We arrived at Circuit International d'Aunay on Wednesday late afternoon to draw lots for the engine and chassis allocation for the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy Round 1 at Essay in France.
Drawing lots for the chassis and the engine
Let's assemble the kart!
We had to start assembling the kart immediately after returning to the tent and stopped work at about 9:15PM due to closure of paddock. We continued with the assembly of the kart the next morning and I proceeded with the registration.
Registering along with getting the number plates
There were 3 testing sessions in the afternoon for the newly assembled kart. The 1st session was dedicated for the running in of the brand new engine and chassis installation check.
Getting ready to go fire up the engine for the 1st testing session
During the 2nd session, I noticed some anomaly with the engine at high rpms and lack of top speed. I reported the case and it was checked by the Academy staff. After an intensive check on all possible related components, nothing significant was found. A data analysis specialist was informed and a check was performed using the downloaded data from the official supplied Dakton data logger.
Puzzled with the lack of top end rpm and speed
Data analysis specialist looking at the data
The fault was confirmed and that my engine rpm was about 300 rpm down from an average maximum of 13700 rpm and about 4 – 6 km/h deficiency in top speed compared to the other drivers (All drivers were using the same fuel oil mixture ratio, jetting setting and transmission ratio during the testing sessions) and I was issued with a 2nd engine. I was very impressed with the way how the Academy staff handled the issue. They did not release the kart after nothing significant was found physically on the engine and carburetor and went further with data analysis to verify. Having said that, after all checks and verification and with about two and a half hours in between each session, not much time was left for engine changes and lunch before the 3rd session. However, I was still grateful that the fault was detected.
3rd session went on uneventfully and I was happy with the 2nd best engine rpm. The data was also comparable to the other drivers. However, more work had to be done on my lap time.
We had 4 sessions of 20 minutes free practice on Friday. We tested many setups but it was difficult due to the rapid changing weather conditions with rain, strong wind and of course, sunshine.
We had 4 sessions of 20 minutes free practice on Friday. We tested many setups but it was difficult due to the rapid changing weather conditions with rain, strong wind and of course, sunshine.
Achieving aerodynamic efficiency
The next day, I woke up, opened the curtains and it was drizzling. With little experience with rain tyres, I knew I was getting put up for a big challenge. I still had to give it my all and I wasn’t going to just give up on the top spots like that just because of rain.
I had to nail a perfect lap in the 8 minutes of qualifying, without sliding off
the track. As people say, everything is mostly easier said than done. Keeping in mind on everything that my coach told me in order to squeeze every bit to improve my lap time. I head out on a drying but slippery track for qualifying practice.
the track. As people say, everything is mostly easier said than done. Keeping in mind on everything that my coach told me in order to squeeze every bit to improve my lap time. I head out on a drying but slippery track for qualifying practice.
Pushing to the limit before touching the slippery white line
I was getting faster each lap, and on the last lap, I clocked a 58.2, 2 tenths off pole position, which is very little to in rainy conditions. I was really delighted with the 4th position in my group, and that put me 7th overall.
The track dried up as the sun appeared in front of the gloomy clouds just before my first qualifying heat A–B. Due to the unpredictable weather, we brought along the rain tyres just in case the rain wanted to give us a second visit. There wasn’t a single rain drop and we went out for the 2 formation laps. Starting 5th, 3rd row, in the interior for each heat, I knew I was in a good spot to do a good start. The start lights were turned off and everyone was fighting to get the interior going into turn 1 and kept the interior line for the next hairpin. I was cut off by a kart in turn 2 even though I stayed very close to the interior and to avoid a collision, I was forced to go wide and lost 4 places. As we approached the start / finish line before end of lap 1, the race director was holding the “Slow” procedure sign. Everyone had to go slowly and we had no idea why, till we advanced above the crest revealing a massive crash involving at least 7 karts or more. We had this procedure for 5 laps out of the 9 laps, meaning I only had 3 laps left to gain back 4 places, excluding lap 1. The green flag was waved and we were back to racing. I managed to outbroke the kart in front of me and then the 7th place made a mistake and I took advantage of and move up another place to 7th. But in a flash, those 3 laps were gone, and the chequered flag was presented.
4th in qualifying practice series 2
The track dried up as the sun appeared in front of the gloomy clouds just before my first qualifying heat A–B. Due to the unpredictable weather, we brought along the rain tyres just in case the rain wanted to give us a second visit. There wasn’t a single rain drop and we went out for the 2 formation laps. Starting 5th, 3rd row, in the interior for each heat, I knew I was in a good spot to do a good start. The start lights were turned off and everyone was fighting to get the interior going into turn 1 and kept the interior line for the next hairpin. I was cut off by a kart in turn 2 even though I stayed very close to the interior and to avoid a collision, I was forced to go wide and lost 4 places. As we approached the start / finish line before end of lap 1, the race director was holding the “Slow” procedure sign. Everyone had to go slowly and we had no idea why, till we advanced above the crest revealing a massive crash involving at least 7 karts or more. We had this procedure for 5 laps out of the 9 laps, meaning I only had 3 laps left to gain back 4 places, excluding lap 1. The green flag was waved and we were back to racing. I managed to outbroke the kart in front of me and then the 7th place made a mistake and I took advantage of and move up another place to 7th. But in a flash, those 3 laps were gone, and the chequered flag was presented.
