Xavier Lázaro's international season did not start in the best way. Present at the WSK Champions Cup in Lonato, in the Sub-10 class, the Portuguese driver had a weekend he would rather forget. There were many adversities during this week, from coping with the very cold weather to problems in the qualifying heats, but the Portuguese driver managed to overcome them, making it to the final of the category. However, he was forced to retire during the first lap when, following a collision with an opponent, the chain of his DR kart came loose.
Very Cold Weather Helped Affect Performance in Practice and Qualifying
Present in Italy for the first WSK event of the season, Xavier Lázaro faced very cold temperatures at the South Garda Karting in Lonato. Although the weather conditions were challenging for all participants, it is true that many of the opponents the Portuguese driver faces this year in the Sub-10 class come from northern and eastern Europe, where January weather is much colder than in southern Europe. In addition to these difficulties, there is the fact that this year's WSK event schedule includes an extra category due to the split of Mini with the new Sub-10 class. This results in scheduling constraints, forcing WSK Promotion to reduce track time for each category. Therefore, Xavier Lázaro, like all Champions Cup participants, had long breaks between short training sessions during the event days. Consequently, it was challenging for the driver from Várzea de Sintra to stay active between sessions.
Xavier Lázaro encountered some difficulties in finding good pace from the free practice sessions. In the Qualifying session, in his group, the Portuguese driver performed much better, recording the 12th time among 20 drivers, out of a total of 40 participants. Lázaro also faced challenges in the grouping for Qualifying, ending up among the more competitive drivers. For comparison, his lap time of 53.258s, which secured him the 12th position, would have corresponded to the 3rd best time in the other Sub-10 group.
Kart Damage Affects Eliminatory Rounds
For his three heats, Xavier Lázaro started from the 12th position. Much more accustomed to the cold weather of the Lonato weekend, the Portuguese driver consistently delivered good performances, although this didn't always translate into final results. In the first and second heats, the nine-year-old finished in the eighth and ninth positions. However, he damaged the front of the DR kart in both heats, resulting in respective penalties that placed him in 14th and 16th positions. In the final heat, with an error-free performance, Xavier Lázaro finished in eighth place, allowing him to start the Pre-Final from a favorable position.
Everything at Stake in the Pre-Final
With the sum of the results from the three heats, Xavier Lázaro raced in Pre-Final B, starting from the 13th position. The Portuguese driver was very competitive in the race, reaching a commendable fifth position. However, in the final stages, Xavier Lázaro chose to contest the fourth place, and in the attempt to overtake his opponent, ended up colliding with them. The final result was the 13th position, making it impossible to achieve the goal of starting in the first half of the grid for the Final.
In the Final, starting from the 13th row of the starting grid, Xavier Lázaro knew that he would have to be a 'warrior' to climb as many positions as possible. The Portuguese driver had a good start, gained positions, but in a highly competitive part of the pack, he was eventually touched by an opponent, causing damage to the chain of his DR kart, which made retirement inevitable.
"This was a weekend to forget", said disheartened Vasco Lázaro, Xavier Lázaro's father. "At the beginning, he faced some difficulties, but he eventually adapted to the cold and was competitive in the heats, although he was ultimately affected by penalties for damages to the kart's nose. Then, in the Pre-Final, he was in 5th and chose to go for more, ultimately making a mistake that cost us a good starting position in the Final. He started the Final very well but had a stroke of bad luck and had to retire. It's part of the game, and now we prepare for the next weekend" concluded Vasco Lázaro.
Next weekend, Xavier Lázaro will race again at the South Garda Karting in Lonato, in the first stage of the WSK Super Master Series.
Photos: Sportinphoto Kart Photo-Agency
