Merry Christmas!

To those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! If not, Happy Holidays! Hopefully you guys had a great time with friends and / or family!

Summary of the NSK Championship

Hey guys! It's been quite a while since my last post, but it has been as long for me as I've waited for the championship results to update officially. It has been a long tough year for me, discovering new things, meeting new people, both in the paddock and on the track. The progression is quite noticeable when I look back from the moment I got my kart back in March, till now.

Concluded the championship in 14th position out of 92 drivers

Coupe de France Nationale 2015

The Coupe de France Nationale is the biggest event that I have raced in since the start of my karting. It was a test for me and a reference to gauge where I am compared to some of the France' best drivers. Rotax Nationale (Rotax Junior) in France is a category by minimum 150kg weight limit and not by age limit. Thus, many drivers from upper categories like Rotax Senior, Rotax DD2, X30 and even some from the KZ (with 6-speed gearbox) came to race. In total, 83 drivers were to compete for the Coupe de France Nationale.

It was a good opportunity for the younger drivers to be able to race with the more experienced drivers from the upper categories and learn better racecraft from them during the race weekend.

 Drivers Presentation with some of the best drivers in France

The free practice timing did not go as expected as we had quite a fair bit of data collected during the last race. Perhaps the weather variation was too drastic, track condition changed quickly from session to session and I struggled to get a competitive lap time consistently between sessions.

 Pushing for a better lap time during free practice

 An overtaking move towards a right-hand hairpin during free practice

Though we managed to get a more competitive lap time during the official practice, it still wasn't enough. I was about a couple of tenths off pace. My lap time progressed a little better and during the qualifying, I clocked a 58.586, 4 hundredth of a sec away from the 2nd(58.546) in my group 2 qualifying and qualified 4th in my group. The track continued to improve and the group pole sitter managed to break the 58 seconds barrier with a 57.981. Overall, I was classified 20th out of 83 drivers. Not ideal but not too bad considering that I was racing with many good drivers.

 Group 2 qualifying result

 Weighing in the parc fermé after qualifying

 Qualified 20th out of 83 drivers

I was in Group E and would be starting from 8th, 4th row on the exterior in every qualifying race. During race 1 group A-E, I had a good start and moved up to 4th towards the first corner but got a push from the back and went wide to join back in 8th. Just when I was back on the throttle, my engine decided to give up on me. After multiple attempts to re-start the engine failed, I pushed my kart to the side for safety. I was very disappointed. Not satisfied with the engine, I attempted to start the engine again and suddenly it came back alive. Knowing that the race was effectively over for me, my mind was screaming, I want to race...!!! I ended up finishing in 26th out of the 32 drivers.

Turn 2 and 3 during Saturday warm up

Drivers briefing before group A-E qualifying race

26th position in group A-E qualifying race

Luck plays an important part in racing or in fact in almost everything. Knowing that I was way below in the intermediate qualifying classification after the group A-E race, I was determined to put in everything I could to make it or break it. Just when I was so fired up and there comes a heavy down pour to make it more challenging. The track was drenched for the group B-E race and my mechanic had to make changes to the setup. I wasn't too sure if my driving in the wet would be able to compensate for the earlier race. I like driving in the rain but I wasn't sure if I was good enough. 

Driving alone in the rain during training was so different compared to driving in a race. With the splashing of water and mist from the kart in front made it even more difficult for me to judge my braking and turn in point. Some drivers went off track during the formation laps and more skidded out during the race. I was happy that I was lucky this time and managed to get away from the first corner chaos though dropping a place. My race pace wasn't really good enough to close up the gap to the front but I was able to maintain and get away from the chasing pack. I had fun racing in the rain and was really happy to cross the line in 5th. That brought me up in the intermediate qualifying classification.

