Xavier Lázaro completed his first competition in OKN-Junior this weekend, taking part in the first round of the ACI Sport Italian Karting Championship, held at the Pista Salentina in Ugento. The Portuguese driver approached this competition with the humility of someone eager to learn quickly and set his initial goal as completing as many laps as possible in competition, with the aim of reaching the Final.
After securing 28th place in Qualifying among the 49 drivers in the category, the young DR driver started both Qualifying Heats from 19th position, finishing 12th in both. His performance highlighted a growing maturity and determination when it came to overtaking opponents on track.
Today, Xavier Lázaro started Pre-Final B from eighth place, and with a cautious approach, he lost several positions on the first lap, dropping to 14th. A strong second half of the 14-lap race brought him up to 10th place, which secured him a 15th place start in the Final.
With no pressure after achieving his initial goal, Xavier Lázaro delivered his best race in the Final, showing that he is quickly adapting to a new category, driving a larger and more powerful kart. It is important to note that, since Xavier Lázaro is still very young and light for the category, his kart was weighted with an additional 28 kilograms. With the aggressiveness he is known for, the young driver from Várzea de Sintra was very consistent in his lap times, showing that he was becoming increasingly stronger and more comfortable behind the wheel of the DR/Modena, ultimately finishing in a solid 13th place.
“A minha meta para esta etapa era terminar todas as corridas, efetuando o maior número de voltas em competição que me fosse possível”, disse Xavier Lázaro, que enalteceu as dificuldades da pista de Ugento. “Iniciar-me na OKNJ numa pista como Ugento foi um desafio ainda mais complexo. É reconhecidamente um dos traçados mais difíceis em Itália, muito técnico, com bastantes mudanças de direção e com um asfalto demasiado irregular. Nada melhor para começo de categoria que um desafio de elevada dificuldade. Agora, seguem-se uns dias de descanso, antes de voltar ao volante do DR/Modena, para preparar a minha próxima corrida, a primeira etapa da WSK Euro Series, em Viterbo, um traçado de que gosto muito”.
Learning and Evolving
Na chegada a uma nova categoria, Xavier Lázaro veio para Ugento com um ‘caderno de encargos’ bem definido: aprender o máximo a cada momento na pista e efetuar o maior número de voltas possível, tanto em treino como em corrida. Na OKN-Júnior tudo é novo para o jovem piloto português, agora ao volante de um kart maior, mais potente e onde em muitas situações é necessário reaprender tudo de novo.
Focused on his goal, the DR driver used the Qualifying session as his first confrontation with his competitors, securing the 14th fastest time in his group, which corresponded to 28th place overall, out of 49 participants.
In the two Qualifying Heats he contested, Xavier Lázaro started from 19th place. Always highly focused, the young driver from Várzea de Sintra put in two strong performances, carefully managing his pace. In his first race against the competition, he gained positions, becoming more confident as the race progressed, and finished in a positive 12th place. In the second Qualifying Heat, starting again from 19th, the Portuguese driver remained consistent and repeated his 12th place finish. Although in the final laps of both races Xavier Lázaro showed signs of fatigue, it was still clear that he gained confidence with each lap, demonstrated by the determined way he overtook competitors on track.
Conservative in the Pre-Final
The combined results from the Qualifying Heats determined that Xavier Lázaro would start from 8th place for Pre-Final B, held this morning in Ugento. The start of the race was turbulent, and Xavier Lázaro was quite conservative at the beginning, focused on avoiding any incidents. The Portuguese driver lost some positions, even dropping to 14th place at one point, but gradually recovered and finished the race positively, within the top 10.
Good Performance in the Final
For the Final, Xavier Lázaro started completely free of pressure, as his goal of making it to the decisive race had been achieved. Maintaining a humble attitude and focused on completing as many laps as possible, the 11-year-old driver was conservative at the start but stayed close to the leading pack, which remained tightly grouped throughout the 14-lap race. As he became more adapted to the new kart, Xavier Lázaro improved his lap times and grew stronger throughout the race. He finished in 13th place, but his performance showed that he will soon be a strong contender for the top drivers in the category.
Next comes a short period of rest before returning to Italy for four days of testing in Viterbo, the track where the first round of the WSK Euro Series will take place from May 13th to 17th.
Photos: Sportinphoto Kart Photo-Agency
