With a full day of running behind them from Wednesday, the Rotax Max competitors set out Thursday morning with a greater understanding of the track and their karts. Practice got underway as per the schedule at 9:20 AM sharp with the odd-numbered Junior Max drivers. Having the honor of setting the fastest time in the first unofficial timed session was Estonian Aavo Talvar with a lap of 51.332 seconds. With Estonian Kevin Korjus in attendance as the defending Junior Max World Champion, were we witnessing a new dynasty in the making for Estonia? Only time, and the stopwatch would tell.

After the Juniors had their runs, it was time for the Max class to hit the track aboard their Maranello machines. Several drivers had a stay at the top of the time sheets. One notable exception was 2003 Rotax World Champion Cristiano Morgado from South Africa. Astute observers noticed he would come out for a run of two laps then pit to make an adjustment. He did this repeatedly making us wonder if there was a problem, or was he making fine adjustments to his kart’s setup?

Next up the DD2s put on a great show with their extra speed and performance. From a visceral standpoint, the DD2s create interest with the sound of shifting gears and all-out speed. From a technical standpoint, it would be interesting to see which teams learn the new Mojo D3 tire the quickest.

It came as no surprise that defending DD2 World Champion, Canada’s Pier-Luc Ouellette was fastest in his first session. In 2007 in Al Ain in the UAE, Pier-Luc was fastest in all sessions. However, in the afternoon session, three other drivers led by Japan’s Kazuki Nishibayashi who set a time of 48.526 seconds for one lap bested Pier-Luc.

After a one-hour lunch break that allowed the teams to mount a new set of Mojo tires, the Junior Max competitors were back on the grid for their first official qualifying session. As with the practice sessions, there was a lot of drama and tension for the teams as first one driver would be at the top, only to be replaced by another one a moment later. When the dust finally settled after two sessions (even-numbered karts and odd-numbered), all times were combined for a final qualifying order.

On top of the list of the Junior Max Competitors was Belgian driver Dylan Lahaye with a time of 50.697 seconds, just a scant 76 thousandths of a second faster than South Africa’s Axcil Jefferies. After qualifying is completed and the times calculated together, the drivers will be split into 4 groups labeled A, B, C and D. The four fastest drivers each leading their own groups are:

1 Dylan Lahaye (Belgium) 50.697

2 Axcil Jeffries (South Africa) 50.773

3 Jo Riley (United Kingdom) 50.773

4 Mads Thomson (Denmark) 50.812

During the practice sessions in the Max class, Ireland’s Martin Pierce spent his time lurking in the top 10, quietly working on his kart’s setup. Martin is a veteran of three other Grand Finals and has been on the podium twice before. This time he proved his early confidence was well justified, as he was able to snatch pole position. In what could well be the tightest race yet to come, all four of the top qualifiers were within a tenth of a second of each other. Also of particular interest is that they all set their fastest time on their ninth qualifying lap.

The top four are:

1 Martin Pierce (Ireland) 49.133

2 Ricky De Donno (Italy) 49.136

3 Ben Cooper (United Kingdom) 49.201

4 Sotaro Mimura (Japan) 49.218

The last groups to make their qualifying runs were the DD2s. Towards the end of the second session for the odd-numbered karts, it was getting late and the light was starting to fail. But it made no difference to Canadian Pier-Luc as he once again stamped his authority on the class by setting the fastest time of qualifying with a 48.222 second lap. In fact, the only issue he had was a minor spin as he was trying to avoid other karts on his way back to the pits.  

However, unlike Al Ain, it wasn’t a runaway as Dutchman Maik Barten is just .006 of a second behind. The top four qualifiers in DD2 are:

1 Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada) 48.222

2 Maik Barten (Holland) 48.228

3 Denis Thum (Germany) 48.380

4 Leeroy Poulter (South Africa) 48.384

P I T B I T S

Ryan Urban is a 25-year-old DD2 competitor from Manuka, Aukland in New Zealand. Although he’s competing in his first Grand Final, he’s been racing karts for over 16 years. In addition to Rotax max competition, Ryan is involved in top-level 250cc Superkart racing and won the prestigious Superkart Moto GP support event in 2006 at Laguna Seca in California.

In addition to racing superkarts, Ryan has begun developing his own chassis line to be called Elite Superkarts and builds everything but the braking system. Ryan says fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon is a bit of a rold model for him and with the talent he’s shown so far, he may just be following in the footsteps of the 2008 Indy 500 winner.

Italian racewear company MiR is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year and is at the Grand Finals to display their latest products as well as to assist any and all drivers that may need help with one of their suits or accessories. The company was founded by Bruno Mazzeschi just outside Florence, Italy but today is being taken over by his son, Rick Mazzeschi.

Rick says he proud of the fact that all MiR suits are hand made in Italy and not shipped to other parts of the world where quality cannot be controlled. The company makes over 13,000 karting and car racing suits a year of which about 70% are custom made.

Martin Pierce is a veteran of three previous Grand Finals and finished on the podium both times he raced in Malaysia. It’s no wonder he rates the Lankawi circuit as one of his favorites, although he says it’s more for the tropical location than the actual layout. Some of his other favorite events are the street race at Rock Island in America and the kart street race in Monaco.

The 32-year-old who now hails from Dublin, Ireland has raced for all but the first 12 years of his life and currently works as a mechanical design engineer. Just after out interview with martin, he went on to set the fastest qualifying time in the Max class. Perhaps another podium or even victory is in sights for this likeable competitor.

After spending just a few moments with Axcil Jefferies, his enthusiasm for the sport makes you want to jump in a kart and head out on the track yourself. The 14-year-old with the infectious personality has been racing for 8 years and has a natural, smooth driving style that has suited him very well. Although he lives in Zimbabwe, he competes for the powerful South African team since racing is virtually non-existent in his home country. This puts a strain on his activities, yet he and his father, Su, still managed to make it to 27 events in 2007.

For now Axcil intends to keep focused on a racing career and spends 2 hours a day working on his fitness. His desire for next year is to race in Formula BMW. Like many young drivers, he says he’d like to be in formula One. We certainly hope to see him there someday.

14-year-old Dylan Lahaye hails from Wegnez, Belgium and is competing in his first Grand Final. He actually had qualified for the 2007 event in Al Ain but did not make the trip. He says his favorite kart track is the Schumacher facility in Kerpen, Germany but that since the Grand finals is his first International event, so far this experience has been the best.

It no doubt adds to his Grand Finals experience that he qualified on pole for the Junior Max category. With that type of talent you may think he has his sights set on a career in racing. But, the young drivers says he’d like to do more karting, perhaps even some car racing, but after a while he plans on moving into the family business with his father building driveways and sidewalks.