KFJ star Lando Norris enjoyed a triumphant return to his Rotax roots with back-to-back Junior Max victories in the opening round of the Euro Max Challenge at Genk (30-31 March), whilst his brother Oliver also scored a stunning podium in the Senior class.
The reigning Formula Kart Stars Mini Max champion returned to RL Racing Department during a break in his KFJ duties and soon showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with - despite having not raced a Junior Max kart for several months.
Lando couldnt quite get used to the lack of grip at first, observed RL Racings owner, Steve Armstrong. Hed become used to the softer tyres used in KFJ, but once hed re-acclimatised he was away.
However, a frustrating timed qualifying session saw the Glastonbury teenager only able to record the 14th-fastest time overall. Undeterred, he duly converted his fourth row grid starts into three heat wins and a 2nd place, ultimately earning him 3rd spot on the grid for the pre-final.
Having managed his tyres superbly in the preliminaries, Norris was able to quickly work his way to the front and control the first final all the way to the chequered flag.
Taking up his allocation of fresh rubber for the main final, Lando put his tactical advantage (over many of his rivals who had opted to go with new tyres in the pre-final) to good use and eased into a strong lead during the opening laps. The gap stabilised at several kart lengths, not enough to allow him to relax, but sufficient to ensure that his nearest pursuers could not afford to make any mistakes.
A faultless drive secured the win, leaving Armstrong impressed and delighted: Hes got better as a driver. Landos done a lot of karting and a heck of a lot of laps since he last drove with me, all giving him valuable seat-time and experience. He was able to put that into practice and drove perfectly. Ultimately, he cruised to victory.
For Norris team-mate in the Junior Max class - Jack McCarthy - the finals were not altogether happy experiences.
He was smashed up in the pre-final and DNFd in the main race, rued Armstrong. Up to that point, Jacks progress had been massive. He was 5th-fastest overall in timed qualifying, giving him p3 on the grid for each of his heats. Despite his lack of European experience he was able to take two top ten finishes. He learned a great deal and in terms of pace, he could hold his own against the likes of Lando. Its easy to forget that hes only 12 and still a Mini [Max driver] at home. It wont be long before hes running at the front!
Landos older brother Oliver had to qualify for the pre-final via the Second Chance heat, but made remarkable progress once he had. We put the new tyres on for the repecharge to help him and this worked a treat. We then swapped back to his old rubber for the pre-final, but even though he was pushed back at the start, due to being in the crash zone, he used his fantastic speed to recover and carve is way up to 15th at the chequered flag. We then put the scrubbed-in tyres from the Second Chance race back on his kart and he quickly charged his way to 9th, before picking his way forward from there. All hell broke out on the run to the chequered flag and Oli briefly led before emerging from the melee that followed to snatch a thoroughly-deserved podium place. For me, it was the drive of the weekend!For more information about racing with RL Racing Department, call Steve today on 07843 586 416
