A sunny Friday practice day for last weekend’s Trofeo Delle Industrie race meet saw Alex Powell reveling in the conditions, posting times at the top of the sheets for each of the four practice sessions. A drastic change of conditions for the weekend resulted in a learning opportunity for Alex. His European competition were much more experienced in the wet conditions yet Alex managed 5th in his qualifying group, which put him 8th on the grid for his first heat.
In Heat 1, Alex moved up two positions to finish 6th while Heat 2 saw him finish 3rd. “He fought hard in that race and he’s getting more comfortable with the conditions” reported his mother Claudia Powell.
He quickly started moving up the ladder in Heat 3 before hitting a large puddle of water when exiting a corner on lap 2. The resulting spin dropped him down to 20th but he drove determinedly and made his way to 13th on the final lap. His accumulated scores meant that he should start Sunday’s Pre-Final in 13th grid position.
A rainy Sunday saw no improvement in his luck. “The kart wouldn’t start; finally got it started and got onto the track but he missed his starting position. Got up to 15th then spun, plus he got a bumper penalty” said John Powell. The 5-second penalty put Alex in 25th place, which would be his starting grid position for the final.
Freezing rain before the final saw the worse conditions Alex faced all weekend. In the race he worked his way up to 17th until the conditions got the better of him and he crossed the line in 21st place. Penalties for other competitors resulted in an official 18th place.
“I think we need to go to one of those Scandinavian countries for about a month to get good wet weather testing and acclimatize to the cold” said John Powell. “The team wants him to miss the event next week and rest because he has three very big races back to back starting November 8th.”
Alex’s next race is Round 2 of the WSK Final Cup, at the International Circuit 7 Laghi in Castelletto di Branduzzo – Pavia on November 8th to 11th.
