SOLID START FOR QUINN IN CIK-FIA
Portugal was the hosting nation for the opening round of the CIK-FIA European Championships for KF-Junior. Alex Quinn made his debut in the championship under the CRG Factory banner .
An intense practice schedule saw Alex turn in impressive times, right in the leading group all throughout the sessions in preparation for the weekends racing and even topping the 2nd session on the Thursday.
New for this season, the tyre allocation is a lottery where the tyres are provided randomly to each driver as control sets. However it appeared some of the tyres differed set to set, which varied in compound and therefore grip. A number of drivers succumbed to this issue, Alex sadly had a set of tyres which transformed the kart into feeling unpredictable, making qualifying very difficult to hook up a great lap.
Alex ended up qualifying 14th in his group with the kart imbalance. When the times were accumulated, Alex ended up 30th overall, despite being less than half a second off pole. This put Alex in 'Group E' for the qualifying heats on the Saturday.
Saturday kept up the same blue sky and nice weather. In warm up, the kart was still difficult however Alex managed to be just outside the top 10.
The first heat saw Alex start from 12th on the grid, Alex made a good start elevating himself up 3 positions by the second lap of the short seven lap races. Alex remaining here at the flag, although with much better pace!
Alex posted a time quicker than he managed in qualifying.
Another 9th place in the second heat as all 8 karts crossed the line almost in a line was very promising for the remainder of the racing.
Heat 3 saw Alex storm up through from his 12th place starting slot up to P5 at the flag after surging through seven karts in five laps.
However post race, Alex's bumper was deemed to be out of position upon checking.
Alex was proved to not have made contact with another competitor however the decision stood and he received a 30 second penalty.
The final heat saw Alex succumb to more bad luck, sadly dropping him down to 25th and last after contact at the third corner. Alex staged a spirited fight back through the order up to 16th at the flag. A great comeback, but sadly not the finish he deserved.
At the end of the heats on Saturday, due to the penalty applied in Heat 3, Alex ended up in the 2nd chance heat. Determined to make the main final, Alex drove a composed race to finish in 4th, qualifying him for the Grand Final .
THE CONTROL TYRES ARE INTENDED FOR EQUALITY, SADLY THE BATCHES CAN COMPLETELY TRANSFORM YOUR WEEKEND
Alex graduated to the Pre-Final, starting 32nd with the solid aim of getting as far forward as possible ready for the Grand Final. At the end of the Lap 10, Alex had advanced up to 21st position. Post-race, a number of penalties were applied to drivers around him, Alex therefore were classified 19th, where he would start the Grand Final.
Alex started the Grand Final on the inside, the preferred side for the long right hander at turn one. Alex made progress through the tightly contested pack, with many drivers defending from the word go. On lap 15, a crash involving two drivers brought out the full course yellows. At this point Alex was up to 10th position.
The racing was not resumed after the full course yellow, as the drivers remained in position to the flag. Post-race however, a driver was excluded due to being deemed responsible for causing the full course yellow, elevating Alex to 9th in the final classifications.
9th at the end of Alex's debut CIK-FIA race for CRG was a solid result to come back with after the demanding weekend. A very tough weekend with numerous issues that affected the kart and results was challenging but acted as a great spring board for Alex to come back into the top 10.
The championship standings place Alex 10th overall. The next round of the CIK-FIA European Championship will take place back at home for Alex, at PF International. Alex will be hoping that this turns into a home advantage, at a circuit he has had great success in over the years, becoming Kartmasters GP and British Open Champion.
Alex's next event will be for the second round of the Rotax Euro Challenge at Casteletto in Italy at the end of May. As ever this report will feature online and in the Alex Quinn Racing newsletter.
"IT WAS A TOUGH WEEKEND, ESPECIALLY WITH THE TYRES, BUT WE FINISHED WITH A GOOD RESULT.
THE BUMPER ISSUE WAS FRUSTRATING BUT IT'S RACING, WE SHOWED INTENT AND WE WILL ONLY GET QUICKER "
- ALEX QUINN
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RACE RESULTS
QUALIFYING -30TH
HEAT 1 - 9TH
HEAT 2 - 9TH
HEAT 3 - 30TH
HEAT 4 - 16TH
PRE-FINAL - 19TH
FINAL - 9TH
