more races on Sunday that would decide the final championship standings.

Warming up formation lap on race 2

 Alvis coming through turn 3

Posed for race 2 victory in parc ferme

Podium for race 2

Alvis was in 3rd, 23 and 27 points ahead of 4th and 5th respectively. He was too far from winning the championship and thus keeping his 3rd place was the priority on Sunday. Finishing ahead of Bastien and Benjamin and avoiding any DNFs for both races remained the main objectives.

From the assessment of races 1 and 2, starting from exterior was difficult. Hence, getting pole was really important. I guess the pressure caught up to Alvis as he did not manage to put all best sectors into one lap this time and even if he did, he would have been about one tenth off pole. Though he was 2nd in qualification 2, he would start races 3 and 4 on the exterior lane of the first row. That put him in an unfavourable position.

2nd in qualification 2

Having to avoid a DNF in mind, Alvis tried not to get any contact or into any accidents. That made him run wide at accident prone turn 1 and drive cautiously through turn 3 on the first lap resulting in him ceding 2 places. He maintained his 4th position all while trying not to risk by making unnecessary overtaking moves. Keeping his objective in mind, he was overtaken by Arthur, leader of the championship without much resistance on the last lap and extended his lead to 32 and 34 points.

Dropped 2 places to 4th after turn 2

Crossing the finishing line 5th on race 3

On theoretical calculation, If Benjamin finished 1st and Alvis finished last or was disqualified on the final race 4, Alvis could still lose his podium for the Kart Racing Academy Championship. To counter that, he followed a safe strategy approach for the final race. The objective was simple and clear. Do not finish last, get disqualified or DNF for the final race of the KRA Championship.

With a more intensified final race, Alvis avoided the charging pack at turn 1 and 2 by running even wider to avoid a DNF causing him to lose 5 places after turn 3. Though he was capable of overtaking, he knew that was not the objective. He knew he just needed to follow the mid pack and bring the kart back to the parc ferme and the final spot of the KRA Championship would be his to keep.

End of final race

Returning to parc ferme after the final race

Great effort from Alvis for race 1 and 2 on Saturday that put him back into close contention for the final spot on the championship podium. A good strategy and objective setting on Sunday extended his lead on race 3 and finally sealed a spot on the podium for the KRA Championship on the final race. Alvis not only earned himself a trophy but also his KRA kart that battled along him throughout the season as a prize for finishing 3rd in the championship.

 Alvis receiving his trophy from Mr PIGNOLET, Directeur Général / CEO SodiKart

 Happily posing with his KRA Championship trophy

 Kart Racing Academy Championship Podium

 KRA 11-15 1st Season Top 3

Kart Racing Academy Final Driver Standings

We would like to thank the management and staff of SodiKart, 3MK EVENTS, Kart Racing Academy coaches and staff, National Series Karting, Circuit International Jean BRUN and management, Circuit International de Salbris and management, Le Mans Karting International and management, Circuit International Auany-Les-Bois and management, race officials and marshals, commentator, Philippe Kalmès from KSP, Karting Mondial, videographers, photographers for the support and effort over the race weekend. Last but not least, we would like to thank all parents and racers for the wonderful season together.

A Weekend To Forget But Not Forgotten

The 3rd race event of the KRA was held at the new Le Mans Karting International Circuit which is situated next to the 24H Le Mans International race track. It was a fast, technical and beautiful track.

 Unofficial practice

The day started with a heavy down pour during the early morning. The KRA drivers headed out to their first session with brand new and non run-in slick tires on a wet track. The feeling was just simply slippery.

 Start of slippery ride

Last in timing

As the hour passed, the track started to get a little dryer but still damped and the tires took much longer to heat up and run-in. The atmosphere for the first few sessions was kind of slow and calm.

 Still going 'slow' and steady

Towards the end of the day, the pace was much faster as the late sun dryed up most parts of the track, leaving some shaded areas being still a bit moist. Alvis was able to get the best of the conditions and make some good runs.

 The track was almost dry

From last to first during the sessions

Alvis woke up the next day and the first thing he did was to look out of the window. The road was wet due to the early rain. However, at the same time the sun was shinning bright too. That actually put a smile on his face as he knew that for qualifying, the track would be dry.

Indeed, the track was almost dry prior to the qualification but not without some worrying moments due to the dark clouds which were approaching fast. With that in mind, Alvis changed his strategy from usually going out last to being the first to head out and immediately push a little to bring the heat into the tires. The strategy went really well for Alvis as after just 3 laps, rain drops started to fall and he aborted the 4th lap after seeing the first sector being down by 5 tenths and more rain drops starting to fall.

 Starting his qualifying timed lap

 Alvis on pole

It was quite unusual to have such an erratic weather during summer with bright sunshine and then suddenly a heavy down pour and back to bright sunshine again and then a very short heavy down pour again. The timing was unbelievable, timed in a way that just when the track was almost dry up, then came the rain to wet the track just before Alvis starts his race.

Finishing 5th on a wet race 1

 Roller coaster ride on corner 8 and 9

He thought it was bad for race 1 but things got worse during race 2. On the start to the 1st corner, Alvis was already down to 4th, but he managed to keep his position for a few laps, before getting overtaken by another 2 of his competitors, putting him down to 6th, and finally being overtaken by Sacha on the 6th lap, which put him down to 7th.

Alvis on slick tires going through a very wet corner 3

Approaching the finishing line on the last lap

On Sunday, Alvis did the same thing looking through the window and it was wet. This time without the sun and he knew this time the track would be moist for qualifying.

Alvis did not manage to get a good timed lap during qualifying. He was pushing himself too much and ended up running wide at some corners which were still quite wet. He could only manage 7th.

Qualifying on a moist track with the sun starting to shine

After qualifying, sun the was up and shinning and the track started to dry up quickly. Luck was not on Alvis' side as just immediately after a briefing by the coach, the rain started pouring cats and dogs, and everyone started to wear their rain suits to get ready for a wet race 3.

KRA coach Guy Pansart briefing the drivers

On the depart, Alvis knew he had to not only defend his position but to also go around the 1st corner without any collisions. On corner 2, there were a few karts involved in a collision which Alvis managed to avoid and that put him up into 4th. He continued the rest of the laps and finished 4th.

Alvis in 4th after avoiding the collisions.

Last lap on the main straight towards to finishing line

For a even wetter race 4, Alvis lost a place on depart and dropped to 8th. He held his position well till lap 2 where he lost 2 places in 2 corners dropping him to 10th after he ran wide due to aqua planning. He knew that he had to do something and so he started to push as hard as he could without making too many mistakes. He fought hard but could only managed to gain back 3 places to finish 7th. However, it was still an achievement for him as he was 2nd fastest in timing. 

Rain starts to fall again during the race

The rain got heavier towards the end of the race

It was the first KRA event that Alvis did not go on podium. The rain was unbelievably well timed to wet the track just before Alvis' turn to race and it dries up after that. The scenario repeated 4 times throughout the weekend except for the Saturday morning qualifying where Alvis grabbed pole. He is the only one till now that has grabbed 3 pole positions for the 3 race weekends and all 3 were in dry conditions. 

It surprises me on how Alvis sees the well timed rain that makes him realise and understand that in order to win a race, you need to be ready for all kind of racing conditions and scenarios. It was a weekend to forget for not going onto the podium but not forgotten on the valuable lesson learned and experience gained. He will return as a better racer.