Sliding through turn 6 during the formation lap

Racing in full wet track with slick tires

Group B-E result

As the track "improved" from a full wet to damp track, many may think that it will be a better drive. Yes, if you play it safe and no, if you push too much. Tricky setup, tricky racing line and tricky driving technique to edge out from the rest. Many got it right but some pushed too much and got off track, some played it safe and stayed on track but dropped back. In the end, only those who managed between the two pulled away from the rest and I was happy to be one of them. I had the pace in the first part of the race to overtake and take the lead, but I guess I pushed just a little too much and nearly went off track just after making the overtaking move.  From there on, I chose to race it a little safer as I was running about 6 seconds ahead of 2nd position. In the end, I took 2nd, 4 seconds behind the winner of the D-E race.

Countering a slide due to pushing a little to much

Lifting the inner rear to assist the kart to turn

Group D-E result 

Now that I had climbed back to the top 15 in the intermediate qualifying classification, my objective was simple. Do not crash out and not to take too much risk during the final C-E race on Sunday morning. Finishing in the top 15 would definitely secure myself a place in the final 36 qualified drivers for a shot at the Coupe de France Nationale. Things went as planned and I came back in 11th place. It was really an experience for me with all the happening during the qualifying race. I was really happy and satisfied that I was qualified 16th overall out of the 83 drivers.

 Exit of last corner towards the long straight

Group C-E result

Qualified 16th out of 83 drivers

The "war" has begun. The word commonly used in France karting to describe the "cruel" fight during the race. It is not a place for the "weak" and you need to be strong and have the desire to win. You may not be the fastest driver, but certainly, you must know how to win.

Starting 16th for the 17 laps pre-final on the 8th row on the exterior wasn't an ideal place. It's a sandwiched position plus a place to absorb any contact from the interior. Running wider may not help as you are likely to be throw off track. It was not a bad start for me but as expected, I was sandwiched with no place to escape. I was caught in the big pile up and dropped to 25th after the first corner. Luckily, my race pace was good and I managed to make some overtaking and regain my position that I had lost during the opening lap first corner. I came close to the mid pack fighting for 11th on the last lap. It was just not enough and I had to settle with 16th being 3 tenths away from the mid pack.

During the pre-final formation lap

Pre-Final result

The final. It's the final that counts. All efforts put in during the weekend boils down to the final race. Still, "surviving" the opening lap first corner remains the key to be able to fight for a win. However, It wasn't the start position I had hoped for as I would be starting from the same position as the pre-final. I was hoping that this time would be better at the opening lap first corner. But it wasn't any better, It was worse. I was caught deeper in the sandwich of the karts. By the time I got my kart going, I was in 35th position and was at least half a lap behind. The only thing in my mind was to push as hard as I could and overtake as many as I could. I was having difficulties in getting my kart to turn in as I wanted it to. Maybe I was pushing too much. Maybe I was too anxious. Maybe I just needed to forget everything and just race. I made some overtaking during the 21 laps final and could only settle with 29th in the end. Only to realise in the parc fermé that my kart had a bent tie rod which affected my kart's turning ability and yet I was 12th fastest in timing. I could have done better. It wasn't the position I had hoped for. I was very disappointed with my performance. I could have finished way higher up in the order.

Chequered flag in 29th position

Total disappointment in the parc fermé

I didn't end my 2015 season with a high note which I wanted, but overall, there was a good amount of progress compared to the first regional race in March. I wrapped up the weekend with great amount of race experience gained racing with some of the France' best nationale drivers. Great amount of support from Malevaut Sport, Henri and Jean Jacques. Also, continuous coaching and guidance from Aurélien.

Malevaut Sport Truck in the background

Mechanic and coach, Aurelien

I will return stronger

A Big Confident Boost

Time passes quickly. Back in March, I received my new Tony Kart Racer 401 at Malevaut Sport. I went to my first regional race at Salbris three weeks after with Team Malevaut Sport. Facing a new group and higher level drivers, I had a great challenge ahead.

Filled with anxiety and lack of experience, I was constantly fighting with the mid pack. The front runners were more than half a second faster than me per lap. It was difficult for me to keep up to their pace.

Six months passed and we were into the last round of National Series Karting at Varennes-sur-Allier last weekend.

 A shot at the paddock

Having some data collected from the earlier Trophée Oscar Petit race, I was competitive throughout during the official practice. Still, we pushed to find that extra hundredths or tenths from better driving technique and setup.

