Bittersweet ending for Lennox Racing Team in the first round of FIA European Karting Championship
The first round of the European Championship in Valencia turned out to be very difficult, but it allowed us to gain further confidence in view of the next races. Our team was represented by Noah Wolfe, Raul Zunzarren, Matias Orjuela, Miquel Blascos, and Louis Castellini in OK Junior and by Aaron Garcia, Petr Ageev, and Xavier Avramides in OK.
Another brilliant performance for Wolfe, who was able to maintain a remarkable pace despite his lack of experience at this level of competition. The English driver started with 14th place in his qualifying group (P41 overall), taking immediate confidence with such a hard track as Valencia. Noah was extremely solid even in the heats after having perfectly managed a series of complicated situations that could have compromised his weekend and proved to be very quick also in his Superheat, closed in P12. Unfortunately, after starting from 21st place in the final Wolfe was forced to retire: the final 33rd position certainly does not reflect the excellent level of performance maintained in all the main phases of the race.
The same unfortunate outcome for Orjuela, who collected much less than he deserved despite his aggressive approach. Matias was simply astonishing in qualifying practice, in which he secured P4 in his group (P14 overall) with a lap in line with the best drivers on the track. Despite some tricky moments during the heats, the Colombian driver kept his nerve bringing home the 29th position, and was able to defend it even in the superheats. However, Matias failed to bring home the desired result just for a matter of details. Some steps forward even for Zunzarren, Blascos, and Castellini: our three drivers put everything on track, pushing on their path of growth even in this hard competition.
Even Garcia demonstrated all his best qualities in Valencia in such a competitive category as OK. Even if he didn’t qualify for the final due to his 40th position, Aaron fought hard showing significant progress. The Spanish driver had some difficulties at the beginning of his weekend in qualifying practice (P45 overall), but he never gave up and fought like a lion in the heats between exciting overtakes and very fast laps. Garcia showed his best in Super Heat A, crossing the line P15, narrowly missing a well-deserved qualification to the Final. Ageev and Avramides didn’t reach the same level of performance, but they nonetheless asserted themselves also thanks to the excellent work done in close contact with the team.
Jordon Lennox-Lamb, Team Manager: “We certainly deserved more, but that’s part of racing too. Our drivers did their best and never gave up, displaying a more than adequate attitude for such a high level of competition. In Valencia, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but we continued to build in view of the next rounds of the season, in which I’m sure we’ll be able to redeem ourselves”.