Xavier Lázaro officially concluded his karting season for the current year today. In the second and final round of the WSK Final Cup, held at the Italian track of Cremona, the Portuguese driver delivered a spectacular performance, finishing fourth in the Mini Gr. 3 Final. Starting the decisive race from third position, Xavier faced challenges right at the start as he was surrounded by three karts from the BabyRace Driver Academy, one of which was leading the fight for victory, while the others worked as a team to hinder the remaining contenders for the win. Despite dropping to 10th place early in the race, the young DR driver kept his composure and skillfully climbed back up the rankings. He quickly secured a spot in the top six and, by the checkered flag, advanced to fourth place. With this result, Xavier Lázaro secured fifth position in the overall standings for the Mini Gr. 3 category in the WSK Final Cup.
The Portuguese driver, from Várzea de Sintra, showed strong performance in the category throughout the weekend. He set the second-fastest time in Qualifying, just four thousandths of a second off pole position. In the three Heats, he always started from first place, securing two second-place finishes and a third-place finish in Heat 3. Today, he started the Pre-Final B from pole position and led for much of the race. However, in the final laps, he was overtaken by the frenetic pace of Stan Ratakjski and Albert Tamm, who pushed the BabyRace Driver Academy's team strategy to the limit to gain an advantage over the Portuguese driver, leaving him to finish in third place.
The 2024 international karting season has come to an end for Xavier Lázaro. Now follows a period of rest, but also preparation for a 2025 that promises to be at least as intense as the year that is soon coming to a close.
Once Again Very Strong in Qualifying
As was the case during the first round of the WSK Final Cup in Lonato, Xavier Lázaro once again delivered a strong performance in Qualifying for the final event of the competition and the WSK Promotion calendar season. In Cremona, after already ranking among the fastest drivers in the Mini Gr. 3 Free Practice sessions, the DR driver narrowly missed out on pole position, losing to Lucas Palácio by just four-thousandths of a second. On his best lap (53.420 seconds), Xavier Lázaro had the KR Motorsport driver closely trailing him, which allowed Palácio to benefit and secure pole position.
Focus and Performance in the Heats
After securing an excellent position in the Qualifying session, which determines the starting grid for the three Heats, Xavier Lázaro continued to showcase his outstanding form, consistently proving how mature a driver he has become in the Mini Gr. 3 category. With virtually no mistakes, the young talent from Várzea de Sintra successfully achieved his goal of finishing in the top positions in all three races, despite experiencing a significant scare in one of them.
In Heat 1, starting from pole position, Xavier Lázaro was consistently in the battle for the win, only being overtaken by Daniel Miron Llorente (Team Driver Racing Kart). The two were separated by just 0.131 seconds at the end of the race.
A major scare is undoubtedly the memory that will stay with Xavier Lázaro after Heat 2. The Portuguese driver started at the front and led the race, sharing the lead with Frenchman Stan Ratajski (BabyRace Driver Academy). On the final lap, the young DR Racing Kart driver took the lead, and as he was preparing to win the race, he was surprised by Ratajski, who, in an attempt to pass, literally "threw" his kart into the Portuguese driver. This nearly resulted in a serious accident. Xavier Lázaro’s DR/TM/VEGA kart flew through the air, but the Portuguese driver managed to stay on track and finished in third place, having been overtaken by Greek driver Jason Kosmopoulos (CRG Racing Team) due to the chaos. After the race, Ratajski’s unsportsmanlike maneuver resulted in a three-second penalty, dropping him to seventh place. Kosmopoulos ended up winning, while Xavier Lázaro repeated his second-place finish from Heat 1.
In the final Heat, held yesterday, Xavier Lázaro once again started from pole position and led the race. On the last lap, the Portuguese driver, who was under significant pressure from Italian Achille Rea (CRG Racing Team), made a slight mistake by not defending consistently in the one area where he could have been vulnerable to an overtaking attempt. Rea, from T-Group/TM/VEGA, managed to pass Lázaro, who then also lost second place to Swiss driver Albert Tamm (BabyRace Driver Academy).
Intelligence Rewarded with 3rd Place in Pre-Final B
In Pre-Final B, held this morning, Xavier Lázaro started from pole position. From the very start, the Portuguese driver led the race, closely followed by the two Parolin/IAME/VEGA karts of Stan Ratajski and Albert Tamm. Midway through the race, the strong pace set by the two BabyRace Driver Academy drivers came to the forefront, with both overtaking the young DR driver. Despite Lázaro giving his all on track, the two leaders worked together as a team, pushing each other to create an insurmountable gap, making it impossible for the Portuguese driver to fight for the win. As a result, Xavier Lázaro focused on managing his advantage over the chasing pack, securing third place by the finish line, which would also be his starting position for the Final.
Final of 'Many Little Games'
For the Final of the last race of the year on the WSK Promotion calendar, Xavier Lázaro started from third position, driving the only kart on the first two rows that was not a Parolin from the BabyRace Driver Academy. In theory, the Portuguese driver was positioned behind Julian Frasnelli, the main contender for both the race victory and the category title in this competition. However, BabyRace made a strategic decision to swap the positions of their drivers on the front row, placing Frasnelli on the outside and Frenchman Stan Ratajski ahead of Xavier Lázaro. The reasoning behind this "manipulation" became clear at the start, as Ratajski deliberately slowed down the two drivers behind him—Xavier Lázaro and Daniel Miron Llorente, the latter being Frasnelli's main rival for the win in this Final Cup.
At the start, Xavier Lázaro managed to stay in fourth position during the first lap, but with the constant "tactical moves" from Stan Ratajski and the fierce battle for the front positions, the Portuguese driver quickly found himself in 10th. From the second lap onwards, Lázaro began his recovery, quickly moving up to sixth place, isolated from the top five but also from the rivals chasing him. In the final laps, he benefited from the "battle" between Stan Ratajski and Daniel Miron Llorente, with both drivers going off track, allowing Lázaro to pass the Dutch driver and climb to fourth. Xavier Lázaro held onto his position until the end, finishing just outside the podium. In the overall standings for Mini Gr. 3, he secured fifth place, which is an excellent result in one of the most competitive karting categories in the world.
Photos: Sportinphoto Kart Photo-Agency
