This summer has been a major milestone in Alex’s early career as a young race driver and it makes the Malaysian race last spring seem like 10 years ago!
No sooner had we returned from that “up, down and back up” again IAME Asia Series at Sepang in Malaysia - a race that saw him finish 4th and the highest place he had ever achieved in an international series - we were looking forward to a summer break away from the wheel as much as possible… That plan was destined to change!
While on holiday, a text message to a kart team in Almaty, Kazakhstan to see if Alex could have a day driving at the local track, set in motion a chain of events that was to alter the whole direction of his racing plans.
Finding the Parolin Kazakhstan team - that ran OK-J, OK and KZ karts - was like finding a diamond in the rough. The team, which has many years experience competing at top levels in Europe, would be competing in the Kazakhstan Championships the following week and here we were in Kazakhstan. Coincidence? So karting was back on the agenda and it resulted in a grand slam of pole position, race win and fastest lap in the OK-Junior Class, making it a race event that he will never forget. Not just a trophy but, more importantly, unforgettable moments and many new friends made.
During that race there was a large entry in the KZ Shifter Class and Alex set his heart on wanting to learn to drive a shifter (kart with gears). A couple of weeks later we arranged a lesson with the Parolin team and after a morning learning how to change gears around the carpark, it was onto the track to put it all into practice. At the end of the second day, Alex was setting comparable lap times to the top drivers in the country and he was now passionate about driving in the gearbox shifter class.
Alex realised that to move up to such levels of racing, however, fitness and strength would play a key role in his future and, like it or not, he would have to spend time in the gym getting fitter and stronger. Nothing comes for free! After a month of training and gaining a couple of extra kilograms, Alex is now ready for the races that lay ahead. Now he’s heading back home to the track in Thailand for some practice and possibly another race in Malaysia.
No matter how much he’s looking forward to the rest of 2022, his heart and true passion now lies firmly with the shifter kart and the dream of one day racing in the KZ Class in Italy.
The dream lives on…
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