A determined approach by Jamaican Alex Powell on Saturday to recover from a disastrous first heat 17th place finish on Friday produced exactly the result he aimed for; a good qualifying spot in the Pre-Final.
In the four Heats of Saturday’s rain soaked second day of the WSK Super Master Series at the Adria Karting Raceway in Italy, Alex recorded finishes of 2nd, 2nd, 5th and 4th, earning a third row starting position in Pre-Final A on Sunday. It was exactly the goal he wanted to achieve.
Sunday presented much friendlier weather for Alex; with no rain and the track drying he turned his third row start into a 2nd place finish, securing a spot on the second row for the Final.
Despite a chaotic start by the entire front pack dropping him to 9th place at the start, Alex worked his way through the field to 2nd place at the end of lap five. An error going wide into a corner dropped him down to 4th on lap seven, which he maintained until the final lap.
Timing his overtaking perfectly, Alex swept past the two karts in front of him into 2nd place with one corner to go before the finish. Disaster struck when his teammate Dmitriy Matveev forced Alex wide and onto the outside grass around the final corner, allowing three karts to pass him before getting his kart back onto the track and crossing the line in 5th. A penalty levied against his teammate was little solace for Alex eventually being credited with 4th place.
“He (Matveev) said he panicked and lost his head” reported Alex’s father John Powell. “He looked for Alex after the race to apologize.”
Alex’s next event is the 24^ Winter Cup, February 14 to 17 at the South Garda Karting circuit in Lonato, Italy.
