Xavier Lázaro competed this weekend in the third round of the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship, held in Germany, more specifically at Motorsportarena Mülsen.
In yet another weekend in which the young Portuguese driver struggled with the lack of competitiveness of the factory DR kart in the OKJ (Junior) category, he still managed to reach this morning’s Super Heat B, starting from 31st position for the 12-lap race. He would eventually retire during the second lap after colliding with a rival who spun off directly in front of him.
In an event initially marked by highly unstable weather conditions, with heavy rain over the first two days, Xavier Lázaro achieved his objective of finishing all the heats. However, he was never able to be truly competitive or convert his excellent starts—where he consistently gained several positions—into stronger results. Lacking outright speed, the Portuguese driver remained highly combative throughout the weekend, but all too often became an easy target for his rivals.
The event held in Germany marked the end of a chapter for Xavier Lázaro, who contested his final race at the wheel of the factory DR kart in Mülsen. The young driver from Várzea de Sintra will now enjoy around a month away from competition before returning for the next round of the Champions of the Future, at the Swedish circuit of Kristianstad, an event he will already contest as part of a new factory team, which will be announced in due course.
Qualifying and Heats Full of Struggle
At a circuit that had already proven difficult and dangerous during last week’s Champions of the Future round, Xavier Lázaro continued to show a lack of speed and competitiveness to dream of the leading positions or even a possible place in the OKJ Final. At Motorsportarena Mülsen, the factory DR driver could do no better than 63rd in Qualifying among the 84 participants. In the rain, his best lap was recorded at 1m07.11s, more than three seconds off pole position. With this result, Xavier Lázaro was immediately aware that he would face a very difficult challenge throughout the heats.
Always with the objective of finishing every race in order to accumulate as many laps as possible, Xavier Lázaro started all five heats he contested from either 21st or 22nd position. On the opening day, the first two races in which he competed were run in wet conditions and he finished both of them. Consistently making strong starts and gaining several positions, which he then found very difficult to defend during the races, he finished the first heat in 18th place, three positions higher than where he had started. In the following race, he achieved an even better result. Starting once again from 21st, he fought hard and aggressively to finish the 10-lap contest in 15th position.
Yesterday, the rain gave the drivers in Mülsen a break and Xavier Lázaro contested the remaining three heats. In the first of them, the Portuguese driver struggled and eventually became involved among the drivers caught up in incidents. He was also handed a five-second penalty after the race for front fairing damage on his DR kart. He finished the race in 25th position.
Already aware that his objective was now simply to secure a place in one of the Super Heats, the 12-year-old driver then produced his best race of the weekend. With a strong start and avoiding all the chaos in the opening laps, he climbed from 22nd to eighth place, a position he held when Oleksander Legenkyi suffered a frightening accident. Fortunately, there were no physical consequences for the CL Racing Team driver (Birel ART/IAME/Maxxis), but the incident resulted in yellow flags being displayed for several laps.
At the restart, aware that he would need to defend himself from the competition, Xavier Lázaro was quick to gain positions from the moment the race resumed. Despite an evident lack of speed, the Portuguese driver delivered an excellent race and even challenged for a place in the top five, eventually crossing the finish line in eighth position. However, he was handed a five-second penalty for gaining a position at the restart before fully crossing the control line. As a result, he was classified in 19th place.
In the final heat, Xavier Lázaro once again made a strong start, but continued to struggle with a lack of speed. Even so, he managed to gain several positions in what was probably the least incident-filled heat of the weekend, securing 15th place.
This morning, he started Super Heat B from 31st position, already aware that he would not qualify for the category Final. On the second lap, Forza Racing's British driver, Austin Newstead, went off the track directly in front of him and the Portuguese driver was unable to avoid the contact. The impact was significant but without physical consequences, although it forced Xavier Lázaro to retire from the race.
In Mülsen, Xavier Lázaro contested his final race as a factory driver for DR, a team that will not be competing in the next round of the championship at the Swedish circuit of Kristianstad. In due course, and before round four of the Champions of the Future, also in Kristianstad, the future destination of the Portuguese driver will be announced.
Photos: Sportinphoto Kart Photo-Agency
