GRAND FINAL 2008 - Day 26.11.2008
As the 26th of November arrives it’s
finally time for the rubber to meet the road at the La
Conca International Circuit in Muro Leccese, Italy. After
all the preliminary events, all the preparations, and
all the difficulties and struggles each team had to overcome
to arrive here, all that remained was one short drivers
briefing before the first group of Junior Max drivers
hit the track at 11:20 AM sharp.
Watching the first group of junior drivers tear out of
the pit exit towards turn one created a release of energy
in the grandstands as the drivers were cheered on by their
friends and family.
The big smiles that were so evident in
the grandstands were contrasted by the straight-faced
look of the mechanics holding stopwatches. Their job is
purely to time and observe their driver during practice.
There is no room for emotion; there will be time for that
later.
After the first two Junior Max practice
sessions, one for even numbered karts then odd numbered
karts to limit the amount of traffic on the track at one
time, there were similar practice sessions for the Max
(formerly known as Senior Max) class drivers and then
DD2 (the two-speed, higher-powered class). This would
be the first of two practice sessions the drivers would
get at the La Conca Circuit today.
It was interesting to note that in all
sessions the drivers took it fairly easy in their first
few laps. There was no off-track drama or curb hopping
as the drivers learned the circuit for the first time
or re-acclimated themselves if they had been here before.
No drama that is until the final group, the odd-numbered
DD2 drivers. Whether it was having to wait through all
groups before them or something that just got on the track,
the second group of DD2s saw a high number of spins and
off-track slides in their first couple of laps. After
a short amount of time allowed for the tires to warm up
and the grip to increase, the drivers were fine and set
about tearing around the La Conca track at an impressive
pace.
This year the DD2s are racing for the
first time on Mojo’s brand new D3 tire. The D3 has
proven to be around seven tenths of a second faster in
pre-race development and testing and it should add an
extra element of excitement to the races. It will also
add an element of unknown, as none of the driver’s
should have any experience with them before this week.
It will be of interest to see which teams can adapt to
the new compound quickest.
After the morning sessions, there was
a short lunch break before taking to the track in the
afternoon for another round of practice. During this time
if one took a walk through the pits they could see the
drivers talking about their track experiences, most using
their arms to describe how they were turning the steering
wheel. Many talked of their favorite parts of the course,
for some it was the long front straight. For others, it
was the chicane one the back while some preferred the
twisty sections.
After the second round of practice, it
was time to pour over data, clean and prepare everything
to go back out tomorrow. Thursday will see two untimed
practice sessions before qualifying begins promptly at
2:20 PM. The forecast is for sunny skies and fast times
here at the Rotax MAX Grand Finals in Muro Leccese, Italy.
P I T B I T S
Belgian-born South African Naomi Schiff
is attending her first Grand Finals as an entrant in the
Junior Max category. The 14-year-old has been racing karts
for two years and says she got interested in the sport
after her father took her to an indoor kart track when
she was 12.
It is interesting to note that even in
these tough economic times, Naomi and her father were
able to secure sponsorship from air conditioning company
Air Clima to help them attend this event. We say good
on them for that and hope that that sort of determination
will someday see Naomi achieve her ultimate goal of racing
in Formula one alongside her favorite driver, 2008 World
Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Roy Curfs from Voeren, Holland is attending
his first Grand Final as an entrant in the senior Max
category. Roy has been racing since he was 16 and says
before that he had no interest in racing, only football.
That all changed one day when his father brought home
a Rotax kart to race and, after watching him one time,
Roy decided he’d like to give it a go.
Roy says he doesn’t have any racing
idols. He’s just enjoying his own accomplishments
right now and hopes to continue having success in Rotax
Max competition.
Dino Chiesa was the team manager for
CRG for ten years. During that time he oversaw the racing
operations for some of the greatest names to ever grace
our sport. While that was an extremely satisfying experience,
he longed to have his own chassis line and in 2004 started
Chiesa Corse and introduced the Zanardi line of kart chassis
in association with Formula One and Indy Car legend Alex
Zanardi.
The Zanardi line is a premium brand of
kart chassis produced by CRG and assembled in Chiesa’s
shop located next door to the main facility. Dino says
their current production is about 350 chassis a year and
says he wishes for that number to stay level to avoid
the problems associated with small companies that expand
too quickly.
Filippo Brambilla is a Junior Max driver
representing his home country of Italy here at the La
Conca circuit. The 15-year-old driver from Milano is attending
his first Grand Final and hopes to achieve a good result
for the home crowd. He has three years of karting experience
behind him and plans on returning to Rotax competition
next year.
Filippo says his favorite track is Lonato
and, like many of the drivers here, says he’d like
to ultimately end up in Formula One driving for Ferrari.
If that happens he may end up becoming F1 World Champion
like his favorite driver, the great seven-time champion
Michael Schumacher.
Henry Taleb from Guayaquil, Ecuador has
been racing karts for 10 years and is attending his first
ever Grand Final. During his time in karting, he’s
raced many different types of karts at many tracks but
lists the track in Ocala, Florida (USA) as his favorite.
His childhood idol was the great Brazilian three-time
World Champion Ayrton Senna.
Henry got the racing bug from his father,
also named Henry, who once competed in the GT2 class in
the American IMSA sports car series. Although his father
did achieve some success in cars, Henry says he’d
just as soon stay in karting.
|
