2nd Round - Centre-Poitou Regional Race

The 2nd round of the Centre-Poitou regional race was held in Cap Karting, Mer. We arrived on Friday at noon; it was warm compared to the last round at Salbris. Around 13-17°C. Alvis got geared up and was ready to go out.

 Aurélien giving Alvis a few tips before his 1st session

The practice was very chaotic, as every category from the 8HP Micromax to the monstrous 40HP KZ 125, making it difficult to get a clean lap. At the end of the day, Alvis got familiarized with the track.

Saturday morning, the temperature dropped, average 10-14°C. The practices were now by category, making it more organized. So the team focused on the setup. Alvis had a few chassis problems pretty much the whole day, but the setup was about right. At the end of the day, with fresh new tyres, Alvis managed to clock a 1:03.9, which was about 2 tenths away from the leader's pace. 

Sunday, the sun was shining, 15-19°C. Alvis head to the pregrid with all his rivals. 

 Kart being scrutineered before the chronos

Most of the time, Alvis heads out late in the session, but Aurélien gave him the instruction to go when he told him to do so. Unfortunately, the marshall ordered all mechanics to the back of the pregrid, so Alvis didn't know when to head out. Alvis made the right decision to go out early, as later seen in the session, he had all the free air, and could do a cleap lap, though struggling with the worn out tyres from Salbris.

Alvis running wide out of turn 9

 Crossing the finish line 

 Results of the chronos

Alvis was 8 tenths of the pace and sat in 8th. But there is still an improvement, last time he was 10th. Now Alvis had to try to improve in the heat. Down into turn 1, Alvis got a little squeezed to the outside, but he managed to dive in to the inside to protect his position, keeping 8th. Towards the 4th lap, Alvis managed to outbrake one of the front runners, and moved up to 7th. The rest of the pack was a little too far to catch, and so Alvis defended till the end of the race, and defended his 7th position.

 Alvis being presented the chequered flag in 7th

 Results of the heats

Alvis knew if he didn't change anything, he would never catch the front 6, most of them being 3 to 7 tenths faster. So Alvis said he would try to push a little harder in the prefinal. For the start, Alvis struggled a little more, being pushed a bit wide on the 2nd corner, Alvis dropped 2 places. He managed to climb back to 8th, but then got stuck behind the 7th throughout the rest of the race. The tyres were falling apart too. He just drove as well as the tyres could handle till the end of the race, and had to settle with 8th.

 Alvis queuing to get weighed

 Results of the prefinal

Alvis was pretty straightforward for the final; objective: cross the chequered flag in 8th or better.

Pregrid for the final

 Once again, Alvis got pushed a little wide, losing another 2 places at the start and dropped to 10th. But this time, the tyres were DEAD. Alvis couldn't catch the front 8, and could only see them slowly pulling away from him. He tried everything to try and keep up with them, but in every way possible, the kart slided. The 11th and 12th caught up with Alvis, and became a 3 way battle. Alvis defended his position well and managed to create a distance between them, and it turned into a 2 way battle as Alvis drove by himself.

 Alvis creating the gap between him and them

The front had some intensive battles between them, and Alvis had to sadly, settle with 10th. Still 2 places better than Salbris!

Results of the final

Alvis and I would like to thank CRK Centre, Cap Karting, the marshals, Aurélien, Malevaut, and all my supporters!

Till St Amand!

Taking On A New Level

First of all, I apologise for not updating the blog for months. After a long holidays and much discussion, Alvis decided to take on one of the most competitive categories in France, the Rotax Junior(National) category(aged 13 and above) this year. Alvis will be racing with the bigger boys with a lot more experience than him.

Alvis has selected CRK Centre as his regional race for 2015 and the first race was held at the 1500m long Sologne Karting International Circuit located at Salbris, France.

Alvis getting his kart set up 3 weeks before the first race 

Testing his new machine at Caudecoste

Alvis started his practice on cold and rainy Friday afternoon. The temperature was about 4-8°C. Note that the Rotax Junior category in France aren't allowed to drive with rain tyres, making it a really slippery ride.

 Alvis struggling in the wet

Saturday morning's official practice's weather was slightly better, 6-10°C with clouds covering the sun. Indeed, Alvis only had 3 days of practice before coming to this race, but he was progressing at an incredible level, shaving off tenths every session. His goal for this race was to get as much experience as possible to be better off for the next. At the end of the day, he improved 2 seconds from Friday practice, and he was happy with his improvement.

 Alvis going through turn 7

On Sunday morning, Alvis was all hyped up for the time trial. Due to the number of entries, the organisers had to remove warm ups in the morning, making it more difficult for drivers as you had to get the perfect lap on your 1st session within 8 minutes with no data on the track state or setup.

Alvis head out to the track with fresh new tyres, on a non-adherent track. At the end of the time trial, Alvis shaved off another 3 tenths, setting a timing of 1:03.687 in 10th position. It could have been another 2 tenths faster but was blocked in the last lap. Anyhow, still being 5 tenths away from the pole sitter, Antoine Perceval. Alvis was disappointed after looking at the results, realising if he improved by another 2 tenths he would have moved up by another 5 places to 5th. On the positive note, it gave him a confidence boost for the upcoming races that follow up.

 Time trial results

Waiting at pre-grid

 Alvis heading out for the heat

Green! Green! Green! Alvis has an amazing start from the chaotic 1st corner, slotting in the interior, and by the end of the back straight, he was 6th. Unfortunately, a red flag had been presented, due to a big crash in the 1st corner involving 3 karts, and Alvis had to restart 10th again.

 Everyone stopped at the start/finish line due to the incident

 Alvis looking at his watch planning his restart

 Back to racing!

 Alvis ended up 8th, just behind the front runners

Alvis was pretty happy for his first junior start, and he wanted to do the same for the pre-final, we believed he could gain another 3 places if everything went to plan. Fingers crossed.

 Bunching up once again

Alvis did the exact same strategy as the heat. Unfortunately for him, he was hit from the back and got pushed out into the gravel and was unable to recover.

Marshals pulling the kart to safety

 Alvis watching the race

 Alvis will start last for the final

Alvis was determined to get a strong comeback, his objective was to overtake as many racers before crossing the chequered flag.

Getting ready to head out for the final race

He had a good start, overtaking as many as he could. He was up to 11th with two more laps to go. He was right behind 10th and tried everything he could to get past but a mistake during an overtaking move caused him to dropped to 12th. It was a good experience for him and he will only continue to improve.

 Final results, gaining a total of 10 places

We would like to thank CRK Centre, Sologne karting, race officials, marshals, Team Malevaut Sport and finally, coach and mechanic, Aurélien. 

Shout out to "lao tioh" for the Black Sheep!

Till the next race!