During the second race weekend of the season at HDF we managed to increase the pace. In the practice sessions on Saturday we had a tough time finding the right setup. On Sunday we went from P13 in the qualification to P10 in pre-finals but mentally and physically doing a full race weekend on a single day was tough. We ended the finals on P15 after a 5 second penalty. Nevertheless there was a lot of progress and objectives were met as we wanted to get below 68s per lap and managed to even do 67s on Sunday.
None of the mini drivers of Racing Team Claude Bal took home a prize – but all showed great pace and learned a lot. Maxime Verriest started the pre-finals in P2 but ended the finals in P5. Bruce Ramboer drove to P3 in the pre-finals and ended in P4 in the finals. Some unsportsmanlike driving got him out of his racing line and almost into the grass on the long straight. Gabriel Walet showed great pace on Saturday and got some solid results in the mid-field through the day – but the 3 days of driving were long and the final result was a 13th place.
We would like to thank the sponsors Joris Buyse and Ripl BV, and the racing team of Claude Bal for all the support throughout the weekend!
Saturday – practice & setup
On Saturday conditions in the morning were slippery but good enough to do some first laps. Times were not quick at first but by noon we managed to get into the 68s window. Nevertheless at no point during the day we managed to get below Lukas his personal best time at the track.
Unfortunately a battery problem with the laptop made us run without telemetry insights and hence finding the right setup was not easy. Lukas pushes hard on the straights but is not going fast enough nor taking the right lines in some corners. At a high speed circuit like Ostricourt with in the final sector some very nice but tight corners this makes it difficult to decide on gear ratios. Going to high gives you quicker traction on the slower section but less speed on the long straight.
We closed the day with recording 2 of our sessions with the GoPro on the helmet which helped to find two sections to focus on and improve for the race the next day. Both of the sharp corners in sector 2 and sector 4 had to be taken in a different way to increase the speed when leaving the corner. Although we stressed that the path taken was certainly an option when trying to overtake.
Sunday – a race weekend on a single day
Sunday morning we had a very early start to the weekend as a full race weekend was driven on a single day. That is 6 sessions with an incredible pace in the morning – the afternoon was a bit more relaxed. We started the morning on old tires and with the advise to all our mini drivers to just warm-up and don’t do crazy stuff. The first official session is a training and is not worth any damage. Advise taken for granted and still managed to put in a 69.05 lap time.
The qualifications were troublesome with Lukas (and some other minis) spinning out for no reason at the pit exit. Unneccesary and problematic as we now not only had fresh tires but also dirty tires to start with. A solid 68.195, and personal best, during the final lap resulted in P13 as the starting position for the two next qualifying races.
Little did we know what was to come as Lukas managed, during the first qualifying race, to drive a lap of 67.009. Looking at the best laps that would put him in P11, but it’s the position that counts so it was P12 and a penalty of 5 seconds pushed us again to P13 for this first qualifier. All-in-all we were super happy that we got below the 68s.
During the second qualifier he missed the start due to the mini in front of him not being close enough to the others. It put him in P15 from the first lap and he was stuck behind another driver that was 2 seconds slower. Much to learn here about overtaking and pushing hard enough. On the last lap he managed to do the overtake, get his lap time back in the 67s range and take P14. Not the result we wanted. In hindsight we should have not tweaked the gear ratio for the second race – when looking at the data it was not worth it and it did not help him in the slow sector of the track. We took a risk, and it was the wrong one. Here’s where you also learn as a mechanic.
We started the pre-finals in P13. A very solid launch at the start, pushing hard and driving smart got him on P10 by the first corner. We took advantage of a few spins of other racers during that start but that’s also racing – and he managed for quite some time to keep up with the pace of those in P8 and P9. By the last two laps his pace dropped below the 68s but the 10th position (on 17 drivers) was secured!
This is where it becomes tough for an 8 year old who is driving his first year in the Ligue. Physically and mentally we were both getting tired and Lukas sustained some backpains during the finals. Starting from P10 he was pushed back during the start and had to catch up. He managed to overtake and continued in P12 but near the end a brief, yet not full, spin in the section close to the pit entry put him completely out of pace and into P14 which was our provisional finish position. A 5 second penalty was added to the official result due to one side of the front bumper being pushed inwards and it resulted in a 15th position in the finals.
Not the result in the final that we wanted and we know that it could have been better. But all objectives were met and these things happen. We take away a lot of learnings from the race. Onwards to the next one!
