When the final started, I was forced wide on the first corner while fighting for 2nd, had to brake to avoid going out of the track and, by doing so, put myself on another driver’s trajectory that sent me flying through the grass.
When I got back on track, I was 26th…
But let’s go back to the start of the competition.
I qualified in P7 and, during the first heat I went up to P3. In the second heat, I quickly went up to P2 and managed the race to finish in that same position. Finally, in the last heat, I started in P2 and finished in P2 after having led most of the race and having an epic battle which saw my old foe, Alexandre Machado, overtake me in the last corner of the last lap.
The sum of the heats put me in P2 for the final, just 1 point behind the driver in P1.
So, for the 3rd year running, I started the final on the front row!
You now know that the start of the final didn’t go to plan. All I could do was to put a hell of a fight to justify my tag as one of the favourites and pay for all the efforts the team put in to get me on that front row. I got to work and overtook 19 drivers in the 19 remaining laps!! Had it not been for a front bumper penalty, I would have ended in P5 and brought a trophy back home. But my final position was P10.
This result isn’t easy to accept but the team will be back stronger than ever! We have shown throughout this weekend that we were up there with the best and only circumstances outside our control stopped us from fighting for the win.
I want to thank my fantastic team, Ferrara Kart, my mechanic, Lorenzo Scatà and my engine provider, BM Karting Team. I also want to congratulate my teammates for their results: Paolo Baselli for his great P2 in the Expert ROK Plus category, Caleb Campbell for his P2 in the Junior ROK Levanto Trophy and James van den Berk Racing for his P14 in the Super ROK category.
I also want to thank my sponsors Edilceramic SA, Écurie des 3 Chevrons, Christophe Hurni, ACS Neuchâtel and the IOC's Sport and Solidarity Foundation for their support.