Tamás Gender Junior competed in the second round of the Italian karting championship in La Conca. On the first day of the weekend, the Hungarian kart racer for Team Driver proved that he belongs in the top class and can fight for the best positions even though he has never been on this track with a junior kart before.
The La Conca International Circuit hosted the second weekend of the Italian Karting Championship this year, where Tamás Gender Junior also competed in the OK-N Junior category. The track and the Team Driver Racing Kart were not completely unknown to the Hungarian athlete, but he had never driven a junior kart on the 1250 m long track, so he had to start from zero.
He quickly found his rhythm: on Friday, during the practice sessions held on the wet track, he won one of them and achieved the second-best time in another. Although his kart slid at the rear during the qualifying session, which was now on a dry track, he managed to start well from the 13th position on Saturday. Thanks to this, he secured a 5th place and an 8th place during the two heats.
On Sunday, he had two races left in which he also had a very good start and pace, but both ended in crashes after a rival pulled the wheel on him both times while overtaking.
"The weekend started off great for me because on Friday, my pace was really good on the wet track. We made some adjustments to the setup for Saturday, and as a result, after a good start, I improved seven positions in the first race and finished in the 5th place. My start in the second heat was also good, and although my kart was a bit understeering this time, I still managed to climb up to the 8th place," said the Hungarian Motorsport Academy supported driver.
"On the last day, I had two races. In the first one I also managed to get a good start and I was already in third place when I was pushed from behind and lost some positions. My pace was still good after that and I got back on track, but when I tried to pass one of my rivals in turn three, he pulled the steering wheel on me, which caused my chassis to bend and I had to retire."
"It was a double punishment, because it was not enough to be eliminated, I had to start the second race from the 26th place. My start was good again this time and I was up to 11th place when the same thing happened as before: my rival collided with me while overtaking, which caused us both to retire. Even though I didn't finish any of the races on Sunday, I still have a positive feeling about the weekend overall because I was able to keep up with the pace of the front runners. Thanks to Team Driver for the work and the well prepared kart, we'll move on to the next race."
The next competition is coming this week, as Tamás Gender Junior will compete at the Italian IAME series in Franciacorta between 22 and 24 June.
Tamás Gender Junior, OK-N Junior results
Participants: 28
Qualifying: P12
First Heat: P5
Second Heat: P8
First Race: P26 (out)
Second Race: P22 (out)
Prefinal: P17
