The Big One: RMC Grand Finals, Sarno

Team UK - Grand Finals, Sarno, 2024

Qualifying – P18

Heat 1 – P6 (P2 OTR)

Heat 2 – P28 (FL)

Prefinal – P3

Final - P1

What a week of ups and downs! we started off the first day of practice 4 seconds off the pace and dead last with engine issues! Day 2 was better, and I topped the timesheets in Practice 5, however a sudden downpour just prior to qualifying and an error on tyre pressure resulted in a P18.

Heat 1 saw me pick up a nose on the formation lap alongside 3 other drivers courtesy of a driver using us as a brake. Knowing I had a 5s penalty I got my head down and hooked up with Luke to push away and minimize the damage finishing P2 on track, P6 after penalties.

Heat 2 was a disaster being knocked off on lap 1 to P33. I drove back to P11 on track with fastest lap, setting the event record only to be driven off the circuit again dropping me to P28 at the line.

Leading the race

The results from the heats saw me line up P10 for the Prefinal. I knew that a solid result would see me move forwards for the final, so concentrated on a strong finish, working my way through the field to finish at the head of the train in P3 after the front two pushed away.

Starting P6 for the final I got a good start, but a red flag saw us halted for a full restart. At the restart the driver infront moved across early costing me the tow. I took the lead on lap 4 and tried to push away with Austin, but the tow brought the pack behind back in to play and I was shuffled back down to P4 on lap 8. Head down I worked my way back to the front of the order with 1.5 laps to go – a solid defense allowed me to keep the 5 karts immediately behind at bay, taking the win by just 0.07s!

Taking the win

Congratulations to @felix_karting_diary and @oman.austin on their podium finishes.

A massive thanks to everyone who made this event a success… see you next year :)

Podium