Swapping engine in the parc ferme after the race with randomly selected drivers
We had to finish up the engine installation before taking a lunch break to rest ourselves, relax and prepare for the next qualifying heat A–C.
I had a normal start for the heat A-C keeping my 5th position. I managed to gain a place to move up to 4th place but I couldn’t pull a gap. We fought for a few laps and letting the 6th and 7th to catch up. The kart behind made an unexpected move on me and I was hung out to dry for the next left-hander, which cost me not 1, not 2, not 3, but 6 places! That was the last lap. Though disappointed, I knew I could get those places back. We were there in terms of pace, so I was still very confident of finishing in a good spot. I had the night to think and analyse what I did wrong to not redo the same mistakes on Sunday.
I had a normal start for the heat A-C keeping my 5th position. I managed to gain a place to move up to 4th place but I couldn’t pull a gap. We fought for a few laps and letting the 6th and 7th to catch up. The kart behind made an unexpected move on me and I was hung out to dry for the next left-hander, which cost me not 1, not 2, not 3, but 6 places! That was the last lap. Though disappointed, I knew I could get those places back. We were there in terms of pace, so I was still very confident of finishing in a good spot. I had the night to think and analyse what I did wrong to not redo the same mistakes on Sunday.
Going through the snail section leading to the last corner
Sunday was what it was: Sun-day. A dry track was waiting for us to lay rubber for 17 laps for the pre-final. Starting 11th on row 6, I knew I had to be more cautious at the start to avoid any chaos or collisions. After we rolled passed the last corner leading to the main straight, the start light off and that signified the race is on. The interior row had a great start, and we went zooming past the entire row on the exterior lane and that brought me up to 5th right away! I was keeping up with the 4th, but the 3 front-runners were pulling away each lap. I had a battle for 4th pretty much from the start till the end of the race, but he had the upper-hand, giving him the extra place. But that meant I would be starting in the interior once again.
Queuing for weighing in the parc ferme
Weight check in the parc ferme
A few drivers were randomly selected to exchange engine in the parc ferme immediately after every race. This had happened a few times for me during the weekend. I had to change it since I was selected, making the championship fairer and that gave a chance to everyone.
OTK Staff inspecting the karts
Swapping engine in the parc ferme after pre-final with randomly selected drivers
The final was about to start: Everyone was sitting on the grid, and was getting prepped, calming their nerves, and getting ready to race.
3rd row, 5th on the start / finish line waiting for the green flag
It was going to be a long one: 21 laps. Green flag, we were off for another 2 formation laps. Turning into last corner and approaching steadily towards the start / finish line, lights off and we were off for 21 laps final! I kept my position going into turn 1, and managed to overtake and moved up one place to 4th in turn 2. I managed to pull a gap from him, and started to close in onto 3rd place. Around lap 13, I was still narrowing the gap to the kart in front of me and I was pushing real hard to get close enough before I can make any attempt to overtake.
Pushing hard, very hard
Suddenly, rain drops started dropping. One by one, slowly at first, rapidly changed to the clouds firing machine guns of water down onto the track. This only lasted 1 or 2 laps though, so it gave us a damp track for a while before getting back to race pace. I realized that due to the rain, 3rd place ran away from me. I was aware that the pack behind me was closing onto me the same way I was trying to narrow down the gap to the kart in front of me in 3rd. I miscalculated the distance between me and him, thinking he wouldn’t dive into the interior but he did and I dropped a place to 5th with the 6th right behind me. We stayed in position going into the last lap when the kart in front of me had a bad exit out of a hairpin and I was right behind him. Trying to avoid a collision, I steered towards the exterior. The kart behind me saw the gap and took the opportunity and went for it. I had dropped out of the top 5 with a few corners to go. Made a few attempts to overtake, but it was not easy when the doors were closed. In the end, I had to settle with a respectable 6th considering that this was my very first international race with 51 drivers representing 39 countries. I could’ve done better but I have to be contented and I honestly had lots of fun and learnt lots of things from this Academy round 1. This is not the end though, as round 2 at Portimao in Portugal is not too far away and I hope I can go there stronger and better.
This was the highlight of the weekend:
Group photo with the CIK-FIA staff and the Academy Trophy drivers
I would like to thank the CIK-FIA for organizing the Academy Trophy. The OTK Academy staff for helping us with any problems we had. The marshals for doing an amazing job! The photographers, videographers and the commentators for adding colours to the race. Aurélien for being my coach and mechanic, great stuff from him and the Malevauts for giving me moral support during the race. My supporters for cheering for me while watching the CIK-FIA TV live streaming. SMSA for the admin support. Also, not forgetting my parents for supporting me all this way. See you at Portimão in June.
CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy Team Singapore
If you missed the live streaming, here is the replay of the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy round 1 final race courtesy from WSK Promotion youtube video channel. Be sure to look out for n° 529, Ang Zi Yang Alvis from Singapore and enjoy watching.
