Kart Racing Academy - Sologne Karting (Circuit International de Salbris)

The Kart Racing Academy 2nd round was held at Sologne Karting, Circuit International de Salbris. Although summer had not officially arrived, the weather for the weekend was very hot with thunderstorm expected.

 Nice painting by some airplanes

After the 1st round at Varennes-sur Allier, Alvis knew that there was more to be done and that he needed to put in extra effort in order to keep up with the front runners.  A lot of practice was done on his braking and acceleration control, trying different trajectories and braking zones.

 Gearing up at parc fermé for Friday first official practice

Alvis began to see the results from the extra effort he had put in during the practice. He was the fastest throughout the day during the official free practice except for the 2nd session where he experienced some brake issues.

 During free Practice

Friday final free practice session timing

 Reviewing some videos taken during the practice

Alvis was very motivated after reviewing his Friday's performance and was determined to continue his good runs for the race. It was almost a clear blue sky on Saturday and Alvis was looking forward for some strong results.

 Smiling for the camera before heading out for the qualifying session

 Putting everything he can to get the best timing possible

 Look at that smile at the parc fermé after the qualifying session

That smile gave away his position. You guessed it right. He grabbed the pole position with three and a half tenths gap. Purple sector for S1 and S3 and narrowly missed out on S2. The KRA drivers went for their lunch after qualifying. 

 Qualifying results

Race 1 was scheduled to start at about 3:30pm so we had a long rest after lunch. We spoke about the previous race and Alvis realised that he did not capitalise on his pole at Varennes-sur-Allier and this time round he was more determined to hold on to his position. 

 Ready and waiting...

The formation lap went well and Alvis managed to hold his position leading into the 1st corner and defended his place on the 2nd and 3rd corner. The chasing pack was really hot on Alvis's bumper. Alvis pushed hard to widen the gap and by the 3rd lap, he was leading by about one second. Without the pressure from behind, Alvis was really quick to lap about a second faster and leave the chasing pack to fight for the remaining places on the podium. Finally, Alvis took the checkered flag for race 1 to his first KRA victory with a gap of more than 8 seconds. A superb performance and a superb win.

Start of race 1

 Reducing wind resistance on Race 1, 5th lap

 Nice bouquet of flowers for mummy

 Well done for the first victory

 A taste of the victory champagne

Race 2 started with the same line up based on the earlier qualifying time. Again, Alvis' objective was to get a good start and maintain his position. Though the pre-grid was shaded, the track was still scorching hot. 

 Alvis the poleman

 Race 2 formation lap

Once the lights went off, everyone was charging towards the 1st corner. Once again, Alvis took the 1st corner and tried to defend on the 2nd and 3rd corner. However, Arthur LECLERC surprised Alvis with an attack on the 3rd corner and took the lead. Arthur defended his position well to prevent Alvis from taking the lead. Alvis knew he needed to stay calm and strike at the right moment. He was following Arthur closely and was looking for the moment. Alvis saw an opportunity on lap 4 at corner 2 where he dived deep into the interior and successfully took the lead. Arthur was still within striking distance but Alvis recomposed himself to gradually build up the gap. Without the pressure of attacking and defending at the same time, Alvis maintained his focus in running away and managed to take the checkered flag again for his 2nd consecutive victory.

 Pushing hard to runaway

 2nd bouquet of flowers for mummy

 Great effort for the victory

LOL... too much champagne (-_-")

The Sunday morning track was wet due to the thunderstorm the night before. Races can be quite chaotic when the track is wet, especially with slick tyres fitted. It was a little tricky for Alvis during the 2nd qualifying. He was stuck behind another driver for quite awhile and he did not maximise his session towards the end. He could only manage 7th in qualifying.

Qualifying on a wet track with slick tyres

During race 3, Alvis did not have a good start and lost a place on the 1st lap. However, he was quick enough to gain 2 places on the next lap and was up to 5th on lap 3. Alvis lost a place under the attack of Guillaume on lap 4 but he took it back the next lap. Alvis was within overtaking distance to the kart in front and decided to go for it. He was not in a good position when he broke into the slightly damped interior for the overtake, making him lose his rear. He dropped from 5th to 10th on lap 6. Not giving up, he continued to push and at the end, crossing the finish line 7th with the fastest lap time. An oversight on the details on the track cost him a possible podium or even a win as the top 5 were less than 2 seconds apart on lap 6.

Guillaume, Benjamin and Alvis fighting for 4th on lap 2

7th for race 3

As for race 4, Alvis experienced a moment of engine RPM reluctant to climb after the first corner and dropped a place into corner 2. He regained a place back on the next lap and 2 more places on lap 3 to 5th. Building up his speed, he closed the gap and moved up to 4th on lap 6. Although Alvis caught up with the front pack on lap 8, he found himself behind Alexandre who defended his position well and took the last spot on the podium. Alvis crossed the line a little less than 2 tenth behind to take the 4th spot. After the race, Alvis was penalised with a 3 place penalty for moving out of the line before the start lights went off. 

The race weekend went well because Alvis met his objectives of at least a win and to move up to 3rd in the KRA championship. It could have been better but for that, that is one good reason for Alvis to work even harder for the 3rd meeting at the new Le Mans International Karting Circuit.

We would like to thank 3MK EVENTS, KRA coaches and staff, NSK, Sologne Karting (Circuit International de Salbris) and management, race officials and marshals, commentator, Philippe Kalmès from KSP, Karting Mondial, videographers, photographers for the support and effort over the race weekend and all parents, racers, teams and mechanics for an enjoying and memorable race weekend.