Kosmic Australia Testing In Italy
| 14 July 2013 |
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Round 2 of the CIK-FIA European KF Championships takes place at Ortona, Italy, this coming week. Peter Galvin's Kosmic Racing Australia team of Josh Smith and Dimitri Agathos went over a week early to test at the circuit with the assistance of the Kosmic Factory Team.
Above: The karts of Dimitri Agathos and Josh Smith during the test
pic - via Remo Racing/facebook
from Peter Galvin and the boys, via Remo Racing
Day 1 testing: It went well for Aussies Dimitri Agathos & Josh Smith today. It was a tough start for them, the track is very bumpy and technical. Both drivers Dimitri and Josh are very tired due to the travel and jet lag which will take a few days to go. This is the reason we go over to test first! At the end of today both boys put new tyres on and made big improvements on their times. Dimitri set some very good times, Josh improved his time as well. We made some very small changes to Dimitri’s kart, we are talking very minor but he liked it. Tomorrow we test again and with another good night's sleep they should have more energy. In saying that, they both did very good today, Dimitri less than .5 off and Josh around .7 off, not bad for their first time on this track and heavily jet lagged. To explain how physical this track is imagine the hardest track in Australia on your body and double it - now you have Ortona!
Day 2 testing: Again not many changes but there is no need to change the kart. Dimitri Agathos went faster than yesterday, this is good as the track was a little slower today.
It rained over night so the track was slow in the morning. There was not many testing today so both Dimitri and Josh Smith had the track to themselves.
Josh matched his times from yesterday but unfortunately his run on his good engine stopped early with a very slight piston seize. The motor still ran it was that minor! So for Josh it was back to his practice engine which is about .5 slower than the race engine. Next week Josh will have 2 race engines and 1 practice engine so all is good.
Both Aussie boys have sore bodies from the bumpy track. The jet lag really hit Josh today and eased a bit for Dimitri. To explain this, Dimitri got more sleep on the plane and Josh struggled to get any sleep at all.
For those who have never felt jet lag it's like your body just hit a wall and there is nothing you can do. So now we have 4 days off to sight see and get settled ready for the race meeting.
Above: All packed and ready for the race next week
pic - via Remo Racing/facebook
Driver Quotes After Day 2 Testing:
Joshua Smith - A good couple of days testing in Ortona before the last round of the championship next weekend! This track is much more technical than Alcaniz and it is very hard on the body... Some of the bumps are in spots where you pull the most G'force so sore ribs and muscles were the outcome of the two days on the track but I have learnt the track now and after a couple of days relaxing I should be ready to hit the ground running next Wednesday, when I return for the first day of official practice and hopefully I can achieve a good result. Thanks to my supporters especially AMSF, Remo Racing, Peter Galvin and my parents!
Dimitri Agathos - Great two days testing. Learning the track every session I go out. I am a little sore it is a very complex and bumpy track. Need to fine-tune my lines and we should be good. Now to rest and do a little bit of sightseeing.
- Further images can be found on the Remo Racing photo stream on Facebook HERE.
