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
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.
