So it was pay day and Team Australia were raring to go. Heavy rain over night cleaned the track which would make it difficult to determine how effective chassis setups were from the previous day.
Adam Hughes disappointed as he was unable to get any track time before his pre-final, due to his kart not being ready in time to make the morning warm up. Mitchener on the other had lit up the track setting the quickest time, by only .01 of a second, between first and 4th fastest, there was only a gap of approximately one tenth.

This wasn’t enough to rattle Mitchener’s cage, pulling out of the first corner in the lead and pulling a gap on the rest of the field in the Pre-Final. The track was damp but by driving aggressively Mitchener was able to get heat into the tyres enough to get by the first few laps with good pace. It wasn’t long before the slight precipitation, turned into more of a rainfall. “Being on slicks, the karts become very nervous, and unpredictable under brakes” Mitchener said, “I was still able to keep my cool, and was able to defend my ground”. It wasn’t until lap 8 that the only driver that gambled the wet weather tyres passed him leaving left 24 seconds behind by the end of the race finishing in second position.

Hughes , again stuck on the outside again from grid position 8th, was relieved as his expectations after having a few rough heats thinking that he would be starting much further back. “although I’m on the outside, I’m quite happy starting where I am”.

The alpha kart team decided to only run 2 new tyres on the outside of the kart, planning to switch them to the inside for the final and placing the rest of the new tyres on the outside again.

Adam had his best start of the weekend, exiting the 3rd turn in 4th position, showing strong pace Adam was moving through the field consistently. “The Alpha kart had great pace and was coming on more and more each lap” he commented, “I knew that I had the pace to continue through the field as I knew that I had the pace at the end of the race as well as the start”.

Adams luck was still not with him coming off 2nd best in a battle and dropping back to 14th. Still putting in 110% Adam made his way back to 9th to start on the inside (for the first time) in the Final.

During the Lunch break, once again the inconsistent French weather, went from 35 degrees, of blue skies, back to pouring rain, cooling the track temperature, leaving it fairly fresh for the coming heats. There were a a few remaining races before the Final of X30 Gentleman’s class, with Lee starting the front row, outside.
The DR Belgium team went along with the strategy of running all 4 new tyres, allowing Lee good grip early to try and gain a break away from the field. Although, due to the new tyre drop off, this could pose problems for Mitchener mid race, he would need to conserve his pace a little, in order not to overheat the tyres.
The euro kart scene just isn’t about karting, there are many events that keep everyone interested of all ages. In between races, there are dancing girls, and music.

It was time for Lee to show his stuff, Starting on the outside was not unfamiliar to him, so he was confident, at getting himself setup for the race by the first turn. Which without fail did so by immediately gaining the lead, closely followed by the last years winner (Frederic Ostier).

It was Mitchener who lead the entire race with the number 1 kart ready to pounce in the closing laps. Lee Had great pace throughout the infield, but wasn’t enough to shakeOstier down the straight, from the slipstream.

The last lap board was out, and as predicted, Ostier made his mover around the outside down the long straight.  Ostier didn’t quite have the edge to close the door on Mitchener, which gave the Aussie an opportunity to outbrake the reigning champion. It was a very late maneuver by both drivers, causing them to come to and almost complete stop. Mitchener continued to lead the final lap finishing just ahead of Ostier, announcing Lee Mitchener the new Iame x30 Challenge Champion.

“The race was tough, I knew that the number 1 kart was behind me the whole time, but I knew I just had to keep my eyes forward and keep my mind on the job. I was predicting a last lap move, and I knew I just had to cover my lines the whole time,  it was lucky that I was able to outbrake him or because I Ostier I know would have been able to put on a strong defence to hold the lead for the rest of the lap, he is a very good driver and it has been a pleasure to race against him” Mitchener said.

With Lee celebrating on the podium, Adam Hughes was preparing himself for a start mid pack in 9th position, “I’m very confident in gaining a good position, I’m finally starting off of the inside row, and I have 2 new tyres, so I’m sure that I will be able to put on a good show for the French crowd”.
Unfortunately for Adam it was a crash infront of him that caused him to prematurely end his race. Adama got held up in the incident and re-entered the race in last position, he tried to recuperate but the damage to the kart was too great, and caused him to retire.

Team Australia has put on a very professional campaign, and word has certainly getting around about the talent of the drivers down under. Many friends have been made, and the Aussies have been made more than welcome, with hope from the French that they will be seen more often on the track.











