It's been a long 5 months since the Asian Festival in Langkawi Malaysia. The time was put to good use getting physically ready for Alex's first venture into the world of KZ2 Shifter Class at the Kart Championships of Kazakhstan. This was always going to be difficult due to his light weight but we all agreed it was time to look to the future.
We were met with the coldest weather we have ever raced in, 1 degree!!! . Friday morning was spent setting up the kart and putting our smaller seat on. The forecast promised warm weather for race day and Alex was certainly hoping the air temperature hit at least double digits...
By Saturday morning, Alex had found a few vital extra tenths. The final official practice had Alex in P2 with thanks to an informative data analysis from Sergie and Yevgeni and we were all eagerly anticipating the qualifying session. In qualifying Alex was unfortunately blocked during his fast lap but surprisingly came in P3 from a field of 16 drivers, which was higher than we had anticipated when we arrived at the track and put him in a good position for Sundays races.
The promised warm weather arrived Sunday and Alex was ready for his KZ2 debut. Friends and family turned up to help ease the nerves which was highly appreciated.
His first ever gearbox class standing start went well with thanks to the days of practice in Thailand before flying out to Kazakhstan. For Alex, we always knew this would be the weakness that would decide the weekend. We watched video after video trying to learn techniques and dangers and knew that if Alex could get off the line and not lose positions, he could race for position and bring the kart home.
From the start Alex managed to hold on to P3 in the early laps until the driver ahead had engine issues, sadly forcing him to retire and hand Alex a P2 finish. Although not the way a racer wants to move up the field, small presents like this are always appreciated.
Amazingly, this now put Alex on the front row of a KZ2 race alongside his vastly more experienced team-mate. As the lights went out, Alex made an fantastic start, taking the lead at turn 1 and managed to hold on until the end of lap 1 when Sergei made a great pass stick. It was so exciting to have lead even for almost a lap!
Alex held P2 for 13 laps and sadly just 2 laps before the flag his 48kg frame simply ran out of energy and he was passed and took P3 at the chequered flag. The scoring system at the event was slightly different and points were added up for Qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2. At the end of the day Alex had enough points from all 3 races to finish the day 2nd overall, something we had never imagined when we boarded the plane a week earlier.
Our gratitude goes to the Karting Association of Kazakhstan for putting on a great event, Mr Chaldanbaev and his team of Askar and Roman from Racing Club for getting us a kart ready even though our new chassis was stuck in transit. Our new friends from Omsk whose knowledge and experience were invaluable. Also our family and friends for making the day trip to the track and supporting Alex, and to Irina for taking great photos.
Now to get ready for Round 2 in May!!!
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