The integration of Kart Racing Academy into the National Series Karting allowed racers to experience a high-level kart racing environment. More than 200 racers participated in the NSK opening race at Varennes-sur-Allier located in the central region of France.
The forecast a week ago was for the race weekend to be raining but it gradually changed to good weather as the date drew nearer. Indeed, the weather was good over the race weekend.
Heading out for free practice
The environment was fantastic throughout. The KRA racers started their practice on Friday afternoon on the heavily rubbered-in track by other categories which started on Thursday. It was so much easier to brake later and get around the corners but the kart's acceleration wasn't ideal on the exit. As no setup was to be done on the chassis for the KRA category, drivers had to adapt to the track conditions. Out of the 5 practice sessions, Alvis came out top for the first and last sessions while maintaining 2nd place for the other 3 sessions. That concluded the Friday official practice session.
With Sacha during practice session
With Benjamin and Bastien coming out of the last corner
There were a total of 2 qualifying timed laps and 4 races for the weekend. The KRA drivers started the day with a free practice followed by qualifying. Alvis was doing well during the practice which put him in 2nd place. However, during the qualifying, he was lapping alone with good timings while the rest were using a slipstream tactic behind the poleman Alexandre. Alvis could only set the 6th fastest time on the qualifying session.
Qualifying session
Qualifying 1
Though disappointed, he learnt from that time trial session. Starting from 6th on the grid for race 1, Alvis gained a place up after the first corner. It was an exciting moment fighting with Néo for 4th place on the first two laps as the two drivers were attacking and defending. On the 3rd lap, Alvis managed to overtake and pull away to catch up with the two other drivers in front. In no time, Alvis was right behind Guillaume who was fighting with Arthur for 2nd place. On the 4th lap, Guillaume made his move to get into 2nd place. Arthur replied to Guillaume with his move on the next lap with Alvis sticking close enough to follow Arthur into 3rd place. Without letting Arthur recompose himself, Alvis immediately made another overtaking attempt on Arthur on the next corner and put himself up to 2nd place. What a decisive move from Alvis. Arthur and Alvis were swapping places within the next few laps in a nail biting moment with the pack closing in on them. Having to attack and defend his position, Arthur conceded to defending his 3rd place from Benjamin who overtook Guillaume and put pressure on Arthur thus allowing Alvis to pull away in the closing stage of the first race.
Well done KRA drivers for putting up a good fight and giving the parents some fast heart pounding moments.
Alvis and Arthur exiting the final corner
First Podium of the day
Nice trophy and a custom KRA water bottle with the suit
During race 2, Alvis repeated the excitement and came in 3rd. However, an incident on lap 5 put Alvis under investigation. After viewing the video, though it was agreed by many that it wasn't entirely Alvis' fault, he was given a disqualification on race 2. Again, many thought it was too harsh as it was not a clear cut fault. Personally, I thought it could be a good message to the KRA drivers that it should be non-contact racing. Whether someone broke earlier than expected or turned in without looking, one will be taught to anticipate and expect the unexpected. The good thing is that Alvis took it well, respecting the decision made by the steward and the punishment given. Instead of getting a cold shoulder from others for the disqualification, Alvis received a lot of encouragement from the KRA staff and many who witnessed the incident. The positive environment really helped Alvis to keep his head high and look forward to the Sunday race.
Crossing the finishing line in 3rd on race 2
Learning his lesson from Saturday's qualifying and keeping in mind the advice given, Alvis headed out for his qualifying on Sunday. Alvis benefited from the slipstream tactic behind Saturday's poleman, Alexandre and put himself on a provisional pole position. Though they later swapped position, Alexandre was unable to better his timing. From the ideal lap chart, Alvis was marginally slower by less than 6 hundredth of a second and on the best lap chart, he was 5 hundredth faster and that put Alvis on pole for race 3. Guillaume benefited from the strategy as well and slot himself between the gap with a time that was 3 hundredths of a second faster than Alexandre. Good strategy and effort by Alvis in getting pole position for qualifying 2.
Alexandre and Alvis during Sunday qualifying 2
Poleman for race 3
Qualifying 2 results
On the start of race 3, Alexandre made an impressive start and caught both Alvis and Guillaume by surprise, taking the lead after turn 1. From lap 1 to lap 4, Guillaume and Alvis were fighting and swapping places for 2nd place and that allowed the chasing pack to close in on them. After overtaking Alvis on lap 4, Guillaume managed to maintain his 2nd place for the next 3 laps. The fight between Guillaume and Alvis allowed Arthur to climb through the pack and close in on them. Arthur made his move on Alvis on lap 7 and put himself on the podium. He made another move on Guillaume on the next lap into 2nd place. The pressure was on Guillaume to attack for 2nd place and to defend his 3rd place from Alvis's attack for the final spot on the podium. 3 corners away from the finishing line, Arthur decided to drive defensively while Guillaume prepared for a good exit for the next corner. In doing so, Alvis saw the opportunity to squeeze in the gap behind Arthur and take the inner line. Coming out of the corner side by side with Guillaume, Alvis managed to pull slightly in front due to better traction and led into the 2nd last corner. It was a lost and found situation for Alvis to finally take the last spot on the podium.
2nd podium for Alvis for race 3
Having a surprise attack from Alexandre on race 3, Alvis and Guillaume guarded their position on the start. Guillaume made a good start and took the lead from Alvis into the first corner. Alvis lost another place to Neo on the exit on the first corner. On lap 2, an incident on turn 1 dropped both leading drivers to the back of the pack and that put Alvis back into the lead. However, Alvis got a bump from behind on the same lap out of turn 14 thus pushing him down to 4th. He managed to take a place back coming out from the last corner and another place on lap 3 at turn 1. He maintained 3rd throughout lap 8 and made his move on lap 9 into 2nd place. He was overtaken on the last corner of lap 9 but took it back into the first corner on the final lap. Just before you could take another breath, Alvis was out of the race. His kart was out of the track and he was seen quickly getting out of his kart in order to take shelter with the nearby marshal for safety. Many saw that he was hit from behind and he was out on the last lap. After the race, Alvis said that it was due to the sudden lost of engine power - he was rendered unable to accelerate through turn 1. The RPM stayed low and refused to climb causing him to get nudged from behind by Arthur who then also became a victim of this incident. Alvis felt bad for Arthur that hit him, though it was no fault of both drivers. Congratulations to Benjamin and Bastien for taking the podium spots on race 4.
As usual, ending the race weekend with a thorough cleaning of his kart
Brought home two beautiful trophies
We would like to thank 3MK EVENTS, KRA coaches and staff, NSK, Circuit International Jean BRUN and management, race officials and marshals, commentator, KSP, Karting Mondial, videographers, photographers for the support and effort over the race weekend and all parents, racers, teams and mechanics for an enjoyable and memorable race weekend.
