After more than 6 weeks out of the kart, Luca was really psyched to get back on track. It had been a long hiatus with Luca showing a lot of patience. It gave him the opportunity to really focus on school which he took, impressing his dad no end!
His grades are improving and he’s putting in a huge effort to make it straight As across the finish line at the end of the school year. I’m proud of the little guy.
We did get the opportunity to go to Grange Motor Circuit in Victorville, CA for some much needed seat time. Luca spent close to 6 hours on track and he still wanted to continue – he only stopped when we ran out of racing fuel. He dragged his knuckles back to school the next day, sore as hell, and the seat time was well worth it. It was also the first time I was out without my great pit crew, CZ Racing, and I managed to keep his kart on track although I made some silly mistakes in the set up.
The track configuration for the weekend was Track 5 “Circuit of Las Vegas” – a very quick track, where racers have their foot flat on the throttle for the entire lap, only pushing hard on the brakes on the turn at the end of the back straight. Late braking here requires a lot of commitment on the part of the racers as any errors coupled with the slippery track is unforgiving. That turn proved problematic throughout the weekend with many racers spinning into the tires.
The weather was forecast to be hot, in the low 100s, with a lot of wind for Sunday. Keeping the kids hydrated is a challenge on the best of days. This weekend it would be especially critical. It was indeed blisteringly hot!
The race weekend was dominated by Kart 55Y – a combination of a perfect kart set up and a gifted driver meant that the current championship leader was untouchable, with the rest of the pack playing the role of supporting actors. With that said, there was still a lot of drama to be had and we were treated to some exceptional racing.
The Saturday practice session started slowly for Luca. With the track not in use for so long, there was a lot of dust making it very slippery for the drivers. With strict instructions to the racers under the CZ Racing tent to take it easy for the first hour until the dust cleared from the racing line, Luca’s practice sessions started after the pit crew finished up with last minute changes. In fact, the Saturday practice sessions saw CZ Racing and Luca try multiple set up configurations until he was happy with his kart’s performance.
Luca came up to speed quickly in his first practice session. In our discussions leading up to race weekend, I had asked him to push harder towards the edge to test his limits and not to worry about damaging the kart. As he got quicker, he started to explore new racing lines with the purpose of overtaking on the difficult track. His lap times did improve but I do not believe that he has tested that edge as closely as he thinks he has. This is encouraging as there is still scope for him to go faster – he just needs to be coached to get there. This weekend, he’s looking for that first win and the pressure is on!
Sunday is Race day and starts off with the obligatory Drivers Meeting, followed by the refresher on the Flags for all drivers under 16 years of age. Safety is a high priority on this track and Tim Reichert, the Track Director, takes every opportunity to instill that ethic into the young drivers.
Luca starts off practice where he left off the day before with his times on point.
He’s quick – 2/10th of a second off the pace which is excellent. He’s looking at the immediate competition in front of him and he knows that he will need to put in a very aggressive performance to stay close. Both racers are driving very well and with overtaking being so problematic, he going to need to qualify on pole to be out front on that first turn.
Luca is very focused in preparation for the qualifying session – with only 4 laps or less than 3 minutes to get a performance, he knows that there is little margin for error in executing his qualifying strategy. The drivers are released on track in the order from the timed practice session in 5 second intervals. He is 3rd on track, executing a good session chasing the kart in front of him and qualifies less that 2/10th of a second behind pole.
Luca qualifies 3rd on the grid – he’s slightly disappointed but not despondent as he knows that anything can happen on a rolling start. In the previous 4 races, the pole sitters have had atrocious starts, himself included. He knows to capitalize on any error.
Race 1 gets underway and Luca takes turn 1 in 4th position behind Karts #13, #98 and #55y. By lap 3, he’s in 3rd with Karts #13 and #55y ahead of him. The chase is on as the top 3 drivers begin to pull away from the chasing pack. Just as well – there are a lot of incidents behind them as drivers fight for position. The turn on the back straight is proving to be problematic for many of the drivers as they spin off the slippery track making late breaking moves on each other. Luca runs a solid race, finishing 3rd, 1/2 a second behind the race winner and 1/10th of a second behind the 2nd place driver. He’s very competitive.
Luca keen to share the times from Race 1 with his race buddies …
Race 2 gets underway and Kart #55y gets off to a spectacular start. Luca hits turn 1 in 3rd place. He has a fight on his hands to overtake Kart #13 – an experienced and talented driver currently running the SKUSA series, second in the LAKC Championship. The race leader in Kart #55Y is lapping about 3/10 faster and quickly pulls ahead. He’s in a race of his own. The fight now is between Luca and Kart #13 for 2nd place.
Luca is very close behind him, making his presence known, observing his race line. Kart #13 constantly looks behind him for Luca who is patiently waiting for his opportunity. Both racers are driving hard, with Luca trying to force the mistake. It’s very exciting to watch. This is the racer that Luca hit on an ill advised overtaking maneuver on his first race of the season. That time, Luca took Kart #13 and himself out of the race as they fought for the lead. It has been a monkey on his back ever since and he needed to make the point.
At the beginning of lap 13 of 16, he finally makes his move. As they cross the start/finish line, Luca tucks in behind, making himself as small as possible. Luca had seen that every time Kart 13 approached the first turn, he would drift from the center of the track to the outside while looking for him over his right shoulder. True to form, Kart #13 repeated his ritual.
Luca grabbed his chance on the inside, pulling alongside into the apex, late braking and unseen. When Kart #13 realizes his mistake, it’s too late with Luca forcing him to cede his position. It was a beautifully worked overtaking maneuver, masterful in its execution and clean, logging the weekend’s fastest lap time in the process at 31.397 seconds. Luca had patiently bided his time to perfection. With the race leader close to 4 seconds ahead with 2 laps to go, Luca forged a 3/10th of a second gap on Kart #13 to secure a well deserved 2nd place finish. Kart 55Y took 1st place more than 3.5 seconds ahead – congratulations goes out to the driver and his pit crew for a perfectly executed race strategy.
Consistency is the name of the game and Luca’s second place points take him to second in the LVKC Championship. He’s 59 points behind the race winner and championship leader which is a significant gap. It’s not impossible to bridge but it will take consistency. The season is long and filled with opportunities so he will need to be ready to take advantage of any lapses.
A successful weekend in the bag – 2nd place is a great result … especially on Mother’s Day. Well done Luca.
Another special shout out to Paul and Douglas at CZ Racing for their support, mentoring and superb race prep over the course of the weekend.
Douglas and Paul continue to be impressed with Luca’s performance but acknowledge that the pressure is on for him to capture his first race win in the Mini Swift class. Douglas also suggested that Luca now needs copious amounts of seat time to take his driving skills to the next level. I agree with him, deciding to take Luca down to Calspeed Motor Speedway throughout the summer so that he can continue his progress. We also have a couple of driver coaching sessions planned which should be very helpful.
Next race weekend is scheduled for June 9th & 10th – the first night race of the summer. It’s too hot to drive during the day with temps averaging 100+. Yes – it’s our crazy season! The kids love the night races as they imagine themselves racing the Singapore Grand Prix.
You have to love that …
GO LUCA!