Present at the Kartódromo Internacional de Braga (KIB) to participate in the grand Karting Festival in Portugal, the Cup of Portugal in the sport, Xavier Lázaro carried with him the hope of competing for victory in the X30 Mini category, while reinforcing the excellent competitive indicators he demonstrated a few weeks ago in Bombarral during the final round of the Toyota Karting Portugal Championship. However, numerous technical problems and some unfortunate coincidences made the passage of the Várzea de Sintra driver through Braga something he will not remember with fondness in the near future.
Technical Problems That Came to Stay
From the very first free practice sessions, it was evident that this could turn out to be a problematic weekend for Xavier Lázaro in the competition of this year's edition of the Karting Portugal Cup, organized by ACDME (Association of Motorized Sports Marshals of Estoril). The nine-year-old driver, just back from another international appearance at the WSK Open Cup in Lonato, quickly began experiencing various issues with his equipment: lack of power in one of the two engines he brought to Braga, constant failures in one of the carburetors, and other malfunctions that became apparent.
The Qualifying session seemed to timidly mark a turning point in a positive direction, as Xavier Lázaro had the DR working in perfect conditions and showed good partials in his attempts to set a good time. However, in the two laps where he aimed for the pole position, he consistently had slower opponents on the track, which ended up compromising his goals. At the end of the session, the sixth-best time, 0.136 seconds behind the pole position, fell short of what Xavier Lázaro intended and was capable of achieving.
Going Backward
The first Qualifying Heat highlighted the challenges that were hitting Xavier Lázaro hard. With the engine struggling to start before the race, the driver immediately began to feel a negative burden on his shoulders. When the equipment finally worked, it was evident during the race that the DR engine did not deliver the desired power. The driver started the race in the sixth position and kept losing places, ultimately finishing in 13th. Therefore, the second Qualifying Heat presented difficulties, but Xavier Lázaro managed to be competitive to some extent, finishing in eighth place. There was still an effort to resolve the many technical problems so that on Sunday, it would be possible to contend for victory.
A lot of effort was put into trying to ensure that the engine and carburetor worked under the best conditions on Sunday, the day of the Pre-Final and Final races, which determine 'who takes home the trophy.' In the Pre-Final, Xavier Lázaro managed to slightly improve his chances of pursuing the coveted trophy. Finishing the race in sixth place secured a spot in the top three rows of the starting grid for the Final, which, given the challenges faced until then, was not a bad result.
In the Final, Xavier Lázaro had a good start and immediately stayed close to the leaders, giving the impression that finally, at the most crucial moment, he had the equipment that could enable him to fight for victory. However, as the race progressed, once again, the DR engine began to lose performance, initially distancing the Várzea de Sintra driver from the battle for victory while placing him in a group where survival became essential. Amid many disputes and contacts, the driver ended up being penalized for damage to his kart, dropping from 6th place at the end of the race to 10th place in the final classification.
"This was a weekend where basically everything went wrong", said the father of the driver, Vasco Lázaro. "From one of the engines clearly not wanting to perform, to electrical and carburation issues, everything happened to us. In addition, during Qualifying, he once again saw the chances of good laps being hampered due to traffic. We fought against all these problems, and it was a bit frustrating that Xavier was never able to fight for the best result. It wasn't the season finale we wanted in Portugal, but there's nothing more to do except start preparing for his next race in Italy".
Photos: Hellofoto