During official practice

 Best timing on official practice session 11

I was motivated and ready to push even further. However, things did not go according to plan during qualifying session. I was caught up with some traffic and did not manage to get a clean lap. At the end, I was three tenths off pace in 17th out of 47 drivers overall. A little disappointed with the overall placing because my ideal lap time was 3rd overall.

Entry of turn 4

 Ideal lap time

 17th overall

I was in group A and so I started in 9th position for all heats (manche in French). My start for Manche A-B was ok and I was in 8th after lap 1. I took opportunity and past a few drivers in lap 2 and was up to 5th. For the next 7 laps, there were many overtakes and being overtaken fighting for 3rd place. I was 3rd with one more lap to go and the top 5 were bumpers to bumpers in search for opportunity. As we went into the last 5 corners, the first two went a little wide fighting for the lead and I took opportunity to get pass them on the interior. From there, I took the lead and defended for half a lap and took my first win with the best time lap.

 Victory for Manche A-B

 Manche A-B result

 All smile after exiting from Parc Fermé

Manche A-C was just as exiting. Again, the start was ok but lost a few places after turn 4. I started pushing myself to overtake and by lap 3, I was up to 7th. For the next 3 laps, I pushed even harder to close the gap to the front pack and managed to overtake to move myself up to 6th on lap 6. I was 5th on lap 7 and the top 6 were really close to another. I tried to defend my position on the last lap but was outwitted at turn 4 and lost a place to 6th. Six karts were bumpers to bumpers with one more corner to go. I went on the normal racing line while the front 5 karts stayed on the defending line in hoping to make a crisscross on them. They defended well and the six of us took the checkered flag within 5 tenths of a seconds.

 In the Parc Fermé after Manche A-C

 Manche A-C result

Manche A-D start was not too bad as I held on to my position but only to lose a place at turn 8 on lap 1. On lap 2, I got a bump from behind just after the braking zone entering first corner thus missing my entry point, ran very wide and that caused me 5 places. I took the next 4 laps to regain back to 10th. We were quite a distance away from the front pack and had to settle down with the 5 of us fight for 10th to 14th position. There were still some overtaking actions for the remaining 4 laps and I could only finish in 11th. However, I was promoted to 10th due to someone in front who was penalised for not meeting the minimum weight regulation due to a rear bumper that came off on the last lap.

This is the first time that I was in the top 10 for all the manches. Thanks to the win in manche A-B and rather consistent finish, I was 8th in the overall standing. For that, I secure a spot in the final without having to go through the 2nd chance race.

Entry of turn 4

Manche A-D result

Overall classification after 3 races

We woke up and were greeted with a cold and foggy Sunday morning. It was a very foggy, cold and damp track during the warm up session. Hoping that the situation will be better later during the prefinal. Having to start in 8th means I will be on the disadvantage exterior towards the first corner where a highly potential place for loosing many places.

Foggy condition during the prefinal

It was still foggy during the prefinal. I braced myself after the start towards the first corner trying to avoid any contact and lost 2 places. I managed to pass one kart at turn 7 and another two karts just after the last corner as they made contact on the exit towards the long straight. Not much action for the next 8 laps as I was trying to close the gap to the front runners. I caught up to a kart on lap 10 towards the first corner and successfully made an overtaking move on him and move up to 6th position. I immediately signaled to him to push along with me to catch up to the front pack. We took the next few laps to close in to the front pack that was fighting for 3rd, we were right behind them on the last lap. However, there was just not enough time for me to join the fight and I could only settle with 6th position.

                                        After weighing in the Parc fermé

Prefinal result

Starting 6th for the final in a highly contested Rotax Nationale (Rotax Junior) at the national level is the highest position start for me this year. I was thrilled but at the same time feeling rather a bit uneasy knowing that during the final it's all or nothing.