Day 3 started off being a little colder than the rest for Team Australia, although as the boys had hoped for, the sun was shining once again.

It didn’t take long for practice to kick off again, immediately the track was on pace, giving everyone participating great feedback from setup changes made overnight. Adam Hughes, after being a little disappointed with his efforts from the previous day, took off with blinding pace picking up 1.1 seconds, putting him in the top 5 of the session. Adam continued to get faster and faster progressively as each session went by. New tyres were thrown on for the final session before lunch giving him enough pace to drive by the current Champion Kenny Vermeylen, who was at the top of the time sheet consistently.



Adam in his professional Alpha karting kit up
 

Adam wasn’t the only one making progress, Lee Mitchener, now with his new mechanic was on a streak also. Gaining .2 of a second from his last session the previous day. Lee was generally happy with the kart now, and has a good feeling that he and DR Belgium team will be able to fine tune the chassis a little more to give him the edge needed to produce a quick qualifying time Saturday morning.

Lunch break allowed Team Australia a quick powernap after magnific food provided by IAME. Looking forward to making some more progress in the afternoon practice sessions, weather got in the way. The heavens opened and let loose some solid rain for a good 20 minutes. Adam and his team decided to call it quits for the day, however Lee was keen to get out and practice on the Vega wet tyre along with getting used to the front brakes in the much more slippery conditions. Setting the 3rd fastest time, Lee was happy with where he was, and knows that there was some more in his driving, and kart setup to get him to the top.

It wasn’t long after that the track dried but leaving it off the pace by around a second.

The day concluded with positive attitudes for Team Australia, and are looking to put in a stella effort to get to the top of the sheets in the coming day’s Qualification.

Lee Talking with the DR Belgium Owner after his practice run

Along game day 3….. business day.
Team Australia, confident after the finishing practice with positive results, were keen to get out on track for the morning warm up. A few minute changes were made to the setups and relied on for a direction to head in for the qualification.

Lee and Adam both topped both were both at the top of the time sheets, giving them both confidence leading into the qualifying round.



Lee piloting the DR machine in the morning warm up session - no he didn't option to use the huge neck collar, it is mandatory.

Adam had a great deal of pressure on him as it was important that he made a good time to put him in a good position for the heat races. Due to the elimination process, it was important that Adam finished in the top 10 in every heat or else he might not make the cut of 38.



Adam waiting to pass technical inspection to head out for his heats With a new set of tyres, it was Lee out for qualifying first. The MGS – X tyre was very sensitive and only provided approximately 2-3 laps of good performance before the “new tyre gain” dropped away and hence resulting in slower lap times.

Heading out mid pack Lee was producing some fast lap times, but kept on encountering traffic from the slower drivers. On his quick lap, he was forced to pass and resulted in him missing out on his pinnacle time for the tyres. Although disappointed, Lee managed to qualify a strong 2nd place only .05 seconds behind first.

Adam was scheduled to head out at in the 6th group of the x30 class (the last of the qualifying session). This proved to be a disadvantage as the track started to lose its pace. Although Adam set the fastest lap time in his group, it only placed him 7th overall. Adam all throughout the practice and morning warm should have lead him to a pole position, but bad luck as we know proved otherwise.

In heats 1 & 2 Mitchener showed good race craft. Starting on the front row was different for him than the normal he said. “the roll up formation laps are so slow, it feels like you are going to foul up the engine”. Even with the unfamiliar format, he had strong starts, and although losing a few positions by the first corner, he was able to quickly make his way to the front of the pack and pull a small gap, consistently extending it as the race went on.

The third heat was cut very short due to an incident on turn 1 at the start of the race. After a reform the race recommenced, with Mitchener once again pushed back to 3rd. Making his way up to 2nd behind the leader, had trouble finding the pace to make it to the front and pull away like he had done previously.

The Concluding laps brought the crowed to the edge of their seats with dicing between last years winner and MItchener, diving in deep under each other.
Unfortunately it was Lee taking the Brides Maide award. But without too much disappointment, it was enough to put him on Pole position for the Pre Final.

The daunting skies let loose once again after racing concluded for the day whilst the karting community were enjoying a meal at the track supplied by Iame. Both Adam and Lee are hoping that this will refresh the track in the morning and will let them drive the track the way they are used to in Australia.