Lando Lights Up Laghi on KF3 Debut
Tweet| press release | 8 October 2012 |
Lando Norris made a superb debut in the World Series Karting (WSK) KF3 category at the Laghi circuit in Italy on the weekend. The 12 year-old Millfield School pupil managed to take a podium result in one of his heats and the 'B' final before being knocked out of contention in the grand final.
The ADD Motorsport supported racer, who has already secured the Formula Kart Stars Mini Max Championship, went into the weekend after two days of testing last week. In free-practice on Thursday and Friday he was able to top the time sheets on more than one occasion and everything looked good for a solid weekend.
However, in qualifying he suffered from a small misfire on one part of the circuit and it cost him 2-3 tenths of a second per lap. It meant that he was only able to set a time fast enough for 23rd overall.
For his first heat Lando lined up in ninth place, with the full field split between five different groups. He started well and was making up ground but was then forced wide and dropped to 16th place, He eventually battled back to tenth.
In his second heat he got a great start and drove a sensational race to take second place.
In the third heat he got tapped into a half-spin and another driver then ran over the top of him, causing damage to the kart and slightly injuring Lando. He managed to finish in 13th place in that race and in the final heat he took sixth after fighting from the middle of the grid.
In the 'B' final he got a great start and was able to move up into second place very quickly. However, he was passed by another driver and spent a handful of laps trying to re-take his position. By the time he had found a way past the leader had an insurmountable lead. However, Lando held onto the runner-up spot, scoring his first podium result in Europe and a fantastic way to make his debut in the KF3 category.
In the grand final he was passed early on by several drivers as he struggled for pace. As the race went on he was able to move back through the field and had got up to sixth place. At that point he was pushed wide onto the grass and it dropped him back down the order. He eventually finished in 20th place.
Despite not quite making it onto the top step in his continental debut, Lando was pleased with his weekend and incredibly impressed with the level of competition in the KF3 category.
“It was a great weekend, although a little bit frustrating at times,” he said. “It was great to finish on the podium in the B final. If I had found a way past earlier in the race I might have been in with a chance of winning, but by the time I got through I was too far behind.”
“It's a lot faster than I'm used to in KF3,” he added. “There's so much more grip on track and the level of competition and the professionalism is just a lot higher too. I'd like to race at that level again. It's certainly going to be a lot different going back to Shenington next weekend!” he added.
Lando has just one more event on his UK calendar, the final round of the Rotax Mini Max MSA Super One Championship at the Oxfordshire circuit this weekend. He currently lies second in the championship, just 13 points behind the leader. He has the chance to claim the second of the two UK National championships after picking up the FKS crown last month.
