Boccolacci: Tinge of Disappointment after Alcaniz
| press release | 29 June 2013 |
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For a driver like Dorian Boccolacci, accustomed to podiums and victories since the beginning of the season, a 6th place in a European Champion cannot be entirely satisfactory. But it is just the first of the two meetings on the calendar... After analysing what happened during the Spanish round, this driver will certainly be able to get back to the fight for leadership in the European competition until the final race, with the title as his main goal.
As a matter of fact, Dorian came very close to winning his first meeting in the KF class. It is true that his Energy/TM showed poor performances both during free practice and timed qualifying. But then speed got back to the same level as the leaders. He was slowed down in a heat after been touched by another kart and a broken piston in another heat cost him a few places, but despite all these difficulties, the Lotus F1 Junior Team driver concluded with a 7th place in qualifying and climbed up to 2nd in pre-final 1.
To win on a fast and wide circuit such as Alcaniz it is necessary to conquer the lead as quickly as possible to avoid being slowed down by tussles, which on this circuit are highly penalising as far as time results are concerned. Thanks to their powerful karts, a few drivers managed to reach the lead pack and joined the fight for victory without possessing the level of performance required to maintain the lead in the most technical spots of the Spanish circuit, where it is possible to make the difference. To tell the truth, on this circuit, driving ability seemed less important that it is on other European tracks.
That is exactly the problem that Dorian faced during the final, the only race of the weekend that enabled to score points for the standings. Although the Equipe de France driver is usually very effective at the start, he could not take advantage of his place on the second line to join the leaders and was blocked in the outside line, which started with a considerable delay over the pole winner. Three formation laps and a red flag warning were not enough to ensure a correct start, which is regrettable at this level. Then Dorian lost too much time to be able to regain ground because of several aggressive drivers, who then concluded the race far back. To be able to regain positions, he would have needed a very competitive kart, capable of outperforming all the others, which was not the case. In retrospect, the lack of preliminary tests had serious consequences in terms of results.
