BAHRAIN BECKONS AFTER WIN

Albie made a sensational start to his Micro Max career by winning the event held at Whilton Mill in an emphatic style.

With heats on the Saturday and finals on a Sunday, it was a race schedule that he was used to… however, the kart and engine were somewhat different to his usual weapon of choice. The engine being far more powerful and on the wrong side, meant Albie had to learn and learn fast!

Friday testing went really well. After a couple of session getting used to the kart and engine combo Albie really did ‘light up’ and by the end of testing we were one of the fastest out there! Things looked good for the weekends racing.

Saturday came and we had two timed practice sessions, this meant we could see where we were pace wise against the other, far more experienced drivers. Practice one… Albie went and topped the timing sheet! Practice two and a couple of changes put him in P7, those changes were promptly readjusted.  Qualifying saw Albie topping the timing sheets for most of it, only to make an uncharacteristic error on the final lap to end qualifying in P5. Still an awesome job considering he’d only been in the kart since yesterday!

Next the heats… Heat one Albie started in P5, race head bolted on and a cool, calm Albie tore through the pack, crossing the line in P1 and nearly a second ahead of the chasing pack!!! Heat 2 was a more frantic battle, dropping to 8th, fighting back through the pack and crossing the line in P4. Unfortunately the battles had moved the nose cone and Albie received the dreaded ‘nose cone’ penalty, dropping him back to P9. Roll on Sundays finals where he starts on the second row in P4. Youngest out there and still fighting against the older kids!

Sunday was as glorious as Saturday and Albie couldn’t wait to get in the kart… always a good sign! Prefinal gets under way and was a pretty casual affair, kept out of trouble, but didn’t really get stuck in. Start 4th, finished 4th. Team boss Nathan had a few words on encouragement in Albies ear and the rest is history! Albie lined up P4 for the final and absolutely smashed it! Got caught in a battle mid pack, made a few amazing overtakes and made his way up to P2. He pushed away with the leader and pulled a FOUR second gap to the rest. Albie crossed the line second by under half a second, but more importantly, FIRST in class and winning a ticket to the WORLD FINALS in BAHRAIN!!!

An amazing achievement and we can’t wait until the race in December to represent Great Britain. Not bad for a nine year old!