TRI-C ROUND 7

November 22, 2018
Posted in Tri-C
November 22, 2018 admin

TRI-C ROUND 7

LUCA SECURES 3RD IN THE TRI-C CHAMPIONSHIP

Big day today – last race of the Tri-C season. Luca ran the race of his life, starting from the back to finish 3rd, clinching 3rd place in the Championship in the process. It was an amazing drive. What a day! But let’s start at the beginning …

We came down Friday to dial in the kart for Race Day on Saturday. It was busy between Luca pounding the laps and searching for the right set up. Luca was consistently quick and as the track filled with drivers, it made for excellent preparation. By the end of the day, we decided on lose is fast.

Luca qualified 2nd on the grid and ran a very competitive Heat 1 to finish 3rd.

Heat 2 was more problematic.

At the start, as he was fighting for 2nd place into turn 1, Luca was hit from behind dislodging his back bumper so that it was dragging. He was immediately black flagged. He came into the pits via the scales and got the DNF.

He was starting at the back for the Main Race. To make it even more challenging, his nearest rival in the championship finished Heat 2 in 3rd. Luca had to finish ahead of him to secure 3rd.

Luca was surprisingly calm. He knew what he had to do. He had to run his best performance of the year.

From the start, he was smooth. By lap 1, he had moved into 8th. Over the next 6 laps, he moved up to 5th, making perfectly timed overtaking maneuvers without breaking his stride. By lap 9, he was in 3rd with his nearest rival in 4th, falling behind. However, the podium finish was not secured just yet.

Before the race, we agreed that we would run a high tire pressure so that the tires came on early, permitting him to run hard to overtake the field. By lap 12 the tires were going off and Luca’s 4th place rival started to catch him. With 2 laps to go, the gap was gone and Luca had to defend his position all the way to the line. He ran a remarkable defensive line and kept him at bay. The gap at the finish line was 0.041 seconds!

Luca passed tech – they dismantled the entire engine! I brought it back to Doug in a box. He secured his first podium finish and 3rd place in the championship. Very proud of you Luca – you took your race craft to the next level.

Luca gets his first podium finish after an excellent drive.

Luca secures 3rd in the Championship.

On the podium with his 3rd place Championship trophy. That’s one happy Luca! Well done kiddo and thanks for an amazing year.

A special thanks to Douglas Creesy @themechanic, @italcourse for a good chassis, to Alex Mercado for being a great teammate and to the Tri-C family who generously gave time and knowledge to help us get to this amazing result!

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