LUCA’S FIRST RACE WEEKEND

May 26, 2016
Posted in LVKC
May 26, 2016 admin

LUCA’S FIRST RACE WEEKEND

 

What a weekend!

Saturday 21st May 2016 | Practice Day

Luca saw his new kart for the first time at 9:30 am on Saturday.  He met his pit crew at the works team Ital Corse, Doug and Paul, as they prepared his kart for the practice sessions. Both proved to be the perfect support all weekend, mentoring Luca and helping me to grasp some of the fundamentals involved in being part of a race team. More on that later but for the moment, before any racing had taken place, Luca was quiet and focused. He was nervous.

 

Glad to see his race buddy at the track, Evan helped calm his first day nerves, get him ready and in the right frame of mind for his first practice session scheduled for 10:30am. They walked the track together with Evan pointing out the braking points and the apex to accelerate through – two young racers helping each other out in the truest racing tradition. It was really great to see. There is a strong bond between these two friends and a healthy rivalry was set to express itself over the course of the weekend.

The configuration Track 6 is known as “The Beast” by the other drivers and with good reason. It is very demanding on young drivers with its numerous fast and slow turns and long straight. This track would test Luca’s natural skill and his mettle. A fast driver is not judged on his straight line speed but his speed through the turns. This track is the perfect baptism of fire for a first time driver to prove his potential. I would be able to finally see just how competitive he is – it would allow me to confirm if he has the natural talent that I believe he has. I was nervous too – I really wanted him to be fast and to impress. I would not be disappointed.

 

The time comes to go out on his first practice session. He’s really nervous now and has no idea what to expect. His new kart goes about 3 times faster than those he drove at Fast Lap. The steering is super sensitive and there is no protection – it’s open wheeled racing. He has no room for error.

The racers get the green flag to leave the pits and he begins to expand his experiential vocabulary. He is all over the place; driving erratically, hitting the curbs, getting into other drivers’ way as he develops his new frame of reference. It’s quite awful to watch actually and I start wondering whether I had made the right decision. Practice lasts about 10 minutes and it goes by quickly. He improves significantly by the end in comparison to the beginning but he is nowhere near what I know he is capable of. He stalls in the pit lane and I go out to get him.

He gets out of the kart, pulls off his helmet and there is a huge smile on his face. “Dad. I was so scared! I loved it! It goes so fast! It is amazing!” Well, at the very least, I now know that he had the balls to be a racer!

His pit crew didn’t say anything but very quietly, very gently began to reinforce his confidence. They had seen this before and they knew that it takes time for any young driver stepping up to this level. The kart had sustained a little damage from hitting the curbs but nothing serious. They worked on it for the next 20 minutes or so as the other classes cycled through their practice sessions.

Luca’s driving had been very  erratic – he was basically over compensating on the sensitive steering. Paul advised him to be smoother into the turns and not to compensate so much. He also told him to care for the kart, not to risk everything on one move. I reinforced that sentiment with Ayton Senna’s remark that a smart driver knows when to attack and when to hold back. Luca listened and simply nodded. Time to go out again.

The transformation was nothing short of remarkable. He was smooth and he was very quick. He had redefined his new frame of reference and he was going to race hard. The video above is short but it shows the almost immediate improvement as he pushed hard, keeping closer to the faster racers until their experience and consistency allowed them to pull away. I was with Paul, watching Luca drove harder at every practice session thereafter. All he said was “Holy crap, he’s fast! And do you see that? He doesn’t take his foot off on that first turn. He has his foot down all the way – that’s the way it should be. Holy crap! He’s a natural racer!”

He continues to push hard in every practice which further impressed the pit crew. He’s not letting up and is searching for those extra milliseconds right to the end. Luca’s inexperience did tell over the course of the afternoon as he began to tire from the heat and the intense effort, which was to be expected. He made a mistake, bent a sprocket which resulted in the chain coming off leaving him with no power. It had to be replaced and now sits proudly on his wall at home. At the end of the Saturday practice sessions, he had exceeded all our expectations. The pit crew had a tremendous respect for this new racer and I was as proud as punch!