Getting ready for the final

On the pre-grid waiting for the final

Filling with anxiety for the final and again starting from the exterior, I didn't have too bad of a start but lost a position after turn 1. I was probably taking a safer approach as I didn't want to end the final badly. I lost 5 places just in turn 8 alone. I was asking myself what the heck am I doing? I then tried to push myself to regain as many positions as possible but lost another place on the next lap. Though I managed to move up 2 positions to 11th on lap 3, I lost one on lap 4. I did a mistake by trying to bumpdraft the one in front for the next few laps and try to close up the gap to the front. The mid pack caught up and overtook us and I lost another 3 places to 14th. Everything seemed to be a bad move till this point where I then started to think again that I should just race and stop thinking too much. So I started focusing on my racing and managed to close in and make some overtaking. Though I was having pretty good pace towards the last few laps and closing in, it was just too late for any amendment to the previous mistakes done.

Crossing the line in 12th position

Final result

In the end, I was moved up to 10th due to two drivers being disqualified for overtaking under yellow flags. This race gave me a very good lesson that making good decisions during the race with the front pack is very important. especially in the first lap. A mistake could cost you to be in a position fighting to get away from the pack thus losing time to the front. It is important to place yourself in a better position to stick closely to the front and build up your pace. Though I did not get any negative feedback from my coach, I felt really bad and I knew it was a bad race for the final and I could have done much better than that. At the end, I was told that looking back six months earlier, I had improved in terms of speed and driving techniques. As for race craft, I need to continue racing with better drivers to gain the experience. It was a big confident boost for me and I am looking forward to the next race to be able to race with some of the best Rotax Nationale drivers in France.

I would like to thank 3MK Events organisers, staff and officials for organising an amazing race. Thank you to all teams, mechanics and drivers for the great participation and race experience. Special thanks to Malevaut Sport and Aurélien for setting up my kart and coaching me. Last but not least, my parents and all who have been supporting me on my kart racing. Thank you.

Rotax Max Challenge Final - Laval

After the summer break, school is back, and so is racing! The track was drenched during Thursday practice, and stayed the same till the end of the day, letting me learn the track in wet conditions, though hot weather was forecast for the weekend.

                              

Learning the track

At the end of Friday, I was 2 tenths of pole, in the top 10, ready for Saturday's time trial.

9th in Free Practice 11

We went out for the 8 minutes time trial, I managed to push to the limit, ending in...

Really pushing to the edge of the apex

3rd place in my group!

 Overall Time Trial Results

I took the start of heat 1 with caution, stayed in the interior, and kept my line. I managed to gain 1 place throughout lap 1, and glued myself to 7th position. During lap 2, 3 karts got into a battle, as they ran wide, I took advantage of the situation to promote me to 5th. They made the places back though, so I kept my 9th place.

Heat 1 Results

Coming into heat 2 with good points, I managed to squeeze past people who had left a gap in the inside of turn 1, and built a gap between me and 7th. The two of them took back their places mid-race, and I stayed 9th, defending from the pack till the last 2 laps where I got overtaken, and it caused a chain reaction dropping me to 14th. It still wasn't too bad, as long as I kept around the top 15 for the 3 heats it should have given me a good position for the prefinal.

Heat 2 Results

Going into heat 3, I knew I just had to keep my position, and I would start within the top 15 for the prefinal. Going into turn 1, I gained a place to the inside, though 2 karts were on my left, and we tangled up and that resulted in a DNF.

 Overall Heat Results

Starting 17th meant I had to do some passing, but I had 17 laps, which was sufficient for me. This time I decided to be conservative at the start, losing 2 places. I gained them back by lap 2, and started by dash to the top 10 till the end of the race, where I ended up in 9th.

Prefinal Results

I was briefed by my coach during lunch, and gave me a confidence boost for the 22 lapped final.

On the start, the exterior lane bogged down, and as someone tried to go into the interior lane, he hit my front left so hard that sent me into a spin and right into the tyre barriers. I didn't want to see my name last, so I pushed during the last 22 laps with a damaged front spoiler scraping the track during left corners, causing major understeer, in result of much slower lap times. I slowly reeled in to them, lap by lap to close the 8 seconds gap, and used the last 5 laps to get to 21st place.