Xavier Lázaro concluded his national karting season today. The Cabo Junior Team driver showed himself to be much more competitive on the track, with the technical staff managing to extract the best from the Kart Republic/Waterswift combination.
Early in the morning, Xavier Lázaro showed that he was stronger for this final day of the Portuguese Cup/Karting Festival. In the event organized by the Leiria Motor Sports Center, at the International Karting Track of that city, the young man from Várzea de Sintra recorded the eighth best time in the free practice session. His lap time of 51.484s left him just over six tenths off the best time.
With an excellent start in the Pre-Final, starting from 10th place, Xavier Lázaro was sixth on the first lap passing the finish line. However, twice, the eight-year-old driver was pushed off the track by two impetuous opponents, who ended up ruining what would have been a very well-executed race for him. Although these two incidents, both on the second lap, affected him on several levels, Xavier Lázaro achieved the goal of finishing in the best possible position, in this case 13th.
The Final ended up having two stories, the first happier, the second very real. The first episode occurred at a start in which Xavier Lázaro ‘shot’ from 13th place to occupy an impressive fifth place in the middle of the first lap. However, since one of the drivers had left his position on the grid before the start, the organization decided to start again. In the second start, this one counting, Xavier Lázaro was unable to gain positions from the start, remaining in a group of drivers who were very aggressively competing for each position.
With his already recognized strong mentality in racing, Xavier Lázaro overcame several opponents one by one, ending his presence in the Portuguese Cup in an excellent 10th place, a good reward for his best participation this year at the wheel of an X30 Mini kart.
“‘Xavi’ saved the best for last and today had his best performance ever at the wheel of a kart in this category”, said his father, Vasco Lázaro, very happy. “Today Xavier's kart was as good as possible, as a result of the good work carried out by the team at various levels. But on the track, the driver also responded, with enormous determination and a lot of desire. He made an excellent start in the Pre-Final, but ended up seeing his efforts sacrificed by two touches from opponents that ruined his race. With the pace he had, he could have been able to position himself well for the final race”.
Regarding his performance in the Final, Vasco Lázaro said, “He had his best race of the year. In a group that was very competitive by position, Xavier knew how to position himself so that each attempt to overtake was efficient and he was successful in each movement. He showed once again how brave he is in racing and how he is always thinking about what he is going to do. I think I can say he ended the season with a bang”.
Photos: Hellofoto