Sunday 22nd May 2016 | Race Day

The day starts off with a practice followed by qualifying and then 2 races. It was going to be an eventful day to say the least. His practice session was marred by a big accident about 5 minutes in. 3 racers going flat out down the straight, 3 abreast into the fast parabolica. No one letting up. Luca is in the middle. He hesitates and lifts ever so slightly. It’s too late. He gets squeezed out and flies – all four wheels off the ground! Yet miraculously, he keep the kart on the track with some superb instinctive driving. The new sprocket is bent from the impact and the chain is off – end of practice. Paul turns to me and say “Not much he could do about that. But the kid has balls, I’ll give him that.” I could tell he was really impressed with Luca’s courage.

With practice over, activity in the pits is intense as Paul repairs the kart. Qualifying lasts only 4 minutes and there is not much time. The kart is ready in the nick of time and Luca goes out for his first qualifying and he’s lightning quick. However after only his second lap, the bolts holding the new sprocket sheer off – end of qualifying! That’s racing and Luca is learning it the hard way! We wait on his qualifying times. Oh, I forgot to add – Luca’s mother, Lee with Mark and Paul decided to come to cheer him on and she’s having kittens!

He’s 5th on the grid! He came in fastest of his class and faster than 4 drivers in the class above him. The pit crew are ecstatic. They start working on the kart to replace the bolts. Doug says “In my 10 years of karting, I have never seen bolts sheer that way!” Go Luca! is all I can think …

Luca is now very quiet and focused. He is visualizing the track, preparing himself mentally for his first race. He doesn’t know what to expect but he knows already that he will give it his best. He looks like he was made for racing. I just sit back and watch the show. This is what I had hoped for and it was happening right in front of me. Paul was quietly whispering encouragements in his ear, building his confidence and preparing him. It was fantastic to see. They call his race class to get in their carts over the tannoy and we are off onto our next chapter.

 

It’s a rolling start, his first, and I am nervous. His mother is up in the grandstand and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s biting her nails. Our hearts are pumping. It is so exciting to see our little guy about to start his first competitive race. They complete the warm up lap and as they head towards the start/finish line, the pack get the green flag and they’re off! 16 karts flat out into the parabolica and Luca is holding his position in 5th. There’s a lot going on around him but he keeps his concentration as the race settles down. He’s quick in the turns but lacks straight line speed. He holds his position for the entire 16 laps and comes in first in his class and 5th overall. It’s a tremendous result.

Back to the pits and preparation for the second race which also happens to be the last race of the day. It’s hot and my bald patch took a beating today but I don’t care! They call for his class and it’s another rolling start but the outcome this time is very different. Luca jump starts the green flag and, with his foot hard on the pedal, manages to avoid all the karts and the starter, and races off, hell for leather, thinking that he is in the lead. He’s really racing hard until he gets called out on the back stretch. He slows down and lets the entire field by him, starting now at the back. Remember he should be 5th on the grid. It’s a catastrophic start to the race and his inexperience shows itself again.

He’s at the back but that doesn’t stop him. The race gets underway and he just starts slicing through the pack. Karts are flying everywhere as he takes the racing line and refuses to yield as he literally cuts through the field like a knife through butter. There are some big moments out there and our hearts are in our mouths as they all seem to involve Luca’s kart in some capacity, whether a racer is trying to take him and miscalculates or tries to cut him off. His racing is fearless and determined. He did a couple of overtaking moves that drew gasps from the crowd. It is awesome!

I tried to take video but I was so into the emotion of the moment that the little I took is all over the place and impossible to view. As for photos – forget it. But the images of that race are indelibly burnt into my memory for the rest of my life. It was one of the most exciting races I have ever experienced and by the time the checkered flag dropped, I had no idea who won, all I knew is that Luca raced his heart out. Later, on the way home, still high on the exhilaration of his victory, he told me that once he realized that he had screwed up his race, he decided to do a Lewis Hamilton, to fight his way through the pack.

And he did. Once the results had been computed, he came out as overall winner in his class and 6th overall. It was an unbelievable drive and a quite remarkable result. First time in the kart, first time on the track and first trophy.

Well done Luca. Brilliant result and I am very proud of you. You did a Vestappen!

Next race is Saturday June 25th 2016. It’s a night race due to the heat. His mother is flying him in from San Diego …