“The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up.”

Spa-Francorchamps — the track where everything changed for us last year — was meant to be the highlight of the season. Training sessions in the weeks leading up to the race confirmed our pace: Lukas was fast, confident, and ready to fight for victory.

On Saturday, heavy rain poured over the Karting Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Despite the challenging conditions, Lukas delivered an impressive warm-up performance, setting one of the fastest times of the session. In qualifying, teamwork between Lukas and his dad paid off giving him a front row position to start qualification. But motorsport can be cruel. On his first flying lap, Lukas spun in the tricky wet conditions. He quickly regrouped, posting a stellar lap on his third attempt, proving there was more speed to come had the session unfolded differently. But he was stuck in the pack by the time faster laps should have been possible. He nevertheless secured a strong P2 position on the grid.

In Heat 1, Lukas took the lead after the first lap, controlling the race beautifully — until a small miscalculation sent him into a spin. The incident damaged his steering column, and though he tried to recover, the kart was nearly impossible to handle. To make things worse, a front-fairing penalty added extra seconds to an already difficult run.

From that point on, the focus shifted to damage control. Confidence took a hit, but Lukas kept fighting — showing strong pace with the fastest lap in Heat 1 and the second-fastest lap in the Final.

Result summary

• Qualifying: P2
• Heat 1: P2 → P1 → P17
• Heat 2: P17 → P8
• Final: P10 → P8

Despite the result, there are plenty of positives to take away: stellar qualifying pace, the ability to lead in wet conditions, and the determination to keep pushing even when things don’t go to plan. That, ultimately, is what racing is all about. We know he can do it — and this weekend simply proved how close we already are. Monday after the race we immediately went to Genk to train in the rain and get the confidence back. It was a joy to see him driving!

A big thank you to our team CRG Belgium and our sponsors for their continued trust and support: LAMAC Machinery, Joris Buyse, FiftyFive, and Carwash De Singel

Photos by Thibaut Nijs