Xavier Lázaro travelled to the International Circuit La Conca in Muro Leccese, Italy, this weekend to contest the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship. Among the 87 entrants in OK-Junior, the Parolin Motorsport factory driver initially showed the potential for a competitive weekend, regularly featuring among the eight fastest drivers in free practice.
However, a disrupted Qualifying session and three Heats marked by incidents and a forced chassis change ultimately compromised his weekend and prevented him from progressing to the deciding stages.
Qualifying setback undermines promising early pace
The first setback came in Qualifying. Running in a large group, Xavier had his preparation for his flying laps disrupted when, at the end of the opening lap, the driver leading the group slowed midway along the main straight, forcing those behind her to lose momentum.
This affected his sequence of laps and tyre preparation at a crucial point in the short session. The time lost also prevented the Portuguese driver from completing an additional lap, on which he had expected his tyres to be in the best condition to attack the stopwatch.
Xavier ended the session 44th fastest, around a second off pole position, leaving him with ground to make up in the Heats.
Another incident halts recovery in the opening Heat
The event introduced a format with grids reduced from 36 to 28 drivers and just three Heats per competitor. With fewer opportunities to recover from a poor result, avoiding incidents was particularly important in the battle to progress.
In his first Heat, Xavier started 12th on the outside of the grid, a particularly difficult position approaching La Conca’s opening corners. Despite a good getaway, he lost places in the early stages before finding the track blocked by an incident involving several rivals.
He managed to keep the engine running and rejoin the race, recovering to 14th place. He was then hit by another driver, who was subsequently disqualified from the Heat for the incident, undoing the Portuguese driver’s recovery efforts.
Second-race accident forces a chassis change
In his second Heat, Xavier started 11th, this time on the inside, and made good use of his getaway to gain places and move into the top 10.
However, at the end of the opening lap, he was involved in an accident with Julian Frasnelli while attempting to overtake him. Both retired without injury, but the damage to Xavier’s chassis meant it could not be used again.
The second adverse result compromised his chances of reaching the Final and forced the Parolin Motorsport driver to contest his last Heat with another chassis, in which he had not felt as comfortable during practice.
Final attempt falls short as pace proves elusive
Starting 11th again, Xavier made another good getaway and tried to stay with the leading group. It soon became clear, however, that he lacked the pace to move forward, requiring a sustained effort to remain in contention.
Twice, while being overtaken at the same point on the circuit, he was pushed onto the dirty side of the track. The resulting loss of tyre performance compounded his difficulties and contributed to his slide to 20th at the finish.
His combined results left Xavier outside both Super-Heats, bringing his World Championship campaign to an end. It was a frustrating outcome after the encouraging signs in free practice, with setbacks in Qualifying and the Heats preventing him from converting that potential into results.
Photos: Sportinphoto Kart Photo-Agency
