EUROMAX - ROUND 1
216 drivers from over 33 countries world wide from as far away as Indonesia, New Zealand, Equador and America descended on the picturesque town of Genk in Belgium. In the Junior class 72 drivers made up the field and Cornish man Alex Quinn was one of the youngest drivers in the class.
Alex had also not stepped foot on Belgium soil until the weekend, with the majority of the field having had some racing experience at this track when UK based Formula Kart Stars visited the circuit in 2011.
The weather for testing was super, although, Alex struggled to get to grips with the track and achieve a satisfactory kart set up ahead of the qualifying heats.
However, when new tyres were tested however, he rose to the occasion setting the 4th fastest practice time and highest placed British driver in one of the timed test sessions.
Timed Qualifying was the first hurdle of the racing schedule and Alex recorded the 13th fastest time. Heats were then split into 6 session for the 72 drivers with each driver competing in 3 heats. Alex’s heat results were 9th, 7th and 5th.
Drama at the start of the Pre-Final played into Alex’s hand when he got caught up in a first corner incident dropping him many places, but a red flag to restart the race gave Alex a second chance. Starting from 9th on the grid, he made up 2 places quickly within the first few laps and continued to show remarkable progress further up the leaderboard.
By lap 7 out of 9 Alex had moved into 5th place which he retained to the flag.
An uninterrupted start for the main final saw Alex move into 4th place on the first corner which he managed to maintain to the halfway point of the 12 lap race. Racing focused on the final spot of the podium as the 2 leaders developed a large gap and at one point over 8 drivers were all battling for the final spot on the podium. Just over half way Alex had got into 3rd place and was not wanting to let go of it, but the closing pack meant he had his hands full just to keep on the racing line .
With one lap to go, Alex had dropped to 5th place and following contact on the last corner, he finished a creditable 7th place, being later promoted to 6th place following a penalty imposed on another driver.
Alex is really pleased with this top ten finish and he is the highest placed British driver who has never raced at the Belgium circuit before this event and finished just ahead of 2 local Dutch drivers.
With points added up for this championship, Alex is 4th overall in Junior Rotax Euro Challenge standings. The next round will be in Italy, at the Casteletto Circuit in a few months time.
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RACE RESULTS
QUALIFYING -13TH
HEAT 1 - 9TH
HEAT 2 - 7TH
HEAT 3 - 5TH
PRE-FINAL - 5TH
FINAL - 6TH
